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Building a Blue Angel Phantom


StuartMont

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My boys gave me a Blue Angels poster for my birthday and I noticed the Phantom.  I purchased a Phantom kit a while back so I changed my mind about how I was going to finish it.    I was going to paint this in a Vietnam era scheme but now I want to finish with a Blue Angels scheme so I impulsively bought a decal set at the correct scale.  However, it turns out that I bought an F-4E Phantom II kit while the Blue Angels used an F-4J Phantom II according to the poster.  I don’t think a google search will help me with my questions.  

Will the decal set fit nicely on my plane or will there be significant modification required?

Does anyone know of a paint set for that “era”?  I haven’t had any luck but I hope you guys know where to point me.

Finally, is this blasphemy?😀

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Those phantoms whether USN or USAF put on a really impressive show,  unforgettable in fact.  To see if they will fit simply trace the decal on a sheet of paper and put on the fuselage half.  But as you know the USN never flew the F-4E.  F-4J are plentiful, but you did not mention the scale. Testors made a Blue Angel paint.  The paintr or the models should be easy to find.

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There would be significant modifications to change an E to a J. At the very least is the nose and most likely the wings, slatted vs. hard, depending upon which E kit you have. Internally the cockpits had visual differences as well. Those decals look to be 1/32, so the quick answer is to buy the 1/32 Tamiya F-4J. Keep you E and build it with whatever markings the kit has, buy new markings, or dispose of th kit. Who knows, perhaps you might find someone who wants to swap their J for your E…

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I do have the Tamiya 1/32 F-4E and was originally planning to build it per the kit. I love that camouflage look. I also did not know that the Navy never flew it. I had a much older cousin that flew for the Navy, he’s probably turning over in his grave right now. 
 

Thanks for the responses guys, I’ll start looking for the F-4J. Were you serious about the trade thing?  The F-4E is unopened. 
 

Stuart

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If you’re a member of several hobby sites, why not put out feelers for such a trade? The worst that will happen is lots of “no” answers to your offer. 

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Or you could just make a Thunderbird F-4E........

You might also check to see if the majority of the parts in your F-4E are the same as the Tamiya F-4J.  If they are, then you might be able to find someone who would exchange part for and F-4E.  If I recall, the biggest difference was the nose from the front windscreen forward.  Tamiya did do an F-4J in 1/32 scale.  You can go to Tamiya USA and down load the instruction.  Find the parts you need and call !-800-TamiyaA and perhaps they have the parts in stock. 

 

Edited by PeteJ
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Now that sounds like a great plan.  Have a Thunderbird F-4E and a Blue Angel F-4J.  That would be really cool, the two sitting side-by-side, thanks!  And, this way I can delay the F-4J purchase until my wife gets over my latest spending spree.

Stuart

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  • 3 months later...
On 6/29/2021 at 4:53 PM, StuartMont said:

Now that sounds like a great plan.  Have a Thunderbird F-4E and a Blue Angel F-4J.  That would be really cool, the two sitting side-by-side, thanks!  And, this way I can delay the F-4J purchase until my wife gets over my latest spending spree.

Stuart

Here you go, Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland Ohio!

 

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