House of Phantoms Decals 1/48 F-4Cs and Candy Canes of the 58th TFTW at Luke AFB Decal First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

House of Phantoms Decals is new product line from the same folks that produce AirDoc Publications and Double Ugly Decals. This first release is a super-set of decals covering the F-4C Phantom II in service with the 58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing at Luke AFB, AZ from the mid-1970s into the early 1980s. During this time, Luke AFB was the school for new and transitioning pilots to learn the F-4 Phantom II or the F-15 Eagle. The school aircraft consisted of the F-4C Phantom II as well as the F-15A and TF-15A Eagle. During my first assignment in the USAF, my parents had moved to Phoeniz, AZ and when I'd come home on leave, I'd go out to Luke and photograph these aircraft at work. Here's a shot of one of the subjects in this decal set waiting on the ramp for its next hop. In 1977, the 58th was redesignated as a Tactical Training Wing, and shortly afterwards, the 405 TTW stood up at Luke to take over F-15 training duties. The 58th TTW would transition its training school from the F-4 Phantom II to the F-16 Fighting Falcon in 1983.

The examples presented here include:

• F-4C, 63-7584, 58 TFTW, April 1975, Wing CC's flagship
• F-4C, 63-7584, 58 TFTW, July 1975, Wing CC's flagship
• F-4C, 63-7584, 58 TFTW, March 1976, Wing CC's flagship, Black Candy Cane
• F-4C, 63-7550, 550 TFTS/58 TFTW, May 1976, Orange Candy Cane
• F-4C, 63-7426, 426 TFTS/58 TFTW, March 1976, Sabre
• F-4C, 63-7426, 426 TFTS/58 TFTW, August 1976, Sabre
• F-4C, 63-7676, 310 TFTS/58 TFTW, May 1976, Bicentennial
• F-4C, 64-0665, 311 TFTS/58 TFTW, December 1975, Black Candy Cane
• F-4C, 64-0665, 311 TFTS/58 TFTW, August 1976, Black Candy Cane
• F-4C, 64-0665, 550 TFTS/58 TFTW, December 1976, Black Candy Cane
• F-4C, 67-7693, 550 TFTS/58 TFTW, June 1976, Blue Candy Cane
• F-4C, 64-0816, 550 TFTS/58 TFTW, December 1976, Yellow Candy Cane
• F-4C, 64-0660, 310 TTS/58 TTW, September 1979, Triple MiG Killer
• F-4C, 63-7704, 310 TFTS/58 TFTW, Summer 1975, MiG Killer
• F-4C, 64-0660, 310 TTS/58 TTW, September 1981
• F-4C, 63-7432, 310 TTS/58 TTW, May 1982
• F-4C, 63-7477, 310 TTS/58 TTW, March 1982
• F-4C, 63-7411, 311 TTS/58 TTW, March 1982, Wrap-Around Camo

The decals are nicely laid out and printed by Cartograf, so you know the quality is going to be excellent. The sheets provide coverage for the different markings variations and provide sufficient stencils and markings for at least two models. The instructions provide essential information how to paint your subject and provide masks and information should you opt to paint the candy cane or Sabre ID stripes yourself

When the AirDoc folks produced their F-4 Double-Ugly series for USN Phantoms, the only real option for a kit was the Hasegawa Phantoms, but today we have Hasegawa, Academy, and Zoukei-Mura options and this sheet was sized for the Zoukei-Mura Inc. kit.

This is a great decal set and brings back many memories of these striped Phantoms (and striped Eagles too) at Luke AFB.

For more information about this set and the other releases from House of Phantoms Decals, visit their website at https://houseofphantoms.com/.

My sincere thanks to House of Phantoms Decals for this review sample!