When Tamiya announced they were entering the Phantom market in 1/48 scale, the Internet buzzed. And now the kit is out, a 1/48^th scale F-4B Phantom. Let’s start by taking a looking the box. For starters, there are 14 sprues of perfect Tamiya grey and clear plastic. There is also a set of instructions, a set of Tamiya Tech tips and a background information booklet about the plane. There are two large double-sided four-color pages with markings for the three planes and a drawing for stencil locations. Also included is a set of masks (not precut). Lastly, there are two decals sheets with markings for the weapons, planes and stencils.

Markings are included for the following:

• VF-51 “Screaming Eagles”, CAG Plane, May 6, 1972, USS Coral Sea
• VF-111 “Sundowners”, Squadron Leaders Aircraft, NAS Miramar, August 1972
• VF-161 “Chargers), CAG Plane, May 1972, USS Midway

Options included for the modeler to use are:

This review was originally published on May 4, 2021. Shortly thereafter IPMS/USA received some additional information from Alexander Pawlygin representing "Foxbot Decals". IPMS/USA is pleased to have received this additional information and thanks Mr. Pawlygin and Foxbot Decals for sharing it with IPMS/USA.

Mr. Pawlygin states......

1. The decal 72-004 contains numbers for (a) single seat Su-27S/P and for (a) twin seat Su-27UBM. Masks for Su-27 and Su-27UB are different. Therefore we cannot complete this decal with masks. But we have separate decals for Su-27 and Su-27UB in 1/48 scale and we have sets 48-047A for Digital Su-27 and 48-067A for Digital Su-27UB which contains decals with masks.

History

Using the hull from a Sho’t (itself a modified Centurion), the Puma CEV is a heavily armored combat engineering vehicle and armored personnel carrier used by the IDF since the 1990´s. With a top speed of 45 km/h, the Puma can carry a crew of up to eight people. It has a variety of uses including mine clearing equipment (including the Carpet system) and bridging capabilities. It is armed with three 7.62mm FN MAG machine guns, smoke grenade launchers, and a 60mm mortar.

The Kit

Inside the durable cardboard box are seventeen olive green sprues, four brown sprues with individual track links, an upper and lower hull, two clear sprues, 24 vinyl tires, a PE fret, and a nicely detailed decal sheet. The kit only features one scheme that uses only two of the decals, so good references are a must to get the most out of the kit.