The Thunderjet became the Air Force's primary strike aircraft during the Korean War. More than  7500 jets were produced and many supplied to NATO countries because of the Cold War.  It was also the first jet aircraft to fly with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team. The USAF Strategic Air Command had F-84 Thunderjets in service from 1948 through 1957.

In plastic modelling various kits appeared, and in 1/72 scale these models are presented: 

Academy 1/72 kit
Heller 1/72 kit
Hobbyboss 1/72 kit

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The details are so fine that I used the airbrush to first spray the smaller parts while they are in their sprues. Later on, I sprayed the entire model Humbrol metal 27002 aluminum and take care as not to handle the model with your hands as you will get fingerprints. I depicted some panels in another metal colour, than added a coat of Johnson Klear as varnish. 

the lower gear bays with good detail

The decals came from Dutch decal set 72042 but also  the older set 72022 was used which contains some extra stencilling of the F-84G. The white round frame cockpit  on the cockpit is supplied on this last sheet as well as some smaller stencilling.

The decalsheets are excellent although you will need to cut in the decal of the rounded nose band. I also overpainted it later on in the same colour and also painted the wingtip tanks fins orange.

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The model took a very small amount of time and the result is a neat very fine  model! Recommended!

(NOTE: HobbyBoss mid july 2011 also came up with a 1/32 scale Thunderjet F-84E, a very good kit. Will be subject of a building report later on this website)

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The schemes provided include a F-84G of the 58 FBG used in Korea in 1953 and a very nice USAF Thunderbirds scheme. [Thunderbirds site...] 

The decal sheet is wel printed.

An impression of the assemby is seen in the instructions picture, and this is a very good and staright forward build indeed.

Two separate panels are there in the lower front fuselage, probably to issue another variant like the F-84E later. 
The F-84G has a couple of intakes at these panels, and the rear fuselage end at the exhaust pipe is slightly shorter for the F-84G, being a straight line on the F-84G with the rudder trailing edge, whereas on the F-84E this exhaust pipe protrudes a tiny bit. 
(Very early F-84E also had no extensive canopy framing. Also, the F-84E had no refuelling equipment such as the intake at the wing leading edge and the tank booms on the tip tanks).

Assembly was straight forward with very minor filling in some places. After assembly and surface polishing, a base coat was added with Revell 75 enamel. 

In the bays, adequate moulded details are provided.

After the base coat, the model received a coat of gloss black and when dry a coat of Johnson Future to ensure that a very smooth finish is there. Next, a couple of coats of ALCLAD II gloss Aluminium was applied with the airbrush.

The decals are very thin, ensure to position each decal in the correct place at once as much as possible to avoid cracking the decal. I used ample amounts of decal setting, like that of DACO. The wing tip tank decals did not fit 100%, so some retouching was needed with gloss red paint. Also, the "blue" had to be painted in many places. Note that several pain manufacturers have the special Thunderbird colurs in their range. 

The canopy has framing and this was made from aluminium foil strips cut from BARE METAL FOIL with a very sharp scalp. Note also the circular shape.

Adding the rest of the details like the gears and antenna's was no problem and so the model was completed quickly. In the cockpit, some details were added like seat straps to the seat which is nicely done in the model parts.
For the Thunderbird jet, obviously no armament was installed. The result was a very nice USAF Thunderbirds demoteam Thunderjet model in 1/72 scale!

Web:  Dutch IPMS Walkaround

Books: 
- F-84 Thunderjet, Dutch Profile, (Dutch with English summaries)

- F-84 Thunderjet in action,  Squadron Signal
- US fighters of fifties, Squadron signal
- Squadrons van de koninklijke luchtmacht, Helfferich, Wyt, 1994 (in Dutch)
- Aerobatic teams internet site