Plankwing
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Posts posted by Plankwing
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The resin detail sets for "early" F-84" Heller/Fonderie are available now at this link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=170067141354
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For those interested in comparing the 1/48th scale F-84F models in profile to the real thing, this is a link to a PhotoShop layered file with the Monogram, Heller, and Fonderie in left profile layered over the F-84F at Castle Air Museum. It is a 1.7Mb zipped file. Unzip it, open with a program that will read .psd, and click the various layers on/off to compare them.
http://www.f84thunderjet.com/f84fkitcompare.zip
Ignore the "Forum Topic" header ... chalk it up to newbie booboo.
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Nice work, looking forward to seeing the finished models.
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Great shot! As you have the neg, did you take this? Any more goodies like this? Any info on the plane such as serial number, service, etc.?
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Not as simple as it is represented -- F-84 straight-wing series changed constantly even on the production line with many undocumented changes made on the fly (no pun intended). That info from two men I interviewed who worked on the series from the first XP onward for a couple years. One said he was the one instrumental in getting the access port on the canopy added after hearing numerous complaints from maintainance crews. The blow-in doors were not added until G Block 20. Blow-in doors were retrofitted to some earlier G blocks, mostly to those still at the factory before being delivered. Braced canopies were not "retrofitted" as the bracing was nothing more than fibreglass tape epoxied to existing canopies. First bracing attempted was a single strap; as that didn't do the job, the "birdcage" bracing was adopted. Bracing was often added in the field so the applications were not consistent dimensionally. The ejector (tailpipe) went through many variations including but not limited to length and shape. Some ended flush with the aft rudder line. Some extended up to four inches aft of the rudder line. Some were oval and nearly straight sided with very little compound curve. Others were oval or round with very noticable compound curve. The latest on E and G were generally of the latter type (compound curve) with round exit and the formation lights stacked or oval with the formation lights laterally placed. The overall length of the series varied because of the variety of the ejector shrouds. The specific difference in length of XP to D vs E and G was fifteen inches added at station 157-1/2. The fifteen inches was not just a plug at that point for the upper fuselage as it was distributed in the upper fuselage and canopy and cockpit. Therefore --
Rule One: Check photos and as many references as you can find if you have AMS for accuracy. Otherwise, just enjoy the build and resulting model.
Rule Two: See Rule One.
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As Mark Twain said, "The news of my death is greatly exagerated." Or something like that.
The F-84 site is not defunct, just taking much longer to revise than planned. Things such as work and travel and my web designer's school studies have gotten in the way. The site did not have any photos of the XP-84 ejection seat, only a "How to" for making one for a backdated XP to D version. That "How to" was based on the illustration in Squadron's book, and it turns out that illustration is not much more than a representation. I've since found some photos of the real thing (I failed to note the source, so haven't refound them), and am literally in the throes of making a master for our resin kits. Hopefully, AMS Resin will be online soon, but you can check the posts from Haroldcut for his parts for early F-84F blocks already being produced for Heller/Fonderie F-84F.
The "early" F-84F resin sets are now available for Heller/Fonderie at this link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=170067141354
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Four gearbelts, four pulleys, four bearings and two shafts for my big project.
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Ouch! File is 37 mb. Takes a while even with broadband!
I resized the file from 300dpi to 72dpi, size is now 3 mb.
Downloads MUCH faster and still tells the tale needed.
I zipped the file, it is now 1.7 mb. Link:
http://www.f84thunderjet.com/f84fkitcompare.zip
So, this link was working when I posted it, now returns "object not found" ... Hmmmm. I've contacted my site host to try to find out why it can't find the file. Meanwhile, if anyone wants the file, just email your request via the forum email link.
And, final "edit" ... maybe ... my host solved the problem of "object not found" which had to do with their redundancy server software routines. File was only on one of the three redundant systems, but that is now corrected and the link is working. Just download the file and unzip it.
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Plankwing, I am looking forward to when your F-84 site is back up, IMHO, it was simply the best resource for F-84 stuff. Do you have an ETA on when (or if) it will be running again, it has been a long time?
Cheers and Happy Holidays.
JH
Well, j-fever, it's only money! The site was being downloaded wholesale by web crawlers so the bandwidth went way, way north -- and the cost followed. It is slowly being redesigned for MySQL access, but that requires renaming hundreds of files to fit the database scheme. Plan is for mid-2007 -- if all goes well.
For those who may be interested, I have prepared a Photoshop layered file (meaning psd) with a left profile of the F-84F at Castle Air Museum with overlays for each of the Monogram, Heller, and Fonderie 48th scale kits in "real size" at 300dpi. The features of the kits may be compared to each other and to the real aircraft by switching layers on and off. Generally, it proves that the Monogram kit is way off, Heller is closer, and Fonderie is closest to correct. It is a large file, but if anyone wants it by email, contact me through the email link in this forum. Because of the file size, dial up will be slow to download; broadband definitely desirable.
AMS?! Who, ME?! As my wife says, "Twice, even!"
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Thank you..I am always refining things, so, this will probably have some small changes as I see improvements that can be made. Example: I see in the hi-rez photos that the arm restraints could be made higher.
The arm rests on these seats were adjustable to fit pilot comfort. A particular "position" on the kit part is modeler's choice, so one position or the other does not mean one is correct and the other is not correct.
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I bought two of these Fondu kits. First look said they were an improvement, and in some ways their new parts are better than Heller. However, after closer inspection, the fuselage shots were short and infested with small air bubbles. I just yesterday ordered their RF-84F kit to see how it shapes up. The postings on the forum seem to tend toward the RevMon kit being "correct" -- it isn't. The aft fuselage is too shallow in depth. Am working on getting scans of Fondu, Heller, RevMon plus photos of real airdcraft to show the differences. In short, none of the kits are "on the nose."
The forums also reveal that Harold has some detail parts available now for the Fondu and Heller kits. So this is my disclaimer: I've known Harold for about eight years and met him because of my (currently off-line) www.f84thunderjet.com web site. I've been working on masters for "early" (XP through D) T-jets and he has been working on masters for "early" F T-streaks. We have both taken hundreds of photos of F-84s of various versions and blocks in order to have our parts made as accurately as possible.
Our research has also revealed that it is nearly impossible to state that a particular kit or detail is "correct." Why? Because [a] Republic made changes -- many undocumented -- on the production line, many upgrades were retrofitted to earlier blocks at the factory, [c] many upgrades were retrofitted to planes in the field, [d] parts were appropriated from out-of service aircraft to repair/maintain active duty aircraft, and [e] the F-84 series, being first and second generation jets, were used for many test programs.
Want to make an accurate F-84 model? Chose your subject, get as many photos of that plane at a particular point in time and use that info to chose the kit and details. And in doing so, keep in mind that none of the current kits are accurate in all details and dimensions for any F-84.
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Harold's F-84F "early" version (small suck-in doors, conventional horizontal stabilizer, low-on-fuselage air brakes, etc.) is A-1 quality. It is the first really accurate model of the "F" and Thunderstreak fans will be overjoyed to see this one to add to their model inventory.
F84-F landing gear colours
in Jet Modeling
Posted
It is hard to specify "colors" for F-84 series landing gear and wells as there were many inconsistencies. I'll attempt to "generalize" but again, Rule One for F-84 models is check as many photos as possible for the specific plane and place and time.
Gear Wells:
Yellow Zinc Chromate generally used up through F-84E.
Green Zinc Chromate generally used for F-84G and F-84F with normal elevators.
Gray generally used for F-84F with flying tail and for RF-84F.
Field maintainence, parts replacement, etc., means any of the colors could show up on any plane.
For example, the F-84C at March Field Museum had Green Zinc Chromate paint over Yellow Zinc Chromate before it was restored. I did not check the gear wells after it was restored. Walkaround photos of that plane are at this link:
http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/bruce_cr...-16-re_47-1595/
Gear Struts:
Silver paint was the standard. Gray may have been used in the field.
Wheels:
Cast wheels were generally unpainted.
Fabricated wheels (nose wheel) were silver paint standard, Gray may have been used in the field.
There are instances of specific planes having colors painted on the wheels in the field.
AMS? Check all the references you can find.
Fun? Build it and enjoy it.