F-84F 230 gallon inboard pylon tanks

[Rob de Bie]

I'm working on a 1/48 F-84F model with all the stores that the RNLAF used. I've done the two types of 450 gallon inbaord pylon tanks, but I still need the smaller 230 gallon inboard pylon tanks. Monogram provides 230 gallon *outboard* pylon tanks, but they appear to be different. I cannot find drawings or dimensions of the inboard tanks, so I did a photo analysis.

 

 

I calculated a tank length of 46.37 percent of the fuselage length, making 112 mm. The Monogram 230 gallon outboard tanks are 108 mm, so a 4 mm section is missing. Further analysis showed that the missing length should added to the conical section at the rear, that is too 'blunt' and should more pointed. It looks like combining the front 3/4 of the 230 gallon outboard tank with the conical tail section (with fins) of the 450 gallon inboard tanks will do the trick. From another photo I concluded the fin span is the same for the 230 gallon and 450 gallon tanks.

 

Before I cut up the plastic, I wanted to check here whether someone knows more about this subject!

 

Rob

Edited September 26, 2018 by Rob de Bie

[KRK4m]

Looking at the only F-84F drawings I respect the 450 USG tank in 1:48 is 138mm long (some 652cm or 21'5" in reality) and 13.5mm across (65cm or 25.5"). The tailplane spans 24.4mm (117cm or 3'10"). The 230 USG one is just 110 mm long and 11.5mm across (528x55cm or 17'4" by 21.5") with tailplane span a bit shorter - 22.3mm (107cm or 3'6"). Unfortunately the real F-84F has come from Belgium to the Polish Aviation Museum "sans les reservoirs".   

Cheers

Michael

[Rob de Bie]

18 hours ago, KRK4m said:

Looking at the only F-84F drawings I respect the 450 USG tank in 1:48 is 138mm long (some 652cm or 21'5" in reality) and 13.5mm across (65cm or 25.5"). The tailplane spans 24.4mm (117cm or 3'10"). The 230 USG one is just 110 mm long and 11.5mm across (528x55cm or 17'4" by 21.5") with tailplane span a bit shorter - 22.3mm (107cm or 3'6"). Unfortunately the real F-84F has come from Belgium to the Polish Aviation Museum "sans les reservoirs".   

Cheers

Michael

Thanks for your reply! I guess you used the drawing at the top of this page:

 

http://grachmodel.narod.ru/air2-F-84F.html

 

Do you know its origin? The scale bar is in feet, so I would expect a US / UK source?

 

110 mm is close to what I measured, and I believe the Monogram tank is 11.5 mm diameter.

 

I too did some measurements in the drawing, but the resolution is a bit too low. I found tail fin spans of 24 mm and 25 mm respectively (using rounded numbers deliberately). So all is looking good for combining the front 3/4 of the 230 gallon outboard tank with the tail section of the 450 gallon inboard tank.

 

Rob

 

 

[bentwaters81tfw]

If you are not in a hurry, I can measure a full size tank for you. It is a fibreglass one though, not an aluminium one. I can't get to it just yet, though I know where there is a whole stack of them.

[Rob de Bie]

6 hours ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

If you are not in a hurry, I can measure a full size tank for you. It is a fibreglass one though, not an aluminium one. I can't get to it just yet, though I know where there is a whole stack of them.

Yes please! Somewhere in the pilot's manual I came across a fibreglass 230 gallon tank . I will reread it and report back.

 

Rob

[Glidingbob]

From a booklet of Republic 

 

only F-84F 

230 gal inboard tank type IV (Fletcher without tail wings )  23.102 overall dia by 185 in long   weight 101lb

 

I have caracteristics of others but have to search a bit

 

Hope this helps 

[Glidingbob]

Here it is 

 

source : Republic booklet

 

230 GAL type 1 Inboard pylon tank (with wingtails) 

Manufactured for  Republic Aviation  by Beech Aircraft Corp; Wichita ,Kansas

Stock N° (class 03L) Class code 5621 -part n°. RAC -00500-1

dimensions :

23.64 in overall dia  by 213.8 in long 

weight 172 lbs 

[Rob de Bie]

4 hours ago, Glidingbob said:

Here it is 

 

source : Republic booklet

 

230 GAL type 1 Inboard pylon tank (with wingtails) 

Manufactured for  Republic Aviation  by Beech Aircraft Corp; Wichita ,Kansas

Stock N° (class 03L) Class code 5621 -part n°. RAC -00500-1

dimensions :

23.64 in overall dia  by 213.8 in long 

weight 172 lbs 

Glidingbob, many thanks for this very interesting information! Does the source mention whether the length is measured with or without the fins? They roughly add 5 mm of length. I calculated the dimensions for 1/48 scale:

 

  Type I with wingtails:   12.5 x 113.1 mm

 

I don't remember seeing photos of 230 gallon inboard tanks without fins, but I'll keep my eyes open. The "Flight Handbook F-84F-25 and later aircraft" only mentions Type I and Type II 230 gallon inboard tanks, without further data. I'm amazed by all the different tanks types!!

 

To add to the tank confusion, here's what the "Flight Handbook F-84F-25 and later aircraft" reports about the outboard pylon tanks:

 

  Type I, Republic 00500

  Type II, Suton

  Type IV, Royal Jet, glass fiber

 

Many thanks again! If you have more data, I am all ears.

 

Rob

 

 

[Rob de Bie]

I've cast a resin copy of the tail of the 450 gallon tank, and cut off the rear section of an  outboard 230 gallon tank to achieve matching diameters. The assembly is too long now, 117 mm without the fins. But it's a start.

 

Rob

Edited September 25, 2018 by Rob de Bie

[Rob de Bie]

On 9/25/2018 at 1:18 AM, Rob de Bie said:

I've cast a resin copy of the tail of the 450 gallon tank, and cut off the rear section of an  outboard 230 gallon tank to achieve matching diameters. The assembly is too long now, 117 mm without the fins. But it's a start.

 

I made more progress with the tanks.  I scribed a new panel line 34 mm behind the nose, and sanded the whole nose section to a much more streamlined shape (compare to the above photo). Next I removed the sway brace plates, and created new ones, positioned such that the pylon's leading edge was 24 mm behind the nose. Magnets were fitted in 2 mm holes at a scale 30 inch distance. Behind the rear sway brace plate I removed 5 mm length from the tank. Lastly I glued the resin tail section on. This was followed by lots of sanding to smooth out all the modifications. I think the tank is now 90% accurate, which is good enough for this project.

 

 

Rob

Edited October 31, 2018 by Rob de Bie