Finally; a new 1/72 Phantom

[GeneK]

On 9/5/2025 at 7:18 AM, Dutch said:

Unabashed plug for Hypersonic products.  Get them when they are available.  Well worth the price!  Plus, he's a nice guy.

 

Dutch,

 

That is a common shared opinion amongst modelers worldwide. He is a star in the aftermarket field, so I hope this "temporary" tariff fiasco leaves him still shining brightly. 

 

Gene K

[BWDenver]

I've always loved the look of the IAF F-4E Kurnass.  The colors are striking and they have a rich history of service.

The 1/72 FineMolds IAF F-4E is a beautiful kit, but they missed one key item that is IFR Probe. 

 

I really wanted to do a Kurnass as it looked in Operation Peace for Galilee with the distinctive GBU-15(V)-1 bomb and Winders.  But I needed an IFR Probe and an extended muzzle.  The muzzle was not really that much of an issue, but the IFR probe is decidedly not an easy fix.  I picked up the 1/72 MASTER A-4 Skyhawk Bent Probe with the intent on scratching the rest of the IAF probe.  The kit is also a short muzzle F-4.  I was really surprised ISRADECAL has not relessed this mod.

 

 

Then I stumbled on an ND Workshop "IAF F-4E/RF-4E Phantom Refuelling Probe", by Netanel Deri.  When I got home from a trip to Colorado I had the package from Isarael with my mail.

 

It is a gem.  You get two IFR Probes in the box.  the instruction sheet with the probes shows the placement of the probe in a Right Profile view.  It is also available in 1/48th.  netanel.deri@gmail.com 

 

Now I can do the IAF F-4E, and pull my Cutting Edge "Limited Edition IAF F-4 decals out of the file...

 

The parts are available on Etsy, but quite frankly a nightmare to find.  Their search engine is abysmal...

[Stefan buysse]

Thanks for the heads-up, Bryan.

 

I was also on the look-out for a Phantom refuelling probe in 1/72. Eduard has one in 1/48, but surprisingly not in 1/72 for the moment.

I gather this would also be good for Spanish RF-4's.

 

Cheers, Stefan. 

[BWDenver]

4 hours ago, Stefan buysse said:

 

I gather this would also be good for Spanish RF-4's.

 

Cheers, Stefan. 

Glad it will help you!  Certainly looks like it. 

 

I still don't get why FineMolds left this out, or other aftermarket companies have not picked up on this.

 

Bryan

[Hoops]

Maestro Models from Sweden also had an old school cast resin set of the same available years ago, if you ever stumble across one.

 

Hoops

[hemspilot]

On 9/11/2025 at 1:11 PM, BWDenver said:

I've always loved the look of the IAF F-4E Kurnass.  The colors are striking and they have a rich history of service.

The 1/72 FineMolds IAF F-4E is a beautiful kit, but they missed one key item that is IFR Probe. 

 

I really wanted to do a Kurnass as it looked in Operation Peace for Galilee with the distinctive GBU-15(V)-1 bomb and Winders.  But I needed an IFR Probe and an extended muzzle.  The muzzle was not really that much of an issue, but the IFR probe is decidedly not an easy fix.  I picked up the 1/72 MASTER A-4 Skyhawk Bent Probe with the intent on scratching the rest of the IAF probe.  The kit is also a short muzzle F-4.  I was really surprised ISRADECAL has not relessed this mod.

 

 

Then I stumbled on an ND Workshop "IAF F-4E/RF-4E Phantom Refuelling Probe", by Netanel Deri.  When I got home from a trip to Colorado I had the package from Isarael with my mail.

 

It is a gem.  You get two IFR Probes in the box.  the instruction sheet with the probes shows the placement of the probe in a Right Profile view.  It is also available in 1/48th.  netanel.deri@gmail.com 

 

Now I can do the IAF F-4E, and pull my Cutting Edge "Limited Edition IAF F-4 decals out of the file...

 

The parts are available on Etsy, but quite frankly a nightmare to find.  Their search engine is abysmal...

Not sure whether HHA's hard wing Phantoms were equipped with the probe or were just the later slatted wing Kurnasses.

Fine Molds HHA Phantom is a hard wing one.

[BWDenver]

1 hour ago, hemspilot said:

Not sure whether HHA's hard wing Phantoms were equipped with the probe or were just the later slatted wing Kurnasses.

Fine Molds HHA Phantom is a hard wing one.

All I have to go off of is the IsraDecal book on the "F-4E Phantom Kurnass in IAF Service".  While some of the Phantoms with IFR Probes appear to be hard wing birds.  Most are Slatted wings.  And some of the Slatted wings lack the IFR probe.  So go figure.

 

So it appeasers the "Most Correct" FineMolds F-4E to use the IFR Probe may be the "/72 U.S. Air Force Jet Fighter F-4E (Late Model) Clark Air Base"

 

Anyone's thoughts?

 

Bryan

[MoFo]

Just took delivery of my stack of E's and F's.  Thumbing through the instructions, there's an interesting easter egg in Step 25.  Either the F-4S is confirmed, or they're re-tooling sprue B to add airbrakes to all the kits.

 

 

Edited September 23 by MoFo

[hemspilot]

7 hours ago, MoFo said:

Just took delivery of my stack of E's and F's.  Thumbing through the instructions, there's an interesting easter egg in Step 25.  Either the F-4S is confirmed, or they're re-tooling sprue B to add airbrakes to all the kits.

 

 

I don't get what the "easter egg" could be, Step 25 just seems like an option to position the airbrakes closed.

[MoFo]

[Craig Baldwin]

18 hours ago, MoFo said:

Thumbing through the instructions, there's an interesting easter egg in Step 25.  Either the F-4S is confirmed, or they're re-tooling sprue B to add airbrakes to all the kits.

 

Nice find @MoFo . I have my E but never studied the instructions that well. My Tarot cards are saying a spring announcement for the S is coming.

[MoFo]

For those who still haven't spotted it, they're showing the Navy-style antennae just outboard of the airbrakes.  The J kits (so far) have the original wing tooling, which doesn't have airbrakes.  So, either they're going to release an S (possibly with S-style slats?) or they're re-tooling the regular thick wing sprue so the upcoming J re-release  (and future EJs) will have airbrakes...  The S is the 'easier' option, and would also explain why they did the E/F slats on their own sub-sprue.

[GeneK]

4 hours ago, MoFo said:

The S is the 'easier' option, and would also explain why they did the E/F slats on their own sub-sprue.

Some similar discussion here.

 

 

Are the wing mounted antennas the same (shape-wise) on the S as on the J?

 

Gene K

 

Edited September 24 by GeneK

[MoFo]

First and foremost (because it's a simple answer and so it doesn't get lost below), I'm pretty sure #3 in your pic is just a hole for the locating pip on the airbrake pistons.

 

23 hours ago, GeneK said:

Are the wing mounted antennas the same (shape-wise) on the S as on the J?

 

 

Doing some digging for an answer to this (which seems to be yes, BTW), it turns out I spoke too soon about the S kit.

 

Taking things in order, Joe Baugher's history on the F-4S says they retained the ALQ-126 from the F-4J: https://www.aircraftinformation.info/JB_AIF/usaf_fighters/f4_27.html

Tommy Thomason has a blog with pics of the ECM antennae on the F-4S here: https://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2013/01/f-4s-ecm-antennas.html.

I couldn't find any comparable articles about the J with a cursory search, but the PhantomPhacts blog has some useful profile drawings here: https://phantomphacts.blogspot.com/p/analq-126.html and Jumpei Temma's well researched drawings here: https://soyuyo.main.jp/f4/f4e-2.html show the rough shape, which pretty much correspond to the photos of the real thing.

 

Which is when it occurred to me that you can't actually see the slats in step 25, and that I should look at previous releases for the drawing.  The F-4J kits all use the original thick wing sprue - so don't have airbrakes.  The F-4B kit doesn't have you use the antennae.  Turns out it comes from the F-4N instruction manual (step 24):

 

 

So... the antenna parts on sprue Q are for the ALQ-51/51A/100.  The ALQ-126 antennae are on sprue NN. The -51/51A/100 was installed from '67, and they started replacing it from about '72, apparently most of the fleet being converted by '75.  https://phantomphacts.blogspot.com/p/sanders-analq-51-51a-100.html

[hemspilot]

8 hours ago, MoFo said:

First and foremost (because it's a simple answer and so it doesn't get lost below), I'm pretty sure #3 in your pic is just a hole for the locating pip on the airbrake pistons.

 

 

 

Doing some digging for an answer to this (which seems to be yes, BTW), it turns out I spoke too soon about the S kit.

 

Taking things in order, Joe Baugher's history on the F-4S says they retained the ALQ-126 from the F-4J: https://www.aircraftinformation.info/JB_AIF/usaf_fighters/f4_27.html

Tommy Thomason has a blog with pics of the ECM antennae on the F-4S here: https://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2013/01/f-4s-ecm-antennas.html.

I couldn't find any comparable articles about the J with a cursory search, but the PhantomPhacts blog has some useful profile drawings here: https://phantomphacts.blogspot.com/p/analq-126.html and Jumpei Temma's well researched drawings here: https://soyuyo.main.jp/f4/f4e-2.html show the rough shape, which pretty much correspond to the photos of the real thing.

 

Which is when it occurred to me that you can't actually see the slats in step 25, and that I should look at previous releases for the drawing.  The F-4J kits all use the original thick wing sprue - so don't have airbrakes.  The F-4B kit doesn't have you use the antennae.  Turns out it comes from the F-4N instruction manual (step 24):

 

 

So... the antenna parts on sprue Q are for the ALQ-51/51A/100.  The ALQ-126 antennae are on sprue NN. The -51/51A/100 was installed from '67, and they started replacing it from about '72, apparently most of the fleet being converted by '75.  https://phantomphacts.blogspot.com/p/sanders-analq-51-51a-100.html

Excellent research project and great references mention.

Thank you

[GeneK]

11 hours ago, hemspilot said:

Excellent research project and great references mention.

Thank you

Yes, thank you MoFo!

 

Gene K

[MoFo]

Thanks.  If you liked that, hopefully you'll enjoy this.

 

I finally got off my duff and mapped out the various sprues for the F-4 series, to plot out what they've done and get a sense of what might be in the pipeline.

 

A couple of notes:

I am operating on the assumption that they are doing things for logical reasons, with long term plans already thought out.

FineMolds *tend* to follow certain conventions in sprue designations.  Clear sprues *typically* start from the end of the alphabet (Z,Y,X).

They also *tend* to skip the letters I and O for sprues.  Presumably if your native language is Japanese, it's a little hard to tell the difference between an I and a J or an O and a Q.  So assumption #1 is, they're not 'missing', they've been skipped.

When they tool sprues that are just different variants of the same part (like the stabs here, or the airbrakes in the F-15 kit), they tend to name them A1, A2, A3... rather than A, B, C... or AA, AB, AC...  This lets us make a few assumptions about future releases.

Looking at what subjects get which letters, you get a sense of how the kits were developed.  Clearly they planned the EJ first.  Then they planned the B/N next (or at least, allocated those sprue letters...), along with the J.  Then the C/D.  Then the slat wings. (the green highlight illustrate this sequence)

There are two sprues unaccounted for.  At least one will almost certainly be for the S slats, since the separate inboard slats only really make sense if they plan to do the different USN versions (swap AJ for a new sprue).  The other one could well be the radome and tail for the G.

That said, since we're now up to AK, there's not really any limit to how many sprues they could tool.

 

Also, just a vibes thing, but looking at the the way they've broken down their various modern jet kits, I don't think the RFs are out of the question.  Replace sprue F with a camera nose, tool the windows and you're there. 

 

[Craig Baldwin]

13 minutes ago, MoFo said:

Thanks.  If you liked that, hopefully you'll enjoy this.

 

 

Thank you @MoFo, your way ahead of us. 

[hemspilot]

On 9/24/2025 at 4:58 PM, MoFo said:

For those who still haven't spotted it, they're showing the Navy-style antennae just outboard of the airbrakes.  The J kits (so far) have the original wing tooling, which doesn't have airbrakes.  So, either they're going to release an S (possibly with S-style slats?) or they're re-tooling the regular thick wing sprue so the upcoming J re-release  (and future EJs) will have airbrakes...  The S is the 'easier' option, and would also explain why they did the E/F slats on their own sub-sprue.

Me thinks that your first option is the one more likely to happen.

[GeneK]

On 9/27/2025 at 9:37 AM, MoFo said:

I finally got off my duff and mapped out the various sprues for the F-4 series, to plot out what they've done and get a sense of what might be in the pipeline.

 

Gold ... thanks!

 

Where's the "LIKE" button on this site?

 

Gene K

[Stefan buysse]

10 hours ago, GeneK said:

 

Gold ... thanks!

 

Where's the "LIKE" button on this site?

 

Gene K

 

Yes,

 

I'm also grateful for this research and I thought a "Like" button would have been a good way to show appreciation without cluttering the thread.

I can only add that a sprue in the Ax range that I would like is another chin pod for the F-4B (the one that is made of parts P24 and P25 in the 1/48 Tamiya kit).

 

Cheers, Stefan.

 

[Craig Baldwin]

Joycraft.ca are working on a slat/flaps deployed wing set. Plans are for all hardwing versions, so far pictures of the thin wing sets, again in development. Check their Facebook page.

 

 

[bazooka]

2 hours ago, Craig Baldwin said:

This is for the Finemolds 1/72 F-4B.  He will be making another wing for the F-4C/D/E/EJ.  The thick/bulged wing.