Republic RF84F Thunderflash in 1/48

[yak face]

Here’s my entry for Ron’s reconnaissance build . It’s the elderly Heller kit of the Republic RF84F Thunderflash in 1/48. The Thunderflash was a variation of the F84 Thunderstreak but with intakes at the wing roots instead of the nose. This reduced the top speed a little but crucially made room in the nose for several cameras. This aircraft, like the thunder streak ,is a fabulous looking thing - it looks fast just standing still ( even though it wasn’t,). The kit is typical older Heller , raised panel lines but beautifully done and some very nice details. It’s not a kit of many parts but that suits me fine , the only areas that I’m going to add a bit more to are the seat ( pe belts) airbrakes ( airwaves pe set) and the cameras in the nose ( there aren’t any just the windows and a big void!) I’ve also got some aftermarket decals for a couple of USAF Air national guard units who used this aircraft up until 1972. The kit decals weren’t bad with french ,Belgian and Norwegian options but the carrier film was a bit yellow ( seems to be the case with heller decals even when new?) and I wanted to do a US machine anyway . I can’t wait to get stuck into this one . Cheers tony

 

[Dave Ward]

Tony,
some of those Heller kits were really good ( equally some were really bad! ). One of the odd things about the Thunderflash that sticks in my mind is the way the canopy opens - not sliding, or hinged, but on hydraulic rams - I've no idea why it was done this way.............
Dave

 

[papa 695]

Looking forward to seeing this Tony

 

[yak face]

Tony,
some of those Heller kits were really good ( equally some were really bad! ). One of the odd things about the Thunderflash that sticks in my mind is the way the canopy opens - not sliding, or hinged, but on hydraulic rams - I've no idea why it was done this way.............
Dave

Yes a strange way of doing things Dave , this kit however doesn’t offer an open canopy option , the excellent monogram f84f thunderstreak does though so when I do that I’ll be having it open, cheers tony

 

[Jim R]

Hi Tony
A golden oldie from the 1980s? I hope it is one of Heller's better kits. Sprue shots look OK although I don't like that silvery plastic.
Jim

 

[yak face]

It looks like a good one jim , the plastic is really good actually , reminiscent of Airfix circa 1975 , its not too soft not too hard and sands nicely , i just hope i can save all that lovely raised detail, cheers tony

 

[yak face]

Ive just realised the decals ive got in the first pic are for the F84 f thunderstreak in the stash , the decals ive got for this one are

 

[boatman]

Lookin forward to this build an is this the forerunner of the thunderchief ? as I cant say ive ever heard of this plane before an im quite into planes from the 50's an onwards to modern
chris

 

[yak face]

Glad to have you on board chris. The Thunderstreak /Thunderflash were both a major redesign of the earlier straight winged F84 Thunderjet , a post war first generation jet which saw action in Korea. Youre correct when you assume the F105 Thunderchief came after the Thunderstreak . I guess it all started with the P47 Thunderbolt in ww2 then Republic just carried on with the ‘thunder’ names. Jeez how many times have i typed thunder in this post !!!! Cheers tony

P.S ...... thunder

 

[boatman]

HI Tony glad to be aboard on the build an lookin at fig 4 it says tailplane down to 25 degrees ? did this happen on the real plane ? as I think it looks weird
chris

 

[Jakko]

I was wondering about that tailplane too when I saw it just now. As for the plane itself, it saw fairly widespread use — though maybe I say that because the Royal Netherlands Air Force used them from 1954 until 1970.

 

[flyjoe180]

The tail plane is correct for the RF-84K which was to enable the aircraft to fit inside the GRB-36 carrier aircraft. There's a pic here:

FICON project - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

RF-84K Thunderflash (FICON)RF-84F with a retractable probe for hookup with carrier GRB-36Ds and tailplanes with marked anhedral, 25 redesignated from RF-84F.

 

[flyjoe180]

Looking forward to seeing another superb ancient kit turned into a gem by you Tony. Surprised though that you didn't opt for one of your century-series machines

 

[yak face]

Looking forward to seeing another superb ancient kit turned into a gem by you Tony. Surprised though that you didn't opt for one of your century-series machines

Cheers joe , the only one i could have gone for under the reconnaissance role is the rf 101c or b voodoo, which i havent got ( currently!) I already had the thunderflash in the stash so i went for that. Cheers tony

 

[yak face]

Well it’s been well and truly on the back burner this one but I’ve managed to get a bit of a start in between doing bits on the lightning. The jet pipe has been put together with an old spoked wheel glued at the end to give an impression of the engine outlet .One big omission in the kit is the very prominent camera setup- the clear windows are all fine but there’s absolutely bugger all behind them just a great big void! Obviously this needs addressing before the fuselage halves are put together so it’s one of the first places I’m starting. I’ve made five generic looking cameras from scrap and I’ve fitted a couple of bulkheads to facilitate fixing them . Another area I’ve looked at is the wing root intakes , adding a bit of curved plastic card to represent the intake trunking . The machine guns beside the intake have been drilled out too.

 

[boatman]

HOORAY Tony I had completely forgotton about this build nice to see it restarted
chris

 

[yak face]

Bit more done on this one .Ive been making the supports for the cameras and done a bit of painting in the camera bays . The big side looking camera has been fixed directly to the top of the nose wheel bay but the others will need a bit of careful aligning . I also got the jet pipe painted and fitted and have made a start on the instrument panel. The kit supplied one is identical to the one in Hellers F 84 f Thunderstreak ,hence different to the Thunderflash . The Rf 84s panel differs in having no gunsight on top and a different instrument layout with a very prominent round periscope viewing port in the middle.I’ve started to make a replacement panel but I’m keeping the old one just in case Im not happy and can always alter that later. Cheers tony

 

[Jim R]

Hi Tony
You're certainly going to town on this. Great scratching skills and you'll end up with a unique model.
Jim

 

[flyjoe180]

These old kits can be gems, the great work continues Tony.

 

[yak face]

Bit more done on the IP , I’ve made the instruments by drilling part of the way into the plastic card and added switches etc from tiny bits of stretched sprue chopped up. It’s not Eduard but it’ll look fine once painted and under a closed canopy . Next up detailing the ejector seat and tub and getting the cameras fitted.