Republic F-84E Thunderjet, Korean War "bomb truck"

[garybrantley]

My father-in-law, Jack Terhune of Springfield, Missouri, was a U.S. Air Force veteran. He joined in March of 1950, after turning down several scholarships to play college football.  He always said he joined to see the world and never got out of Texas.  😁 During his service, he was a ground-crewman for the Republic F-84 Thunderjet.  Jack passed away at age 86, on New Year's Eve 2018, sleeping peacefully in his own bed at home. What a way to go, eh? 🙂

I started this one around the first of 2020 and had her finished in June of that year and considered it something of a tribute to Jack.  Several times I mentioned to my wife, Jackie, how I wished her dad was here to advise and consult. I believe he would've enjoyed that, and hopefully, been pleased with the final result.

Jack, this one's for you! I hope you approve, ol' airman! 😊

The model is the Revell 1/48 F-84E.  I bought it off a consignment table at Kings Hobby in Austin, Texas a few years back. The build was filled with snafus and problems, some caused by the clumsy builder, and some due to odd engineering choices in the kit's design.  I used a lot of the extensive kit decals, dated 2002, but they required a lot of work.  First, I brushed a coat of Microscale decal film over those I intended to us.  I kept a pan of water on an electric “hot plate” on the worktable, just under a simmer, and it took a long soak in that and then an even longer wait to get them off the paper.  Even then, they were quite thick and required a good dose of Solvaset.  Remarkably, only two split and even they could be salvaged.

My “go to” paint for NMF was always SnJ Aluminum but my unopened bottle was old and proved unusable.  As did my second choice, Floquil's Bright Silver.  In the end, I used Humbrol Meta Cote polished aluminum overall, with areas painted in several different combination of aluminum and various other colors.  I painted the nose ring and the anti-glare panel as I didn't trust the old decals for that.  It was hair-raising (if I still had enough to raise, lol) getting the big decals on the vertical stab but I “endeavored to persevere” and pressed on. 😀

I added a bit of detail to the cockpit and main gear.  Painting the canopy was another adventure.  Initially, I used an EZ Mask set but when removed, paint was pulled from almost every frame.  Eventually I chose to do it similarly to the method used on the real bird.  To replicate the fiberglass reinforcing strips glued to the real canopy, I painted clear decal film, then cut into thin strips of two different widths and applied over the canopy “frames”.  It was nerve-wracking and tedious work spread out over several days to avoid lifting previously applied strips.  Wow was I glad to finish that step! 😳

I finished the model on June 5th and took her out to our municipal airport before sunrise for some airport pics in natural light.  And getting up early proved worth it as I had just gotten set up and ready when the sun first appeared.   I like the effect it provided. 

So, with all that said, here's my tribute to Jack and also to the pilots and crews of the Korean War planes.  You aren't forgotten by me.  Cheers! 🥃
Comments and criticism are welcome!

Gary

“Little Butch”
Republic -84-E-25-RE, 51-0478
9th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 49th Bomber Wing
Korea, 1952

[stikpusher]

Beautiful work Gary and even more gorgeous photos of your work! Bravo!!! I love the F-84 and the Revell kit. When I built it, it went together flawlessly, but yes, the engineering for the nose gear strut does have you scratching your head at times… 🤨

Keep ‘em coming! 👍🏼👍🏼

[jeaton01]

Well done, Gary. The morning light does wonders.

[keavdog]

Looks great Gary. I have yet to do a straight wing F-84.

[dupes]

I love these red and white schemes. Cool outdoor pics!

[garybrantley]

May 1, 2024 12:05:51 GMT -5 stikpusher said:

Beautiful work Gary and even more gorgeous photos of your work! Bravo!!! I love the F-84 and the Revell kit. When I built it, it went together flawlessly, but yes, the engineering for the nose gear strut does have you scratching your head at times… 🤨

Keep ‘em coming! 👍🏼👍🏼

Oh, I will! 😁 Thanks, Carlos!  Yeah, what's up with that nose gear installation?!?  Who thinks up that stuff? 😄

May 1, 2024 12:13:39 GMT -5 jeaton01 said:

Well done, Gary. The morning light does wonders.

Thanks, John! 😊 It was worth getting up before daylight! 

May 1, 2024 12:21:29 GMT -5 keavdog said:

Looks great Gary. I have yet to do a straight wing F-84.

Thanks, John! 🙏🏻  Those "plank wings" were pretty cool birds! 😊

May 1, 2024 13:46:10 GMT -5 dupes said:

I love these red and white schemes. Cool outdoor pics!

Thanks, dupes! 👍  It is a colorful scheme; and it's hard to beat shooting outdoors! 😁

[kyledehart5]

Truly fantastic Gary!! I absolutely love it. These early jets are super cool. I love the NMF and color scheme too. Great build and a great tribute.

[garybrantley]

May 1, 2024 22:08:37 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Truly fantastic Gary!! I absolutely love it. These early jets are super cool. I love the NMF and color scheme too. Great build and a great tribute.

Alright! 😁 Thanks so much, Kyle!   Glad you like her.  👍  Thanks for your kind, wonderful comments, man, they mean a lot to me. 🙏🏻

[handiabled]

Great back story and build description! I am certain your Father-in law would be thrilled with this. Fantastic NMF on this Gary and photographed in your wonderful fashion!

[floki]

This is a work of art. I'm sure your father-in-law would of loved it

[garybrantley]

May 2, 2024 3:11:30 GMT -5 handiabled said:

Great back story and build description! I am certain your Father-in law would be thrilled with this. Fantastic NMF on this Gary and photographed in your wonderful fashion!

Thank you a lot, Brent! 🙏🏻 That is some great encouragement and support.  Yes sir, I too suspect ol' Jack would've liked this bird; he was an artist who painted a Bf-109 and Lockheed Lightning on canvas for me and I bet I'd have gotten one for this plane too.  😁

May 2, 2024 5:37:09 GMT -5 floki said:

This is a work of art. I'm sure your father-in-law would of loved it

Thank you, Clint, for that stupendous compliment, dude! 🙏🏻  I'mma gonna get the "big head" with comments like that!   😄 I do hope he would like it, and knowing him as I did, I feel sure he would.  Thanks again for making my day!

I dug around and found one photo that showed Jack's artwork for me; one can see the 109 on my study wall in this old pic:

[castelnuovo]

I thought you are messing with us and posted a real thing. FANTASTIC!!!

[jmarc]

AAAAAAAAAAAnother impressive set of pics.. and kit of course ,well done again and keep them coming !..

[buddho]

Oh my goodness, I thought those were reference photos of the actual aircraft. Wow!

[cbaltrin]

Nice Job garybrantley !

Hey Gary, That's a great tribute to your father-in-law.  Very  nice work  on your Thunderjet. I am actually not a fan of 50's Jets personally -- I don't even like F-86's! 

However , I have one exception, and that is the F-84 in all it's forms. I really like the look of Thunderjets whether they be straight wing or swept or carried guns or cameras.

[garybrantley]

May 4, 2024 14:40:29 GMT -5 castelnuovo said:

I thought you are messing with us and posted a real thing. FANTASTIC!!!

😁 I got a laugh from that!   Thank you so much for that great comment; I think that's every modeler's wish that we achieve some level of realism and I appreciate that compliment a lot! Cheers! 🥃

May 4, 2024 15:13:58 GMT -5 jmarc said:

AAAAAAAAAAAnother impressive set of pics.. and kit of course ,well done again and keep them coming !..

Thanks, jmarc! 👍  Much obliged for the wonderful comments! 😊

May 4, 2024 19:18:59 GMT -5 buddho said:

Oh my goodness, I thought those were reference photos of the actual aircraft. Wow!

Thanks, buddho!   Again, that's the highest praise one can receive or give for a plastic model airplane, imho, and I'm so glad you appreciated the model! 🙏🏻

May 4, 2024 19:43:37 GMT -5 cbaltrin said:

Nice Job garybrantley !

Hey Gary, That's a great tribute to your father-in-law.  Very  nice work  on your Thunderjet. I am actually not a fan of 50's Jets personally -- I don't even like F-86's! 

However , I have one exception, and that is the F-84 in all it's forms. I really like the look of Thunderjets whether they be straight wing or swept or carried guns or cameras.

Thank you, Chris! 🙏🏻 I do love the early jets from the late '40s and 1950s; probably because I'm a '52 model myself.     Those jets just looked right to me and what a jet fighter should be!  😃 I have a soft spot for the F-84F; even though it wasn't the most successful design, I think it's a sleek machine.   Here's a look at my Texas Air Guard version:

[jmarc]

OOOOOOOOOOOUTCH ...V nice again !

[garybrantley]

May 5, 2024 17:00:18 GMT -5 jmarc said:

OOOOOOOOOOOUTCH ...V nice again !

Thanks, jmarc! 🍻 😊

[cbaltrin]

May 5, 2024 7:46:46 GMT -5 garybrantley said:

Thank you, Chris! 🙏🏻 I do love the early jets from the late '40s and 1950s; probably because I'm a '52 model myself.     Those jets just looked right to me and what a jet fighter should be!  😃 I have a soft spot for the F-84F; even though it wasn't the most successful design, I think it's a sleek machine.   Here's a look at my Texas Air Guard version:

Ahh Yes, nice "F" Gary.  The  Monogram F is on my "to buy" and "to build" list.   I really can resist any USAF jet (or prop plane for that matter) with the  1960's tactical camo... except maybe the F-104... U.S. F-104's just have to be NMF IMO.

[garybrantley]

May 6, 2024 7:38:19 GMT -5 cbaltrin said:

May 5, 2024 7:46:46 GMT -5 garybrantley said:

Thank you, Chris! 🙏🏻 I do love the early jets from the late '40s and 1950s; probably because I'm a '52 model myself.     Those jets just looked right to me and what a jet fighter should be!  😃 I have a soft spot for the F-84F; even though it wasn't the most successful design, I think it's a sleek machine.   Here's a look at my Texas Air Guard version:

Ahh Yes, nice "F" Gary.  The  Monogram F is on my "to buy" and "to build" list.   I really can resist any USAF jet (or prop plane for that matter) with the  1960's tactical camo... except maybe the F-104... U.S. F-104's just have to be NMF IMO.

Thank you, Chris! 😃 I appreciate that a lot! 🥃 The Monogram F is a good kit; the complex canopy support was my only real complaint and as can be seen, I never mastered that.   And as for your preference in Starfighters (really, has there ever been a cooler name for a jet fighter?!?! 🤩), I have to agree 😁:

[lucas454]

Beautiful

[garybrantley]

May 8, 2024 10:24:37 GMT -5 lucas454 said:

Beautiful

Thanks, Lucas! 👍

[oortiz10]

Wow! The "golden hour" lighting really makes your photos shine! Awesome!

-O

[garybrantley]

Sept 7, 2024 9:39:15 GMT -5 oortiz10 said:

Wow! The "golden hour" lighting really makes your photos shine! Awesome!

-O

Thanks a million, O! 🙏🏻  Isn't that light fantastic?   I had wanted to experiment with early morning light for many years and thought that this NMF bird would look good in a sunrise.   I had loaded everything for the photo session into my truck the night before and got up early enough to be there at the right time.   In fact, I cut it pretty close as the sun peaked out just as I had the tripod set.  Another minute and I would've missed that sunrise.   That photo, and a couple other good ones, were worth the trouble, and all in all, it was a good session.   It's funny how sometimes, the mojo just ain't there and I'm disappointed with my results.  This time, it kinda worked!  Again, many thanks, Omar! 😁

[406 Silverado]

Somehow ........this one slipped entirely through the cracks on my end Gary. You have done a brilliant job on bringing out the best in a build by not only your talent as a modeler but also your talents as a photographer. Your builds are always.....I mean ALWAYS on target with the way you build and capture those builds in your still shots of them. Great back story to go along with this one too bud.

[garybrantley]

Sept 7, 2024 10:41:59 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Somehow ........this one slipped entirely through the cracks on my end Gary. You have done a brilliant job on bringing out the best in a build by not only your talent as a modeler but also your talents as a photographer. Your builds are always.....I mean ALWAYS on target with the way you build and capture those builds in your still shots of them. Great back story to go along with this one too bud.

Joe, you're making ol' Gary blush!   Seriously, thank you sincerely for that comment. 👍 Those words do motivate this old modeler and that inspires me to try more!   These modeling forums are my only outlet for showing my models and they're not really seen by many people otherwise.  Well, my grandkids are impressed by them! 😊 Hearing from other modelers like yourself provides the feedback and inspiration that makes the hobby more fun.  Thank you so much for your support and continuing encouragement! 🙏🏻

[406 Silverado]

Sept 7, 2024 10:51:29 GMT -5 garybrantley said:

Sept 7, 2024 10:41:59 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Somehow ........this one slipped entirely through the cracks on my end Gary. You have done a brilliant job on bringing out the best in a build by not only your talent as a modeler but also your talents as a photographer. Your builds are always.....I mean ALWAYS on target with the way you build and capture those builds in your still shots of them. Great back story to go along with this one too bud.

Joe, you're making ol' Gary blush!   Seriously, thank you sincerely for that comment. 👍 Those words do motivate this old modeler and that inspires me to try more!   These modeling forums are my only outlet for showing my models and they're not really seen by many people otherwise.  Well, my grandkids are impressed by them! 😊 Hearing from other modelers like yourself provides the feedback and inspiration that makes the hobby more fun.  Thank you so much for your support and continuing encouragement! 🙏🏻

  You're not only a good modeler Gary but a good friend as well. Really glad that you are here buddy. 

[garybrantley]

Sept 7, 2024 10:56:08 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Sept 7, 2024 10:51:29 GMT -5 garybrantley said:

Joe, you're making ol' Gary blush!   Seriously, thank you sincerely for that comment. 👍 Those words do motivate this old modeler and that inspires me to try more!   These modeling forums are my only outlet for showing my models and they're not really seen by many people otherwise.  Well, my grandkids are impressed by them! 😊 Hearing from other modelers like yourself provides the feedback and inspiration that makes the hobby more fun.  Thank you so much for your support and continuing encouragement! 🙏🏻

  You're not only a good modeler Gary but a good friend as well. Really glad that you are here buddy. 

Thanks, Joe! 😊

[Tojo72]

Great build Gary,always love your pics

[TJ]

All great looking builds Gary. I'm with you on the early jets. Just something about 'em