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Morne Meyer
48 articles

Republic F 105 D Thunderchief

December 23, 2014 · in Aviation · · 33 · 3.1K

This is the classic Thud in scale. The model depicts the Thud flown by Capt. Peter Foley on 13 March 1968. This Thud belonged to the 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing. The 469th "Fighting Bulls" reached the 30 000 flight hour mark on 13 March 1968. Captain Foley piloting this F 105 was part of that historic flight in 1968. Captain Foley also completed his 119th mission over North Vietnam on that day.

The model was completed OOB. The only scratch built items added were a Pitot tube fashioned out of a sewing needle, some hydraulic lines to the undercarriage and static dischargers added to the wings, fin and stabilizers. The model was painted with Modelmaster enamels and weathered with Doc O' Brien's weathering powders. The tan colour seem to have faded somewhat in the photos that I found of the Thuds belonging to the 469th. This seem much lighter than the standard Tan in the SEA Tactical scheme. This might be due to the nature of the film used in the photos or due to the bleaching effect of the Sun. Albeit, I went for the bleached weathered look to capture the feel of a well used Thud that regularly went downtown. I particularly like the inscription on the centreline bomb "flowerpower" which I think was in reference to the "Daisy cutter" fuse extensions and not the Hippie / Anti-war movement.

Reader reactions:
12  Awesome

24 additional images. Click to enlarge.


33 responses

  1. Great looking Thud, Morne. Really like the paint.

  2. I love it. How was the build its self? I know Revell sometimes has some iffy builds.

    • Nate I must confess that it is one of those typical Revell/ Monogram kits where you have to do a lot of prepping of parts and dry fitting before putting glue or paint on plastic. However, all hard work gets rewarded in the end. I love the old Monogram kits of the 70's and 80's. State of the art back then with very good detail. If you add some scratchbuilt detail to it a totally different gem emerges.

  3. Lovely Thud Morne. I like the faded look of the camo.
    As you said , a well used plane.
    Nice one mate.

    • Thanks mate! I used photos from the web as reference and most show the Tan colour as having this faded appearance. The Rolling Thunder campaign had Thuds flying missions around the clock and that was one of the reasons why half of all Thuds built, were lost over North Vietnam. The Thud shouldered the brunt of all Rolling Thunder missions and this aircrafts physical appearance was proof of that.

  4. Good looking kit, Morne. Like the messages on the ordinance.

  5. Does show that well used look courtesy of your subtle weathering Morne.
    Very nice.

  6. Nice, nice work, Morne ...an all-around good job in every aspect. Those "old" Monogram kits are still the best buy for the money IMO.

    • Thanks Craig! I am in full agreement on the Monogram kits. I still have a large number of unbuilt Monos in my stash. They show their age in comparison with latest kits. However, with enough TLC they still end up looking great.

  7. Splendid F-105 Morne, its always great to see your postings.Monogram s
    F-105s are still very nice, you make it shine. Added details, like the brake lines or the mechanism of the canopy are a nice touch.
    Your windshield fit ! Great work my friend.
    Found in the net a compare build with the Monogram and the Kitty Hawk F-105, both kits are nice, the older Monogram Voodoo was in some points superior !
    BTW nice work on the bombs. Again a very tempting build

    • Vielen dank mein Freund. Monogram/Revell still have some nice kits for us to complete. The Kitty Hawk F 101 seems over engineered. Still have to get a Wild Weasel F 105G from Hobbyboss in 2015!

      • Your builds are always a pleasure to look at, i did exactly this aircraft nearly a decade ago, the pilot in the cockpit still gets a lot of fresh air on my build 🙁 and the undercarriage is a tad weak after all the "service years" on the shelf.
        Got a RV/Mo two seater as well but from Monogram, most newer kits are quite expensive but not always better.
        Is the HB F-105 in your Mountain, ähem stash ?

        • I also had the Revell F 105 G but sold it to a friend. The Hobbyboss F 105 G is on my wishlist for 2015. I have a nice aftermarket decalsheet for the Hobbyboss F105G so I must get the kit. ; )

          • Dreams can be made come true 🙂 !
            Got the Airfix 2015 list, great stuff, its time to save some money.
            In 1/48 will come a new Hurrican I out with open gun bays, in 1/72 there will be a lot of kits, incl. an Avro Shackelton, Ju 87B-1, a Kate...

  8. Morne:

    Most paints really fade in the ol' SEA. You have constant heat, sunlight, humidity beating on the paint. Not to mention operational wear 'n tear.

    Then when the monsoon season arrives, even moreso. Torrential downpours, and 15 minutes later, its all evaporated and MORE humid!

    I was telling the folks in my IPMS chapter recently what our units Deuce & 1/2 looked like, being parked in the open for months. The upper paint had faded to a palish, washed out green. It looked two tone, the hood (or bonnet, huh?) and the cab top and bed were real faded.

    Somewhere I have some black and white photos I took.

    Anyhow, any variation on the TM colors is right, plus touchups with the ever popular Krylon spray can.

    Looks good, what a brute! Good old Republic!

    • Thanks Bernard for the info. It's greatly appreciated. I can just imagine the punishment the Thuds went through out in Thailand. I love Republic's fighters! The Thud is my favourite! The next one will probably be Leo Thorsness' Thud.

  9. Excellent Thud Morne. I like your "mostly" out of box technique. The Monogram Century Series Fighters are still the best bang for the buck.
    Very nice weathering.

  10. Republic Aviation, AKA the Repulsive Iron & Foundry Works, whose alleged motto was "Build us a runway around the world, and we'll make you an airplane that won't get off it".
    Bit much, but nice solid airframes that did their assigned purpose, and brought their crews back, sometimes with large chunks of the airplane missing.

    • Thanks Bernard for that very funny assessment of the Locomotive works' airplanes. It surely conjures up the image of their Thunderscreech experimental plane. The noise caused by the engine and massive prop was such that people around it became nauseous and disorientated. Very solid planes indeed. Saw a photo of a Thud with half its tail shot away by an exploding SAM and it made an emergency landing at Da Nang.

  11. Morne:
    I always wondered why that never went anywhere. Sheesh!
    My suspicion was that it was like the turbo version of the Skyraider, which had a complicated prop setup, and engine problems. They called it the "exploding cigar", which hints at the reason it, too, failed to make the cut.

  12. The one thing you missed (and a lot of people do) is that "camouflage curve" of the Green just aft of the cockpit on the right side. That is as "deFinitive" as the right sude camo under the cockpit of a Spitfire. I don't know how (since it was sprayed) but all F-105s have that. (I know this from being "reamed out" by a Thud driver over a model I did that didn't get that just right.)

    • Thanks for the constructive criticism Tom. When I researched the camo scheme I used the Osprey F 105 Thunderchief Units of the Vietnam War as a reference work. I found no photo of a single Thud where all the camo patterns were exactly the same!

  13. Fantastic mate! Some great detail!

  14. Sorry for the late reply Morne. But I am glad to pop the reply's to 30.
    That is so well done. I have right clicked a few of these pics. Very nice.
    California Steve

  15. This looks great, Morne @mornem !

    You really do some nice work on all your models.

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