Master modeler Michael Kirchoff has once again produced a highly detailed cockpit set....this time for the very popular Hasegawa F-4G kit.  This set contains 28 cast resin pieces.  The seats were the only place that any casting flaws could be found.  The flaws in the seats were very minor air bubbles on the seat cushions that some quick filling should fix no problem (refer to photos of the seats below).  I have compared this set with our selection of reference photos on the F-4G cockpits that were kindly supplied by Uncle Rick Chin of Uncle Bills Hobby as well as some other reference photos in various books. And it's plain to see this Black Box set has been carefuly researched.  The bottom half of the rear instrument panel seems to represent an earlier F-4G.  This can be clearly seen when comparing the kit parts with our 3 dozen of so walkaround photos of a late version F-4G cockpit (mentioned earlier in this review).  The F-4G had a long and full operational life and during those decades there were many, many modifications.  

Master modeler Michael Kirchoff has stepped into a minefield here trying to capture the F-4G cockpit in resin, because there isn't one F-4G....instead there are many seemlingly endless versions of the F-4G. The cockpit sidewall detail doesn't seem to completely match our reference photos, but they do accurately match the photos in the Detail & Scale Vol.7, so in the end it will come down to the modellers individual choices of which reference photos with which cockpit modification he wants to go by.  The cockpit tub seems very accurate in the front and rear and I was quite impressed with the detail here as well as the detail on the instrument panels....how Master modeler Michael Kirchoff can make the tiny needles on these tiny guages is beyond me .  This set doesn't include the "fiddlely bits" that attach to the inside frame of the windshield in the front cockpit just above the HUD.  In our photos there seems to be quite a bit of gear here, but for the most part these items are just boxes that shouldn't be too hard to create out of thick sheet plastic.....if the kit parts don't suffice.   Another interesting item is the delicate HUD that is included in this kit.....it's as fine as PE, but much nicer. The instruction sheet is easy to make out and very well drawn and with some good painting instructions for the seats as well.  

So what's my final opinion of this set?  I like it.  It's got some beautiful delicate detail and it's the best generic F-4G resin cockpit detail set we could ever hope to see.  The detail of this Black Box set will greatly improve the detail of the existing Hasegawa cockpit pieces, but in the end it will come down to a battle of the reference photos for the individual F-4G and time frame you are trying to capture.

Steve Bamford

(click on pictures below to bring up full screen pictures)