Republic F-105D Thunderchief|FROG F269|FROG scale kits|Hasegawa JS-014:200 No.3| UPC 5087-100|amt A-656:130

Republic F-105D Thunderchief

FROG 1964

FROG F269 Republic F-105D Thunderchief, ROVEX tri-ang, 1969


NEW AND IN VIEW - Aircraft Kits
FROG. Republic F—105 Thunderchief. 1/72 scale. Price not yet available.

This is a re-boxed and redecorated version of the Hasegawa kit of this well-known heavy fighter. Moulded in silver plastic, this kit is unusual in that the surface panel and rivet detail is impressed into the plastic, which adds a great deal to the final apprearance of the model when painted. Assembly is quite straightforward, though we did have a little difficulty in obtaining a smooth fit of the wings to the fuselage. This is, however, easy to correct if one carefully checks the wing tongues for flash or distortion.

The decal sheet, as with most of the new Frog kits, is truly superb, and offers markings for 'RK159' of the 388th TFW, Korat AFB, Vietnam in comouflage finish or alternatively 'Tommy's Hawk' in natural metal of the 18th TFW, Okinawa 1963.

This is a very good, accurate kit which makes up into a most pleasing model.

The IPMS magazine, Vol.5 No.11, NOVEMBER 1968



NEW AND IN VIEW NEW AIRCRAFT KITS
FROG. Republic F-105D Thunderchief. 1/72 scale. Price 6/11 (U.K.)

The Thunderchief is frequently in the news, particularly in regard to the Vietnam war, and this kit is certainly the best and most accurate we have yet seen of the type.

It is moulded in silvery grey plastic and the panel and rivet detail is very neatly impressed into the main components. It looks most realistic after painting. The numerous parts fit together very well and the cockpit transparency is of a very high standard, In both fit and clarity. External stores include drop tanks and weapons.

The excellent decal sheet provides full insignia and markings for aircraft of (a) the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, based in Thailand and (b) 18th T.F.W. based on Okinawa, the former being in Vietnam style camouflage with the codes RK 159, while the latter is an all-silver machine.

This is a really good kit which builds up into a very accurate replica of the original aircraft.

The IPMS magazine, DECEMBER 1968 VOL.5 No.12


Airfix magazine 1969-02
NEW FROG KITS

THREE new aircraft kits from Frog are all based on kits already produced by Hasegawa, but like the Lightning and Sabre, reviewed last month, they are boxed and presented in the usual Frog style complete with colour scheme drawings.

...and the best of the bunch, is a splendid replica of the Republic Thunderchief, F-105, which boasts two exemplary features not often seen on 1:72 scale models: it has very convincing treaded tyres and the fine surface detail includes 'countersunk' rivet heads instead of the usual rivets which stand 'proud' of the surface. Assembly of this kit is straightforward, though the intake fair-ings need thinning down to fit, and our sample had rather a lot of flash on the sprue which included the undercarriage. There is a full range of optional offensive loads, and the model is very impressive, certainly eclipsing the old Revell kit of this machine as first choice for the collector. Optional transfers and colouring details are given for a camouflaged Thailand-based aircraft or a silver Okinawa-based machine. Price of the kit is 6s 9d.

All our samples were provided by Jones Bros, 56 Turnham Green Terrace, London W4, who hold stocks.
C.O.E.


Airfix magazine 1969-02


Modelling World
JAMES GOULDING
New Frog 1/72nd kits

...Other new Frog kits received are the - Republic F-105 Thunderchief, Messerschmitt Bfl09F and Kawanishi H8K2 Emily.

AIRCRAFT ILLUSTRATED 1969-04
Hasegawa 1960 logo

Hasegawa JS-014:200 No.3 Republic F-105D Thunderchief, 1967

HONG KONG COMMENT
by Colin Bramwell.

This "comment" is going to sound like a "plug" for one firm---HASEGAWA, whose l/72 scale Jet Series continues with the F-105D. Better than either the Phantom or Mig 21, this kit has recessed rivet and panel detail, (very little of the former) which, when painted gives a satisfactory imitation of the real thing. Semi-matt decals for camouflaged or natural metal versions are provided! and all sorts of underwing stores are included as is current Hasegawa practice in this series. Moving parts are limited to wheels and friction pivot tail planes. On the whole a good kit of a very big single seat jet.

The F-105 is No. 4 in the series, No. 3 being the F-104J which I have not yet seen on sale here. The Series is to continue with F-86F, F-5A, Lightning Mk. 6, LTV A7A Corsair II, F-lll A, and F111B. Rumours of a Mig-23 have not so far materialised. The whole of the above Series is supposed to be in Julie Liang's here by the end of March, but this seems a little doubtful.

The IPMS magazine, Vol.4 No.3, MARCH 1967
UPC logo

UPC 5087-100 Republic F-105D Thunderchief,

MODELLING
W. R. MATTHEWS
JAPANESE-AMERICAN MODELS

The UPC company in the USA has for some time been importing the well-known Marusan range of kits from Japan and selling these in new boxes under its own name. These kits are shortly to be available in the UK, and will provide the British modeller with the first opportunity that they have had to buy Japanese kits as normal purchases from their own model suppliers. There are two ranges of these kits, to 1 /48th-1 /50th scale and to 1/100th scale, and of the former we have seen the Messerschmitt Me 262, the Nakajima Ki.84 Hayate, the Mitsubishi Ki.15, the Mitsubishi Ki .46-111, the Aichi E16Alb, and the Republic P-47N Thunderbolt, and to the smaller scale there is a range of such types as the Spitfire, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Grumman Hellcat and Republic P-47, and several modern fighters, such as the F-86 Sabre and F-105 Thunderchief.

The last three of the larger scale kits (ie, the Ki.46, E16A1 b and P-47N) have been reviewed in this column, and it is sufficient to say that at the announced price of 8s 1 Id each they will offer excellent value for money. The Me 262 closely resembles the Lindberg kit of this aircraft first issued some years ago, and makes up into an excellent model. It is accurate, finely detailed, and incorporates many working parts. The transfer sheet is new and not wholly correct, the Werke Nr on the fin, for example, being much too large. But this is a minor shortcoming. The Thunderbolt also appears to be a re-issue of one of Lindberg's early kits, and considering its age (1952 vintage) it is surprisingly good, only some fairly minor cleaning-up to the vertical tail surfaces and cowling being called for. The Hayate, one of Marusan's earliest releases, is a poor effort, inaccurate and coarsely-detailed. We hope that, in due course, UPC will issue others in this series, and particularly some of Marusan's superb kits of present-day fighters. The 1/100th scale series are very poor insofar as the World War II items are concerned, and, in our view, hardly worth the serious modeller buying, but some of the jets are quite good, particularly the F-86 Sabre which makes up into a really attractive little model. The F-105 Thunderchief also has some merit.

RAF Flying Review June, 1966, Vol. XXI, No. 10
amt-h logo

amt A-656:130 Republic F-105D Thunderchief,

  • 09.04.2023
    •

    Monogram Republic F-105 Thunderchief,

    NEW AND IN VIEW
    MONOGRAM.
    Republic F-105 Thunderchief, 1/72 scale and Douglas AC-47, 1/90 scale. Price $1.50 each (USA).

    These are re-issues of very old models, and show their age to some degree in somewhat heavy rivet and panel detail. Their special feature is that they are pre-painted; pressed in sandy-brown plastic, patches of camouflage green are sprayed on, simulating part of the camouflage pattern currently used by the U.S.A.F. in Vietnam. The lower halves of the F-105's wings are pressed in light grey plastic, thus carrying the pre-finishing process aistage further.

    The pre-painting seems to be a fairly pointless exercise. Not only does another colour (a very dark green) have to be added to the camouflage pattern, but light grey undersides have to painted on the AC-47, and on the fuselage of the F-105. In addition, these kits suffer from the standard disadvantage of all pre-finished models in that it is impossible to clean up the joints without damaging the finish, thus rendering complete painting necessary. There seems little advantage to be gained in paying 50% more for these models as compared with the price of the original versions, apart, of course, from the inclusion of the three G-E Miniguns in the AC-47 kit and of the bombs and drop bombs in the F-105 kit. In the case of the latter, the rotary bomb door and operating ejection seat of the original version have been deleted, so the gain is even less. These are a pair of disappointing kits.

    The IPMS magazine, Vol.4 No.2, FEBRUARY 1967


    MODELLING
    W R MATTHEWS
    NEW KITS FROM MONOGRAM

    Two other recent Monogram releases sadly do not measure up to the offerings from this company reviewed above, these being reissues of their old C-47 and F-105 kits, pre-painted in part of the current scheme used by USAF aircraft in SE Asia. The 1/90th scale C-47 is intended to represent an AC-47 "Dragon Ship", and the F-105 Thunderchief is provided with an assortment of bombs and napalm tanks, the original rotary bomb-bay and ejection seat (!) having been deleted. Factory-applied finishes to plastic kits are, by nature, unsatisfactory, as they render the cleaning-up of the joints impossible without spoiling the finish. The Monogram finishes are, moreover, incomplete. One colour, the dark foliage green, must be added to both the AC-47 and the F-105, while the light grey must be applied to the entire undersurfaces of the former and to the fuselage underside of the latter (the F-105's wings being pressed in light grey plastic). The whole approach to these re-issues seems a fairly pointless exercise, and particularly so as the prices of the kits at $1.50 each have escalated 50 per cent since issue in their original forms.

    RAF Flying Review June, 1967, Vol. 22, No. 10

    IMC logo

    IMC F-105 Thunderchief, 1968

    NEW AND IN VIEW - New Aircraft Kits
    I.M.C. (Industro-Motive Corporation) "I.M.C. 72nd Combat Group". 1/72 (or near) scale aircraft kits. Price $1.00 each (U.S.A.)

    This new series of aircraft kits have been given much advance publicity, the optional Battle Damage moulded parts being the big sales feature. Unfortunately this is the only 'different1 feature in what are otherwise below average quality kits. Four types are covered in this series, the RF-4B Phantom, which is perhaps the best of the four, the Republic F-105D Thunderchief, the F-100D Sabre and the A-1H Skyraider.

    Each kit is moulded in a blue-tinged silvery plastic of commercial quality and each contains optional Battle Damaged parts (including certain parts in both "Battle Damaged" and serviceable forms, including canopies). The fit and accuracy of the mouldings are only fair; in the case of the Skyraider the single-seat configuation seems to have been arrived at by placing a bubble type canopy on a two-seater airframe. The undercarriage legs and wheels in each kit are very poor, and all in all these models do not do credit to a company whose car kits are acclaimed as among the World's finest.

    Even the decals are below acceptable standards, suffering as they do from offset printing, poor colouring and too thick a film of varnish. We cannot recommend these kits, though the fuselage of the RF-4D might be mated to Revell or Airfix wings and fittings to make a neat photo-recce variant of the type. As for the "Battle Damage", the artist undertaking the box-art must have had his tongue in his cheek when doing it, as without exception it is so overdone that such battle damage inflicted in the air would result in an enemy 'confirmed'.

    The IPMS magazine, Vol.5 No.7, JULY 1968

    Aurora logo

    Aurora F-105 Thunderchief, 1960

    MODEL TALK By GEOFFREY NORRIS
    Aurora show that modern aircraft are not uninteresting

    There seems to be a strong body of opinion among modellers that modern aircraft are uninteresting to make. World War One and Two types, they say, have more interesting shapes and a better " texture." I sometimes, perhaps unfairly, suspect that the reason for this is that you can get away with a little careless finish on a rather rickety biplane, whereas every flaw of workmanship is shown up on a sleek modern job. Nor do I agree that modern shapes are uninteresting. Admittedly, aviation did go through a rather unexciting stage when jets first came along, but now that normal streamlining has given way to the more stringent demands of hypersonic flight, the interest is back.

    For example I cite two recent issues by Aurora, the Avro CF-105 Arrow and the Republic F-105 Thunderchief. Both of these have exciting shapes typical of modem high-performance fighters, both are very neat kits which are a pleasure to build, and both present a challenge to the modeller to get as clean a finish as possible.

    Aurora's decision to build the Arrow was obviously taken some time ago and it is a pity that they have been thwarted by the Canadian government's decision to abandon this very potent aeroplane. Maybe it will never get into squadron service but it remains an extremely interesting kit for modellers. Its 71-inch wingspan gives it a scale of 1/80 and it costs 7s, 11d. Because it is moulded in white plastic you can get away with the minimum of painting, but my advice is, if you are confident of getting a smooth finish, to paint it. Bare plastic can look a little too smooth at times.

    The Thunderchief sells for 6s. 11d. and works out to a scale of 1/78 and can therefore be displayed alongside the Arrow with few misgivings. It is a pity, though, that Aurora could not have made the very slight adjustments needed to bring these two kits exactly into line regarding scale before manufacturing the kits. The colour chosen for the Thunderchief plastic is a quite realistic natural metal tone, but an attempt to paint in the different tones of metal by hand will work wonders for this model.

    My criticisms of these two kits are minor ones: in the first place I would have liked to have seen a little more attention given to the moulding of the canopies which 'are not quite up to the standard of the rest of the kits. The second is a point which has been mentioned before in these pages—Aurora's transfers leave an awful lot to be desired.

    RAF Flying Review October, 1960, Vol. XVI, No. 2