Hobby Master 1:72 Air Power Series Diecast Model

McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II – AF 80-573, 14th TRS, USAF, Udorn RTAFB, Thailand, January 1972 (Vietnam War)

1:72 Scale.  Length: 9.75".  Wingspan: 6.25"

On January 20, 1972, while flying RF-4C Phantom II 80-573 on a SAM locating sortie, Pilot Bob Mock and WSO John Stiles came across a convoy transporting SAM launchers. Although they were receiving enemy fire, the crew immediately made a photo pass at 4,000 feet and turned to make a second. At this moment the aircraft shook violently and began to spin towards the earth but, just before crashing, the crew safely ejected and, as luck would have it, they were rescued by a CIA helicopter that was in the same area. The official record showed that RF-4C AF80-573 was lost to cannon fire from an NVAF aircraft.

However in 2009, 37 years later, Dan Cherry, another F-4 Phantom pilot (replicated in HA1938) met the NVAF MiG-21 pilot that he had shot down in April 1972, Lt Nguyen Hong My (replicated in HA0181). After talking it was discovered that Nguyen Hong My was credited an F-4 victory on January 20, 1972 and, with some investigating, the conclusion was that Nguyen Hong My’s air victory actually was RF-4C 80-573 flown by Mock and Stiles. When Dan Cherry told John Stiles the facts, he was amazed to finally know the real story and in May 2014 John Stiles returned to Vietnam for the first time since 1972 and met with Nguyen Hong My.

The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom is a two-seat, twin-engine supersonic jet fighter originally developed for the US Navy. Proving highly adaptable, it became a major part of the air wings of the US Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force. The F-4 Phantom was used extensively by all three of these services in the Vietnam War, serving as the principal fighter/bomber for the U.S. Navy and US Air Force as well as being important in ground-attack and reconnaissance roles. F-4 Phantom II production ran from 1958 until 1981, with a total of 5,195 built.

The F-4 Phantom entered service in 1960 and continued to form a major part of U.S. military air power throughout the 1970s and 1980s, being gradually replaced by more modern aircraft such as the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon in the U.S. Air Force; the F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet in the U.S. Navy and the F/A-18 in the Marine Corps. It remained in use by the U.S. in the reconnaissance and Wild Weasel roles in the 1991 Gulf War, finally leaving service in 1996. The Phantom was also operated by the air forces of eleven other nations.


Hobby Master offers a wide selection of quality, pre-assembled, diecast model airplanes. Each model is crafted to a high level of accuracy using specifications of the original aircraft. They are constructed with precision-made diecast metal and some plastic components.

This model of an RF-4C Phantom II by Hobby Master features: