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Academy #12556 1/72 USMCF-4J Unlike most military aircraft developments, the F4H was a company-funded development that initially did little to interest the US Navy. Nevertheless, the Navy started warming to the idea of a powerful carrier-based all-weather interceptor. First flown in May 1958, the prototype displayed impressive performance with the help of its twin afterburning J79 engines. The Phantom II was born.
Developed as the guided missile interceptor the F4H, later re-designated as the F-4, featured a powerful intercept radar, a two-man crew, and up to eight guided missiles. This aircraft was supposed to make the air-to-air gun obsolete. That didn't happen, but that's another story. Typical loadout for the aircraft was four IR-guided AIM-9 Sidewinders on the inboard stations, four radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow missiles in semi-recessed bays under the fuselage, and three external fuel tanks, two on the outboard stations and one centerline.
The Navy operated a limited number of F-4As for a brief time while their preferred initial configuration, the F-4B was under production. Combat experience and advancements in avionics and engine technology led to the next USN version - the F-4J. The F-4J featured the new AWG-10 radar, the J79-GE-10 engines, slatted tail surfaces and drooped ailerons.
Like the F-4B, the F-4J saw combat over Vietnam. The F-4J would soldier on for quite a few years. The aircraft received defensive avionics upgrades that were visible as fairings along the top of the intakes but still retained the F-4J designation. Another round of upgrades included a slatted wing and airframe strengthening, but these upgrades would cause these modified F-4Js to be redesignated as F-4S.
Academy has reissued their 1/72nd scale F-4J Phantom II kit, this time with markings for VMFA-232 'Red Devils' stationed out of MCAS Iwakuni in the mid-1970s. When Academy first released this kit, it featured MCP (multi-colored plastic) to allow the model to be built without paint. This time, the kit is molded in gray styrene and presented on eight parts trees plus one tree of clear parts. The surface detailing is finely scribed with no signs of mold flash. Among the features and options:
The kit includes the following external load options:
