Xtradecal 72-072 USAFE UK-Based F-4 Phantoms - comments

I've just received this sheet today. I hate it!

Hate it! Hate it! Hate it!

Why? Because it has blown my carefully crafted F-4 building plan right out of the water! ;-) There are two schemes which have gone right to the top of building list, and at least another three will get built from this sheet. All these aircraft are from bases in the area of the UK where I live (and I've seen at least one of them), so I'm interested in them all.

Okay... seriously now... this is an excellent sheet.

It provides markings for sixteen aircraft, all of them F-4Ds or RF-4Cs. Three of the aircraft are in a rather odd scheme where the FS30219 of the standard SEA camouflage is replaced by FS34102 SAC tan/green. That will look very distinctive sat amongst a group of F-4s in the standard scheme.

I do however have a couple of minor (very minor) criticisms. It seems like there were a number of mistakes made with the instruction sheet. One aircraft is missed off the sheet entirely, but there is an errata sheet that includes it. There were also a few mistakes made with the decals themselves, but again there is an additional sheet that addresses the problems.

The biggest issue that I have concerns one of the aircraft that I wish to build. The sheet presents this as RF-4C 65-381 of the 1 TRS, 10 TRW, based at RAF Alconbury in July 1985, in the Euro-1 colour scheme. The big problem is that no RF-4C serialed 65-381 ever existed. The back page of the instruction sheet has a number of small photos where this aircraft is shown as 68-381. Even that serial is incorrect. The aircraft is actually an RF-4C-44-MC, 69-381. The serial mistake is no problem whatsoever, as there are plenty of digits that can be used available on the sheet. The colour profile on the instruction sheet represents the aircraft incorrectly. It shows the correct rounded nose profile, but omits to mention the ARN-101 mods that should be on the aircraft spine. It also states that the two greens should be transposed from their normal locations. This is incorrect. I photographed this aircraft at the Alconbury air show in 1984 and my slide shows that the two greens are in the normal positions, as does this photo (which also shows the nose and the ARN-101 mods).

Having seen the problems with this aircraft, I'll be sure to research the others that I will build (which is probably a good course of action for

*any* decal sheet), but that hasn't put me off the sheet, and it shouldn't put anyone else off either. The first model, RF-4C 69-381 has already made its way on to my workbench and F-4D 65-659 in the odd SAC tan/green colours will be following shortly.

As for the decals themselves, they appear to be of the usual Xtradecal standard, thin and well printed. I don't anticipate any problems using them.

Thank you, Xtradecal. Can we please have some more F-4 sheets? A sheet of Luftwaffe F-4Fs in the Norm 81 Air Defence schemes would be nice!