Furball Aero-Design 1/48 Black Bunny VX-4 F-4J Decal First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

You can't see the smile on my face, but I am a happy camper! Furball Aero-Design has released the Black Bunny - the gloss black F-4J from VX-4 at NAS Point Mugu that featured the Playboy Bunny logo on the tail. I saw this aircraft on several occassions at Point Mugu during the 1960s and early 1970s. The aircraft is iconic in Phantom circles and while not 'politically correct' these days, who cares?

Furball Aero-Design produced this decal set for F-4J 153783 at several points in time. The examples presented here include:

• F-4J, 153783, VX-4, XF/9, NAS Point Mugu, 1969
• F-4J, 153783, VX-4, bunny/1 (Vandy 1), NAS Point Mugu, 1972

The sheet is printed by Cartograf and the printing is very well done. The set comes with a complete set of stencils in white which will really stand out on that gloss black airframe. The set is tailored for the recent Zoukei-Mura 1/48 F-4J kit and before you consider using these on the more recent Z-M 1/48 F-4S kit, note that 153783 was never converted to an F-4S - it instead became an F-4J(UK) airframe to serve in the defense of the Falkland Islands. VX-4 did have an F-4S as Vandy 1 (155539), so you can do the F-4S if you can find the white bureau numbers. You'll also note that 153783 was also a gray test aircraft with VX-4, but this set focuses on the aircraft while it was gloss black.

I am glad I bought several of the Zoukei-Mura F-4Js as there is definitely going to be a Vandy 1 on my shelf in the foreseeable future!

My sincere thanks to Furball Aero-Design for this review sample!