The Last Of The Weasels

Historical Background

In 1953, the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation began designing the replacement for its F3H Demon fighter. In the chain of events that followed, the US Navy ordered the prototype of the F4H-1 to be evaluated as a fleet defense interceptor. McDonnell named the F4H-1 (redesignated F-4 post-1962) as Phantom II, continuing the tradition naming their aircraft with 'spooky' names. The suffix 'II' reflects the fact that this was the second aircraft named 'Phantom', after the first Phantom (FH-1) of the late 1940s. Although designed as a fleet interceptor, the-then Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara pushed for the Phantom to be used by the USAF as part of his attempt to create a unified fighter for all branches of the US military. A F-4B was used in a fly-off competition named Operation Highspeed against the Convair F-106 Delta Dart, in which the Phantom won. Following this, the USAF swallowed its pride and borrowed 29 USN F-4Bs in January 1962 for evaluation. Liking what they saw, the USAF ordered their version of the Phantom, with the designation F-110A Spectre. It differed from the F-4B by being an all weather tactical fighter and able to carry a wide selection of weapons, including nuclear. The wheels are wider, resulting in distinctive wing bulges. The engines were the Dash 15 version of the J79 with option for cartridge start. Refueling system was changed to the USAF's boom method, primary sensor was the AN/APQ-100 radar and a duplicated flight controls for the second pilot at the back. With the introduction of the Tri-Service aircraft designation system in September 1962, The F-110A was redesignated F-4C.

The F-4C was developed further into the F-4D with upgraded electronics, allowing the usage of 'smart' munitions such as laser-guided bombs. Other F-4C variants were the RF-4C tactical reconnaissance aircraft and the EF-4C Wild Weasel IV SEAD aircraft. The EF-4C was equipped with AN/APR-25 Radar Homing and Warning System (RHAWS) aerials, AN/APR-26 missile launch warning system, ER-142 ECM receiver and AN/ALQ-119 external ECM pod. The offensive weapons were AGM-45 Shrike ARM and cluster bombs but was unable to carry the AGM-78 Standard ARM. The definitive USAF Phantom variant was the F-4E which finally introduced a built-in General Electric M61 Vulcan 20mm cannon. The nose profile was also slimmed down with the introduction of the AN/APQ-120 radar. The 'E' was the most numerous variant with 1,370 built for USAF and various export customers. 116 of USAF F-4Es were converted into F-4G Wild Weasel V SEAD aircraft. While retaining the radar of the F-4E, the cannon and its associated equipment were removed to make way for the APR-38 RHAWS (later replaced with AN/APR-47). External ECM pod include the ALQ-87, AN/ALQ-101, AN/ALQ-119 and AN/ALQ-131. The F-4G can carry the AGM-78 and later on, the AGM-88 HARM, AGM-65 Mavericks can also be carried. A further 18 F-4Es were converted as attrition replacements.

The F-4G entered squadron service in 1978 and were deployed to three active fighter wings: the 35th at George AFB, California; the 3rd TFW at Clark AFB, The Philippines and the 52nd TFW at Spangdahlem AFB, Germany. While earlier Wild Weasel aircraft fought in Vietnam, the F-4G were only used in action during Operation Desert Storm, with only the 3rd TFW not deployed to the Gulf. The Weasels flew 3,942 sorties, fired 1,000 missiles and destroyed 200 missile sites. The Weasels used the same tactic used during the Vietnam War: the 'Hunter-Killer' team where the Weasels destroy the site's radar emitters allowing conventional attack aircraft to destroy it using normal munitions such as cluster bombs. Another tactic used during Desert Storm was enticing Iraqi SAM sites to radiate by using unmanned drones simulating attack aircraft. The active sites were then subjected to ARM (especially AGM-88) barrage. Following the war, some of the 35th TFW were assigned to the 190th FS, 124th FW Idaho ANG while the rest of the F-4G fleet were transferred to 561st FS, 57th FW at Nellis AFB. The F-4Gs remained in service until 1996, being the last of Air Force Phantoms.

The Kit

Fujimi came up with new-tool 1/72 Phantoms in 1985 and like Hasegawa, has sprouted various versions and boxings (from what I read, it seems that it was Fujimi who started this trend). The F-4G was originally released in 1986 and the kit I used is a 2006 reboxing. From initial observation, it looks OK to me with good details, although not as good as Hasegawa's when I compared it to my F-4B. In fact, I think the Fujimi engraved detail is too fine and might be lost under the paint. The cockpit is what is expected from a 1980s kit - sparsely detailed with the instrument and side panels being decals. Stores include two 370-US Gal wing tanks, one 600-US Gal centreline tank, AN/ALQ-119 ECM pod and most inappropriately, an air combat load of four AIM-9 Sidewinders and four AIM-7 Sparrows. Three planes are represented in the decal sheet, all in SEA camouflage scheme:

1. 69-582, tailcode 'WW', 39th TFTS, 35th TFW, George AFB, CA

2. 69-290 tailcode 'GA', 39th TFTS, 35th TFW, George AFB, CA

3. 69-210 tailcode 'PN', 90th TFS, 3rd TFW, Clark AFB, The Philippines

Construction

The cockpit parts and the sidewalls were first painted Gunze H317 Dark Gull Grey. As mentioned beforehand, the instrument and side panels are in the shape of decals and were applied accordingly. The rear cockpit lacked the details of a vanilla F-4E, let alone an F-4G! The ejection seats are so-so although they do have the face curtain handles moulded (out of scale of course). The cockpit assembly was then cemented to the nose wheel bay cum forward fuselage bottom. The fuselage halves can then be cemented together. Next were the intake assembly which were made up of the outer wall and the splitter plate/inner wall. Fit is not that good however, with seam lines running between the intake and the fuselage. The next step is concerned with the wing but I skipped it and continue with the fuselage. The APR-38 fairing was assembled and then cemented onto the nose. There is a bit of fit problem with the halves but the fairing fit nicely to the fuselage. This was followed by the ram air intake on the cheeks.

Moving on to the wings, holes were drilled into the bottom half of the wing in order to place fairings located there - there is however no need to drill holes for the pylons as they were already pre-drilled. The wing halves were then cemented together and the assembly was then mated with the fuselage, more or less finishing the initial part of the build. I did not cement the tailplanes at this time and would paint it separately.

Painting and Decaling

All three marking options feature the T.O-1.1.4 camouflage and since all three feature the same pattern, I proceeded with the painting, and only thinking about the marking options afterwards. The bottom colour (FS36622) was painted using Tamiya AS-16 Light Grey. The upper camouflage colours were FS30219, for which I used a mixture of Tamiya XF-59 Desert Yellow and XF-64 Red Brown; FS34102 was Tamiya XF-67 NATO Green and XF-13 JA Green was used for FS34079 while the radome and the forward part of the fairing were painted XF-1 Flat Black.  The  exhausts were painted Burnt Iron while the metallic parts of the tailplanes were painted Steel and and Steel mixed with Silver. For markings, the 35th TFW Weasels were quite boring, so I chose the 3rd TFW F-4G with the shark face. The Fujimi decals are comparable to Hasegawa's but without the off-white decals plaguing Hasegawa kits of the same vintage. The decals were then received the Mr Mark Softer treatment.

Finishing

The remaining parts can now be permanently cemented onto the model. Nothing of issue here except for the loadout which came with the kit. The air combat loadout was replaced as follows: an AGM-45 Shrike ARM on each of the outer wing pylons, an AGM-78 Standard ARM on the starboard inner pylon and a AGM-65 Maverick on the port inner pylon. Two AIM-7 Sparrows on the rear fuselage missile recesses and an ALQ-119 ECM pod on the port forward missile bay. All the missiles and the ECM pod came from Hasegawa Weapons Set. While OK, the fit of the AGM-78 halves was not good, resulting in a visible seam line. I decided not to enhance panel lines of this model and just doing it on the control surfaces only.

Conclusion

This is my second Fujimi kit and like the MiG-21, the Phantom is a nice and easy build. There is some fit problem but the fix wasn't tough either. The cockpit however really needs aftermarket help as it featured not even an F-4E cockpit layout. Anyway, the Fujimi Phantom is cheaper than the Hasegawa counterpart. Sure, the detail and accuracy is less than its more well-known rival but it could still be made into a nice representation of a F-4G.