Reviews : Hasegawa F-4E Phantom II

This Hasegawa kit is from 1985. It does make into a good looking F-4, just know it's not going to fall together. This one's going to need some sanding and filling, filling and sanding. The kit comes with 5 sprues molded in beautifully polished gray plastic and 1 clear sprue. The fuselage has nicely molded raised panel lines and rivet detail, however some of this detail gets sanded away with poorly fitting seams. The canopy is a one piece deal, so no option for having it open. Parts have some flash and ejector pin marks. The ordinance options are pretty limtied: 3 fuel drop tanks, 4 sparrows, and 2 generic looking bombs (maybe napalm canisters). There are no sidewinders. Step 5 of the instructions show AIM-4D missles as an option, but no AIM-4D missiles are provided with the kit. There are no decal options for a vietnam era aircraft. Overall a good kit. Fit is just OK, but with a little patience can be made into a nice F-4.

Other reviewers have pointed out that this old 1985 beauty has its quirks. I had to do significant putty work at the jet intakes and on the nose. The sanding combined with the raised panel lines made it impossible for someone of my limited skills to restore the detail. Having said all that, the fit was otherwise very good and the results were striking. I would like to have seen more detail in the exhaust nozzles, and their fit onto the fuselage required some serious effort due to the misalignment of the fuselage top/bottom (more sanding). 2-color instructions were clear and sufficiently detailed. If you are interested in my approach to the kit, I posted a video of my build at https://youtu.be/qyuuG6c0ERI

This was one of the first few jets I have built since restarting the hobby. I really took my time with it. It did not require much sanding and filing. I did have to trim the rear seat. It was hitting the canopy. The lack of underwing stores was bothersome. The directions showed Falcon missles being installed, but the kit did not come with them. I used the 5 underwing fuel tanks. It was a good kit to build. The price point is low enough to make it worthwhile trying new things.

This is a good plane but not a great one. The parts fit well but some sanding is needed there is some detale but much. The canopy is only in down setting but with some work the landing gear can be up or down. The inst art good but show some parts that are not in the kit. The decals are good and are easy to use. But the one down side is the lack of arment. The f-4e was a fighter bomber and much could be carred on the plane there only tanks and four missiles. But a good plane for all.

This is a different version of the phantom II, as it has fixed slats on the dihedral part of the wing, and it was the first version to have a cannon fixed to the fuselage. It is not as finelly detailed as one may hope, but it can become interesting. I've installed extra weapons on mine, and gave it a nice look. Not very troublesome to build, but require some sanding and filling. Appart from that, go ahead and give it a try!

This is a pretty good kit. However the seam along the spine of the aircraft takes quite a bit of sanding to make it disappear. The sides on the fuselage where the intakes glue on leaves a gap that must be filled and sanded if you want to hide it.

This is the best 1/72 F-4E on the market because the overall design is the most accurate. Great surface detail and plenty of armament to put under the fuselage! Comes with a decal sheet for 2 options. Both options offer 2 different camo ideas!

F-4s are such cool planes. Good model representation. Look's great on my son's ceiling.

A VERY GOOD KIT, MY FAVORITE PLANE OF ALL TIME, PARTS FIT WELL, NO PROBLEMS WITH KIT

Great model, gave this “good” because the directions were not clear.