The Story

One of the enigmas of the Israeli airforce is F4-E #187, painted with, arguably the largest sharkmouth on any Phantom ever. Much conflicting information has been written, but to this day remains somewhat of a mystery. What is known, is that this particular early model F4-E was sold to the IAF in the late 1960's, arriving with the first or second batch received. F4-Es, at that time were not equipped with the forward maneuvering slats as standard equipment. The late Tim McGovern, wrote in his book on the F4E, that McDonnell Douglas engineers refitted an Israeli F4 (#68-544) with fixed slats in October 1970. After extensive flight testing, the data was collected from the Israelis and would be used by McDonnell engineers to incorporate the actuating leading edge maneuvering slats in later models of the "E".

An official Israeli military photographer, Mr. Moshe Milner, took a series of in-flight pictures at various airshows in the early 1970's that show an early "E", with fixed leading edge slats, an extremely garish sharkmouth on the sides of the nose, and camera register markings forward of, and on the sides of the intakes. Further photos appeared, that show the same camera register markings on the inboard pylons and on the aft fuselage. This photographic evidence might confirm the identity of the plane as #68-544. To my knowledge, no other IAF Phantoms from that era have these markings.

Now the rumors..... the story has been told that the plane was the 69 squadron ("Ha Patishim"/ "Hammers") commanders personal aircraft, and he had the sharkmouth painted on during the flight test program. The mouth markings were not "blessed" by the IAF high command and later painted over. Some observers contend that the markings were similar to the French Ouragon, in IAF service in the 1950s-60s, of #113 squadron, and that in abit of official disinformation, attempted to show that an additional Phantom squadron was in service.

The Yom Kippur war of October 1973, saw the Phantom and Skyhawk squadrons take heavy losses in the early days of the conflict, with #187 purportedly flying a single combat mission against the Syrians. Apparently the damage inflicted on the plane during that sortie was severe enough to sideline it for the remainder of the war. A photo published in Israel after the war, showed the aircraft at the Israel Aircraft Industries facility at Lod airport during repairs. The white teeth had already been painted out, but the outline of the mouth was still evident.

A single photograph taken by the author in the mid 1970s, while serving with the military in Israel, revealed a new incarnation for #187. Now appearing in the markings of 119 squadron, with red chevron on the tail and "Bat" squadron markings. The aircraft tail number and a unique patch of brown camouflage on the LHS tail confirmed its identity. The nose markings had been oversprayed, and curiously a patch of green which normally would appear on the nose camo scheme was absent, further confirming the indentity of the A/C.

The Model

It was "love at first sight" when I saw a photo of this plane, and even 25 years ago I knew I would build a model of it one day. To start, I used the Revell F4-E in 1/32nd scale, as Tamiya had not issued the "E" yet. The model was painted in standard IAF camouflage, which varied only slightly as they were delivered from the McDonnell factory. The model does not have the TISEO fairing on the left wing root, or the leading edge flaps. Photos helped to determine the dimensions of the mouth outline. This area was masked in the overall shape of the mouth and sprayed testors flat Red (# 1150). The lower portion of the mouth is in a reddish brown. Information I received after the model was built would contradict the brown portion of the mouth. If I built it again, it would be all Red. A stencil of masking tape was created for the teeth, the teeth were cut away, leaving only a jagged mask to cover the red. Flat white was sprayed in light coats over the mask. Removing the mask left a beautiful set of sharkteeth. The model was oversprayedwith "Future" acrylic floor polish, and "Cutting Edge" 1/32nd IAF F4 decals and "Aeromaster" 1/32nd "Early F4 Stencils" decals were applied.

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