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Milestone Phantoms

Iliad Design, 1/48 scale

 

S u m m a r y :

Catalogue Number:

Iliad Design Item No. 48022 – Milestone Phantoms

Scale:

1/48

Contents and Media:

Waterslide decals plus instructions and notes

Price:

US$12.00 from Iliad Designs

Review Type:

FirstLook

Advantages:

An interesting and attractive range of options that could result in a sub-collection of USAF and USN Phantoms with a common theme

Disadvantages:

The more complex paint schemes could be better documented in the instructions but this is not a show stopper.

Conclusion:

Producing a sheet covering six milestone Phantoms results in an unusual but very interesting sheet which covers four sub-types in five schemes. The decals are well printed and should perform well based on previous experience with Illiad products. Another left field product with broad appeal from Illiad.


Reviewed by Ken Bowes


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F i r s t L o o k


Milestone Phantoms is an interesting concept and one that I am surprised noone else has really considered before. Whilst at least two of the options have been covered in kit decal options, notably from Hasegawa in 1/72 and 1/48 this is the first time I have seen all six MacDonnell produced Phantoms presented as a collection. Given the four principle sub-types covered pretty much covers off on the most commonly used sub-types this will also be a relatively easy product to make use of.

 

 

 The aircraft covered in this sheet are as follows:

  • The 1000th Phantom – USN F-4B BuNo 152276 – 7 July 1965 – standard USN scheme

  • The 2000th Phantom – USAF F-4D 67533 – 12 March 1967 – SEA Scheme

  • The 3000th Phantom – USN F-4J BuNo 155772 – 5 September 1968 – standard USN scheme

  • The 4000th Phantom - USAF F-4E 697294 – 1 Feb 1971 – SEA Scheme

  • The 5000th Phantom – USAF F-4E 770290 – 24 May 1978 – Special commemorative scheme in white with two tone blue strips on the wings and fuselage (a previous Hasegawa kit option).

  • The 5057th (and last US Built) Phantom – F-4E 780744 – 25 Oct 1979 in the Compass Ghost gray scheme.

Aside from the sub-types involved when examining these aircraft it is clear that such a large number of Phantoms came off the production line thanks to the pressure of the Vietnam War whilst the seven year gap between the 4000th and 5000th very much reflects the winding down of Defence procurement and the replacement of the Phantom by the F-15 Eagle in the later years of the 1970s. The advantage of picking these milestones is that there are a fair number of reference photos to support modellers and a comparison of the sheet to these indicates that Illiad have produced accurate depictions of the markings for each subject.

 

 

This sheet is typical of Iliad Design products, with all the subjects on an A5 sheet and a double sided A-4 size instruction sheet. Colour profiles of all the subjects are given on one side whilst details of stencils, airframe modifications and camouflage schemes are on the other. The decals themselves are accurately and sharply printed. They appear to be a Microscale product although this is not noted on the sheet and this may be incorrect. Complete decals for four of the six subjects with some markings being reused for the two USN and two USAF SEA scheme subjects, notably the national markings.


 

C o n c l u s i o n

 

In summary, this set appears to be a great choice for Iliad Design and one I am sure Phantom Phanatics will lap up. With Hasegawa providing a family of high quality F-4E and F-4J kits and (hopefully) Academy addressing the need for a new high quality F-4B family, which is not to disparage the Hasegawa offerings, there are plenty of kits freely available to modellers who would like to build all six of these Milestone Phantoms.

Thanks to Iliad Design for this sample.

Text and Images Copyright © 2012 by Ken Bowes
This Page Created on 31 May, 2012
Last updated 31 May, 2012

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