McDonnell Douglas F-4G Phantom II ‘Wild Weasel IV’

The Subject
The USAF converted 116 F-4Es into the F-4G Advanced Wild Weasel IV for the role of seeking out and suppressing or destroying enemy radar-directed anti-aircraft artillery batteries and surface-to-air missile sites. Primary armament included the HARM (AGM-88) and the Maverick (AGM-65). The F-4G is also capable of carrying conventional air-to-air armaments and standard ‘dumb’ bombs.

By all records, the F-4G is the ultimate Wild Weasel platform. With two crew members, duties could be split among the both of them. It’s a tough airframe that could take a lot of punishment. It also had a long loiter time in the target area. It also had the capability to defend itself with its air-to-air capability intact.

It performed admirably in Operation: Desert Storm where it preceded airstrike packages heading into Kuwaiti airspace. The were records of dozens of HARM missiles in the air at one time, all fired by the F-4G.

The last F-4G was retired in April 1996, to be replaced by the F-16CJ. The F-16CJ is basically a Block 50/52 Viper with added Wild Weasel capabilities.

The Kit
The F-4G is my all-time favorite aircraft so needless to say, I had to have one in my collection. The 1/48 kit builds into a very impressive model which more often than not impresses anyone who sees it. This was only my second ever finished aircraft done properly.

Operation: Desert Storm being both its baptism of fire and swansong, I had to do up this kit as a veteran of that war. OOB, the kit depicted an early 1980s Weasel configuration so some minor changes needed to be done.

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