In 1949,  swept wings were added to the fuselage of a straight-wing Republic F-84E. This aircraft was designated the YF-96A and first flew on June 3, 1950.  Performance was unsatisfactory and the aircraft was completely redesigned around the Curtiss-Wright J-65 engine, a license built version of the British Armstrong-Siddley Sapphire engine, and redesignated the YF-84F. The prototype YF-84F Thunderstreak took to the skies on February 14, 1951, but due to engine problems and manufacturing delays the first production F-84F did not take to the sky until November 22, 1952, too late to serve in the Korean War. The F-84F introduced new standards of precision as a fighter-bomber, but air-to-air combat performance was marginal at best.

The F-84F  first served with Strategic Air Command as a long range escort fighter for the B-36 bomber. When SAC converted to the B-52, the F-84F was transferred to the Tactical Air Command, where they servered until 1958, until replaced by the F-100 Super Sabre. The F-84F then went on to serve with the Air National Guard.

In 1955, NATO countries began receiving the F-84F under the Military Assistance Program. During the Suez Canal Crisis of 1956, NATO F-84Fs were the first to fire their guns in combat. The F-84F went on to serve with 12 foriegn nations.

When the Berlin Crisis began in 1961, four wings of ANG F-84Fs were put on active duty. They remained in USAF service until 1964, when replaced by the F-4 Phantom.

The last ANG F-84Fs were retired in 1971 due to structural corrosion, being replaced again by the F-4 Phantom. A total of 2,713 F-84Fs were built.

Specifications

Model Review and Notes

Monogram models typically offer good detail and fit at bargain prices. This one was no exception. Fit was excellent, and the model had nicely detailed actuators, struts, speed brakes. This model even had separate attchment points for the pylons to attach to the ordnance, with really tiny bolts molded in! I airbrushed the model with Testors Chrome Silver. Good qualtiy metalizers are not easily available in my area, and to be honest, I wasn't interested in a high-shine finish, opting for a slightly weathered look. One of the benefits of metalizers  is to help highlight dissimilar metal panels, and it is hard to find good quality photos of the F-84F, so I opted for the pure silver. I also planned on "sealing-in" the decals with a gloss coat after a few problems with decals flaking or falling off, a problem I have encountered with Monogram decals before (as well as ESCI ones as well). The gloss coat would also protect the silver finish. So I accepted the slight dulling of a gloss coat.

The silver went on very shiny, but was very delicate, protective gloss coat did dull the silver, but not that bad. It looked weathered. When it came to painting the anti-glare on the nose and black panel on the spine, I masked off the areas not to be painted with scotch "magic" tape, as I've always had great success with this tape when masking. When I lifted the tape, the gloss coat lifted, but not the silver! (Yay!)

I painted the nose red, as this area was surrounded by the red decals, but the decal did not extend to the nose.  Surprisingly, the 12 year old (at least) decals went on real well. Monogram had the contours of the model for the commander's strips designed into the decal, which made for a strange looking decal, but it went on great. One important lesson: When matching a painted area to a solid color decal, like the nose of the F-84, take into account the effect that the underlying surface will have on the decal. The decal's red area came out a little bit darker than the painted nose, after placing the decal on the silver surface.

After waiting for the decals to dry, I repainted the model again with a gloss coat. This not only covered up the gloss coat areas that lifted, but also adds a protective layer of paint over the decals. I have become a great believer in sealing in decals after having a few bad experiences with decals flaking off: A ESCI Panavia Tornado IDS I built using the ESCI decals had chunks of decal flake off, and a Monogram F-15A Eagle I built using Monogram decals have had some decals fall off entirely. To add to the F-15's problem, over the years the model's paint had faded, and the falling decals revealed pathes of lighter paint underneath. Someday I plan on pulling all the decals off (which should not be too hard to do!) and repainting the model. Finally, I applied a layer of clear coat over the decals help remove any decal clear edges - which didn't work too well with decals with large areas of clear film - like the "USAF" on the wings - if one looks closely, one can still see the seam. The smaller decals blended in fine.  I applied some flat coat with a brush to the flat black areas. 

This model was purchased in 1986, at the age of 16. I assembled the cockpit, fuselage, wings, and horizontal stabilizers before losing interest in the aircraft due to its lack of a colorful history. I left the model unfinished when I left for college in 1987. In the interim, I began to learn more of the aircraft's history and began to fully appreciate it, and my interest in the F-84F was renewed. I completed the model in August 1998, 12 years after originally starting.