The Republic F-84 Thunderjet was the second US jet to achieve production status.  Even the initial aircraft proved superior in performance in all categories other than maneuverability compared with the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star.

       The F-84E was the first of the Thunderjet series to achieve the performance expected in the design, and the first sub-type to achieve large-scale production.  This airplane was longer than the F-84D and earlier versions, which provided a fineness ratio to the fuselage that resulted in a top speed just over 600mph.  The aircraft was also capable of carrying a substantial ordnance load in the fighter-bomber role, and had the range to be an effective bomber escort.  The F-84E originally went into production in 1949 to be used by Strategic Air Command in the fighter-escort role, and equipped the 27th Fighter Escort Wing, led by the legendary Colonel Don Blakeslee, and the 31st Fighter Escort Wing, led by the less well-known but equally effective Colonel "Mac" McColpin, the only American to have commanded all three Eagle Squadrons in the RAF.

      The Air Force was reluctant to send the "first string" to the Korean War, since most of the top command saw Korea as a sideshow that might turn out to be Act One of World War III, in which case they would need to retain the F-86A Sabre in the continental U.S. to intercept Soviet bombers attacking with the new Soviet A-bomb, and use the F-84E Thunderjet to escort the B-50s that would retaliate.

      This attitude was slightly modified when the Soviet MiG-15 showed up over the Yalu in early November.  While the F-80s of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing seemed able to hold off the new fighter, it was obvious that this was only due to superior pilot training, since the first-generation F-80 was obviously completely outclassed by the second-generation MiG.  The Sabres of the 4th Fighter Interception wing and the Thunderjets of the 27th Fighter Escort Wing were alerted to move to Korea in late November and arrived in the theater in early December 1950, as UN forces reeled down the Korean Peninsula following the intervention of the Red Chinese army in the conflict.

      Don Blakeslee flew the first F-84E mission over Korea in mid-December.  The New Year saw the F-84E enter combat against the MiGs, and while some victories were eked out - again due to superior tactics and pilot training - it was obvious the F-84 did not have the ability to go toe-to-toe with the MiG-15 in the air superiority role, or even in the fighter escort role defending the B-29s.  However, the F-84 had range, speed and load-carrying capability that far exceeded that of the F-80C in the fighter-bomber role.  The F-84E and later F-84G would take on the chore of ground attack in the Korean War in the same way its predecessor the P-47 Thunderbolt had done in Europe during the Second World War.

      The 49th Fighter-Bomber Group - which had operated the F-80 since Day One of the Korean War, was re-equipped with F-84Es in the late Spring of 1951, just before the 27th FEW was to return to the U.S.  The 49th's Thunderjets were among the most colorful of the period, with the red-and-white, black-and-white and black-and-yellow rudder stripes that differentiated the 7th, 8th and 9th Fighter-Bomber Squadrons that made up the group. 

     The F-84E would also set a standard for future Air Force fighters by becoming the first one capable of air-to-air refuelling when probes for the British "probe-and-drogue" system were fitted to the airplane's tip tanks, and two different long-range missions to the Yalu were flown out of Japan to prove the system after the F-84s had been flown across the Pacific non-stop from Hawaii to Japan.

     Revell-Monogram announced their Thunderjet in early 1998.  Unfortunately internal problems in the company resulted in the first kit - the F-84G - not being released for two years, which allowed Tamiya to steal a march with that company's F-84G which was released in September, 1998.  

      When the R-M F-84G was released, I made the statement that the kit was not as accurate as the Tamiya offering, based on drawings.  I have since had the opportunity to compare the Tamiya and R-M kits with the real item out at Chino - where we have three F-84Es - and now officially reverse that position.  In fact, the Tamiya kit fuselage is too deep in side profile, the ventral fin is too short, and the vertical fin and rudder are off in shape.  While the vertical fin shape can be modified (but not entirely corrected), the other two items are unfixable.  On the other hand, the Revell-Monogram kit is spot-on in fuselage shape. If that is something that matters to you as a modeler, then not only is the Revell-Monogram kit the better bargain price-wise, but also in terms of overall accuracy.

     Revell-Monogram released the F-84E earlier this year, with both the clear and reinforced canopy, and a lower nose panel without the blow-in door of the F-84G.  The kit also features the tip-tank probes of the air-refueling system used by some F-84Es as described above.  This kit offers decals for an early F-84E as flown by Colonel McColpin when he was C.O., 31st FEW, and a later F-84E with the reinforced canopy as flown by the 49th FBW in Korea.  These are really excellent decals, far superior to anything released before by Revell-Monogram in my experience, and completely useable.

      What both the Revell-Monogram and Tamiya kits lacked is a really good cockpit, both being a bit sparse in detail there.  Cutting Edge released a very good resin cockpit with seat and a resin nose-gear well, and a really nice set of brass landing gear legs shortly after the Tamiya kit was released.  This set is created to fit to the Tamiya kit, which - as stated above - has some fuselage shape and dimension differences with the later Revell-Monogram kit.  I decided to see whether the differences were so much that the Cutting Edge set could not be modified to fit the Revell kit.