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Reviewer: Sheldon Rampersad  (clyde_rampe@tstt.net.tt)
Kit Review submitted:  27 May 2004

Kit Details:

The kit is in 1/48^th scale and the kit number is 5840. 

Aircraft History:

The sleek Thunderchief was introduced by Republic aviation in the late fifties. It is the last of the long line powerful ground attack aircraft, including the Thunderbolt, Thunderjet and Thunderstreak, from this company and a member of the century series. The F-105D version is the most capable conventional ground attack aircraft of the series. It incorporated a target identification camera system in the nose and had the most capable ground attack radar on a tactical jet of that time. The THUD entered combat over North Vietnam in 1965.

The F-105D was powered by a J-75 turbojet which pushed it to speeds in excess of 1400mph. It weighed 54000 pounds. It could carry a variety of free fall conventional bombs, napalm, Bullpup guided missiles, Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and nuclear weapons.

The Kit:

It cost $110 TTD, approximately $11 USD. The kit is of typical Revell quality. The parts are dark green and come on three larger spruces. The plastic is very tough; you will need a very strong cutting blade. I broke my old modeling knife and had to use a surgical blade. There are a few ejector pin marks but not much flash. The mold quality is good. The kit is adequately detailed. The cockpit, “office,” is molded with raised details. There are some extra parts in the kit, namely two pilots (for a single seat aircraft) and two control panels. This is possibly due to the fact that this is a reissue and the panels are most likely from the previous boxing of the F-105G “Wild Weasel.” The Wild Weasel was the last of the original series of F-105 kits to be produced by Revell/Monogram. There are two colour schemes offered. And one weapons load out option.

Construction:

Work started as it almost always does in the cockpit. The detail was dry brushed using a fine brush and in some instances a pin. I was a bit confused about the two different instrument panels. I dry fitted the panels with the cockpit tub in the fuselage half and realised that you must use the smaller panel. After all details were painted on the panels, stick and one piece seat, the cockpit parts were glued together. 

The cannon muzzle was painted with a grey and silver mixture and then dry brushed with black. The nose gear well is painted white with the details painted silver. The afterburner can and speed brakes were painted silver and heavily dry brushed with black. The wing spar was painted white and is inserted through a slot in the sides of the two fuselage halves. Note to know if the spar is in the correct position it should be angled forward when in place. 

© Sheldon Rampersad 2005

"cockpit detail, pilot with squadron patch and fitting problems with canopy"

The fuselage halves are glued together with the cockpit, cannon muzzle, wing spar and burner can in place. I used rubber bands and clothing clips to hold the halves together tightly until dry. This is the point where I realised that the instrument panel does not fit well and is in fact taller then the anti-glare shield on the fuselage. This leads me to wonder if it is the correct panel in the first place???

Photo credit : unknown/not supplied

anti glare shield

The wings which are in four parts are then stuck together and glued to the fuselage sides. The main gear well is a section of the upper wing and this is painted white. The spar should slip easily into grooves in the wing. This way the forward part of the spar makes up the aft wall of the main gear wells. The gear is painted and glued into the holes provided. The nose gear comes as two halves and slips into grooves on the inside of the gear well in addition to grooves on top the rear wall of the nose gear well. The main gear looks very fragile. They have a leg brace which is angled. The longer part of the brace is glued to the well roof and into a hole on the aft of the leg. The brace should have the point of the angle up against the wing and not hanging down. The gear door are then attached without any fit problem.

I then proceeded to paint the kit with grey undersides and on top with olive drab and military brown and the colour of the plastic provided the other shade of green. The decals were then applied.

I wanted to display a variety of stores options. I therefore planned to have an AIM-9B sidewinder on station 1, a triple ejector rack (TER) on station 2 with two 500lb MK82 LDGP bombs with daisy cutter fuses, six 750lb MK117 LDGP bombs on the centerline station 3, a 450 gallon drop tank on station 4 and a 750lb MK117 LDGP bomb on station 5. This provided a good mix of weapons for a mission over the North with a danger of being intercepted by MIGs. I obtained the sidewinder and rack, TER and one 750lb bomb from my spares box. To fit the TER I had to painstakingly cut the drop tank halves from the inner wing pylon halves. I glued all of the ordnance onto the white painted racks before attaching the assembled parts to the aircraft.

© Sheldon Rampersad 2005

"rear portside view with modified speed brakes"

To finish of the construction I glued all remaining parts into place. The only remaining problem was that I wanted to model the kit with the cockpit closed yet gear down and speed brakes open. The kit provides only one speed brake in the open position. From research I have guessed that this only occurs on the ground with the engine of or something of the sort. This is because when the gear is down only the horizontally position speed brakes can be opened. Ergo I gently heat the prongs of one of the speed brakes using a match. The thermoplastic heats up and then suddenly deforms and cools rapidly. So you have to heat VERY gently and shape quickly. This done I was able to attach my two opened horizontal speed brakes.

Photo credit : unknown/not supplied

The last thing I left to do was close up the cockpit. The windshield fit fine. The canopy is too thick and cannot fit over the cockpit properly. You have to carefully shave down the cockpit sides and the hinges of the canopy. You should also deepen the grooves for the canopy hinges because the canopy sticks out when in place.

Decals:

You have two decal options. One is A/C 59-1743 “Arkansas Traveler” flown by the commander 388^th TFW, 1968, Col. Paul P. Douglas Jr. with his WW2 kill markings while flying a P-47 Thunderbolt. 

The other option is for A/C 59-1771 “Foley’s Folly/ OHIO EXPRESS” flown by the commander 469^th TFS, 388^th TFW, 1968, Cpt. Peter K. Foley on his 200^th mission.

© Sheldon Rampersad 2005

"front port side view"

Overall Recommendation:

The kit was good. The aircraft is a very fascinating type and the decal options are exciting both from a history and aesthetic standpoint. The detail is good. The relevancy of the instrument panel and the fit of the canopy is questionable.

© Sheldon Rampersad 2005

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