Italeri 1/72 RF-84F Thunderflash
Kit Number: 110?
Price: $7.50
Media: Injected plastic
Decals: two versions, one Italian AF, one Belgian AF
Date of Review: January 30, 1998
Review and photo by: Scott Van Aken
The F-84 is probably the most successful fighter/attack/recce aircraft of the 1950s. many were sold abroad and were the backbone of NATO and the ANG throughout the early Cold War. The last RF-84F was retired from Greek service in 1990, a truly long-lived aircraft.
Italeri's kit of the RF-84F is very similar to the F-84F kit and they share a number of common parts from the nose back. Those that are different are the nose and the wings. There is no particular difficulty in constructing this kit and all that I said about the F-84F in the other review go for this kit as well. I did find that the nose section did not fit quite as well as I would have liked and so needed some attention with sandpaper and putty. I have only built 2 of these RF versions, so it is probably my construction, not the kit's fault. Don't forget nose weight.
Speaking of the nose, there are no cameras included with the kit, which is just as well as the nose transparencies are not too clear. This kit was painted to represent a very colorful version from AKG 51 of the Luftwaffe in the late 1950's before camouflage was put on all the aircraft. The decals come from Modeldecal and did include the insignia since it is not a British scheme. The kit was built in May of 1988 and has held up well over the years, although I had lost the pitot tube by the time I photographed this kit a few months ago.
The kit is highly recommended and still holds up well to newer molds.