The parts breakdown for the ejection seats is unusual and careful painting will bring out all the beautiful detail. Be sure to read all the side notes for the missiles, pylons, and tanks, or you risk missing important details.Ĭonstruction then came full circle, back to the cockpit. Tamiya has designed the wing tips, flaps and speed brakes with plenty of support. Three pages later the beautifully detailed landing gear was in place and the plane could finally stand on its own feet. I was concerned about the seven-piece exhaust units, but the fit was perfect. A small dab of Vallejo putty smoothed with a wet finger finished the job. Just be sure the glue cures beforehand or the tension may pull the intakes down and produce a step at the upper joint. ![]() With the intakes positioned flush at the top, a gap showed up at the wing root. After gluing the top seam, I used small bar clamps to draw the wings tight against the intakes. The only fit issue I encountered was between the intakes and the fuselage and wings. The seams inside the intakes are mostly hidden, so I felt no need to putty and sand them. A separate spine and lower forward fuselage minimize awkward seams and nearly every exterior joint in the kit falls on a panel line.ĭo not forget to open holes for the underwing stores or install the intake probes before closing the assemblies, although you will be able to install the probes later if you forget them as I did. Extra structural elements and braces on the front gear well, afterburner sections, and wing interior ensure alignment and establish correct cross sections for the airframe. The console switch panels are separate drop-ins making painting easy. This is perhaps the most complete kit cockpit I’ve seen, and no photo-etched metal parts are involved. Why am I geeking out over something so insignificant? Because it shows that Tamiya’s thoughtful engineering extends to the smallest detail, and a commitment to not just a superior fitting kit, but to the best build experience possible. Then, I could flip the fuselage half over and add more glue from the back side through the hole. I was able to put minimal quick-setting extra thin cement on the ridge, place the panel, and wait a few seconds for it to grab. Instead, Tamiya has a deeper recess at the panel line, a raised ridge that insures a flush fit, and a hole through the fuselage. If you used too little glue the panel would fall back out at some inopportune moment too much and the excess may squeeze out and require cleanup or, worse, find your finger and leave your “builder’s mark” (aka fingerprint) in the plastic. Traditionally there would be a flat recess that the panel would drop in and hopefully be flush. This makes things quite clear and I found it extremely helpful.īefore constructing the cockpit, Tamiya has you install several exterior panels. Several of the steps, including the first, are just detail painting instructions. Being a sucker for shark’s teeth, I chose Option B for VF-111 Sundowners. Pick the scheme you plan to build before starting construction, because there are minor part and painting differences between the airframes. Canopy masks are included, although they are not pre-cut.īuild options include extended refueling probe, boarding ladder, dropped flaps, deployed air brakes, folded wingtips, and open or closed canopies. Nearly 400 decals make up the three schemes and stencils. ![]() There’s also a stencil layout, tech tips, painting tips and a short history. In several cases, Tamiya has left two or three different letter trees together for example, Q, R, and S were still connected.Ī 24-page, 63-step instruction book guides construction, and three to-scale, color painting instructions show the marking options. Tamiya provides 399 molded light gray and clear parts on 22 parts trees - at least by the letters. It’s only shortcoming - the lack of an internal cannon - stemmed from non-fighter pilots deciding that the age of close-contact aerial combat (dogfighting) was over, leading at least one fighter pilot to comment, “Never bring a missile to a gunfight!” Everyone from Academy to Zoukei-Mura has produced a 1/48 scale Phantom, so do we really need another? Read on. With two Genereal Electric J79 engines belching black smoke and carrying up to eight air-to-air missiles ordnance load larger than most World War II bombers, the F-4 epitomized brute force fighter design.
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