Volks A3 F-4 Phantom, Review

The first Tactical Surface Fighter is here!

So many stuffs to review yet too little time to do it whether i procrastinate too much or i am too busy with my daily life. Anyway this time i will review F-4 Phantom which is the 3rd Volks A3 that i have which i got it early this year from Mandarake. Based from the Volks website it appears that F-4 is the limited edition version of Gekishin which belong to the 4th series of Volks A3.

In Muvluv Alternative Universe, it is F-4 Phantom is the result from US Military project that begins the era of Tactical Surface Fighter as there are no conventional weaponry are not effective enough to hold line against BETA assaults. Phantom is first mass produced TSF which are heavily armored that marked it as the first generation TSF and active from early 70s serving as Main force against BETA until 2nd Gen TSF begins to come out. The F-4 are quickly distributed across the frontlines and have couple of variants as well. However it turns out the heavily armored Phantom are still ineffective against BETA as the armor is still easily destroyed by Grappler or Laser class and control of the F-4 is still complicated back then. This makes the TSF developer begin to favor more mobility instead of armor and Operation by wire are begin to be developed.

Some Variants of F-4 Phantom are Zuikaku and Gekishin which belong to Japanese Imperial Guard. In Muvluv Alternative, the F-4 Phantom are shown to be used in holding lines against BETA rather than offensive operation due to lack of mobility and it seems that they tend to die alot and serve as Cannon Fodder. In my opinion the F-4 Phantom kinda reminds me of Wanzers from front mission due to their bulky proportion that implies their lack of mobility.

In terms of accessories, F-4 Phantom is rather lacking of accesories since there is no extendable weapon binder parts for Gun Sweeper Gimmick. In terms of articulation, F-4 Phantom got quite terrible articulation for the legs which can't move at all unless you remove the blocking parts. While it is rare to happen, apparently one of the Jump parts had its wing missing but i am already aware for buying used goods.

 Nothing much to say here but i think i am quite satisfied with the photos taken this time as i find the lighting is good this time. You might find some pose is quite generic but it can't be helped with the capability of the F-4 model since i can't do anything much with the leg.

Somehow i find this pose fitting for F-4 Phantom being a cannon fodder type mecha fighting to bitter end. If you are looking for this model in Mandarake expect the price tag is around 3000 to 4000 Yen though you might be able to get Gekishin or Zuikaku on 2500 yen price tag. I don't really expect Kotobukiya to release this guy as currently they are too busy making different versions of Shiranui or Takemikazuchi though i recall Volks have a resin model for this guy.