COBI F-4C Phantom II Set 2427

COBI's F-4C Phantom II is a 1:48 model built from 738 blocks, with movable ailerons, retractable landing gear, an opening cockpit for two simplified pilot figures, and Mark 82 bombs on the pylons. A display stand and a collector's plaque are included. All markings are printed onto the blocks; the set contains no stickers.

The fighter without a gun

Look at the model and notice what is missing. The F-4C has no cannon, and that was a decision rather than an oversight.

When the Phantom was designed in the late 1950s the accepted view was that air combat had moved on. Missiles would kill at range, interceptions would happen beyond visual distance, and a gun was dead weight from a previous era. So the aircraft was built around radar and missiles, with two crew to work them, and no gun at all.

Vietnam disproved it. Rules of engagement usually required visual identification before firing, which forced Phantom crews into exactly the close-range turning fights the missiles were worst at — and against the small, agile, cannon-armed MiG-17, a Phantom that had emptied its missile rails had nothing left to do but leave. Crews bolted gun pods under the fuselage as a field fix, and the later F-4E was redesigned with an internal M61 Vulcan.

The aircraft itself was formidable: two engines, over 8,400 kg of ordnance, and a versatility that saw it used as fighter, bomber and reconnaissance aircraft by the Navy, the Air Force and the Marine Corps. It entered combat in December 1964 with the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, the Triple Nickel.

In the COBI range

At 1:48 the model stands beside the F-104 Starfighter (2426) and the F-5A Freedom Fighter (2425). Its opponent, the MiG-17, is set 2424 — though at 1:32 that one is built to a larger scale.

Specifications

Pieces: 738 · Figures: 2 simplified pilots · Scale: 1:48
Model dimensions: 38 × 24 × 12 cm (15.0 × 9.4 × 4.7 in)