Used to be my
first model where I tried to add some detail. It is famous tailnumber 463
of the 555. TFS, 432. TRW. This jet was the highest scoring aircraft of
the US Forces in Vietnam. It ended up with 6 killmarks on it's splitter plate at
the end of the Vietnam war. I built this model in 2000. Decals where from
Superscale's Mig Killer Sheet, but only the tailcodes, numbers and crew names
were used since this sheet was already very old, the rest came from FOX-1 F-4C
Gunfighter and the kit decal sheet. Actually the configuration is a little
bit wrong, but I didn't know then. The killmarks are painted the way the
aircraft returned on the 28. August '72 when the Pilot Cpt. Steve Ritchie got
his 5th kill. But on that mission he jettisoned all his external tanks and
launched all 4 AIM-7E-2's. The following night, the Stars where repainted in a
different manner, so the jet never appeared in this way of config. and killmarks.
Besides that all the Combat Tree F-4D where carrying a noise ALQ-87 ECM-pod
under the right wing pylon and a deception ALQ-101 ECM pod under the left wing
pylon. The Cutting Edge Decal sheet also got that wrong! I put AIM-9E's on
the PHANTOM since I destroyed the AIM-9J's ( which should be there) while trying
to correct the thickness of the fins. The AIM-9s and ECM-pods are from the
HASEGAWA weapons set. The AIM-7's where taken from FUJIMI F-14 kits and the RBF-flags
were from REHEAT. Seats and Photo edged parts are from Verlinden.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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To add a little bit
realism the ailerons where drooped, the rudder offset, the speedbrakes slightly
opened and the left tip of the external wing tank was painted in a slightly
lighter green and a little bit different pattern than the other tanks.
For 5 years now, I've
thought about building this jet again, with all the minor things corrected, but
you know, once you've got little kids....
Michael
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