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F-84G Thunderjet in 1/72 scale
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Tamiya also issued a very nice F-84G kit in 1999. Kit no. 60745 has about 100 parts.
This is the best 1/72 Thunderjet
kit although the Hobbyboss kit discussed on page 1 is very good as well. Panellines are very
fine and the undercarriage and stores finely detailed. Only the decals
are a bit thick but very nice indeed. Colourschemes in the kit are for
natural metal planes with 2 options:
- USAF 508th SFW, 1956 Turner AFB ;
- USAF 58th FBS four queens, 1952 at
Taegu, Korea.
Assembly was done as per instructions after some pre-painting of parts while still on their sprues. The Tamiya fits very good with absolutely no putty required.
When assembled, the kit got the same painting approach as the Hobbyboss model made. After a base coat, the model received a coat of gloss black with the airbrush using gloss acrylic Revell black. Next and when dry, a coat of Johnson Future to ensure that a very smooth finish is there.
After masking, the olive drab (using Gunze Sangyo acrylic 303 field green) was airbrushed in front of the windscreen and on the fuselage spine. Masking was done with low tack tape.
Than a couple of coats of ALCLAD II gloss Aluminium were applied with the airbrush. Always wear a face mask!
Many Thunderjets had aluminium paint
applied to some lower surfaces to prevent to quick damage from operating
from rough runways. This was airbrushed on the Alclad coat using matt aluminium
of Revell Aqua 99 acrylic.
and the result....
It would be nice to make a bit unusual Thunderjet. From Hi Decal Line #72047 decal set that also has decals for an Iranian Imperial Air Force F-84G.
This IIAF aircraft operated from Mehrabad AFB around 1960 in bare metal. From the Tamiya kit decals, the various airframe stencillings were used.
The result is very nice.
Finally, the kit was completed by
adding the undercarriage, JATO bottles and fueltanks. The canopy frame
was hand painted as I had a steady hand. Colours of the framing varies
on Thunderjets, sometimes the off white isolation is seen. Some "wash"
to suggest actual use of the aircraft was applied using the Promodeller
Wash fluid.
The seat as in the kit was painted a mix of grey and green and installed, this completed a very nice F-84G of an unusual air force.
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[ area: 1,648,000 km2 | capital: Tehran | population: 84 million | GDP 7,000 USD per capita nominal ]
The Imperial Iranian Air Force under the Sjah operated about 69 Republic F-84G from May 1957 until December 1965. Pilots were first trained also with the USAF in Germany. Iranian F-84's were mostly flown from Tehran and Mehrabad bases. Also the aerial demonstration team "Golden Crown" flew the Thunderjet.
More info about this air force on my F-5 page here...
Another Heller 1/72 kit was made, this kit #80278 came in another box as the previous release as discussed on page 1....
The kit plastic content is the same but the decal sheet is much better!
The model was made as an early Yugoslavia RF-84G that were acquired after the Second World War by Tito, the leader of "independent" Yugoslavia on the Balkan.
The RF-84G aircraft had a special Fletcher photo pod on the right wing tip. This was made from scratch using a drawing and spare T-33 tip tank. NOTE: I LATER FOUND OUT I SHOULD HAVE FITTED THE POD ON THE LEFT WING TIP!
The colours are something like "dark sea grey" (Gunze Sangyo 331), ~34079 dark green (using Gunze Sangyo 303 acrylic) and PRU blue lower surfaces (Gunze Sangyo 337). Thes were all airbrushed. The camouflage scheme has "patches" scattered on the aircraft and paper with holes was used as mask.
The decals came again as noted above for the Iranian AF F-84G from Hi Decal Line set #72047
Canopy framing is "off white", this was achived with decal stripes. Note that between Thunderjets, there are variations in this frame.
A couple of unguided rockets (from the Tamiya kit) were added, painted black. Model completion was as usual. After all dried, a semi-matt dull coat was applied with my usual technique: Johnson Future/ Pledge varnish with mixed in about 5% Tamiya flat base. This gives an even sheen and looks good as well as protecting the decals for years to come.
YUGOSLAVIA
Yugoslavia was established as "Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" after the First World War in 1922. It was invaded by the Axis powers (Germany, Italy) in 1941 but soon resistance emerged with "Partisan" groups.
The country Yugoslavia came under control of the Communist leader Tito after the Second World War. He managed to stay out of the direct Soviet Union influence and chose a relatively "neutral" position between NATO and Warsaw pact. Even Western aircraft were acquired after the Second World War such as Mosquitos, Republic F-84 Thunderjets, North American F-86 Sabres and F-86D Sabredogs. Tito aligned more closely with the Soviet Union from the end 1950s with aircraft obtained like MiG-21 F13 fighters. Local aircraft industry also was established and cooperation was sought with Romania that led to the purchase of the SOKO G-2 Galeb trainer, G-4 Super Galeb and later Orao attack aircraft. Meanwhile other MiG-21 versions were introduced as well and in 1987 the first MiG-29 "Fulcrum".
Tito died in 1980 and this led to instability as at the same time all over Eastern Europe including the Soviet Union the situation changed. The collapse of Yugoslavia followed that resulted in heavy local ethnic wars in this part of the Balkan.
RF-84G Thunderjet, 88 air regiment Yugoslavia Air Force based at Batajnica in 1962. Note the photo pod on the right wing tip (oops.... that should have been fitted on the other left wing tip...).
A nice model in the "World Air Forces in Plastic" collection
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Updated this page July 1, 2019