1/72 Hasegawa F-4E Phantom II

Indiana ANG Special

by Carl Jarosz

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As a “Hoosier” for most of my life, one could appreciate the immediate and intense need I felt to purchase Hasegawa’s kit (#00895) of the venerable Phantom II that was in service with the Indiana Air National Guard until 1991, specifically with the 181st TFG, a.k.a. “The Racers,” based at Hulman Field, Terre Haute, Indiana (almost on the Illinois state line for you non-Hoosiers).
I built the kit out of box, with the only exception being a Eduard photo-etch boarding ladder, which looks natural in a static display, as one can better understand how an external means of ingress and egress was needed for Phantom crewmen. The kit went together very well, except for those little fairings on either side of the wing pylons: they have to be set at just the right height, or else they won’t be flush with the wing underside when assembled. I had to resort to removing the plastic web that joined either fairing side (they’re asymmetrical) and gluing all four fairing sections in place per pylon. Very tedious, but necessary.
The cockpit was also assembled out of box, without all those expensive after market add-ons. I scratch built seat belts from masking tape and added silver tips to denote belt buckles. For 1/72 scale, I feel they look very adequate, and very much in my budget.
The pitot tube on the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer is super fragile; mine broke off before I was aware of it. No harm done, as I made it better by using a scale piece of copper wire as restoration. I also added a little flair to the kit by cutting the chaff flare doors in half and assembling them in open mode.
The decals went on rather well. I only used Microset, as I remembered a disastrous experience using Microsol with some past Hasegawa decals. I hope you can understand why I rather like this kit and the outfit it represents. I accentuated each recessed panel line with a mechanical pencil, then selectively added pastel weathering. As for the boarding ladder, it seems photos I researched showed the ladders in different colors. Yellow is a near universal color denoting caution, so that’s why I chose that color. 
I exclusively used Model Master enamel paints, as I still haven’t gotten the knack using acrylics, ruining three built kits to always remember. I spent nearly 20 hours over many evenings getting it done. I hope the photos I took provide you with enough visual detail – this is my very first time photographing my model. I consider more talent is required of taking good model photos than actually building one!

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This is my very first attempt taking photos for submission to ARC. The photo taking experience proved to be the most demanding of the entire effort. I learned a lot; if and when I submit future articles on builds, I’ll work to eliminate the distractions you may see.

Carl

Photos and text © by Carl Jarosz