Academy 1/72 F-4 Phantom

[Rex]

Ah, Norm, great to see a photo of so many Hasegawa Phantoms in one home. Pssst, I see a few sneaky Fujimi kits and one Revell in with the main body of kits, though.

I only have 74 Phantoms in the stash, from all the companies except UPC. I wish I knew how many I had built over the years, but I bet we all wish we knew how many of each kit we built then.

Gene, thanks for taking that chance, sanding looks a lot easier than "cut and paste with styrene" would be.

I'll watch for your nose work,,,,,,,haha,,,,,,you remember my opinion on that,,,,,,,if "Ole Droop Snoot" don't droop, he ain't one. No droop means they might as well flatten out the wing tips, level the stabs, make it a single seater and give it all the pylons back. A true Phantom means that the radome has to be drooped, and that radome can't look like it was made with a pencil sharpener. (ala First Gen Hasegawa)

No droop and no bulginess is only fine for someone that thinks a P-40 and XP-37 look "close enough" to each other.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Rex

[Gene K]

Ah, Norm, great to see a photo of so many Hasegawa Phantoms in one home ... I only have 74 Phantoms in the stash, from all the companies except UPC.

Rookies!

Gene K

[Darren Roberts]

This is great stuff guys!

[nfiler]

Rex,

The Fujimi kits are all for various British birds. And the few Revell kits are for the fancy schemes in those kits. And the aircraft carrier is to hold up another stack of more Phantom kits.

As discussed on another site a while back, I tend to build "Clothes Horses". If it doesn't have a fancy paint scheme it ain't gonna show up on my display case shelves. I thought for a while with the Phantoms mostly gone around the world I would finally not be losing ground as new schemes showed up, but the Japanese are still turning out some outstanding commemorative stuff every year. Building new kits has stalled. Finishing started kits has stalled. Buying new kits has.......uh, continued!

Gene,

Chopping all those up to play puzzle palace might be fun, but eventually you gotta test some of those decals in that stash on some assembled kits and put the finished product on the shelf. All this said by a guy who has not finished a Phantom in a couple years!!

[Rex]

Norm, I have always been tempted to say we have different approaches to Phantomology. And I think the Japanese have reached the "more schemes than aircraft" plateau with their paint jobs, at least it sometimes seems that way.

But, then I realized that the bulk of my "one of each Naval Phantom squadron" set of builds is going to include a very high proportion of CAGs/CMAGs in it. And I seem to be drawn to the "things" in the USAF, such as Pave Knife, Spike, Shrike, Chems, etc, etc.

So, in the end, I guess counting the "average" birds would be easier and quicker.

Gene, I've forgotten how many Phantoms in all scales you have piled up. As for rookies,,,,I think we all fall behind Phantom in finished Phantom kits.

[scorvi]

Nice Phantoms guys now lets see an equal stash of its predecessor...F-101 Voodoo!. I know Norm and Gene both like the Voodoo...Norm I think you might even spent some time in one?? I know you flew F-100's and 104's Right?

The Revell F-F0B is a very nice kit!

You guys inspire me to build more!

Steven Corvi,

(remember me the Century Series discussion board guy ??)

Here is one in 1/48 (Monogram)

...and the venerable 1/72 Revell kit

[Gene K]

... eventually you gotta ... put the finished product on the shelf.

I've forgotten how many Phantoms in all scales you have piled up

Blah, blah, blah :explode:/>

Gene K

[Gene K]

... its predecessor...F-101 Voodoo!

Steve,

I assume you're aware of these?

The F-101A is also listed as coming, but no picture.

Gene K

Edited June 15, 2015 by Gene K

[Gene K]

Well, after impatiently waiting over 43 days for three more Academy kits to arrive from Korea (still waiting),

I was thrilled to see that my favorite shop, Sprue Brothers, has them in stock.

The MSRP at $42 is certainly much higher than the $25-$30 I anticipated!! :woot.gif:/> I think that may/will hurt sales.

Gene K

Edited July 18, 2015 by Gene K

[Tomcat Trebor]

Just got my kit and it has the same mistake as their 1/48 cousin regarding the slotted stabilator, see the first post on the 1/48 version here.

Up to you if it concerns you or not.

Robert

[Johnopfor]

I saw one at my local hobby shop a few days ago.......$37.00USD for a snap kit? No thanks, I can find second-hand Hasegawas for less than that.

[Paul Boyer]

Not your ordinary "snap kit" though. I'm building this right now. Yes, it can be press fit together, but that fit is excellent. Surface detail surpasses any other Phantom in this scale. And the parts breakdown and assembly is brilliant. Certainly not perfect though. There are errors in the instructions and missing items such as the face-curtain pull rings on the seats, harnesses, and no outer wing pylon stubs if you don't use the outboard tanks. Instead of using "flashed over" mounting holes for optional parts, the holes are open, even for the late-mod ECM blisters on the intakes (which were not on the kit's subject aircraft) so there's going to be some filling no matter what. Decals look great. While the molds are not as all-inclusive as the Hasegawa kits (which are now about 30 years old and retail for around $40-$50), this one fits better, is easier to build, and has better surface detail. Full review in the November FSM.

[Gene K]

Just got my kit and it has the same mistake as their 1/48 cousin regarding the slotted stabilator,

:bandhead2:/>/>/>

Robert,

I can't believe I missed that!!!

The first thing I did when I got my kit was to check the stab shape/proportions against Tommy's measurements (good). I then sanded off the slots since I'm making a C model.

In that regard, I also filled in the Air Refueling Door without checking to see if it's off as shown in the 1/48 thread (same as your ref here). (I can live with that, but not the slots).

Gene K