1/72 Luftwaffe F-4F Jet Fighter JG71 Richthofen

Description

This is an injection-plastic jet aircraft model kit.

The former West German Air Force had planned to transition from the F-104G to the Tornado IDS (an aircraft jointly developed by the UK, Germany, and Italy) in the early 1970s, but due to delays in development, they considered adopting the lighter, simplified F-4 proposed by the U.S. Initially, they considered a single-seat version, but reverted to a two-seater in light of the performance of the RF-4E that had been introduced earlier. It was thus adopted by the West German Air Force and became the F-type, but since it was equipped with a simple radar without an illuminator function, it could not operate the AIM-7 Sparrow, and its air-to-air armament consisted only of the AIM-9 and machine guns. In addition, the air-to-air refueling equipment and one onboard fuel tank were removed to reduce weight. In terms of appearance, it is characterized by movable leading edge slats and a type of tail stabilizer without fixed slats. 175 F-4Fs were procured for two fighter-bomber wings and two interceptor wings. In 1983, the radar equipment was replaced with AN/APG-65GY to improve beyond visual range look-down/shoot-down capability as part of the Improved Combat Effectiveness (ICE) program, enabling the operation of the AIM-120 AMRAAM. 110 aircraft were used for air defense, and the other 37 were remodeled for enhanced ground attack without radar modification. This model kit from Fine Molds reproduces the combination of a newly molded soft wing and a stabilizer without fixed leading edge slats. When completed, the appearance will be different from the E (late model). Decals are included to reproduce the aircraft belonging to the JG71 “Richtofen” squadron in 1985 and 2013. Pace your order today!

• [Includes]: Decals for 2 versions