1/48 Tamiya F-84G Thunderjet

Gallery Article by Burt Gustafson on Aug 14 2009

 

For your viewing pleasure, here are some photos of my 1/48 scale Republic F-84G Thunderjet. The F-84G was not much as a dogfighter, but it was an excellent strike aircraft during the Korean War. However, Thunderjets takeoff performance left much to be desired. In hot Korean summers, Thunderjets, with a full combat load, required 10,000 feet of runway for takeoff, even with the help of RATO bottles. Pilots had some interesting names for the the Thunderjet, such as, "The Lead Sled", "The Hog", and "The Worlds Fastest Tricycle".

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Despite its drawbacks, the Thunderjet had some notable achievements. The F-84G was the first aircraft flown by the USAF Thunderbirds, and the first fighter with built-in air refueling capability. It was also the first single seat fighter capable of carrying a nuclear bomb.

About the kit: Like most Tamiya models, this was a pretty easy build. The parts fit was excellent with lots of detail. Back in the day of the Korean War, many USAF aircraft were quite colorful. For the most part they had a bare metal finish with lots of fancy bright markings. For this model I wanted a really shiny finish. To get that shiny finish, I used Alclad II Polished Aluminum paint. 

After airbrushing the olive drab band down the center of the fuselage, I primed the rest of the model with MM Gloss Black and let it cure for 48 hours. I then airbrushed Alclad II Polished Aluminum over the Gloss Black, and "WOW" what a bright shiny finish. Alclad II Polished Aluminum paint covers well and dries in a hurry, and you don't have to worry about paint chipping or peeling off. 

After painting, I applied a coat of Future and let it dry for 72 hours in preparation for decals. Tamiya provided decals for three aircraft; I chose the markings for the 454 FS "Four Queens". The decals were good, easily placed and snuggled down fairly well, except in a few places that required some encouragement from Solvaset decal solution. I finished off the model with MM Gloss Clear Lacquer Finish.

All in all I was quite pleased with the finished model, and as you can see, is it ever bright.

Burt Gustafson

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Photos and text © by Burt Gustafson