Am I right in thinking that when the UK bought the F-4J it was purchased as is, i.e. without modifications and thus if I wanted to build a 74 Sqn aircraft I could take any F-4J kit, paint it it in RAF colours and stick
74 Sqn decals on and it would be reasonably accurate?TIA
Reasonably accurate. There were a few minor antenna differences, but using a standard F-4J kit would be close enough.
Dave
Long time since i built a tiger sqn F4, but i know for sure that the US used the wrong colour paint, im sure the seats were changed too.
The seats as delivered were US-style MB. Mk. 7s, same as in the US F-4J. Over their life, the seats were replaced with British pattern MB Mk.7s from retired FG.1s and FGR.2s. I don't know that the two type of seats were that different from a modeling viewpoint, but Airwaves makes some Mk. 7s for RAF Phantoms in 1/48 scale.
The US did initially use the wrong color paint, but the aircraft were eventually repainted in the correct colors.
Dave
yes, i now remember the UK pilots had to year US suits or helmets
Where they? i have pics of the wrong one, quite a unusual hue to it.
>The US seats used a different harness arrangement to the British seats, and I do believe initially US flight suits were worn.
The aircraft were delivered in US matches of the BS paint hues :
Lt Aircraft Grey = FS36440 Lt Gull Grey Med Sea Grey = FS 36270 Med Grey Barley Grey = FS????? Flint Grey
The flint grey wasa peculiar colour sometimes appearing blue sometimes green, depending on light levels and weather conditions. As the aircraft were overhauled, they were repainted in correct RAF colours and British seats fitted.
HTH Ant
They were delivered to the UK in the wrong colors. Sometime during their service in the UK, the aircraft were repainted. Don't know how long they wore the "wrong" colors, but they were in service for a while that way.
Dave
A popular theory at the time - which is my way of saying I've no idea how true it is - was that the topcoat was a little thin, allowing the underlying yellow primer to impart a greenish appearance in certain light conditions. There certainly is a greenish tint in some photos I've seen of early 74 Sqn. J's, but with colour drift in printing it's difficult to quantify. With the recent acceptance of pre-shading by many modellers, it may be worth trying to replicate by using a yellow undercoat. Chek
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