About This File
Skin pack/mod pack with a few sets of skins for Navy versions of the F-4B and F-4 G Phantom II - that flew during the air war over Vietnam between 1964 and 1973.
This mod offers my personal approach to the Navy Phantoms in the Vietnam War. This pack does not cover the J variant. J will be an additional update for this mod at some point. This B version has already grown bigger than I thought. It is not intended to replace or compete with any previous skin packs. I recommend testing it before removing any older mods, as you may prefer one over the other.
Basic modding skills are required to run this mod. (copy/paste, mod folder structure, etc.)
A fake pilot mod is required to run this mod.
It is designed for and works only in the SF2 series.
To run this mod, you also need access to TW lod files from the SF2 Series.
userlist.ini is included, covering the correct years of use for specific models.
Skins cover the years 1964-19734 CVW deployments during the Vietnam War. All squadrons year by year - and a supplement to my other CVW packs: Intruders, Corsairs and Vigilantes. And it is a small part of the bigger picture of all CVWs during the Vietnam War.
There are some ini edits, in avionics.ini. (boresight range reduced to 5, adjusted scan beam angles, small things) - which are easy to fix by using stock TW files.
Might be that there are some small edits in cockpit.ini too.
There are big changes in aircraft data.ini - edited weapon stations, added some effects, edited hitboxes etc..
Userlist.ini calls for specific dates, so the game will use aircraft in a proper way.
Loadout.ini with some presets - but hey- have it your way. It is a game - if you are not modding, you are not really playing.
F-4B Phantom II '65 early airframes that served between 64-66 cover all early Phantom deployments.
This variant is represented by squadrons:
VF-151 on board USS Coral Sea during the 1964 cruise.
VF-21 on board USS Midway during the 1965 cruise.
VF-21 and VF-154 on board USS Coral Sea in 1966
VF-41 and VF-84 on board USS Independence during the 1965 cruise.
VF-92 and VF-96 on Board USS Ranger in 1964 and on USS Enterprise in 1965
VF-114 and VF-213 on board USS Kitty Hawk during 1965 and 1966 cruises.
VF-142 and VF-143 on Board USS Constellation in 1964 and USS Ranger in 1965.
F-4G - 12 rebuilt F-4B to test new automatic landing equipment.
For the first VF-213 deployment, there were only 10 G Phantoms and an additional 3 B Phantoms it is represented this way in this mod.
F-4B Phantom II '66 equipped with AN/APR/-24 used briefly between May 1966 and June 1967 by only 6 squadrons. Not all airframes in squadrons received those upgrades. But to make things simple and not to divide in a complicated way, in this mod this variant covers the full squadron.
This variant are represented by squadrons:
VF-14 and VF-32 onboard USS F.D.Roosevelt during a 1966 cruise.
VF-92 and VF-96 onboard USS Enterprise during a 1966 cruise.
VF-151 and VF-213 onboard USS Constellation during a 1966 cruise.
F-4B Phantom II '66 equipped with AN/APR/-25 used by VF-142 and VF-143 in 1967 on USS Constellation (CVW14).
The last 4 are covering Phantoms upgraded in the Shoehorm program. I split this in 4 significant mods.
F-4B Phantom II '67 upgraded by Shoehorm program mod.1 - Equipped with first variant of Shoehorm program modifications - AN/ALQ-51 - 4 new fairings underneath, AN/APR-30 with new fairings on fin cap. And AN/ALE-29 -2 new doors on the upper fuselage are the most significant changes. Airframes received few new access doors. Door No68 were changed into bigger No621 in tail upper area. Also added new doors 615, 617, and 622 on the fuselage for access to new equipment. IR seeker was removed, and the new fairing covered the new equipment.
Mod covers units
VF-11 and VF-74 on tragic USS Forrestal cruise. In fact not all airframes were ready with shoehorn equipment.
VF-151 and VF-161 - were the first fully equipped squadrons with Shoehorn 1 during the 1967 cruise on USS Coral Sea.
USS Forrestal and USS Coral Sea were the only carriers to deploy Shoehorn 1-equipped F-4Bs into Vietnam.
F-4B Phantom II '67 Shoehorn mod.2 - same as above, but AN/APR-30 was changed into the previous variant, the more reliable AN/APR-25. In many cases, the fin cap (front one) was still in place but did not house any equipment.
Covers squadrons:
VF-21 and VF-154 on 1967 cruise on board USS Ranger
VF-92 and VF-96 on 1968 cruise on board USS Enterprise
VF-114 and VF-213 on 1967 cruise on board USS Kitty Hawk
Third variant is F-4B Phantom II '67 with shoehorn mod. 3 This one covers only two squadrons on board USS Constellation during the 1968 cruise. It is the regular 3rd variant of Shoehorn, but all on board USS Constellation were recognizable by the lack of a top fin front cap and stil present hook fairing under chin.
F-4B Phantom II '68 Shoehorn mod.3 - last variant of modifications - most of them were already equipped with AN/ALQ-100. Big inspection door on tail No. 621 was changed back to small No. 68 - in most of the airframes. Hook-shaped chin pod fairing was removed and new one was used - with exeption of VF-142 and VF-143 on USS Constellation in 1968 - all had new systems but most retained old fairing.
In many airframes, the top front fin fairing was removed, but some airframes still had it for some time - but it was just a fairing without a system inside.
This is al that i came up, with all game limitations and with available models.
Mod covers all fighter squadron deployments during the Vietnam War.
All skins are new. Yes, skin templates use parts from great old templates by Sundowner and Ravenclaw work. But most of it is new. Repainted in 4096x4096 format.
New bump maps based on new skins. Beware - bump maps are customized for specific variants, so be careful in case you want to get copy/paste frenzy.
All decals are new.
Serial numbers are historically correct for specific deployments. However, I was not able to find all of them at the moment. So allocating serial numbers to the correct Modex in a specific squadron deployment is still a work in progress.
I have included all weapons that are listed in loadouts.ini.
All weapons are made by Ravenclaw.
Mod includes specific station code racks - MER and TER. All are compatible with previous mods by me (A-6/A-7) and an additional 3 more specific only for Phantom - USN_TER_2-F4, USN_TER_3-F4 and USN-MER_Ext-2F4.
Sparrows are always loaded by default via the loadout ini. And you can not change it in the loadout menu. For A2G missions, you always have 2 Sparrows; for the typical A2A mission type, you have loaded 4 Sparrows. Except in 1964, where it will use 3 Sparrows and 2 Sidewinders.
But this is all loadout ini edits. Have it your way.
Outside pylons are made into 3 station groups. In first, you can load up to 12 bombs of one kind. Other two groups 2 and 3, cover the front row and aft rows of MER; in that case, you can load the front row with different bombs than the aft row.
There are some limits also on inboard pylons - mostly to avoid conflicts with rocket pods and bombs. But you can load LAU-33 with 2 Zuni and still have bombs on TER.
The only thing I do not like (I do not like it very much) is the possibility of loading a single bomb on outer or inner pylon - directly to the pylon - which is not the proper way in early Navy Phantoms - even for one bomb on a pylon you should use TER or MER suspension.
And yes, TER should be available on outboard pylons and the center pylon - but I did not want to make things more complicated - so I stick to what is important this time.
A few required fake pilot mods are made by me.
New pilot figures are made by me.
Seat models are old Mk7 and Mk5 - all hail to the person who made them.
Have fun.
This mod is still a work in progress regarding allocating serial numbers / making decals/nose arts. So one day there might be an update.
While the F-4B model is original from TW game, you are free to use it as you wish; this mod (skin sets, decals) in its current form should not be used in any campaign, mission pack, or any mod without my permission.
