Hi all. I am in the process of building an F84E Thunderjet. Could someone tell me if the F84Es used in Korea had the birdcage canopy or not? Also was chromate green still in use for interior colors on aircraft in Korea? And my last question is Are there any yellow paints out there that replicate the yellow chromate used on aircraft?
Modelbuilder
Some had the birdcage canopy, some didn’t. Best to check your references for the bird you are building. Interior green ( Not Chromate ) was used until early 1953 when Interior Gray became the standard. The Yellow Zinc Chromate , used on interiors such as wheel wells & insides of LG doors, but not cockpit interiors, is available from Testors as an enamel.
Regards, Rick
For the first question. Some did some did not. All were upgraded to the birdcage by early 1951 but many arrived in Korea with Bubble tops. The 2nd question is all “straight wing” F84s had interior green interiors… Hope this helps.
Here’s mine: Don’t forget that the birdcage must be in flat white! Chromate yellow green for wheel bays, interior green for cockpit…this the Tamiya 1/48…LOL
Steve
Looks great… I really like this plane, I have done several in 1/72. Funny but the Academy
kit in 1/72 is much better than the Tamiya kit…
Great build Steve. Very impressive finish.
Regards, Rick
Thanks for all of the info guys, this helps out a bunch.
modelbuilder
Thanks for the helpful advice everyone. The pics will come in handy. I do have one more question though. How should I go about masking the cockpit, canopy, and wheel bay interiors?
I just thaught of another question, the anti glare surface on top of the fuselage, should I paint it or use the kit supplied decals?
I’ll take that one: Paint it. No question IMHO. On most planes, especially the F-84, it’s just too easy to mask it and put on some flat medium green (yes, that’s what they used then on most USAF jets).
And as for the “birdcage” part of the canopy, they look very light-colored in photos, and some may have been white (in fact, I think I’ve seen a restoration or two that had it painted white), but the USAF had it listed as FS 16374, Aircraft Gray. This color is clearly gray when sprayed on a whole F-102, but on a thin strip of canopy framing, looks pretty close to white.
To make it even more confusing, around the edges of the original canopy frame where it meets the glass, they often used a line of white caulking, not always the yellow you see on models. EZ mask just came out with a product that is extremely thin vinyl adhesive striping that ingeniously duplicates this caulking. It comes in every color ever used for this purpose, even red.
TOM
so crockett did you drill out all the holes in the Dive brakes ?
Yes I did and there are 56 of them (holes in the speed brake) FYI! it wasn’t that bad after hand drilling a couple I chucked that bit into the dremel and made short work of it. I definitely recommend painting the anti-glare surfaces. The canopy was the biggest challenge for me on the whole kit. I’m not a big fan of those AM masks so I did it with Tamiya yellow tape and a whole lot of patience. I’ve never seen an F-84 with AF gray birdcage, but that’s not to say they didn’t exist. I went with flat white basically because the one at the AF Museum and the kit instructions called for it. Alitle tip on the insturmrnt panel and other decals, once these are set they are never realistic, but if you apply a thin coat of Testors liquid cement, that’s right ,liquid cement! they shrink right down and look absolutely great. Try this on some scrap if you dont believe me.
LOL Steve
Steve
What did you use to mask the wheel wells on your F84?
The canopy was reinforced with fiberglass tape which was bonded to the canopy. The color was gray, about the color of FS 16374.
Early F-84’s had a problem with the canopy shattering in flight. Several fixes were tried but the final solution was to bond fiberglass tape to the canopy. The G model came from the factory with the reinforced canopy. A modification was already in place on the E model fitting them with the new canopy. Later some of the C & D were modified for the ANG and RES. All A & B models had been retired by that time.
Modelbuilder:
I airbrushed the bays on the sprue tree with chromate yellow, then I stuffed the wells with tissue before applying primer and base coat.
Berny:
Thanks for that info, I was wondering what the purpose of the “birdcage” was.
Steve