Contents

Made for the long-nosed versions of the F-4 Phantom II, Master Model has created a beautiful set of metal probes for your 1/72 build. This set includes the nose-mounted pitot tube, side-mounted Angle of Attack (AOA) probe, and vertical stabilizer-mounted Ram Air Inlet tube. As with previous Master products, the detail and quality of the parts are exceptional, especially considering these are extremely minute parts in 1/72 scale!

Construction

Hasegawa’s newer-tool F-4E was chosen to receive these fine detail parts. A great kit in its own right, you can easily see how much of an improvement these metal replacement parts are compared to the injection molded plastic ones included in the kit.

I was a sonar technician on the USS Tecumseh, an SSBN, for 3 years while it was being overhauled at the Newport News, VA, shipyard. We were tied up at a pier during the refit, and the 688 class attack subs were docked at the next pier. As a result, I was able to walk all over LA class subs, visit them, and got pretty familiar with them. Most of the attack boats were being upgraded from Flight I to Flight II at this yard, adding the Tomahawk vertical launch tubes. So I jumped at the chance to build Riich’s 688 class, Flight I model.

I’m not a big fan of the 3-piece hull provided, but the option of making this boat as a waterline model is COOL. I stopped and took photos before I put the upper hull and lower hull together, just to show this.

I had to use a good amount of putty to get the hull sections to mate up, as they didn’t match perfectly. But with some putty and a #10 X-Acto blade, it was pretty easy to get it looking decent.

Introduction

Growing up building all genres of AMT/ERTL/MPC kits, it was sad to watch the demise of the company to a shell of its former self. Being a particularly big Star Trek fan and with AMT being the only game in town all those years ago for Star Trek models (before the internet), it was a sad to see them go.

Then, a few years ago, along came Round2 – acquiring the AMT/MPC molds, fine-tuning several of them, and re-releasing most of the old kits we all remember. Many are being re-released with Retro-Style packaging, while others are being issued with all-new box art and packaging. In late 2012, Round2 re-released Star Trek Deep Space 9 (DS9) in a new, colorful package with a short history of the space station on the box bottom. Thanks to Round2 for reviving those old Star Trek kits, for updating a few of them like DS9 (to include the USS Defiant), and especially for bringing out the new ones!