F-4E/F/G/J/S Phantom Exhaust Nozzles USAF Late (for Hasegawa)

[Mike]

F-4E/F/G/J/S Phantom Exhaust Nozzles USAF Late (for Hasegawa)

1:48 Eduard Brassin

The Hasegawa kit is readily acknowledged to be the best F-4 kit around in 1:48, and there are a lot of versions available to the modeller. This kit is a re-scaling of Eduard's 1:32 set reviewed here, and as such much the scale can be said of this set as the 1:32 set.

The only omission are the compressor fan faces for the front of the engines, but as the Hasegawa kit doesn't provide full-depth intakes anyway, that's entirely understandable.

The detail on the rear fan face is excellent, and the 7 stator vanes are wafer thin. A ridge runs around the central bullet onto which the 2-part Photo-Etched (PE) burner rings affix, fitting snugly within the exhaust tunnel. The tunnel itself has all of the corrugations of the 1:32 set, and the fit of the rear fan is precise, and a nice friction fit.

The exhaust petals again excellent, with the two sections moulded as one piece due to the relatively small size compared to the 1:32 set. You'll need to remove 7mm from the underside of the fuselage to accommodate the update set, an amendment that shouldn't tax any modellers unduly.

The same bonus item is included, with a really nicely detailed arrestor hook, a resin holder, and PE wire linkage to hold it in place. The styrene holder will need to be shaved off the fuselage here, but again should cause no consternation.

Full instructions can be found here.

Conclusion

Another great set from the Brassin range, which really does seem to have hit the ground running. The quality of the parts and their casting is excellent, and the instructions give the modeller all they need to accomplish the task with the minimum of fuss. A quality package that will please Phantom builders everywhere.

Review sample courtesy of