1:32 F-105G

The Thunderchief that became a radar hunter

The Republic F-105 was originally a heavy strike machine for low-level flight with a bomb bay in the fuselage. The G version, however, grew out of the two-seat trainer form and was given a task its designers had not imagined: to find enemy anti-aircraft radars over North Vietnam and destroy them with missiles. In the second cockpit sat an electronics operator, without whom the mission would have made no sense.

Two seats mean twice the work

Where the single-seat version has one canopy hinged forward, this machine carries two, separated by a fixed band above the central frame. Four extra vertical posts have to be masked, two side bands and the transition between the cockpits, where the edges meet at an acute angle. Taping by hand takes longer here than the whole rest of the model, and on a tandem an asymmetry is spotted at once, because the eye compares the two cockpits directly. Pre-cut shapes get around that problem, as both sections are cut from the same pattern.

Box contents

The set covers the glazing from the face as well as from the reverse. Inner masking carries particular weight on a two-seat cockpit, because the glazing is longer and the interior is visible from a greater number of angles than on a single-seat fighter. The markings of the machine are not included, as this is the most basic variant.

The real subject

The shapes are figured for the model by Trumpeter in 1:32 scale. Another kit may have the canopies divided differently, so lay the mask on before applying it and check the position of the central frame.