I will keep this one brief as this kit is 1981 vintage and not very good at that (released under the Testors box as well). Italeri has more recently reissued their F-4 series (mid-2000s) based on a rework of the old ESCI molds, which are an improvement (with engraved panel lines).
Back in the early 1980's if you wanted to build a 1/48th scale F-4G, this was it. It had raised panel lines, a spartan cockpit with ejections seats that barely resembled any ejection seat let alone a Martin Baker seat. (I used replacement seats.)
A number of upgrades and refinements had to be made to bring this kit up to an acceptable level (and I am a pretty easy going kit builder but it had to be done). As it was, I wanted a Charcoal Lizard F-4G with shark-teeth as I saw one in a magazine, based at Spangdahlem, and was hooked on the scheme, so this was to be the starting point.
The shark-teeth were custom painted and decals were put together from spares and generic markings to get to the aircraft I was looking for. All said and done, I wouldn't recommend this kit - the later Italeri issue with engraved panel lines seems like a much needed improvement to this series however the cockpit still seems to need work on this newer series as well. Your best bet is to go with the Hasegawa F-4G in 1/48.
Feel free to ask any questions or comment on the build - Keep on building what you want, how you want and enjoy the build - Cheers
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