Mario Liegghio, Manhattan Beach, California
Using Esci’s 1/72 scale kit, Mario modeled an F-4E crewed by Capt. Fred Sheffler and Capt. Mark Massen of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing, based at Ubon, Thailand. “The stores are kitbashed and scratchbuilt from a Hasegawa weapons set,” Mario says. “Interesting how modeling, history, and life intersect: I took the inset photo of the plane and crew while I was stationed at Ubon in 1973. I had recently dusted off my old slides when an old shop mate from Ubon found me online. I posted the photos to some websites and decided that, if there was anyone identifiable in a picture, I would try to track them down and send them a copy. I found Fred through the F-4 Phantom II Society website and decided to build the plane. Here is the kicker: Scrounging through my paints, I found a bottle of Pactra light olive green, in the old square bottle with a P molded in it, with a 19¢ price tag. It turned out to be a good match to weathered FS34102. I realized from the price that this was a bottle I had bought from the Ubon base hobby shop back in ’73. Incredibly, it was only slightly thickened. When I thinned it with Testors enamel thinner, it airbrushed beautifully!”