Hasegawa 1/72 Phantom Wing Slats

on 7/20/2008 12:32 PM Gondor said the following:

From this site

"On first look you will see five sprues, 3 in light grey and 2 clear, separately bagged, of course; instructions and decal sheet. There are a bit over 100 parts, six of them are marked not for use (these are older F-4E outer wings and clear parts of recce-nose, used in RF-4E kit). So three (2 grey and 1 clear) sprues are identical in both kits, F-4F and RF-4E, with the fourth one being unique. This kit has a new nose section with new dashboards, outer wings and missiles. Instructions is typical Revell with sprue diagrams, 38 steps (two for marking and painting) and with 16 called-out colours (Revell?s of course). Decal sheet is a colourful one, considering the versions and roughly A5 size."

So, I guess it depends upon what version you are building.

That's quite odd that should happen. Section 12 on the instructions is clearly wrong, especially as the boxtop photo clearly shows the fairings. I have just pulled an earlier boxing of this kit - "F-4E Phabulous Phantom" - from my stash and the instructions are the same in that one. Astonishing! I have never noticed that before...

However, not to worry. Have a look at these pages. The links will show you where the parts in question fit. Don't worry about the fact that the kit is an F-4F. The only difference is in the tailplanes.

Hope this helps.

Thank you Enzo that was exactly the information I was looking for especially as I do not have any other version of the F-4 by Hasegawa that uses wing slats. I was very surprised to see that the information was missing and that the parts were shaded as not in use. Once again my thanks.

Gondor

You are very welcome. That site is a useful one to bookmark as it has instruction leaflets for many kits.

With regards to the version of Phantom that I am building I have found in the last couple of weeks the following.

F-4E Early production machines had only drooped flaps an unsloted tail plain along with the short canon muzzle. The longer muzzle and slatted tail along with the leading edge slats were fitted to later production machines and retro fitted to earlier machines.

F-4EJ No slatted wings or tail plains as with the early production E version but with the longer cannon muzzle. The Kai has the same features as far as slats and slots are concerned.

F-4F Slats on the wing leading edges and no slotted tail surfaces. Also has a long canon muzzle.

F-4G Converted from the E version with slatted wings and slotted tail surfaces.

What I am intending to do with the two kits of the Indiana ANG F-4E I have recently bought is to make one an Israli aircraft and the other a Greek AUP aircraft.

Be very careful with the Israeli aircraft. The first slatted F-4Es were Block 51 aircraft delivered as part of Operation Peace Echo IV in late 1971. Previous aircraft had non-slatted wings. Between 1971 and 1978, slats were retro-fitted to all earlier aircraft by IAI. If your chosen aircraft is after this date it is safe to assume that it had a slatted wing, but for any date before 1978 it is essential to find photographic evidence.

Thank you Enzo, I am not going to be doing much until Isra Bring out their new book on the F-4 Phantom which has gone to the top of my must purchase list..

Gondor

Good choice! I'm pretty sure that will have everything you need to know.

By "drooped flaps" I think you mean leading edge flaps (vice slats), right? You're correct about the VERY early F-4Es not having slotted stabs, but by 1966 (in Operational testing) the slotted stabs were introduced. The slats came in much later - almost ten years later. In other words, you'd be hard pressed to find an unslotted F-4E.

Gene K

Yep I agree with you about that Geane as long as your talking about finding one like that today, however the F-4E's loaned to Australia and the first of the aircraft sold to Israel were of the early version without the wing slats. Unless anyone knows of someone that produces the slotted stabaliser as a separate item the only way to produce a model in 1/72 from a Hasegawa kit is to swap the outer wings of an F-4EJ with an F-4E which will produce an early F-4E and an F-4F. Expensive I know, but I think the quality of the moldings outweighs the price.

Gondor

OK.... I messed up

The Japanese F-4EJ does have the slatted stabilizer which makes it the best choice to make an early F-4E. So now I realize that there are none available on the market to put in the stash.

Gondor