fündekals 1/48 F-4C MiG Hunters - Operation Bolo and Beyond Decal First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

fündekals has just released a new decal set covering the F-4C MiG Hunters - Operation Bolo and Beyond in 1/48 scale. If you've read some of the aerial combat summaries out of the Vietnam air war, the Air Force had quickly acquired their own version of the US Navy's F-4 Phantom II after finding that they didn't have a suitable all-weather interceptor/fighter available. Enter Colonel Robin Olds, commander of the 8th TFW operating out of Ubon RTAFB in Thailand. The F-4Cs from Ubon would provide combat air patrol (CAP) protection for the strike aircraft operating 'up-north'. The North Vietnamese Air Force (NVAF) learned quickly that the F-4 was a serious threat and worked to keep their MiG-21s away from them. NVAF radar operators could tell the aggressive fighter tracks of the F-4s versus the bomb-laden F-105s. Olds' team developed a surprise package called Operation Bolo for the NVAF and on Jan 2, 1967, the F-105s stayed home while the F-4s of the 8th TFW flew north like bomb-laden Thuds. The VNAF saw these unprotected targets and launched as many MiG-21s as were available in the area. This wasn't remotely a fair fight as the F-4Cs downed seven MiG-21s with no losses. Needless to say that VNAF tactics were re-evaluated making it more difficult to lure the MiGs up for further attrition.

This new decal set will work with your choice of 1/48 F-4C kits and the downloadable instructions (available at the fundekals or HobbyZone USA websites) not only provide you with specific detail notes for each tail number covered in this set, it also provides any needed correction instructions for the various F-4C kits as well. The instructions are 42 pages long, so they are going to be thorough, and fortunately do an excellent job of showing placement for the multitude of airframe stencils included in this set.

Subjects covered in this set include:

• F-4C-21-MC, 63-7680, 497 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, 2 Jan 1967 (Operation Bolo)
• F-4C-19-MC, 63-7589, 555 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, 2 Jan 1967 (Operation Bolo)
• F-4C-21-MC, 63-7683, 433 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, 2 Jan 1967 (Operation Bolo)
• F-4C-21-MC, 63-7710, 497 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, 2 Jan 1967 (Operation Bolo)
• F-4C-25-MC, 64-0927, 497 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, 2 Jan 1967 (Operation Bolo)
• F-4C-24-MC, 64-0839, 555 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, 6 Jan 1967
• F-4C-24-MC, 64-0849, 497 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, 6 Jan 1967
• F-4C-24-MC, 64-0839, 497 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, 10 Mar 1967
• F-4C-21-MC, 63-7668, 555 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, 4 May 1967
• F-4C-21-MC, 63-7680, 497 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, 13 May 1967
• F-4C-24-MC, 64-0829, 433 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, 20 May 1967 (Pre-mission)
• F-4C-24-MC, 64-0829, 433 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, 20 May 1967 (Post-mission)
• F-4C-20-MC, 63-7623, 497 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, 20 May 1967
• F-4C-24-MC, 64-0829, 433 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, summer 1967
• F-4C-19-MC, 63-7589, 497 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, summer 1967
• F-4C-21-MC, 63-7680, 433 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, September 1967
• F-4C-24-MC, 64-0829, 433 TFS/8 TFW, Ubon RTAFB, September 1967 (Robin Olds' final combat mission)

This release provides a nice selection of airframes that took part in Operation Bolo as well as revisits to many of these subjects later on during 1967. If you want to build one or more distinctive F-4C MiG killers from Vietnam, this is the decal set you've been waiting for!

You can order this set here.

My sincere thanks to HobbyZone USA for this review sample!