Special Hobby 1/72 F-84F Thunderstreak “US Swept Wing Thunder”Reviewed by Brad Cancian
Item: SH72395
scale: 1/72
Price: 21.19 Euros, direct from Special HobbyReview kit kindly provided by Special Hobby at
https://www.specialhobby.eu/f-84f-thunderstreak-us-swept-wing-thunder-1-72Thunder…!The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak was an American swept-wing turbojet fighter-bomber. While an evolutionary development of the straight-wing F-84 Thunderjet, the F-84F was a new design, introducing a swept wing in the aim of improving the performance of the basic airframe to be more comparable to the F-86 Sabre. Although the performance gain over the F-84E was considered minor, the F-84F was none the less ordered into production in July 1950. The first 275 aircraft, equipped with conventional stabilizer-elevator tailplanes, suffered from accelerated stall pitch-up and poor turning ability at combat speeds. Beginning with Block 25, the problem was improved upon by the introduction of a hydraulically powered one-piece stabilator. A number of aircraft were also retrofitted with spoilers for improved high-speed control. As a result, the F-84F was not declared operational until 12 May 1954.
Production of the F-84F was complicated by production-intensive wings, and problems with the J65 engine. As the result of the problems, the active duty phaseout began almost as soon as the F-84F entered service in 1954, and was completed by 1958. Increased tensions in Germany associated with construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 resulted in reactivation of the F-84F fleet. In 1962, the fleet was grounded due to the corrosion of control rods. Stress corrosion eventually forced the retirement of ANG F-84Fs in 1971.
In what is probably one of the very few air-to-air engagements involving the F-84F, two Turkish Air Force F-84F Thunderstreaks shot down two Iraqi Il-28 Beagle bombers that crossed the Turkish border by mistake during a bombing operation against Iraqi Kurdish insurgents. This engagement took place on 16 August 1962.
Despite its problems, the F-84F was operated by a number of air forces, including Belgium, France, West Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, and Turkey.
The KitThe Thunderstreak has seen several boxings over the years in 1/72. Truth be bold, most of them have the same lineage, stemming from the first mainstream kit from Italaerei back in the early 1970s. This basic kit has been re-released a number of times, including by Revell and Testors. Sword also did a release of the reconnaissance version back in 2018, and has also released the standard F version recently. These kits are all not without their problems, be it due to age, fit, multimedia, or other challenges.
This Special Hobby kit is a much anticipated brand new release, having only just been made available in recent weeks as of time of writing (November 2023), and looks to have eclipsed the competition in terms of quality. So far, there are two boxings; this one, and SH72492, “Republic F-84F Thunderstreak - Operation Musketeer / Kadesh”.
The kit comes in four sprues of medium grey plastic, and one clear sprue. No etch, resin, or masks are provided in the box.
Sprue A consists of the fuselage halves, spine, stabilisers (these appear to be the all moving type), wheel wells, main gear parts, nose intake, and exhaust pipe tube.
Detail is crisp, most notably the finely done rivet detail and holes on the fuselage airbrakes (which are moulded shut). The single spine piece should aid in making seam clean up easier (and probably suggests future versions of the kit down the road).
An interesting design choice is the moulding of the gear legs and gear doors as a single piece. Whilst unusual, this is understandable, given the scale and the need to suggest that the gear would actually fit into the F-84Fs thin wing.
Attachments points are nice and small, and mould release pins are unobtrusive.
Sprue B consist of the wing parts, nose gear bay, and vertical stabiliser (two options are provided; both are very similar, save some very minor detail differences).
The wings are commendably thin, with crisp panel line and main gear roof details. One really can see why the landing gear needs to look suitably slim (and why there were issues in production of the real thing – that wing is razor thin!). Again, attachment points are nice and small and appropriately placed, and there are no issues with mould release pins or sink marks.
Sprue C consists of many of the detail parts, including cockpit, gear legs, wheels, seat, instrument panel, intake trunk, and a number of details (rockets etc) not used in this version.
The wheels are commendably detailed, with crisp hubs, and keyed backs for the main wheels to slot into the gear strut/door pieces from sprue A. The instrument panel and integral rudder pedals are beautifully done, as are the cockpit sidewall and seat details. There should be plenty here to keep the cockpit looking busy (noting, unfortunately, no seat belts are provided). Lastly, the single piece nose gear is a work of moulding art, however, one will need to be very careful not to damage this item during removal and cleanup from the sprue. This piece is so delicate, in fact, that one will have to be careful not to damage it or put too much weight in the nose, lest it bends.
Sprue D consists of pylons, engine face, pods, a Mk 7 Nuclear Bomb (not used for the options depicted), and fuel tanks (a number of which are marked as not for use). Detail here is again nice and crisp, including sway braces moulded into the top of the large tank often carried by the Thunderstreak.
The quality continues to Sprue E, which are the clear parts; these are again very cleanly moulded, crystal clear, and should come up a treat. Options for closed and open canopies are provided. Sadly, no masks are provided in the box (though Special Hobby has already released after market mask sets for this kit).
InstructionsSpecial Hobby’s Instructions are provided in their modern, high-quality booklet. Presented in 12 glossy pages, construction occurs over 14 steps. The instructions are comprehensive, with a parts layout, instruction and paint call outs (in Gunze Mr Colour paints), differences between the modelled aircraft clearly called out, and full colour four angle painting profiles.
Construction appears to be fairly standard, starting with the interior (don’t forget that nose weight!), joining the fuselage halves, adding the flying surfaces, then the gear and pylons.
Unsurprisingly, all of the three included schemes are USAF birds in silver, with different types of interesting trim as was the style back in the 1950s. The three schemes provided are:
• F-84F, FS-570, 20th Fighter Bomber Wing, flown by their Commander, Colonel A.G. Salisbury, based at RAF Wethersfield, Essex, UK, 1956.
• F-84F, FS-664, 401s Fighter Bomber Wing, flown by their Commander, Colonel Van Etten, Tactical Air Command USAF in Europe, UK, 1956.
• F-84F, FS-454, 511th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 405th Fighter Bomber Wing, Langly AFB, Louisiana, USA, 1955, flown by Lt. Rob Boyden.
DecalsThe decals are crisply printed with excellent register.
It is of note that there is some blotchiness to some of the colours, most evident in the light blue sections of the decals. There are also some larger areas of decal carrier film than what I have seen on other Special Hobby releases.
These decals re reminiscent of more recent Eduard releases with the removeable carrier film; one wonders if these are also of a similar production technique (and if so, whether or not we’ll see the same “challenges” and “love / hate” relationship with these decals as with the recent Eduard decals).
A full set of stencils is also provided, as well as decals for cockpit instruments. Care will definitely need to be taken with the large swathes of colour, stipes, and chequers on the depicted machines. The super-brave may wish to paint these items, noting that colour matching will be tricky. Slightly annoyingly also, there are no separate serial number decals for scheme B and C in case one did want to paint these areas instead of grapple with full fin decals and the trouble that they can present around leading edges and panel lines. Similar with the large red “no step” areas on the inboard aft wings.
Accuracy and Buildability:Not having any detailed publications on this aircraft, and not being a particular expert as to this aircraft, I can’t comment conclusively about accuracy. That being said, it appears that the consensus is that this kit is an excellent representation of the F-84F in all regards. The test build shots released by Special Hobby show overall solid fit, with perhaps some minor areas to watch for around the usual major joints.
In terms of buildability, the kit should be a straight forward build with minimal fuss.
ConclusionsThe significant contribution that the F-84F made to a number of Air Forces through the 1950s, 1960s, and into the 1970s and beyond, is worthy of having an excellent and high quality kit, and Special Hobby have certainly delivered. The decals remain an area of interest. Irrespective, I expect quite a range of releases will follow these initial kits, given the widespread use of the aircraft, and the multiple and very different colour schemes the aircraft wore over its life. This kit should build up to be a stunning eye-catcher on the shelf or competition table!
Highly recommended!
Our very sincere thanks to Special Hobby for the review sample!
