Thanks to PJ Productions for Providing the Review Kit

PJ Productions

RF-84F

1/72

Kit # 721023

€41.50 Euros ($52.83 US)

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Jim Pearsall

IPMS 2209

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Thanks to PJ Productions for providing the review kit.

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The aircraft

The RF-84F was a modification of the F-84F, designed to carry cameras. It was the replacement for the RF-80. To allow the camera installation a full field of view, the air intakes were moved from the nose to the wing roots. This idea had been initially tried on a fighter version, but it was found the nose intake gave better performance.

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The F-84F and RF-84F are pretty much the same aircraft except for the revised nose and air intake system. Like the fighter version, the RF-84 was supersonic capable, not in level flight, but with the nose down and full power it could fly at mach 1.15.

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The RF-84 carried the normal recce cameras, but a new camera system call the trimetrogen was first installed in this type. The trimetrogen could take panoramic pictures, horizon to horizon with one photo.

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There is another version of the RF-84, the RF-84K. This was the FICON version, which was carried by modified B-36s. The concept was to deliver the recce bird to a spot which would normally be far beyond it’s normal range, fly the mission, return to the "mother ship" and be carried home by the B-36. The K could be easily recognized by the drooped horizontal stabilizers, necessary to fit inside the B-36 bomb bay.

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Having been on the receiving end of a low-level photo opportunity from a recce aircraft, I’ll say this. Even if you’re expecting it, the appearance of a low-flying, fast-moving aircraft from over the nearby trees, followed by a roar and the treetops flailing as he disappears over the far side of the clearing, proved that the RF-84 could use surprise effectively to get the tactical photos.

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There were 715 RF-84Fs built, and 327 of these were exported under the MAP (Military Assistance Program). Nationalist china (Taiwan), Germany, France, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Belgium, Denmark and Norway received RF-84s.

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This leads me to the aircraft I decided to build. As far as I know, the L'Armée de l'Air are the only Air Force to use the RF-84F in combat, Operation Mousquetaire (Musketeer to the RAF) And I lucked out with this kit, as the decals include markings for ER 4/33, which was the unit which participated in the Suez campaign. I found profiles and photos on the internet.

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This was it. The opportunity to build the "Combat Photo Hog". My eyes glazed over, and my mind went blank. I muttered "Must build this airplane". I was smitten. As it turned out, I was in deep smit. More on this later.

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The Kit

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53 resin parts, 2 clear resin parts (the camera nose), 13 etched brass parts, 8 white metal parts, 2 vac canopies (I only needed one!), and decals for 4 different aircraft, French, Danish, Belgian, and Norwegian. Panel lines are recessed. They lack the fineness found in some injection molded kits, but I recognize the problems in getting the panel lines to pour successfully without leaving gaps and bubbles.

The instruction sheet is very nicely printed, you can see all parts and easily figure out how they assemble. Decent instructions are NOT taken for granted any more.

The color and camouflage information is complete enough so that outside sources are not necessary to build the aircraft for which decals are provided. Also, the color callouts are excellent, using Humbrol, Gunze, and Tamiya paints and FS595 references. Greatly appreciated!

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Nevertheless, I had plenty of research material available in my bookshelf for the RF-84. In fact, I discovered that I had overachieved in procurement, and I have 2 copies each of the Aircam F-84 book and Scale Aircraft Modeling’s RF-84F issue.

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Also, there are a number of useful web sites for the Suez Campaign, including one for ER 4/33, and a very good one on "The War of the Stripes" (Suez) at

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Assembly

I have built a couple of other PJP resin kits, and this one is the best as far as fit and clean molding.

FineScale Modeler ran an article on building resin kits, and they have a half page in the article on locating and fixing those little air bubbles that lurk just below the surface of the resin. There weren’t any on this kit. The pour sprues were clean, the parts were free of voids, and everything just fit so nicely. Even the canopy almost falls into place on top of the fuselage.

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The interior went together nicely. I installed the interior in the fuselage, and painted the inside of the clear nose black. I then put some left-over scraps from a mask over the clear windows and rubbed them down. This worked nicely. Even after painting, repainting, and fixing the repaint, these kept the window areas clear. I put birdshot and Elmer’s glue in the nose to provide weight.

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The wings have an interesting attachment method. Instead of holes in the fuselage, there are two tabs extending from each of the fuselage sides which fit into pockets in the top and bottom of the wing. This controls the anhedral (wing droop) which is a feature of the F-84F family. There just weren’t gaps between the fuselage halves, the horizontal and vertical stabs lined up nicely, the landing gear (metal) almost clicks into place. I really liked the wing fences. The wing has a shallow slot that they fit into, and they fit SO nicely.

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Construction of this kit was such a pleasure! So, of course, this can’t continue.

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Painting and Markings:

I started out with a plan to do this kit in full Operation Mousquetaire markings, and using gloss black under the natural metal to really bring out the full richness of the silver.

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This was fine until I started painting the "invasion stripes". The slanted stripes on the fuselage really look cool, but I just couldn’t get the yellow and the black to line up and look even close to right. Strip and prepare to repaint. I have done British aircraft from this campaign, but I guess their sense of style is less developed, and they just used stripes which were perpendicular to the aircraft centerline.

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So this time, I changed the parameters. During my research, I discovered that not all the aircraft had all the stripes painted on. In fact, the aircraft I finally settled on had only one yellow and two black stripes on the fuselage, and NONE on the wings. I painted on the yellow stripe, and made a decal for the black stripes. It’s SO much easier to get lines which start out and remain parallel if you’re using Paint Shop and a laser printer.

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Touch ups and final assembly, and it’s ready for markings.

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The decals are truly state of the art. They go on just fine, move around as needed, and snuggle down nicely once the excess water and solvent are removed with a tissue.

And there’s one other thing I appreciate about the decal sheet. When I completed the markings for the French aircraft, the decal sheet was still pretty much intact. The same would be true of the Belgian, Norwegian, or Danish markings. It’s nice to put a used decal sheet into the spares storage which hasn’t been cut apart into 2 or 3 sections, or looks like Swiss cheese. Kudos to whoever did the sheet layout.

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I did have to change the aircraft serial and Squadron letter from 33 CA to 33 CP, and there’s the decal stripes, but otherwise I used the kit decals.

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Overall Assessment

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After finessing my way out of the AMS attack, I’m happy with the finished kit. It captures the look of the RF-84 nicely. It also has a much better look in the air intake area than the older Italeri kit. If you’re a fan of early USAF or NATO jets, this will be a great addition to your display.

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I spent way too long working on this particular review project, and I thank John Noack for his patience.