RAF F-4 Phantom Crew

Modelu, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

Modelu is a British company that produces 3d printed figures and associated services including full-body custom scans.

Their focus has been railway and lineside figures but they also offer military, civilians, workers, pets, wildlife, livestock figures and more.

This review covers one 1/48 scale figure set from Modelu’s brand new post-war RAF and FAA figure range.

The set comprises two RAF F-4 Phantom crew figures - a pilot and a navigator - poring over a clipboard.

The figures are wearing flight suits. One is wearing his flight helmet with covered visor and the other is holding his while helmet scratching his head.

This is another relaxed and self-contained scene.

As the F-4 Phantom was in service with the RAF from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, these figures may also be applicable to other Cold War-era RAF jets.

The figures are perfectly 3d printed in grey resin together on a single base with fine attachment points. No striations or other imperfections can be seen on my samples.

I thought it was important to see what these figures would look like when they had been freed from their 3d printing cages so I set about cleaning up the nine figures across the three scales.

For the last batch of figures, I removed the figures from their attachments one set at a time using a new hobby blade and a quality set of sprue cutters. This was a fast and easy job. I cut the points close to the bodies of the figures using the sprue cutters and they were quickly freed with almost no residue.

No more than five minutes per figure and they are ready to paint.

This time, I tried a technique suggested to me by 1/48 scale armour guru Luke Pitt. He said that he had run some resin 3d printed figures under hot tap water and the attachment points came away effortlessly. I tried this and it worked.

While experimenting with the hot tap water in the kitchen, my wife asked if a heat gun would do the same job. I think that sort of heat might damage the resin figure but I countered with a hair dryer. Sure enough, with a few minutes application of hot air through a hair dryer, the attachment points came away with no trouble.

The figures can really be appreciated once removed from their printing strips.

Also note that Modelu offers these figures in a choice of seven scales from 1:24 to 1:144 including all the usual model aircraft, military and figure scales.

Regardless of your scale preferences, these two post-war RAF aircrew figures offer plenty of opportunities to add character to your Phantom and possibly other aircraft models. They are both amazingly realistic and highly detailed.

Both Highly Recommended

Thanks to Modelu for the review samples

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2025 by Brett Green
Page Created 25 April, 2025
Last updated 25 April, 2025

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