F-4 Armament

Eduard BRASSIN, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mark Davies

Eduard’s 1/72 Fw 190A-5 Cockpit is available online from Squadron.com

The F-4 Phantom developed from being a fleet defense interceptor to the leading Western multi-mission fighter of the 1960’s and 70’s, and on through much of the 80’s. Production ended in 1981, although around 800 were still in service at the end of the 20th century, with several nations still operating it into the first decade of the 21st.

The F-4 was notable for its ability to carry medium and short-range air-to-air missiles along with heavy bomb-loads or other external store configurations. This fact, aside from its historical significance and huge range of liveries, makes the Phantom an appealing modeling subject if you like your models armed to the teeth yet still remain realistic.

Contents

This F-4 armament provides four AIM-9B Sidewinders, four AIM-7E Sparrows, and no less than eighteen Mk.82 bombs with three fusing options.

The weapons come packaged in a hinged top-opening card box with sponge cushioning. The resin parts are divided by weapon type between three resealable plastic bags, with the decals and PE parts in a further similar bag.

Two sheets of very clear instructions are included, with colour call-outs cross-referenced to the Gunze Aqueous and Mr Color paint ranges. The instructions detail the decal locations and paint finish applicable to each weapon. A PDF copy of the complete instructions is downloadable from Eduard’s website.

The quality of resin parts, photo-etch metal (PE) frets, and decals is excellent. The casting-blocks are easy to remove, being attached to the tailfins of both the bombs and missiles, or with clearly defined cut-lines in the case of other parts.

The AIM-7E’s have four separate forward fins, whereas the AIM-B’s are PE (with five spares). Both missiles have a PE ring representing the rim around the exhaust nozzle, and the AIM-9Bs have optional IR-seeker covers.  The bombs have several casting blocks providing three alternate fuse options; with standard, extended standoff fuses used for above ground detonation, and what may be a delayed action fuse for hard targets.

Painted and decaled, all three of Brassin’s weapon types offer an excellent addition to any suitable model, and are sure to be a vast improvement over injected kit items.

Big Saving

By combining their AIM-7E, AIM-9B and Mk.82 sets into one box Eduard is enabling the buyer to save a whopping US$22.00 on buying the three sets individually, or about 46.5%. This because one F-4 Armament set equates to one AIM-7E set, one AIM-9B set, and three Mk.82 sets. This is a very worthwhile saving if you are seeking these weapons.

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Slight Concerns

I do not profess to be any sort of F-4 expert, but some points about this set cause me concern, as it is titled F-4 Armament, which implies a fairly broad application across Phantom variants.

The AIM-B missiles are suitable for the F-4C & D operated by the USAF. The US Navy stopped using the AIM-9B and moved on to the more capable AIM-9D before the F-4 entered service.

The set seems to have rather a lot of bombs of one type, not mention that carriage of all eighteen is somewhat atypical when the frequent need to carry fuel tanks is considered.

I am inclined to think that fewer Mk.82 bombs and maybe another Sidewinder option like the AIM-9D would have been better. This would have made the set suitable for US Navy and later Vietnam war-era USAF F-4s. Or perhaps the inclusion of an ALQ-87 and maybe some M117 bombs or Mk.82 Snake-eyes would have been nice to offer a bit more variety; but the line has to be drawn somewhere! After all, there is nothing to say you must use all the weapons at once, nor combine with other sets; or for that matter use them on an F-4.

Keep in mind realistic weapon combinations, for example, in the air-to ground role only pairs of AIM-7 and AIM-9 might be carried, or no AIM-9’s at all. You will also need a source of Triple Ejection Racks for the bombs, and rails for the AIM-9B’s; although most F-4C/D kits will probably at least have the latter.

For cynics who wonder if Eduard has a severe overstock of Mk.82 bombs consider this - If there is one good thing about resin production it is that it can be closely matched to demand, and produced in smaller economic runs than injection moulding; which is generally done in large one-off production runs.   

The quality of this weapons set was never in doubt, as Eduard Brassin is synonymous with the best. The combination also offers a very worthwhile and significant saving for buyers looking for the weapons offered when compared to buying individual sets.

Less certain is the suitability of the weapons mix as provided, where perhaps more weapons variety would have been nice; although the F-4 could be armed in so many combinations there is a practical limit as to what can be offered.

The biggest limiting factor with this set is the inclusion of AIM-9B’s in my view. These limit the F-4 choice to USAF C & D variants. Had they been AIM-9Ds it would have opened up USN F-4 possibilities as well, and have extended USAF F-4C/D subject possibilities into the late 1960’s and early 70’s.

You could argue the box title should read ‘USAF F-4C/D Armament’ to protect the unwary with plans to slap the lot onto their F-4J or F-4E; but buyer beware applies I guess.

Thanks to Eduard for the samples and images.

Review Text & Images Copyright © 2016 by Mark Davies
except blue background images courtesy of Eduard
Page Created 13 June, 2016
Last updated 13 June, 2016

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