F-4B/C/D/N Phantom II Seamless Intakes

Cutting Edge Modelworks

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There is little doubt that Dave Aungst has been slowly torturing Phantom fans for quite a while now by posting updates showing his progress in creating the masters for this conversion set here on Hyperscale. Well, they are finally here.

Are they worth the wait? You bet!

The Hasegawa F-4 kits have been around for a long time now, and they are arguably seen as the best available in 1/48 scale. It did however suffer from lack of intake detail; in fact it has no intake detail past the intake ramps at all! Various aftermarket companies have come to the modelers rescue over the years with fixes for this problem but they have not always measured up. Cutting Edge has now entered the fray with their conversion set and it really does seem to be the answer.

The set is all resin. It comprises complete intake ducting, two-piece intake ramps, engine faces and pitot tubes. The casting is excellent and there are no pinholes or miscasts.

The intake part itself incorporates the outside forward fuselage which has the full intake trunking attached to the inside of it. This part is moulded in white resin rather than Cutting Edge's more normal grey resin to save you the hassle of trying to paint it the white colour that the one-to-one examples wore.

Detail on the outside is raised as per the early Hasegawa F-4s (The early J kits as well as the B/N and C/D ones all exhibited raised panel lines. Scribed Phantoms did not eventuate until the release of the E. Everything from the E onwards is scribed. Hasegawa later cross-kitted their Phantoms to produce a scribed J that first saw the light of day as the "Showtime 100" kit). I understand that Cutting Edge has scribed the intakes for the later issues.

The splitter plates look the same as the ones in the Hasegawa kits but when you take a close look, you can see that they have been improved on to include vents on the upper and lower rear corners. The rear faces also exhibit extra detail.

The pitot tubes for the inside of the trunking are also included (they are absent on the Hasegawa kits). The part has been cast so that the tube itself is on the bottom. Careful scribing will release it and cleanup with sandpaper will be minimal.

The conversion is not for the feint hearted though as it requires a fair bit of the fuselage to be removed. A Dremel tool as well as patience and time will see you through though.

The instruction sheet is A-4 in size and contains photographs as well as clear, concise written instructions to guide you through the conversion. It also advises on the differences in painting of the splitter plates and intake ramps between U.S. Navy and USAF F-4s.

In case you are wondering, the conversion is specifically designed for use with the Hasegawa F-4 B/N and C/D kits

Nice stuff from Cutting Edge!

Recommended.

FOOTNOTE:

The photographs that appear on the instruction sheet are also right here on Hyperscale in Dave Aungst's review of the whole series of Cutting Edge's F-4 seamless intakes. Go here to view the article as well as photos of the one-to-one examples:

http://acc.kitreview.com/cec48455reviewda_1.htm