Trumpeter

1/72 F-105 Thunderchief

Kit Number: 1617

Reviewed by  James Kelley, IPMS# 42106

MSRP: $29.95 Imported by Stevens International (www2.stevenshobby.com) A Brief History Of The "THUD" Republic F-105 Thunderchief, commonly known as the "Thud" by its crews, was a single-seat supersonic fighter-bomber used by the United States Air Force. The Mach 2 capable F-105 bore the brunt of strike bombing over North Vietnam during the early years of the Vietnam War. A two-seat Wild Weasel version was later used in the specialized SEAD role of suppressing surface-to-air missile sites As a follow-on to the Mach 1 capable F-100, the F-105 was also armed with missiles and a cannon; however, its design was tailored to high-speed low-altitude penetration carrying a single nuclear bomb internally. First flown in 1955, the Thunderchief entered service in 1958. As the largest single-engined fighter ever employed by the USAF, the single-seat F-105 would be adapted to deliver a greater iron bomb load than the four-engined ten-man strategic bombers of World War II. The F-105 would be best remembered as the primary strike bomber over North Vietnam in the early stages of the Vietnam War. Over 20,000 Thunderchief sorties were flown, with 382 aircraft lost (nearly half of the 833 produced) including 62 operational casualties. Although it lacked the agility of the smaller MiG fighters, USAF F-105s demonstrated the effectiveness of guns, and were credited with downing 27.5 enemy aircraft. During the war, the two-seat F-105F and F-105G Wild Weasel variants became the first dedicated Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) platforms, fighting against the Soviet-built S-75 Dvina (SA-2 Guideline) surface-to-air missiles. Two Wild Weasel pilots earned the Medal of Honor attacking missile sites, with one shooting down two MiG-17s the same day. The dangerous missions often required them to be the "first in, last out" in order to suppress the threat air defenses prior to strike aircraft arriving and keeping them suppressed until the strike aircraft left the area. The Model Opening the sturdy box, the modeler is presented with 5 light grey parts trees, one transparent one, a decal sheet, instructions, and a sheet of color profiles. When the modeler begins this project, as usual, the cockpit becomes the starting point. The simple, 5-piece cockpit is adequate for the scale. The instrument panel, along with the two side consoles, is a decal. A seat harness will need to be provided by the modeler, as Trumpeter includes no provisions for this. The clearly molded transparent parts respond nicely to a dip in Future, and are crystal-clear. The canopy can be posed open or closed. The afterburner can is a 4-piece assembly. It's nearly impossible to piece together without a seam resulting lengthwise, and the molded-in fenestrations make it nearly impossible to fill. Once painted a dark, burnt metal color though, the seam becomes exceptionally difficult to discern. The landing gear follows the cockpit and afterburner in the order of construction. The instructions would have the modeler install the nose gear into the gear well prior to installing the assembly in the fuselage, but this becomes an item prone to breakage throughout the rest of the project. The gear will fit into its well after the assembly of the airframe is complete, and it would behoove the modeler to do so. The detail on the nose gear, as well as the main undercarriage, is adequate. Don't forget to go back and install the landing lights after painting. The refueling probe bay installs into the inside of the fuselage prior to closing the halves together. The nicely-molded cannon bay is intrinsic to the left half of the fuselage, and can be left open, or modeled with the weapons bay cover in place. After closing up the fuselage halves, the intake splitters and main gear doors are attached to the fuselage. The simple wing assemblies allow for the modeler to position the flaps off of neutral. Again, as I have seen so many times recently, the wingtips are separate pieces that require attachment. Attaching the wings to the fuselage revealed a snug, seamless fit devoid of the need for any filler whatsoever. The horizontal stabilizers are attached at this point as well. The afterburner petals are positionable in an open or closed position. Although the photos I've seen of THUDs on the ground show the bottom one dropped, and the others in a closed position due to absence of hydraulic pressure, I modeled all of mine opened. I like how it looks. Airframe construction finishes with attachment of the main gear and doors. Again, it would be safe to leave off the nose gear until this point, as it can be slipped into the nose gear well without difficulty. All of the various antennae are added at this point. The weapons hardpoints are added lastly, along with the underwing stores. Trumpeter provides the modeler with one centerline and two pylon-mounted fuel tanks, two AGM-12 air-to-ground missiles, and eight Mk.82 GBUs. One thing not mentioned until now is the models' surface detail. Of course, the panel lines are engraved, but as this is a Trumpeter offering…there are a lot of rivets molded into the parts. They, too, are recessed, but they are many. And, they are inappropriate. Although the Thunderchief, like most aircraft, have rivets holding the panels together on the airframe, they are faired over. Much like the P-51 flown during the Second World War, the rivets were "skinned" over to maximize aerodynamic efficiency and to minimize drag coefficient. Modeling this kit in a silver finish, as I did, only exaggerates the effect. The modeler has three choices of machines as far as markings go; A machine from 334th TFS, 4th Tactical Fighter Wing in a silver finish with a "Shark Mouthed" nose, one from the same wing in SEAC camouflage, and a machine from the 466th TFS, 419th Tactical Fighter Wing (The Polish Glider). I chose to model the silver one, as I liked the Shark Mouth. The decal for this was incomplete however, as half of the port side face is non-existent. This is partially due to it's positioning over the 20mm cannon outlet. Trumpeter could've printed the decal in two parts to compensate for this, but, as is, the modeler will have to hand paint the face to completion. Of note is the fact that the early, silver Thunderchiefs were not Natural Metal Finished. The silver was actually an anti-corrosive dope, sprayed on like any other paint. I learned this from someone who served in the Viet Nam war around THUDs, after I had laid down a shiny, NMF-like Alclad II finish on mine. Figures. The way my Alclad II finishes usually end up, you can't tell the difference anyways. The painting guides are in color, and color callouts are for Gunze-Sangyo aqueous acrylics. Some of the callouts are spurious as well, as the anti-glare panels in USAF machines were likely not Forest Green. Conclusion Trumpeter, in their usual fashion, has produced a very nice 1:72 kit of an important aircraft. They have also, in their usual fashion, festooned it with hundreds and hundreds of recessed rivets. This will no doubt cause many modelers to pass on it, as there seem to be two distinct camps about Trumpeter's offerings; Those who howl in protest over all of the rivets, and those who really don't care. I'm personally of the variety that doesn't care. I'm not especially wild about all of the unnecessary detail, but I liked the "buildability" of the kit, and I'm happy with the results. The decals are poor in my opinion…the blues are, again as usual with this company, the dead wrong shade of blue. The Shark Mouth, or lack thereof, is annoying. The rest of the detailing is very nice, especially for a 1:72 kit, and the options of flap positioning, refueling probe positioning, and weapons bay being open or closed is nice. I can recommend this kit without reservations.

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