This plane is dedicated to all my marine friends here in Armorama. MJ, Modelnut, Warlock, to name a few. Semper Fi!!!

The phantom I am doing is of VMFA-333 in 1972, this particular plane was piloted by Major Lee "Bear" Lasseter and RIO Capt. John 'Lil John" Cummings of VFMA-333. On Septemper 11, 1972, on their second mission of the day, on a MIGCAP mission off the USS America for a naval Alpha Strike some where near Hanoi. They managed to shoot down 2 Mig-21 of NVA before they themselves ejected shortly after going "feet Dry" due to SAM damages.

The kit is Tamiya 1/32 F4J, and my good friend Stug had sent me the bombs for it. I also used resin seats, and eduard PE as well as Mask for it, and Yellowhammer Decals. The plane is loaded with 4 Sparrow, 4 sidewinders, 600 gal tank, 18 500 lb bombs. Some of the pic I seen of the MK82 bombs has different color variations, so I had made the bombs of 2 colors to just add a little variation there.

I also like to thank Warlock for his constant supply of informations, Lord WWH for keep on chasing me to finish this as well as Porkchop, and all of you for your encouragement during the course of the build.

Oh wow! Beautiful Phantom! I love it! You and Ladymodelbuilder are neck in neck with talent and detailing. I do love my planes.

German armor?
Damn, Dave that's a great looking kit. Like the job you did on the panel lines etc, I bet it looks even better in person.
Congratulations, job well done. It really does look nice, better than I would dream of doing.
Now take to a show and win something (or start the new academy F/A-18, the Krauts loved that tank in WWII)

Man, does this bring back memories from my crash crew days in the USAF! We had F4Ds, but sometimes had Navy F4s stay over at our base. What a great job! I'll have to give that kit a try. I really liked the paint scheme and detailing and shading you did.

A work of art! Keep up the good work, can't wait to see more!

Doggone it, that is BEAUTIFULY ugly. What a piece of work. Maybe the best Phantom I've ever seen. What was the weathering process? Were the panel lines done with a wash, sludge wash, or something else?

How long did all those stencil decals take?

That is one beautiful piece of work. Kep them coming, that is truly inspirational. as the rhino is my particular favorite and especially USMC versions (i've got about 6 in 1/48). In a word, BRILLIANT! Jim

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Just kidding Dave, I think it looks great. Where's my bomb though?

The weathering is very well done and the decals look great. The mold line on the drop tank is very evident though.

Rob

Nicely done!

Excellent Job Dave ...those Jets aren't easy to build!

Rick

dammit, i wish you wouldn't post up these fotos.... Now ive started thinking how i can get my hands on one of these beasts......

Very nice :-) Once again you come through with some very high quality work... Even if it is not german, armor, or ambush pattern.

I just want to jump in and fly away! Very realistic ....except one small flaw that I saw...
The arming fuses in the noses on the Dead Drop Bombs are to be turned 3/4 CLOCKWISE, Not counter clockwise as you have shown in your rendition.
Please Correct that ASAP ! #:-) #:-) #:-)

Seriously, very nice!
Beautiful Phantom

My Brother:

In my opinion "Da Phantom Menace" ranks as your best work to date. The pics of this gunslinger are absolutely "WOW" material.

The decal work, paint job, weathering, load, cockpit detail, and clarity of the pics are all home run material. Just outstanding work.

This is good stuff. My hat is off to you sir, just wonderful!

Steve

Very Nice! I love that kit. I built one of the air force ones and it turned out really nice.

Great job,

Scott

:-) Excellant Dave, excellant
Mal

That is one of the finest plane models I have ever seen. Jawdropping over here...
Excellent...

Dave
You had all of Armorama watching this bird take shape - it was quite a show.

You did a Fantastic job. That is one of the best Phantoms I've seen. Makes me want to build another one!!

Great job

Absolutely stunning, Dave. I don't know where you got all that talent, but Wow, is it evident in this piece.

I think Nate is right, you should definately enter this in some contests. I think you'd probably have to build a new shelving unit to hold all the trophy's you'd win.

Excellent work, ...just outstanding.


Mike (++)

GREAT WORK - CONGRATULATIONS
ROBERTO

man what do I say after viewing this wonderful model that has not been said already.

NICE EVEN! :-)

Great work Lord Davidus That's one great lookin Phantom

One of the best Phantoms I've seen yet! Weathering is just right and the details are very finely done!

Beautiful job! Do you take requests? How about doing an A10. That is the best worlds, an armored aircraft.

Patrick

Holy smokes that looks fantastic Dave.... Keep churning them out! (++)

Dave, I love the canopies, the ladders and the bombs
Seriously though, this airplane has the whole package.
Very awesome Dave.

Andrew

Dave that is one fine Phantom. God knows I don't build many planes and I really am mediocre except when I do a Phantom. You make me want to go out and build another