[MOC] F-4C & F-4J 'Phantom II' Fighter Jet Pair

[Legosim]

Hey Eurobricks! Wanted to post a recently finished a pair of minifig-scale (about 1:40) F-4 Phantom IIs. The first is an F-4C of the USAF's 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, and an F-4J from Carrier Air Wing 9.

The models have quite a few working features:

• Two aircrew minifigs in the cockpits
• retractable landing gear
• the main rotors fold up, like the real aircraft
• various control surfaces move up and down
• the F-4J's wings fold up for stowage on an aircraft carrier (in this case, USS Constellation)

Some Background:

• F-4C / US Air Force: This F-4C represents aircraft 64-0829 in service with the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, and flown by Colonel Robin Olds during Operation BOLO on 2 January 1967. This mission was a response to the heavy losses sustained to USAF bombers during the ROLLING THUNDER air campaign of 1966. In response, USAF F-4Cs deceived the North Vietnamese Air Force into believing they were actually lumbering F-105 bombers by flying the same routes and carrying the same jamming pods. The Phantoms successfully surprised the adversary, and shot down seven MiG-21 FISHBED fighters in twelve minutes. Col Olds' plan was a complete success, and during the fight he and his backseater, 1st Lt Charles Clifton, shot down a single MiG-21 with an AIM-9 Sidewinder. The losses sustained by the Vietnamese MiGs caused both their pilots and their Soviet backers to re-evaluate tactics and deployment of the MiG-21s for the remainder of the war. Operation BOLO was one of the most successfully planned and executed operations of the Vietnam War, and remains one of the most celebrated engagements in USAF history.
• F-4J / US Navy: The F-4J Phantom II was an improved version of the earlier F-4B designed specifically for the US Navy and Marine Corps. First rolling out of McDonnell Douglas' factory in 1966, the F-4J provided significant improvement in air-air combat ability via the addition of the AN/APG-59 pulse doppler radar, which provided one of the first 'look-down shoot-down' capabilities on a 3rd generation fighter. By the time they were retired in from American service, over 520 of this variant had been built. This Phantom is Showtime 100, flown by Lt 'Duke' Cunningham and Lt JG William Driscoll. During VF-96's tour aboard the USS Constellation from October 1971 to July 1972, these men became the US Navy's only aces of the Vietnam War.
• I originally designed the USAF version as a digital model in 2016, but the parts didn't exist in the right colors yet. Later on, I updated the design slightly and changed the colors to the Navy's VF-96 scheme and built the F-4J for the Vietnam War collab at BrickFair Virginia 2018. After the collab, Peter Dornbi took my original digital design and built it in USAF jungle camouflage in 2018, which showed it could be done with real bricks. I took his modifications, added some new parts, and built my own USAF version in 2022, so I've finally got the pair together.

 

Both versions together:

 

F-4C variant in USAF southeast Asia camouflage 

 

F-4J variant in the US Navy's VF-96 livery

 

Thanks for looking!

 

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Legosim

[icm]

Hi @Legosim! I've admired your work on Flickr for a long time, good to see you on Eurobricks. I don't suppose you'd happen to have any sort of digital file for those models, would you? I'd love to try and reproduce those Phantoms, but my workflow for physical building almost always starts with a Studio model, and I don't think I'll be able to find the time to reverse-engineer these wonderful builds in Studio anytime soon.

[TheBeeze]

Awesome work! Check out GBW

[LordsofMedieval]

I like the Navy one better simply because it makes all the great contours and lines stand out more.

[Legosim]

21 hours ago, icm said:

Hi @Legosim! I've admired your work on Flickr for a long time, good to see you on Eurobricks. I don't suppose you'd happen to have any sort of digital file for those models, would you? I'd love to try and reproduce those Phantoms, but my workflow for physical building almost always starts with a Studio model, and I don't think I'll be able to find the time to reverse-engineer these wonderful builds in Studio anytime soon.

Hi! Thanks for the kind words. I don't currently have instructions for these, but if you're interested in the Stud.io files, I would be happy to share them. 

7 hours ago, TheBeeze said:

Awesome work! Check out GBW

Thanks! I did actually when I was browsing the forum, seems cool.

6 hours ago, LordsofMedieval said:

I like the Navy one better simply because it makes all the great contours and lines stand out more.

Same, honestly...even though the model is a few years old now and doesn't use many newer parts. The bright squadron markings really make it pop, I think.

[icm]

The Studio files would be great, thanks. Can you DM me with them?

[Legosim]

1 minute ago, icm said:

The Studio files would be great, thanks. Can you DM me with them?

Unfortunately, the Forum won't let me send a DM for some reason, but if you hit me up on Flickr or Instagram, and I can send you a link.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Legosim

[Feuer Zug]

Excellent work recreating the pair of F-4 variants. Great attention to details.

[royalstick]

I hope LEGO will make this idea for CREATOR series

[icm]

On 12/3/2022 at 3:07 PM, Legosim said:

Unfortunately, the Forum won't let me send a DM for some reason, but if you hit me up on Flickr or Instagram, and I can send you a link.

I just DMd you on Flickr.

[Legosim]

21 hours ago, Feuer Zug said:

Excellent work recreating the pair of F-4 variants. Great attention to details.

Thank you! 

16 hours ago, royalstick said:

I hope LEGO will make this idea for CREATOR series

Unfortunately I doubt it, since Lego doesn't make real-life military kits.

1 hour ago, icm said:

I just DMd you on Flickr.

Responded.

[Krol Zmija Sebastian]

Good work. I had a fighter jet first build. It was a gift from my Mother, or Father. It had a rubber nose though. 

[ParmBrick]

Nice set of planes! I love the design of the F-4, it's a beautiful plane in my opinion! I'm a huge fan of your vehicles on Flickr, just a shame I haven't been on that platform earlier to enjoy the golden age of military-themed Lego

 

[Legosim]

On 12/7/2022 at 11:56 AM, Viper Knight said:

Good work. I had a fighter jet first build. It was a gift from my Mother, or Father. It had a rubber nose though. 

thanks!

On 12/7/2022 at 5:28 PM, ParmBrick said:

Nice set of planes! I love the design of the F-4, it's a beautiful plane in my opinion! I'm a huge fan of your vehicles on Flickr, just a shame I haven't been on that platform earlier to enjoy the golden age of military-themed Lego

 

Thank you Jordan! I've enjoyed seeing your stuff over the past few years as well. It is a shame that lego military Flickr is so much less active than it used to be.