Once again, the folks at Black Box have placated those Phantom Phreaks
out there (myself included) with it's third set for the venerable F-4 . Ironically, this is the first set for a naval variant,
considering it was developed as a carrier-borne interceptor.
The instructions are the familiar black & white exploded view
drawings, with the parts list at the top, & painting instructions for the
ejection seats. Hasegawa is the
recommended kit.
The fine detail
we are used to from Black Box is present on this set. Needles are present on the instrument faces, & wire
bundles exit the rear of the instruments in the rear cockpit. The sidewall details are excellent, matching up very closely
with my reference sources. The
cockpit tub is correct for the naval versions of the F-4, having no right side
console in the rear cockpit. The
control sticks are on their own stub, with two protective rods as part of the
pour. Do not use the longer rear
control stick, as these were not used on this model F-4.
The ejection seats are identical, down to the seat belt positions.
The face curtain handles will have to come from outside the set.
I tried out the set for fit with the older, raised panel line kit, and
the current, recessed panel line kit with the corrected rear cockpit, as there
are differences in the cockpit between these two kits.
If using the older kit, the circuit breaker panel on the right side of
the rear cockpit must be removed to get a proper fit.
On the recessed panel line version, both sides of the front cockpit wall
raised detail must be filed down to get a proper fit.
The only part
of the kit that left me confused dealt with parts 9 & 18, & the
instructions to paint over the left side center window & put the telescope
piece there. I could not find a
picture of these items in any of my reference books.
I think they are part of the Visual Target Identification System (VTAS)
that were fitted to some late model J's & S's. This system was similar the helmet mounted targeting system
that is installed on the AH-64 series of attack helicopters.
After looking at my reference sources again for a little while, I
realized this set could be used on a F-4S kit without modification, and satisfy
most of us, as there is very little difference between the J & S cockpits.
Overall, another high quality kit from these folks, & I recommended
it to all the F-4 modelers out there. I
wonder if the Black Box folks are thinking that there is enough diffence between
the J/S & B/N cockpits to warrant issuing a F-4 set for the B/N version like
I am..
Chris Ishmael
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