#rf-84f thunderflash

[usafphantom5]

RF-84F Thunderflash: A reconnaissance variant of the F-84, which became an unwanted stepchild as a fighter because the F-86 was a masterpiece, utilizing its range by equipping the nose with six cameras. Ah, so that's what Thunderflash means... Photo reconnaissance is one of the original missions of military aircraft.

@Heiniken via X

[thestonecuttersguild]

Thunderflash.

NMUSAF

[thestonecuttersguild]

Since I know I’m not going to start/finish anything else this year, here are my model kit builds from 2022. I was focused mostly on US Air Force kits in celebration of the 75th anniversary. The RCAF Sabre was a kit started last year, but finished in early 2022. The raptor is a Christmas gift. The F-82 Twin Mustang is a brand new kit for 2021/2022 that I had shipped from Ukraine before the war started. The RF-84F Thunderflash is a vintage kit from the 60′s. I worked on a few niche kits this year that took up a lot of time, but I’m happy with the results.

[thestonecuttersguild]

Workbench Wednesday: Old and New Edition.

Picked back up the Heller RF-84F Thunderflash. I’d previously scribed all of the panel lines. Back to it, I added lead to the nose, glued the fuselage halves together, and sanded and sanded and sanded.

Also wrapping up paint on the little Hasegawa F-22 Egg Plane.

[thestonecuttersguild]

Finish Stuff Friday: Republic RF-84F Thunderflash Heller 1/48.

This was the 1994 boxing of the kit, but the kit itself dates back to 1979. It included French and German markings. I sort of dig the French Suez markings, but instead found some USAF Arctic markings decals to go with instead. Silver is a mix of Tamiya sprays, and Vallejo brush paints. The red aft section is also brushed with Citadel Evil Suns Scarlet.

I built it mostly out of the box. The only modification I made was to scribe the panel lines and shave down the raised lines.

Kit is sadly missing any interior details, such as cameras that would definitely be visible through the many windows in the nose.

However, the kit’s fit was fantastic, one of the best I’ve experienced. The camera windows didn’t even give me trouble, so, good job Heller.

[thestonecuttersguild]

Workbench Wednesday: Actual Wednesday Edition.

Dug this townhouse out of the closet and started laying card tiles on the roof.

Also, I’m finished scribing the panel lines on the RF-84F. 

[thestonecuttersguild]

Workbench Wednesday: Vintage Heller RF-84f Thunderflash/

Earlier this year I took this old kit, and scribed all of the raised panel lines, and filed them down. Now I’m onto painting. Silver rattle can, mask, a different silver rattle can, mask, silver brush, mask etc. 

I’m doing this one in an Arctic scheme. The decal set that I bought for it doesn’t include any dorsal or ventral views, and I can’t really find any online either. So I’m using whatever I know plus some AKANG F-86 pics to form the red on the wings.

[thestonecuttersguild]

Workbench Wednesday: Just go with it.

Sit Rep on the Hun: The kit decals crumbled as they were being applied. So I shelved the kit whilst waiting for the replacement decals to ship from Australia. Still waiting for those decals, and that was a year ago. I ended up ordering another set of replacement decals, which have since arrived. So, I jumped into the Thunderbirds decals again, and the very first decal crumbled. I’m more than a bit disheartened by the continued setbacks. However, I refuse to buy a fourth set of decals, I’m not build a $200 model here. So I’m going to be cutting the decals into small pieces and fitting them together like a jigsaw puzzle, and touch up paint anything bare. Hopefully it works out, because I love the build and the underlying paintjob.

In the meantime, since these decals will take a week or two, I’ve started working on this Heller F-84 during the down time. It’s an old raised panel kit, so I’m starting by scribing all of the panel lines, and sanding off the raised lines. That’ll take a while too.