Kinetic’s 1/48 F-84F Thunderstreak
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History
The F-84F was an improvement over the earlier straight-wing F-84. So
much so, in fact, that it was originally given a new designation but Republic
reverted back to the F-84 name in order to obtain funding, as the budget
would not allow the purchase of a ‘new’ type. Also, the USAF
was not sure if the changes to the swept-wing variant were sufficient
enough to warrant a new designation. Regardless of the reasoning, the
F-84F took its first flight in the summer skies of 1950, and by the end
of 1952, the first production aircraft were delivered to the Air Force.
With its inflight refueling capabilities and Project Backbreaker, the
F-84F became an early addition to the nuclear weapon delivery platforms
available to the USAF. Its high performance supposedly improved its survivability
after delivering its warhead. Utilizing the Low Altitude Bombing System
(LABS), the F-84F could carry a single Mk. 7 nuclear weapon under its
port wing (the only pylon set up for that weapon). With a yield of 1 kiloton,
the Mk. 7 would have been a very useful weapon on the front lines. However,
the actual maneuverability with the weapon attached was greatly reduced,
removing any advantage the F-84F might have had over existing day fighters.
With the nuclear role, the F-84F had the distinction of serving with
both the Strategic Air Command and the Tactical Air Command (CCTW), as
well as several Air National Guard units. The F-84F even served with the
Air Defense Command (ADC), albeit indirectly, as the 3600 CCTW had a secondary
role with the ADC. In addition to the United States, the F-84F found its
way into many NATO air forces, including Belgium, France, Germany, Greece,
Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. Out of all of those, only one nation’s
F-84Fs saw combat, and that was France. During the Suez Crisis in 1956,
French F-84Fs operated against Egyptian targets and helped defend Israel
(with one French squadron adopting Israeli markings for a short period).
The Kit
 With
such a wide usage throughout Europe, both in NATO countries and with the
USAF, it is surprising that we have not seen more F-84F kits in standard
scales. For 1/48, there has just been the Heller and the Monogram kits
(with the former providing both a regular F-84F and an RF-84F), both of
which date back many years. Now Kinetic, a new company, has added their
name to the short stack of F-84F kits in 1/48, and on the surface it appears
to best the previous two releases.
This kit is molded in a medium gray plastic, with one tree of clear
parts, a pair of metal weights, and a large decal sheet. The kit features
recessed panel lines throughout (a big plus over the earlier Monogram
and Heller kits) and has, overall, quite a nice bit of detail. The decal
sheet provides markings for two overall natural metal F-84Fs, both from
the Missouri Air National Guard.
 Starting
with the interior, this is one area that the competition is strong. Monogram
did a beautiful job on their F-84F cockpit, so the bar was high. Out of
the box, though, this kit has a rather decent interior. The seat looks
good and includes seat belts. The instrument panel and cockpit tub feature
raised detailing that should pop out nicely with some careful dry-brushing.
Aside from the cockpit, this kit also has a complete fuselage gun bay
ahead of the cockpit. This assembly fits on top of the nose gear well
assembly, which has a spot at the rear for one of the included metal weights.
The other weight fits in a strap underneath the cockpit tub.
The nose gear well assembly, though, is what really caught my eye. Ages
ago, I had built a Monogram F-84F, and I thought its arrangement of the
gear wells was rather interesting. Looking at the Kinetic kit, I had a
feeling of déjà vu, and after borrowing a Monogram kit and
comparing the two, the similarities jumped out. The engineeriang is almost
identical between the two kits, to the point where you can take the  Monogram
interior parts and fit them into the Kinetic kit, and vice versa. The
Kinetic kit is not a direct copy, though, and they appear to have attempted
to improve on the old Monogram kit in more ways than just rescribing the
panel lines. I will detail those differences later on.
Back to the actual kit, though, with the nose weights in place, this
kit should have no problem sitting on all three legs. Speaking of which,
the main gear legs are quite robust and should hold up quite well. The
nose gear, though, is to scale, which means it will be fragile. I would
keep that off until the very end, to avoid snapping off the nose wheel.
Also hanging from the bottom are drop tanks (four of them) and RATO bottles
for under the fuselage.
 The
decals are nicely printed, and include plenty of stenciling. Here we see
some more Monogram heritage, as one of the schemes is the same as that
found in the olive drab release of the Monogram kit (the one with the
SEA camouflaged F-84F on the boxtop). Unlike the Monogram decals, though,
these are much thinner and have solid colors for the tail stripes (Monogram
used a pattern of red dots over the yellow to make a sort-of orange, instead
of just printing the orange). Both aircraft have names (the multi-colored
striped aircraft is named “Show Me,” while the other aircraft
is named “Boots IV.”) The stencil data is a very nice touch
and will really improve the look of a natural metal F-84F.
 So,
with the initial examination of the kit out of the way, let’s pore
over the differences between the Kinetic kit and its starting point, the
Monogram kit. Of course, the first and most noticeable difference is the
recessed panel lines on the Kinetic kit. For the most part the panel lines
match up, but the Kinetic kit has more of them, and after comparing to
photos, appears to be quite accurate in that regard. In terms of overall
shape, as would be expected these kits are virtually identical, with just
a couple notable changes. The Kinetic kit has a more round exhaust opening
on the fuselage, while the Monogram kit has flatter sides. In comparing
these to the photos, Kinetic definitely captured this shape more accurately
than Monogram. At the wingtips, though, both the Kinetic and Monogram
kits have large bulges for the tip lights, albeit in slightly different
shapes. Both are wrong, and the wingtip should be a smooth curve with
just a small tip light protruding.
Staying with the wings, both kits are slightly off with regard to the
spoilers. Both have the right number of holes, and both have the aft holes
oblong rather than circular, but they also depict the flush piano hinge
as a raised series of bumps. The Monogram’s portrayal is a bit better,
as it is not quite so pronounced, but it really should be flush. Likewise
is the Monogram’s raised version of the refueling receptacle door.
The Kinetic kit has this nicely scribed, with all the right detailing
around it. Both kits have the aileron trim tabs slightly off as well,
with the Monogram kit’s being a bit too short, and the Kinetic too
long and too narrow. Flipping the wings over, the only real difference
here is with the gas vent that is between the fuselage and pylon. This
protruding vent is a bit larger in the Kinetic kit, which is incorrect.
The Monogram kit has this more properly proportioned.
Moving on to the fuselage, almost all of the differences here (aside
from the separate intake ring and new open gun bay in the Kinetic kit)
are behind the cockpit. Much of the differences revolve around the fuselage
vents, and for the most part, Monogram has them right. The differences
are very subtle, though, and only the most fastidious would care, with
two exceptions. First, the right side vents are incorrect on the Monogram
kit, and spot-on for the Kinetic kit. Second, the Kinetic kit has two
triangular vents on the spine behind the canopy. These should actually
be rectangular vents on the fuselage top, as seen in the Monogram kit
and, ironically, in the Kinetic boxtop artwork. The vertical tail also
has some differences, with the Kinetic trim tab being too small and the
Monogram kit more accurately capturing the shape and depth of the tip
details.
Saving the biggest for last, the most noticeable difference between
the two kits is with the position of the fuselage air brakes. The Kinetic
kit has the opening roughly 5mm further forward than the Monogram kit.
On initial assessment I had thought that the Monogram kit had a more accurate
location, as there appeared to be more space between the wing root and
the air brake opening. A closer examination, however, revealed that both
kits are right, and both are wrong. The Monogram kit has the correct location
for the leading edge of the air brake, while the Kinetic kit has the correct
location for the trailing edge. Both kits have air brakes that are too
long, which is where the confusion arises. Additionally, both kits are
incorrect in the size and location of the leading edge arms, which ultimately
makes the Kinetic kit easier to fix (if you have the air brakes closed,
that is).
With all the similarities and differences taken into account, though,
I would have to say that the Kinetic kit is the winner here. While there
are some slightly better areas on the Monogram kit, the work needed to
bring the Kinetic kit up to that same level is significantly less than
rescribing the Monogram kit, much less correcting the errors in that same
kit. Another positive with the Kinetic kit is that, with its clear Monogram
heritage, existing aftermarket decals will fit it without any extra effort
whatsoever.
Conclusion
Kinetic has chosen a great subject for its first 1/48 kit, and they
have done a great job with it as well. Hopefully we will see an RF-84F
follow this one soon, and perhaps with a bit of arm twisting, a scale-down
to 1/72 (or, for a really exciting move, how about a scale-up to 1/32?).
My thanks to Stevens International for the review sample.
References
Keaveney, Kevin. Republic F-84 (Swept-wing Variants). Aerofax
Minigraph 15. Arlington, Texas: Aerofax, 1987.
Republic F-84F/RF-84F Series. Famous Airplanes of the World
No. 61. Japan, Bunrin-Do, 1975.
McDowell, Ernest R. Republic F/RF-84F Thunderstreak/Thunderflash.
Arco-Aircam Aviation Series No. 16. New York: Arco Publishing, 1970.
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