When Monogram released this kit in the early 80s, it was state of the art. The kit was another of Monogram's "Century Series" releases and being praised as one of the best kits Monogram had produced to date and the best Thunderchief kit of that time. While not fully up to todays standard, it can still be built into an impressive model of the Wild Weasel "Thud".
Notable Kit Features:
Excellent molded cockpit details with typical Monogram raised switches and dials
Nice Ejection seats with molded seatbelts (typical of Monogram)
Positionable canopies
Optional crew figures (a real bonus for some model builders)
Vulcan gun muzzle details
Gear detail is good however due to the length of the plastic main gear, it will create stability problems and require bracing or main gear replacement with metal versions
Nicely detailed wheel wells
Main wing spar provided
Well thought out intakes resulting in smooth intake surfaces
Separate fuselage jamming pods making a conversion to "F" model easy
4-separate speed brake petals (one posed in the dropped position
Positionable stabilators
Lots of weapons stores (Mk.117, Mk.82, AGM-45 Shrike, AGM-78 Standard ARM - complete with launch rail & Tanks (depending on the kit version)
Build Inspiration:
Early on I was a fan of the Thud, especially as I read more on the early combat days in Vietnam when this aircraft was the workhorse jet of the theater. When it came to building the "Last of the Thuds, G" model, I went with the distinguished (although not officially credited) triple MiG killer of the 17th WWS 388 TFW 63-8320 based out of Korat RTAFB. All the MiG kills displayed on this aircraft may have been unofficial. All apparently gained when the Thud was a "F" version.
According to my research:
The first star refers to the 19DE67 Maj. R Huntley (Pilot) and Capt. R. Stearman (EWO) kill when they encountered several MiG-17s and fired at one hitting it. They claimed a MiG kill but after a two year investigation, the claim was disallowed by Seventh Air Forces Enemy Aircraft Claims Evaluation Board.
The second star refers to the Maj. Dalton (pilot) and Maj. J. Graham (EWO) kill however they were flying F-105F 63-8329 and actually shared their MiG kill with an F-4D on 19DE67.
The third star is the most interesting. It refers to the November 67(?) incident where Maj. George Guss destroyed a MiG while clearing his aircraft of ordnance and racks in preparation for a dogfight with four MiG-17s. One of the MiGs flew straight into the ejected racks and was destroyed. MiG kill not officially credited however quite the story so I have included his rendition below:
"The story about me downing a MiG with ejection racks happened on my first flight over North Vietnam. I was #2 in our flight of two F-105F's when four MiG-17's jumped us. My leader tried to turn with them, which was impossible. One of them was firing and he couldn't get enough lead. The other three were beginning to move under me which didn't look good. At that time, I pushed what we called the "master panic button" that jettisoned everything on the plane - bombs, pylons and rockets - and went for the deck. My leader looked back and saw a ball of fire and thought I had been hit. He swears he saw an airplane go down. All I know is I had a full load and they had a lot of garbage to dodge."
LTC (Ret.) George O. Guss
Heads-Up Report: (This kit was built a long time ago so my memory is limited)
This model has been released by Revell, Monogram, Revell-Monogram, and Hasegawa with different kit numbers and decal options
Metal Main Gear replacements will be the best addition for this kit
Kit Additions / Modifications:
Raised panel lines were sanded down
Reinforcement plates on wings should be reduced a bit (removed if you are back-dating the kit)
End Result:
The camouflage is the standard TAC Jungle scheme of the time, consisting of Tan (F.S.30219), Dark Green (F.S.34079), and Medium Green (F.S.34102) over Light Gray (F.S.36622) lower surfaces. Overall I would still recommend this Monogram F-105 kit. Although some will find it somewhat outdated, it still gives the newer kits competition based on its reasonable price point. To me it builds up looking the part and with the addition of the metal gear (if you can find it) will be a nice big addition to your display shelf. If you want more detail you may find the Hobbyboss kit a better choice as it has options to display the engine, radome, gun bay and re-fueling probe.
Feel free to ask any questions and I will see how good my memory is of the build - Keep on building what you want, how you want - Cheers