Fox One Decals | F-4C Phantoms of the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing
Reviewed by Mark Proulx
Printed and released in 1998, the second decal sheet from Ben Backes of Fox One Decals was a sheet for F-4C Phantoms of the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing. The decal sheet represents five Phantoms flown by "The Gunfighters" in 1967 including two of the gun-Mig killers.
The 1/32nd scale decals come as two sheets. The larger sheet carries all the codes that are particular to each individual aircraft while the smaller sheet carries all the common markings. There are enough common markings supplied to allow two aircraft to be built from this sheet. The decals, printed by MicroScale, are very thin and in perfect register and should pose no problem.
As is typical with all Fox One decal sheets, Ben goes to great lengths to explain the changes that are required of the Tamiya kit to accurately represent an F-4C from this time period. The typical 366TFW air-to-air loadout is also covered. However, when the ECM pod is mentioned, no type is specified for that time period. Look to Cutting Edge and Tac Scale Dynamics (now sold under the CAM name) for some of the aftermarket products which are required to finish these schemes. Note that Tac Scale sells an SUU-23 which will require some modification to the earlier SUU-16 gun pod specified in the instructions. Included with the instructions are the references used, which is always helpful, and the illustrations for the T.O.1-1-4 SE Asia Scheme with FS numbers. This makes for a very helpful one-stop reference point.
For the F-4C flown by Col. Frederick "Boots" Blesse, only a stencil is supplied for the modeller to paint the fuselage stripes. I would have preferred a decal for that, however, I am sure that cost would have become an issue.
Once again, Fox One has supplied us with an excellent, well researched product. Having preferred a decal instead of a stencil for the fuselage markings for the F-4 flown by "Boots" Blesse, I would rate this decal sheet with four out of five stars.
© Mark Proulx
This review was published on Saturday, July 02 2011; Last modified on Wednesday, May 18 2016