FRF-84 Thunderflash

Sword, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by David Couche

Airfix's 1/48 scale Spitfire Mk. Vb will be available online from Squadron.com

Background

In 1949, a swept wing version of the F-84 was created with the hope of bringing performance to the level of the F-86. The last production F-84E was fitted with a swept tail, a new wing with 38.5 degrees of leading edge sweep and 3.5 degrees of anhedral, and a J35-A-25 engine producing 5,300 pound-force (23.58 kN) of thrust. The aircraft was designated XF-96A. It flew on 3 June 1950 with Otto P. Haas at the controls. Although the airplane was capable of 602 knots (693 mph, 1,115 km/h), the performance gain over the F-84E was considered minor.

Nonetheless, it was ordered into production in July 1950 as the F-84F Thunderstreak. The F-84 designation was retained because the fighter was expected to be a low-cost improvement of the straight-wing Thunderjet with over 55 percent commonality in tooling.

Thunderflash

The second YF-84F prototype was completed with wing-root air intakes. These were not adopted for the fighter due to loss of thrust. However, this arrangement permitted placement of cameras in the nose and the design was adopted for the RF-84 Thunderflash reconnaissance version. The first YRF-84F was completed in February 1952. The aircraft retained an armament of four machine guns and could carry up to fifteen cameras.

Innovations included computerized controls which adjusted camera settings for light, speed, and altitude, a periscope to give the pilot better visualization of the target, and a voice recorder to let the pilot narrate his observations. Being largely identical to the F-84F, the Thunderflash suffered from the same production delays and engine problems, delaying operational service until March 1954. The aircraft was retired from active duty in 1957, only to be reactivated in 1961, and finally retired from the ANG in 1972.

A total of 715 aircraft were built and served in a number of countries air forces.

Prior to the release of these RF-84F Thunderflash’s from Sword, the only 2 kits in 1/72 being the old Testors/Italeri kit and the resin PJ Productions all resin kit. The Italeri kit hails from the early 70’s with minimal raised detail externally and very little in the cockpit. This kit also had some accuracy problems in the shape and size of the aircraft.

The PJ Productions kit was released in 2005, and while some improvement on the Italeri kit with a more detailed cockpit and recessed panel lines, its quality was of a short run resin kit and it was really quite expensive compared to injected mould offerings. These kits are a marked improvement over the other prior kits of this aircraft. Whilst I have very few references to the Thunderflash I did find a couple of scale drawings of it and this kit seems pretty accurate when compared with these, so well done Sword.

I am reviewing both of the Sword releases here as the kits are identical, the only differences being that each boxing offers 4 really varied and interesting schemes.

The kit has 2 grey sprues of 63 injected parts which are clean with minimal flash and typical of Sword, have a shiny surface.

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Thumbnail panels:

The main parts have recessed details which are even and of a suitable size for the scale.

As you would expect from a limited release manufacturer, there are no location tabs or point so carefully alignment is a must. Test fitting of the wing sections shows a very neat join, so I wouldn’t expect much in the way of problems for the rest of the model.

A pair neat resin seats comes with the kit, differing seats for different countries aircraft, so check your instructions well. No seat belts moulded on it, or etched ones, which is a shame, as Sword has included them in the other kits.

The canopy is a clear and fault-free moulding. The thickness is quite appropriate for the scale. The multi-part canopy allows you to have the canopy either open or closed.

There are also a number of camera covers as this was a photo-reconnaissance aircraft.

Kit No. SW 72116 – RF-84F Thunderflash

There are four schemes, of which two are natural metal versions and two are camouflaged:

1. RF-84F-25-RE,  66th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing , USAF, 1956

2. RF-84F, 132 Gruppo 3 Aerobrigato, Vilafrance AB Aeronatica Militaire, Italy, 1968

3. RF-84F, No. 306 Rec Squadron, Deelen AB, Koninklijke Luchtmaht, Netherlands, 1961

4. RF-84F, 42 Smoldeel , AB at Beirset (at Liege), Belgium, 1970

The decals are printed by Techmod. There is minimal carrier film evident and they seem to be in excellent register. A great bonus here is that Sword have supplied detailed stencilling in dark (first 3 schemes) and light versions for the Belgium aircraft.

Kit No. SW 72117 – RF-84F Thunderflash 

There are four schemes, of which two are natural metal versions and two are camouflaged:

1. RF-84F-26-RE, 52-7323/33CP, E.R. 4/33 “Limasol”,  Akrotiri, during the Suez Crisis, French Air Force, 1956

2. RF-84F, Aufklarungsgeschwader 51, “Immelman”, Erding AB, Germany, 1959

3. RF-84F, No. 717 Rec Squadron, Rygge AB, Norway, 1968

4. RF-84F, 171st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Detroit AB, USAF Michigan Air Guard, 1968

This kit gives modellers of the “Gentleman Scale” a pair of brand new earlier jet fighter reconnaissance aircraft of the 7 different countries. It will make up into a very neat and detailed model with the inclusion of the resin details. To be honest, it will take care and the checking of fit….many times to ensure it all goes together but you will gain an interesting early jet fighter for the collection.

Thanks to Sword Models for the review samples.

Text and Images Copyright © 2019 by David Couche
Page Created 1 January, 2019
Last updated 1 January, 2019

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