Modelling the F-4 Phantom II [Paperback]

Geoff Coughlin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Osprey Modelling | Publication Date: November 21, 2003

The 'Phabulous' Phantom first took to the air on 27 May 1958 and has been in service around the world for many decades. The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Iran, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Spain and Turkey have all operated this powerful aircraft. The Phantom starred in both the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm, and in its service career has flown every traditional military mission. With many F-4 variants in service (from FG.1s to 'Wild Weasels'), and some 25 scale model kits currently available, the possibilities for modelling this subject are endless. There are few guides currently available to the F-4 modeller: this book seeks to redress the imbalance, providing an in-depth and step-by-step approach to modelling this plane across a variety of scales, types, and national schemes.

Editorial Reviews

Review

‘a perfect example of what this series should be like . . . a fine modeling book . . . great value.’ -- Book Review (Modeling Madness)

‘splendid . . . [very] clearly described . . . anyone can follow the sequence and improve their skills. . . highly recommended!’ -- John Prigent (Internet Modeler)

About the Author

Geoff Coughlin has been building scale models for over 20 years. He is known to many in the hobby through articles that regularly appear in popular magazines, including Tamiya Model Magazine International and Scale Models International. The subjects featured in these journals cover practically every aspect of building scale aircraft models from biplane vac-forms such as the Aeroclub Gloster Gauntlet to the stunning Tamiya F-15E Strike Eagle and Revell / Monogram He 111. For Osprey, Geoff has previously written World War 2 Luftwaffe Fighter Modelling in the Masterclass series, and he has recently written a book on the Fairey Swordfish for Tamiya. He lives in Hertfordshire, UK. Neil Ashby has been interested in aircraft from an early age: his father served in the RAF in 45 Squadron during the Malayan conflict. His uncle also flew for Bomber Command during World War II on the Handley Page Halifax and Short Stirling. Neil began modelling seriously in 1990, and soon after that he joined IPMS (Barnet). He enjoys making models from all eras, but his main interest is in the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom - helped by his memories of Phantoms flying over the Norfolk coast during family holidays! Neil lives in Hertfordshire, UK, with his wife Tanya.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (November 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841767468
• ISBN-13: 978-1841767468
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.2 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,034,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of "Modelling the F-4 Phantom II", December 7, 2003

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modelling the F-4 Phantom II (Paperback)

I just purchased a copy of the new book "Modelling the F-4 Phantom II" by Geoff Coughlin and Neil Ashby. Having worked on F-4Cs and F-4Es for five years back in the 1980s I believe I have a somewhat unique perspective on modeling this airplane.

The book is six chapters plus a foreward by an RAF Phantom pilot, an introduction that suggests different modelling tools and materials, a section on weathering, duplicating the bare metal areas, displaying the completed model and photographing the model, a biography and reference section, and a list some of the currently available Phantom kits with some comments about each. One possible problem for American purchasers of the book is the liberal use of British brand-name paints, materials and chemicals, calling for the use of such materials as "Rotring air brush cleaner" and "Halford's screen wash." I would have no idea of what the US equivalents of these would be, but of course with the internet we can get that info readily from our Brit friends I'm sure. The authors also describe using different gauges of "fuse wire" for cockpit details, but as an American, even being an electronics tech, I'm not sure what fuse wire is nor what an American equivalent would be. FWIW, I've found several gauges of lead wire at a fishing tackle shop (for tying flies) that work very well for detailing, perhaps this is the same stuff?

The book doesn't really give too many insights about the F-4 and it's unique characteristics; rather, it shows several models in three scales, 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32, discussing construction, detailing with resin and photoetch, painting, decaling and weathering with washes and pastels. If you are looking for a project as super-detailed as Pierre Greutert's superb 1/32 F-4S (those of you who are members of the Yahoo groups F4sForever and F-4Discussion know the model I'm referring to), you'll be disappointed. This book has each subject model built more-or-less out of the box, with the additions of detail parts in the cockpits and other areas but no major surgery or scratchbuilding.

The first project is an 81st TFS (Spangdahlem AB, Germany) Hill Gray painted F-4G in 1/48 scale by Hasegawa with Eduard photo etch, Aires exhaust nozzles, and AirDOC decals. There are a couple of very minor errors in this chapter, referring to AGM-88 HARMs as AGM-45 Shrikes in a couple of places for one, as well as mentioning cutting and dropping the "Moulded-in flaps on the main wings... just inboard of the wing-fold", the "flaps" which of course are the ailerons. I would have hoped a book on the F-4 would have mentioned the unique-to-Phantoms (AFAIK) characteristic that when the stick is deflected one aileron goes down while the opposite side has a spoiler that comes up (with that side's aileron traveling upwards only a couple of degrees as the spoiler comes up). As the book says, when the hydraulics aren't pressurized, both ailerons tend to droop over time. The F-4G is shown with the left side aileron fully down, which was possible but rare to see. Generally the ailerons would droop to a maximum of only 30 degrees or so, and most often the ailerons on each side would be at noticeably different angles from each other.
Interestingly, in this chapter the authors describe a mistake they made, planning to use the Aires resin exhaust nozzles but failing to make sure they fit before gluing the major assemblies of the aircraft together. Because of some plastic structure inside the rear fuselage of the Hasegawa kit that should have been cut away for the nozzles but wasn't, the author had to cut the nozzles much shorter so they would fit. I liked that they so readily admitted their mistakes and how they compensated; who among us has never done something similar?
The authors also heavily tint the center windscreen green on this and most of the other models in this book, which is incorrect. The three-piece windscreen on a Phantom consists of the side panels which are Plexiglass plastic roughly 1/2 inch thick, and the center panel which is laminated glass, roughly an inch thick. Glass is less transparent than plastic (compare a large acrylic aquarium with a glass aquarium of similar capacity at a pet store if you want to see this for yourself), and really thick glass takes on a very faint green tint. I'd seen many models of Phantoms with tinted center windscreens before I joined the Air Force, so when I was working on them I took a good look to see if this was accurate. In most lighting conditions, the center windscreen looked clear, but perhaps VERY slightly darker than the side panels. However, in certain lighting conditions (hazy no-shadow days as I recall) the glass would appear a beautiful shade of green. The center windscreens on book's models are tinted far too dark. If you are going to tint the glass on your models, make it subtle!

The second chapter in this book illustrates the Revell RF-4E in 1/72 scale, using Eduard Photo etch, part of the Aires Cockpit and afterburner nozzles, and AirDOC decals to finish the model in AG51 marking in the two dark greens, dark gray Luftwaffe scheme of the 1980s. This is a short chapter, but does a nice job of showing the detail that can be incorporated in this small scale.

The third chapter details the 1/48 scale Hasegawa FGR.2 in 23 Squadron markings painted light grays, using the aires F-4E/F cockpit with modifications, Airwaves seats for British Phantoms, and AeroMaster decals. They show the difficulties involved in getting the Aires cockpit to fit, and have a few good detailing ideas. One minor quibble I have is that the author deflects the rudder and rudder pedals (correct) and the nose wheel is turned to match (maybe not so correct). On the Phantom (as with most other aircraft with hydraulic nose wheel steering) the nose wheel position is independent of the rudder pedals with the hydraulics depressurized. The rudder is mechanically as well as hydraulically connected to the rudder pedals, but the nose wheel steering is hydraulic only with a small hydraulic motor and gears. Whatever position the nose wheel is after engine shutdown or after the tow bar is disconnected is where it will stay. The rudder and rudder pedals will go to a neutral postion, unless a stiff breeze blows the rudder off to one side in which case the pedals will deflect accordingly. As an addendum, on the Phantom when the hydraulics are depressurized the control stick goes to the centered neutral position no matter what deflection the stabilator was set to during shutdown. The stab will retain whatever position it was when the hydraulics were depressurized even as the control stick goes to centered neutral. The ailerons were always at neutral and the spoilers closed when the jet was shut down in my experience. The spoilers could be pried up by the crew chief during his preflight inspections. Normally they'd close themselves after he let them go, but sometimes they'd stay up a little. Still, it was extremely rare to see them open even a little without the hydraulics pressurized and the stick deflected. Do note Phantom spoilers were used in conjunction with the ailerons only; the left and right wing spoilers couldn't be raised simultaneously like you might see on an airliner or cargo aircraft. Anyway, it is possible that the nosewheel, rudder pedals and rudder would all be in alignment off to one side on a parked Phantom, but it's much more likely that the nosewheel would be centered. If you want to throw contest judges for a loop, cock the nosewheel off to the opposite side from the rudder and pedals; you'd be just as correct but it'd sure look unnatural!

The next chapter features the 1/32 scale Tamiya F-4J in the RAF's 74 Squadron markings from Yellow Hammer, Eduard PE, Cutting Edge Sidewinders and Navy Wheels, a CAM SUU-23A gunpod on the centerline, and Reheat seats and intake covers. This model features a scratch-built Ram Air Turbine and landing gear downlocks made from thin plastic tubing. Most Phantom models I've seen don't have the downlocks in place, which clamped over the rod portion of the gear retraction actuators. Those downlocks were in place until just before the crew "stepped" to the jet when we maintenance folks would remove them, and reinstalled by us as the aircrew was still getting out of the jet after they shut it down. Accurate downlocks would be a nice thing to have Cutting Edge or someone else market.
The authors did an excellent job depicting the worn paint on the canopy sills, worn from personnel getting in and out of the aircraft. The only problem I see with it is that they have the left and right sills equally worn. In reality the right sill was never badly worn, and we entered and exited the cockpit from the left side only. The righthand sills got only very minor wear from the crew chief standing on it as he polished the interiors of the open canopies.
This model also has an open dragchute door with a chute packed inside. This is inaccurate, as the door would be pulled closed as soon as the chute was stuffed in the canister, or the door left open with no chute inside. You could display a model with the chute inside like this if you also position a maintenance stand under the rear of the jet and have a crewman on the stand about to close the door.
This model uses the Cutting Edge wheels for Navy Phantoms which are bulged to represent aircraft weight. The True Details Company seems to have started this trend, but Phantoms' and many other high-performance fighters' tires don't bulge with weight. The tires have extremely strong sidewalls. As weight is added to the aircraft, the bottoms get flatter and flatter, but the sidewalls don't bulge at all. As a side note, forgetting to move the chocks away from the tires before we refueled and loaded up the jet would mean the jet would settle onto the chocks with all... Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I was expecting, but suitable for its purpose, March 2, 2006

By 

G. Boulton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Modelling the F-4 Phantom II (Paperback)

If you're looking to scratch build a Phantom, or looking for dimensions, details, or plans, look elsewhere. This book contains nothing along those lines.

If you're looking for tips on how to make a plastic model look more realistic, this seems to be an outstanding publication, though it contains little in the way of new or creative ideas...experienced modelers will find it to be a dissapointment.