Building the Revell 1/72 McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II

The workhorse of the Vietnam war

- Revell 1/72 McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II -

Introduction

box art of the F-4J Phantom

    First flown on 27 May 1958, development on the F-4 started back in 1952, with the F3H Demon. Requirements for the F-4 were to be an all-weather, carrier capable interceptor and fighter bomber to serve within all branches of the U.S. Military. The airframe of the F-4 was derived from the F3H Demon. Several changes were needed to make the Phantom a viable fighter. The biggest change revolving around the tailplane. The F3H had a conventional horizontal stabilizer.

    However, the positioning of the exhaust nozzles, made the F3 very unstable in flight. The solution to this was to give the F-4 Phantom II it's iconic 23º anhedral tailplane in an effort to move the surfaces away from the airflow. Coupled with the slight dihedral of the tips of the main wings, gives this aircraft its unique appearance.

    Used extensively throughout the Vietnam War, the Phantom II proved itself as a highly capable aircraft. With a number of them still serving active duty in the Greek Hellenic Air Force.

    Today we are going to focus on the J variant as flown by the famous VF 84 "Jolly Rogers".

Contents of the box

what's inside the box

    Please excuse the rather messy state of my workbench. But I was started working on this model immediately after completing the Sea Vixen. You can read that article here.

    Unlike last time, I can show the contents of the box. Not as in depth s with the P-51D, you can find that article here. But at least there is something. 😅

    My very first reaction after opening up the box and taking the sprues out was disappointment. Here's the thing, this kit is old. It's really old. The tooling was made before I was born. Not as old as the P-51D but still old. I'll talk more about the age in the conclusion to this article. 😉

    The main problem is that whilst there are some recessed detail, all the panel line and rivet detail is of the raised variety. And they're very soft. So you really have to be extra careful when sanding, because even your finest sanding pads will remove those raised detail like they never even existed. There's also quite a bit of flash, specifically around the smaller and fragile parts. Because of course flash would be on parts that are difficult and risky to clean.

    Thankfully, the build itself was fun, but the finished product would have been so much better had this been re-tooled. I really wish Revell were more transparent with their tooling dates. That would help manage expectations without having to use outside sources like scalemates.com because frankly, not every will want to, or even know about this option. Anyway, rant over, on with this article.

Supplies used for this kit

Tools:

• sharp hobby knife
• sanding sticks and pads (400 - 1500 grit)
• paint brushes (000, 0, 1, 2, 4 size)
• nippers (yes, I still use toenail clippers 😏)
• tweezers

Glue:

• Revell Contacta
• Revell Contacta Extra Thin
• Revell Contacta Clear
• Revell Contacta Quick

Decal application:

• Ammo by Mig Decal Set (A-Mig 2029)
• Ammo by Mig Decal Fix (A-Mig 2030)

Paint:

• Revell Anthracite Gray (09)
• Revell Yellow Matte (15)
• Revell carmine Red Matte (36)
• Revell Light Olive Matte (45)
• Revell Leaf Green Matte (364)
• Revell Fiery Red Matte (330)
• Revell Metallic Aluminum (99)
• Tamiya Flat White (XF2)
• Tamiya Flat Black (XF1)
• Tamiya Flat Flesh (XF15)
• Tamiya Black (X1)
• Ammo by Mig Light Gull Gray (A-Mig 0241)
• Ammo by Mig Neutral Gray (A-Mig 0239)
• Vallejo Metallic Burnt Iron (77.721)
• Vallejo Metallic Aluminum (77.701)

Primer:

• Tamiya Medium Gray Surface Primer (87042)

Thinners:

• Tamiya X-20A
• Tamiya Airbrush Cleaner
• Vallejo Airbrush Thinner (71.061)
• Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver (71.562)
• Revell Aqua Color Mix 
• Ammo by Mig Acrylic Thinner (A-Mig 2000)

Weathering & Washes:

• Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color (87131)
• Vallejo Dark Rust (76.507)
• Vallejo Fuel Stains (73.814)
• Vallejo Burnt Umber (73.110)

Masking:

• Tamiya Masking Tape (5mm)
• Green Stuff World Flexible Masking Tape (2mm)
• Vallejo Liquid Mask (70.523)

Varnish:

• Vallejo Gloss Varnish (70.510)
• Vallejo Satin Varnish (70.522)

Misc.:

• UHU patafix (sticky tack)

The prep work

    Once again none were needed. Props to Revell in this department as I didn't expect this. Especially not with a kit of this vintage. But there really was no reason to wash the parts. There was absolutely no release agent on the plastic.

The build

quite a bit of flash around the cockpit tub

    As with the vast majority of aircraft kits. we start with the cockpit. There's a bit of flash. But this is the easier to clean components. There's some panel detail, but is mostly just a representation than actual detail.

dry-fitting the pilot's ejector seat

    After cleaning the flash off with a sharp blade, and quite a bit of sanding (I couldn't fit the cockpit inside the fuselage so I was forced to take off a significant amount of material from the bulkhead area of the cockpit tub). I started dry-fitting the ejector seats to check fitment.

ejector seats glued in place

added the ejection handles

    Once I was happy, I started to glue in the seats in their place. Then I installed the ejection handles. They had quite a bit of flash, I tried to remove as much as I could with my hobby knife. But they were so thin and fragile, I didn't dare do more than what you can see above. It's quite a shame as they look vastly oversize. But I was afraid I'd destroy them if I pushed any further.

pilot and co-pilot also have flash all over

pilot's arm cleaned

    This kit comes with two figures. which I was happy with as that's pretty rare these days. Today you usually need to buy figures separately if you want some. So the inclusion of them was welcome. However they were also suffering from flash, many in difficult to reach areas. But after about half an hour of faffing about. I managed to clean most of it. There was still some left, but I could live with that.

more dry-fitting

instrument panels installed

a closer look at the pilot's instrument panel

    Next came some more dry-fitting. Mostly to see how the pilot fits inside his seat. I then installed the Instrument panels for both the pilot and the RIOs (Radio Intercept Officer) side. In the top photo, you can see the raised panel line and rivet details. As mentioned earlier, they are not good. But it is what it is.

pilot's arm attached

RIOs side panels installed

some "surgery" was required 😅

our RIO was lucky, no surgery needed

    Next, I attached the pilot's arm, followed by a pair of side panels on the RIOs side of the cockpit. After that, the pilot needed some "surgery" so I could fix him on the tip of a cocktail stick. Then I glued the RIO on a paint stirring stick with some Revell Contacta Quick.

Initial priming & painting

priming the cockpit tub, figures, and insides of the fuselage

    Now it was time to do some initial priming before I started to paint the figures, cockpit and insides of the fuselage. I also primed all the small parts that were still on the sprues.

cockpit painted gray, with side consoles in black

view from right side

    Then I started painting the cockpit. I used Ammo Mig Neutral Gray. I don't think this is the correct colour. But it was the closest I had to a cockpit gray. Then I picked out the side consoles in Tamiya Flat Black.

started painting our pilots

boots, gloves, visor, and oxygen hose painted

boors, visor and hair painted

    I then started working on the figures. I picked out the boots gloves visors and RIOs hair in Tamiya Flat black. I also mixed some Ammo Neutral Gray with Tamiya Flat White to pick out the harnesses on the flight-gear.

cockpit finished

RIOs work-station

RIO next to the cockpit

pilot finished

pilot glued in place

some interior detail picked out

cockpit dry fitted

    At this point I started enjoying the painting process so much I forgot to take anymore pictures until I was done. But to be fair, I started this project last December (2025) more than a month before I even started thinking about blogging. But I had a blast painting, and I think it came out really good. There are some mistakes. Like the seatbelts, where I kind of went all over the place. In hind sight, it probably would have been a better idea to paint some of the parts before gluing them together. But I was still happy with the result.

More building

fuselage halves finally joined together

view from above

front left quarter view

air intakes installed

front cockpit glass dry-fitted

entire canopy dry-fitted

canopy ready for masking

canopy outline masked off

liquid mask applied

    Now it was time to start assembling the aircraft into something recognizable. I first glued the two fuselage halves together using Revell Contacta Extra Thin. Then came the wings, which I also glued with extra thin cement. Then I started dry fitting the cockpit canopy. As you can probably see in my kit the canopy is a bit out of scale and wouldn't look good with closed canopies. Luckily I was planning to have the canopy open so it wasn't much of a problem. But it is something to look out for if you are also building this kit and would like a closed cockpit.

    There were some gaps around the air intakes, which I wanted to address with some putty. But unfortunately, my tube of putty was bone dry, which was a shame because I had to throw it away and barely used 2 grammes out of 150. Even more unfortunate was that it was getting close to Christmas and ordering some would mean I'd have to wait till January and I wanted to finish before the year's end (I didn't, but I wanted to).

    I then glued the front windshield and the center pillar. I attached the posable canopy parts using sticky tack to prevent paint from seeping in. Then I masked along the canopy frames, cutting off any excess tape. And finished off with Vallejo Liquid Mask. This was my first time using this product. But it's really easy to use, and gives really good results. Although a word of warning. This stuff contains latex, and it smells something awful. Don't ask me how I know. 😉😅 So don't go sniffing at it.

Priming & painting

Aircraft primed

copilot received a dark wash

rear view

    It was now time for priming. For this I used Tamiya Medium Gray from a rattle can. Note the extreme anhedral on the tailplane. I would have mentioned it earlier but it wasn't featured in any of my earlier shots. 😐

    Next I gave the copilot a dark wash. I forgot to give one to the pilot, but he will barely be seen so I don't mind.

    Also note how much more pronounced the bad alignment between the fuselage and intake is now that the model is primed. It's a pity I didn't have putty to fix it.

exhausts painted

    Next I painted the exhausts with Vallejo Burnt Iron Metallic, and the fans with Aluminum Metallic. And let me just tell you, Vallejo metallics are on a whole new level compared to the ones from Revell I've been using thus far. I was really happy with how the exhausts and fans came out. And these were painted with a paintbrush.

dry-fitting the exhausts

    At this point I wanted to dry fit the exhausts and see if there was any extra work I had to do. There was, and it involved using putty. So I had to live with a bit of a gap, barely noticeable from normal viewing distance but apparent up close.

main landing gear wheel hubs painted

nose landing strut and actuator painted

view from other side

main landing gear struts

    I then moved on to painting some of the small parts that were still attached to the sprues. I started with everything that needed to be painted white like: the main landing gear wheel hubs and landing gear struts. I also picked out some of the details with aluminum metallic. Such as the shock absorbers on the struts, and the wheel hub nuts. Based on the reference images I was using, the retaining nuts were also painted white like the rest of the hubs, but  thought this would add some interest to the model by adding a dab of color. 

inside surfaces of the airbrakes painted red

another view

actuators picked out with aluminum

    I then painted the inside surfaces of the airbrakes with Revell Carmine Red. I really should have used Insignia Red, but I didn't have any on hand, and this seemed to be the closest shade of red I had available at the time.

nosecone painted flat black

underside view

nosecone masked off

view from other side

airbrakes interior masked off

    Next I painted the nosecone in flat black. After the paint had dried, I masked off the area, using a combination of Green Stuff world flexible masking tape and Tamiya masking tape. Lastly I used the airbrakes to mask off the interior of the bays and mechanism. This didn't prove to work out too well, but it was better than nothing.

underside painted white

flaps painted white

drop-tanks painted

    It was now time to paint. For the underside of the model, I chose Tamiya flat white. I also painted the flaps and drop-tanks with this color. Because, this kit lacks recessed detail, I decided not to do any pre-shading. I would address that later with a bit of weathering and a bit of a wash.

more masking

horizontal stabilizer masked

even more masking

side view

top side will be painted light gull gray

    This was followed by even more masking. And we're not even done. There's still more masking to come. before that I painted the top of the aircraft. My paint of choice was Ammo Light Gull Gray.

finished painting

even more masking 😉

view from the right side

    Next I painted the top of the model in Light Gull Gray, then it was time for more masking, Yay!. 😁I masked off the area around the blast shields. As this area was going to be painted in a metallic color. In real life this was left bare metal as there's no paint that can withstand the extreme temperatures generated by the exhausts. Obviously, I had to depict that. The roots of the horizontal stabilizer, were also left bare metal for exactly the same reason.

the masking continues

even more masking

masking never ends 😆

    Next, I painted the inside halves of the horizontal stabilizers with aluminum metallic. Then it was on to even more masking, There's a on the stabilizers strip that I was going to paint with Burnt Iron. And I also masked off the leading edges of the main wings which I then painted in aluminum. I'm not sure if these are supposed to represent de-icing boots, but, the instructions indicated to paint this area in aluminum, so that's what I did. Maybe someone can tell me down in the comments why the leading edges are bare metal.

masks are finally coming off

more masks off

view from the right side

tails section view

tail section underside

nose section underside

    I could now start removing the masks. There are some errors here and there. I wasn't quite able to place the flexi-mask around the nosecone properly and it looks a bit wonky. But, I'll try to live with it. Also, on the right side of the fuselage, the black anti-glare should come up all the way to the canopy frame, However, I was a bit short. It's a bit too obvious given the high contrast. Perhaps I'll fix that at a future date.

    On the other hand, I was really happy with how the white and gull gray separation came out. But to be fair, that was really easy to because of how the model is built. And as mentioned earlier, using the airbrake panels as masks was only a partial success. Some paint still managed to get underneath, but that was a really easy fix which I would address shortly.

adding some detail in select areas with some metallic paint

underside details

wing underside details

more details picked out in metallic on top

tail painted black and a coat of gloss varnish

the underside is really glossy

    Next, I decided to pick out some details with aluminum metallic. I've randomly selected some access panels and hatches to give the model a splash of color. I'm don't think this is necessarily accurate. But it makes the model a but more interesting. Then I painted the tips of the drop-tanks with yellow, as per the instructions.

    I then proceeded to give the model a coat of gloss varnish in preparation for decaling. Which is when I realized, I had to paint the tail of the aircraft in Tamiya Gloss Black. Initially, I thought that the black area would be a decal. But I made one big mistake. I should have added a coat of varnish on top of the gloss black surface. However I did not, and this would prove to make decaling the area really difficult, as the paint I used, is really tacky, even when fully dry. 

PRO TIP: If you're building this model, please make sure to paint the tail before applying your varnish. You will thank yourself later.

Applying decals

some stencils went onto the drop-tankas

left-side decals applied

right-side decals applied

top decals applied

bottom decals applied

    It was now time to move onto applying the decals. And here I made several mistakes. I first applied the decals onto the drop-tanks. And eagle eyed readers among you will notice that I've applied them upside down. However, I wouldn't notice this until I'd add them to the model. There's also a big mistake on the the nose on the left side. The model has a small protrusion, I assumed this was a pitot-tube molded into the fuselage. Later I would find that this protrusion doesn't exist on the real aircraft. It's a manufacturing defect.

    Since I thought it was part of the aircraft, I tried to apply the decals with that in mind, and they would end up overlapping each other. It's a shame, I really should have studied my reference photos more carefully, but the deed is done. No use in crying over spilled milk. 😁 Just make sure you don't make the same mistakes I did.

    You'll also notice that the black band with yellow stripes and stars going across the middle of the fuselage is not even. That's because I misread the instructions when applying the decal on the left side. It felt a bit odd at the time that I had to cut off a sizable section. But I didn't give it much thought. Until I got to the other side and realized my mistake. At that point it was too late. So the model will have to exist like this.

    Remember how earlier I said that painting the tail black and not applying a coat of gloss would be a mistake? Well, if you look closely, On the left side of the tail, the skull and crossbones squadron insignia tore. And on the right side, the aircraft registration number is missing entirely. That glossy black was so tacky that no amount of decal setting solution would be enough to allow for easy placement. It is what it is.

Final assembly

weathering applied, landing gear in place, Aim-7s onboard

aim-9 sparrows, and Mk. 83 General Purpose bombs

exhaust section

grime and dirt on blast shields

armament in place

looking proud

final masks removed, canopy open

RIO preparing for duty

pilot waiting anxiously

    I followed the decal application with some weathering. I decided to go significantly lighter than on the Sea Vixen. However, I think it came out alright. Then I started adding all the bombs and sparrows to the pilons.

    Note, that I left the pilons with only the primer applied. This was intentional. I kind of wanted to give the idea, that maybe the pilons were taken off for maintenance but had to be put beck in a hurry to scramble the jet. 

    Gluing the bombs and missiles to the pilons however, proved to be a pain. Without being too explicit, let's just say that I swore, a lot. And even that seems like sugarcoating it. What I should have done, was scrape off the paint around the contact areas. But somehow I thought that I might get away with skipping that step. Let me just tell you: that paint on paint bond is weaker than my self esteem. 😅

    Do yourselves a favor and make sure to scrape off the paint from any contact surfaces, especially when they are so tiny. You need to allow the cement to melt the plastic and weld it together to give you a strong bond. Otherwise, you'll be in a world of pain.

F-4J and Sea Vixen size comparison

ready for a sortie

looks a bit menacing, even at this scale

    Lastly I wanted the throw in a couple of comparison shots between the F-4J Phantom II and Sea Vixen FAW 2. The Phantom is slightly longer but the Vixen is wider. And we're closing with a backlit silhouette of the phantom as the RIO prepares to board for a new mission.

Conclusion

    There are many, many things I could have done better during this build. I should have waited until I bought some putty to address the fitment issues with the jet intakes, the rear of the aircraft around the exhausts as well as a few areas around the bottom of the nose. But overall, I was quite happy with how it turned out. Yes, there are mistakes. Yes, I could have done a lot of things better. But at the end of the day, we're all here to learn.

    There are also areas I'm genuinely happy with how they came out. Painting the cockpit was a blast. The blast shield area looks really good, at least for my current skill level. Despite all the rage, the weapon's rack looks quite good, some of the bombs and missiles are a bit crooked but that's only visible when viewed up close.

Final thoughts

    Overall, the building process was quite enjoyable, especially if we ignore the last stretch of the build.

    This kit is a product of its time. And it shows, the raised details are very soft and not very accurate, there are fitment issues galore, and a few more problems that should have been addressed. I'm sure, in the hands of a skilled modeler, this kit can become a good addition to their collection.

    Because this kit came with the two figures, I am planning to add them to either a scenic base or a small vignette, but that's a problem for future me. I will, at some point, buy one of Tamiya's F4 kits, I hear they are really good. Don't worry I'll make sure to cover it when the time comes.

    So let's address the elephant in the room. How old is this kit anyway? Well, according to scalemates.com, this is an old Monogram kit, tooled all the way back in 1979. With that knowledge, the issues of this kit make sense and are to be expected. However, nowhere on the box is this mentioned. The copyright date on the box states 2016, and the kit does come in Revell's new black boxes. With only that information to go off of, you'd assume that this is a modern tooling. But it's not.

    As mentioned, I really wish Revell, as well as a few other manufacturers: I'm looking at you Italeri and Heller, would start printing the actual tooling date on their boxes alongside the copyright date. This would help immensely to manage expectations. Hopefully, one day, these companies will get the memo.

    Anyway, in the next article, we will be finally leaving the Cold War are, at least for now, and travel back in time to World War II, one of my favorite eras, where we will tackle Germany's best known WWII fighters. I hope you are looking forward to that.

    If you enjoyed reading this article or found it helpful, please consider clicking the follow button or bookmarking this page. Also, please leave your thoughts and suggestions down in the comments. I'll make sure to read and reply to all of them. And with that, I hope you have a wonderful day, Happy Valentine's Day, if you're reading this the day it is published. Oh, by the time this goes live, I'll be 38 and 2 days old, so that's a thing that also happened.

    Happy modeling, everyone. Cheers!