Republic F-84G Thunderjet HAF, Italeri 1/72 (kit no.1321)

The Italeri F-84G kit (No.1321) in 1/72^nd  scale is a reissue of the Academy's very good kit. It comprises five sprues with 99 pieces in gray plastic. Eleven of them are the clear parts of the aircraft. The detail is excellent for the scale and the cockpit is considered complete. The external detail is very fine, with thin engraved lines and rivets to the right depth for the scale. The large decal sheet offers a selection of four different aircraft. Three of those are F-84Gs (USAF, Armee de l'Air or Aeronautica Militare Italiana ) and the fourth option is a USAF F-84E, as the kit offers all the necessary pieces for the “E”.

Construction

Starting from the cockpit, we improved the seat to which we added aluminium foil belts. With painted cockpit walls, floor and the seat with Interior Green, while the consoles and the instrument panel were painted in black. With the dry brush method and gray enamel, we showed the beautiful detail while with a thin brush and red, white and yellow color we painted some switches. Finally, a light wash with thinned oil paints covered the whole area. Before closing the two halves of the fuselage we added enough weight in front of the cockpit, so our model does not become a tail sitter later. The assembly was quick and easy, while putty was only used in some places and with a minimal amount. A black primer was airbrushed overall, to make the final inspection for any imperfections and we were ready to start painting.

Painting-Decals

We chose to build a Greek F-84G operated with 339 Fighter Bomber Squadron in 1955 from the 110 Combat Wing of Larissa, after we studied photographs of the real thing. As a basic shade we chose the polished aluminum from Humbrol's metal cote series (27002). Our paint was airbrushed in two thin coats, and when it dried really hard it was rubbed softly with a cotton cloth to give us more shine. With selected masking and Alclad dark aluminium, we applied the necessary panelling effect, while with Xtreme Metal polished aluminium from AK Interactive, we sprayed very thin coats and irregularly over our basic Humbrol to give extra shine. With Red Akan we sprayed the tail while with olive drab we painted the anti-glare area. With two coats of Future polish and using a soft brush, we sealed our painting and began decalling. We used decals from the excellent Icarus sheet and most stencils came from the spare box. With black and brown oil paints and wash technique, we emphasized the beautiful pattern of our model while a final coat of Humbrol's satin varnish gave us a uniform finish. Our last action was to “smoke” around the machine guns and to wear areas mostly affected by ground crew with various Agama powders.

In conclusion we would say that it was an enjoyable and easy construction of a very good kit and is highly recommended to all lovers of this wonderful scale.