ITALERI 1:72 F-84F THUNDERSTREAK

Reviewer: Peter Knight  (rec.models.scale)

The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak was a revised version of the basic F-84 design that included a swept wing for higher performance.  It was brought into service to serve in the Korean war where its earlier models the F-84E & G Thunderjets did so well, but did not arrive in time to partake in that conflict.  The F-84F Thunderstreak served in a number of air forces around the world.

This is a relatively old Italeri kit which can only really be found at swap meets, second hand sales and the like.  It comes in a small-medium sized box and in plastic package.  The injection mold plastic is of light grey colour with raised panel lines and detail.  Cockpit detail is adequate, typical of the older Italeri kit molds, but still rather sparse by today's standards.  There are some aftermarket detail sets which can be used for this kit to spice up the interior.

After assembling the cockpit the fuselage halves are placed together, but a few things need to be taken care of which are not pointed out by the kit.  One is sufficient nose weight, this kit will be a tail sitter so it's best to jam in as much as possible.  The other is that there is rear wall to the intake or exhaust, meaning (aside from the nose weight of course) that you can see right through from one end to the other.  Be sure to add in some plastic card or even putty to counteract this.  Once this is taken care of the fuselage halves go together with ease with just a light sanding to remove the join lines.

Next come the wings, tailplanes and canopy (the latter which can be displayed open or closed) and these all fit with straightforward ease, just a little bit of filler required around the wing joins.  The underwing tanks supplied in the kit grasped onto the wing easily and dried without needing delicately placed bits and pieces to hold them into position overnight.  The kit also comes with positionable air brakes and these look quite nice when open.

The undercarriage was a bit fragile and fiddly but seems to support the weight of the aircraft quite well, in fact it looks very accurate both in scale and profile compared to reference photos and sketches. 

Several examples can be reproduced by the kit, and there is a plethora of aftermarket decal sheets available that would allow the modeller to produce just about any F-84F example that pleases him.  The Thunderstreak offers many colourful versions that were the norm of the 50's and 60's for Cold War aircraft of this calibre, especially bare metal examples as well as other types like the Thunderbirds aerobatic team.  The kit decals offer USAF as the mainstream, but I found these to be a bit yucky, prone to curling and very flat.  I ditched them in favour of one of the many Superscale sheets to depict a Royal Netherlands Air Force example.  This won out over a West German Luftwaffe example by the slimmest of margins.

For a fairly aged kit this measures up quite well, and I can also see no reason (with the right modifications) why you can't build an RF-84F reconnaissance version from this kit's parts.  The overall fit was excellent and I enjoyed making this kit that quite clearly looks the part.  I'd recommend to all modelling skills.

Related Review:   Heller 1/72 F-84G Thunderjet  

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Photo Credit: Unknown

A West German F-84F Thunderstreak example displayed at a museum