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Rafi Ben-Shahar
377 articles

Academy 1/48 F-4J Phantom II

January 15, 2024 · in Aviation · · 37 · 492

Academy's 1/48 Phantoms represent a good balance between accuracy, details and price. In addition the kit offers a wide range of armament options. The only thing the builder has to cope with are multi colored sprues.

Reader reactions:
24  Awesome 3  1 

5 additional images. Click to enlarge.


37 responses

  1. Very nice build. The Academy Phantoms are very nice for much less than Tamiya, which hasn't made a J yet in 1/48 anyway. Well done!

  2. Beautiful work on this Phantom, Rafi @blackmopane
    Great scheme with the usual large amount of stencils as well. Must have taken you quite some time to apply them.

  3. An awesome result and a very striking scheme, which you replicated perfectly, Rafi!
    Congratulations!

  4. Beautiful job on a fabulous looking airplane. If I ever do one, that'll be the scheme I'd want to do. Looks amazing.

  5. Yep, a fabulous looking Phantom.

  6. love this scheme- excellent work as usual. Thanks for sharing!

  7. Nice F-4, Rafi. You did a great job of replicating the grime on the mid section that was often prominent on Navy Phantoms.

  8. Thanks for this, Rafi. I have the kit here, waiting for the Bullseye Decals sheet for the F-4J (soon!) so I can do my friend Roy Cash Jr's VF-33 F-4J, in which he shot down future Deputy Commander and Alternate Member of the Politburo then-Lieutenant Pham Phu Thai (they're both good friends nowadays and have visited each other's home) back in 1968 - the F-4J's first victory.

    This one looks well-used and very realistic - up to your usual standard of excellence.

  9. Nicely done Rafi! a little tip about Phantom Navy stenciling. as a deployment went on, a lot of it would disappear due to the wear and tear and corrosion control work. After the corrosion work was done the area would be touched up with the gull grey or white, with often any stenciling not being applied because Maintenance Control needed the plane to fly, I remember one bird speckled with zinc chromate spots all over the fuselage because they needed a flyable aircraft.

  10. This is an awesome Phantom Rafi! Your paint and weathering are excellent as always. It makes me want to go get this kit.

  11. This is beautiful Rafi. Excellent work. Someday, I need to tackle my one Phantom kit.

  12. Wow this Phantom is beautiful! If I ever build one, I hope itโ€™s half as good. Great job!

  13. More stellar work from you, Rafi. I like those Phantoms! @blackmopane

  14. That is yet another awesome looking model Rafi (@blackmopane)! Very well done and thanks for inspiring me to build more aircraft kits ๐Ÿ˜€

  15. I agree with your assessment of this kit. It was a trouble-free build for me, only made complicated by my decision to make it all shiny black (I built is as "Vandy 1"). Not as many details as some, but quite a bang for the buck. I highly recommend, and your great looking Phantom shows what a talented modeller can do out of the box.

  16. A beautiful J-Phantom! Love your work.

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