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F-4C Phantom II

First look at Zoukei-Mura 1/48 F-4C Phantom II by Jezz Coleman

T

he F-4 Phantom is

one of the most easily

recognisable and famous

aircraft of the latter half of

the 20th century. The USAF’s

first version was based on the

airframe of the US Navy’s F-4B,

but with modifications: the rear

cockpit was modified for the air

force’s weapons system officer

and a second set of controls was

fitted. Other changes included

broader tyres and a set of more

powerful brakes, as they would

be land- as opposed to carrier-

based, and a completely different

avionics suite was employed.

The F-4C first flew in 1963 and

was almost fully equipping all USAF

squadrons in Vietnam by 1965.

Zoukei-Mura has now released

this kit to follow-up their two

fantastic naval releases (in

the form of the F-4J and F-4S),

and it is a great addition to

their portfolio of Phantoms.

THE KIT

The kit parts comes on 11

sprues containing 370 light

grey parts, and one more sprue

containing 14 clear parts. The

instruction booklet is extremely

detailed and comprehensive.

The large decal sheet has

markings for only one aircraft,

an F-4C from 57th FIS, NAS

Keflavik, Iceland 1976. These are

the Bicentennial markings and

are quite colourful, with a large

checkerboard design covering the

entire vertical stabiliser. They are

printed by Cartograph and are

perfectly in register and very crisp.

The kit is largely based on the

previous releases and indeed,

many of those parts are still

included. There are new details

for the fuselage, including new

shortened afterburner nozzles

to correctly depict the J79-GE-15

engines (although the original

nozzles are still included).

The rear cockpit is accurate for

the F-4C, but the two Martin-Baker

ejection seats do not include any

pilot restraining harnesses. These

belts really are needed, so on my

previous F-4S build I had added a set

of Quickboost resin replacements.

I purchased the Zoukei-Mura

etch set for the cockpit, which is

produced by Eduard, but it almost

seems a shame to not use the

moulded detail in the cockpit, as

it really is that good. A careful

painter can make this cockpit

look fantastic out of the box.

The canopies come with the

option of open or closed. If it is

not being used on the finished

42 • APRIL 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

FIRST LOOK!

042-47-FirstLooks-0418.indd 42 09/03/2018 16:15