Yellowhammer | 1/32 F-4J VF-84 Decals

Reviewed by Mark Proulx

This is a review of the Yellowhammer Models decal sheet for the colorful F-4Js of VF-84. Printed by Microscale in 1998, this sheet allows the modeller to dress up Tamiya's Navy F-4J with alternative markings.

The 1/32nd scale decal sheet is printed on two sheets with very crisp and sharp definition. The decals are very thin and should supply the modeller with little difficulty upon application. One sheet carries the markings that are common to all US Navy and Marine Phantoms for use in conjunction with some of the other Yellowhammer decal sheets. The next sheet supplies you with the markings that are unique to VF-84.

The skull and crossbones of VF-84 have always been a favorite for the modeller to build. Of course the bones still "live" with the F-14 Tomcats of VF-103. It was with great anticipation that I read about the Yellowhammer sheet and I purchased this and their other F-4 sheets when they were first released.

Of course, with this purchase, I set off on a course of researching the decal sheet. I have been searching the internet and going through the multitude of books that are available for the F-4J looking for the markings of VF-84. I finally discovered a photo on one of the web sites of the exact aircraft that Yellowhammer duplicated.

Admittedly, Yellowhammer did do a very good job. However, some things are required to be fixed. Based on the photo of F-4J #153823, the following items require attention:

The side profile on the decal sheet shows the aircraft is equipped with the ECM antennas mounted on the intakes. At the time of the photo this gear was not installed.
Photo shows centerline tank only without outboard pylons. A VF-84 stencil can be discerned on the drop tank.
The tips of the leading edge of the sidewinder rails are painted yellow. No mention of this is made on the instuction sheet.
The folded wingtips in the photo clearly show that the wingtips are to be painted yellow. Yellowhammer does not depict this on their instructions.
The bottom of the forward nose gear door should have the number 212 applied to it. Fortunately, as you can see in the scan of the sheet, Yellowhammer does supply five small number 212's. These are for the fin cap, optional styles for the upper surface of the flaps and the nose gear door. No mention is made of the decal to be applied to the nose gear door.
Deleted form the instructions and decal sheet is the black circle that is clearly applied to the nose gear door. In fact, this is depicted as being white on the instructions.
The cooling scoops on the forward fuselage should have large black solid stencils applied. Yellowhammer shows a clear style of stencil on its instructions.
Yellowhammer does not show on the instructions the obvious red stencil applied to the rear of the badly weathered radome.

All in all these items are easy to correct and shouldn't prevent you from purchasing this sheet. I wouldn't hesitate recommending this decal sheet and would rate it four out of five stars due to the errors in its instruction sheet.

Yellowhammer | 1/32 F-4J VF-84 Decals

Reviewed by Mark Proulx

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