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Trumpeter vs Monogram F-105 in 1/72


Luka

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Both BM and Google search yielded a several individual results of the two most prominent Wild Weasel 'Thuds' in 1/72 scale, but I couldn't get a good direct comparison between the two.
Apparently the Monogram is an oldie but goodie and very accurate; its main point of criticism being the old-fashioned raised panel lines.
The Trumpeter kit has more up-to-date engraved panel lines, and supposedly features a lot of detail. However, I have read about some accuracy issues, plus overdone and oversized riveting. Also, the decal colours are way off.

 

Any Britmodellers out there who can give me some pointers? At this moment I tend to lean towards the Trumpeter kit because of the engraved panel lines, but if its accuracy issues are serious, I'd be willing to invest some time in the rescribing of a second-hand Monogram kit. 


Thanks in advance,

Luka

 

 

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Is the Monogram kit really as accurate as believed ? The 1/48 kit seem to have a number of accuracy issues, if these were transferred to the 1/72 one then this may not be as accurate as commonly thought. If so, starting from the Trumpeter kit would not necessarily result in a less accurate model

The oversized riveting is another story, the kit does indeed suffer from pretty large dimples for rivets and the panel lines aren't particularly delicate either. I built mine as an early D so the conversion work required led to the loss of a number of these "rivets", but there's still plenty left.

Decals were pretty bad, the large stars were not only not great in terms of colours but also featured wrong proportions, should be replaced. Can't remember what the decals for the camouflaged options were like though

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I can't comment on the accuracy of either, but if the Trumpeter is based on the same data as their 1/32 kit, then it may not be that good - IIRC, as soon as it appeared, a flood of resin correction sets appeared that would have resulted in a full-resin kit if all had been applied.

The Monogram 72nd kits are essentially direct scaledowns of their bigger brothers, hence the cockpit, engine/air brake and wheel well detail is exquisite for a 72nd kit. This was my first modern Monogram kit some 35 years ago, and it left me so deeply impressed that I have more or less the full run of their 80s and early 90s kits.

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IIRC the Trumpeter G missed the enlarged tail fin of the G and their D is pretty unconvincing, I did wonder about grafting a Hasegawa B nose onto a Trumpeter D to get a modern B but gave up when I found the noses almost matched!

 

I don't recall issues with the Monogram kit and I second @tempestfan - the detail blew me away when I purchased one many years ago. The raised lines are the only thing I wasn't overly happy with.

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If you want to do an early D or F model, then the Monogram kit is the way to go.  The Afterburner intake vents on the rear fuselage were added later in the service life of the F-105.  On the Monogram kit these are separate pieces, so if you want to do an early model D or F, just leave them off.  There is however the mounting plate for the vent that still has to be removed, but should be easily accomplished with an X-acto knife.  On the Trumpeter kit they are molded in place and looks like they would be a pain to remove along with who knows how much surface detailing.

Later,

Dave

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I went with Trumpeter for my three builds. I got heaps of praise from Dennis Wills, a Thud driver, and so I am happy. 
 

Certainly there are issues but what doesn’t have them! The so-called riveting is the biggest challenge but nowadays PPP can remedy that.

 

Martin 

 

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12 hours ago, rossm said:

 

I don't recall issues with the Monogram kit and I second @tempestfan - the detail blew me away when I purchased one many years ago. The raised lines are the only thing I wasn't overly happy with.

 

If you search the ARC forum there are a few threads mentioning accuracy issues in the 1/48 Monogram kits, including nose, canopies and fuselage sections. Not having any of these kits I can't compare them myself to pictures so can't verify these claims. However I'd like to know if the Monogram kits are really as accurate as some say or if this is just one of the many bits of accepted wisdom that many take for granted without any actual proof. 

 

3 hours ago, e8n2 said:

If you want to do an early D or F model, then the Monogram kit is the way to go.  The Afterburner intake vents on the rear fuselage were added later in the service life of the F-105.  On the Monogram kit these are separate pieces, so if you want to do an early model D or F, just leave them off.  There is however the mounting plate for the vent that still has to be removed, but should be easily accomplished with an X-acto knife.  On the Trumpeter kit they are molded in place and looks like they would be a pain to remove along with who knows how much surface detailing.

Later,

Dave

 

Are you sure of this? In the Trumpeter D I built the intakes were separate parts and sprue pics and instructions on the web show the same for the G.

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11 hours ago, e8n2 said:

On the Trumpeter kit they are molded in place and looks like they would be a pain to remove along with who knows how much surface detailing.

Really? I converted a Trumper D To a B and another to an early D without any issues. Just care is needed but that shouldn’t be a reason to mark the Monogram over the Trumper. From what I’ve seen they both have faults. The Monogram windscreen area is suspect for sure, as an example. 
 

Martin

 

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19 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

 

If you search the ARC forum there are a few threads mentioning accuracy issues in the 1/48 Monogram kits, including nose, canopies and fuselage sections. Not having any of these kits I can't compare them myself to pictures so can't verify these claims. However I'd like to know if the Monogram kits are really as accurate as some say or if this is just one of the many bits of accepted wisdom that many take for granted without any actual proof. 

 

 

Are you sure of this? In the Trumpeter D I built the intakes were separate parts and sprue pics and instructions on the web show the same for the G.

I don't have their D but I checked their G when I first got it over 10 years ago.  Haven't looked at it since.  For that intake vent, that may be the case, but for the ECM bulges on the fuselage sides, those can not be removed, so it can't be made as an F.  The Monogram kit has those as separate parts so that an F model can be done.  That is what I am planning on doing with mine when I get around to it.  I had planned to use the Trumpeter kit to build an F before I got it because of being a new tool kit and engraved lines.  Since the ECM bulges on the fuselage sides are molded in it will have to be a G model.

Later,

Dave

Edited by e8n2
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21 hours ago, RidgeRunner said:

I went with Trumpeter for my three builds. I got heaps of praise from Dennis Wills, a Thud driver, and so I am happy. 
 

Certainly there are issues but what doesn’t have them! The so-called riveting is the biggest challenge but nowadays PPP can remedy that.

 

Martin 

 

Check my reply to Giorgio.  Ten years or more since looking at it can cause CRS problems 😉

Later,

Dave

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I'm not familiar with the two-seater Thud kits, but both F-105D kits aren't quite right around the canopy area. When viewed from the front, the real jet bulges out on the sides. Neither kit does this, perhaps due to mold restrictions?

spacer.png

 

Based on standing next to the real jet and comparing a built Monogram kit with it, I think the reason the Monogram nose looks "off" is because of the poor fit of the radome to the fuselage and the overscale and slightly off-center pitot tube. Monogram captured a lot of subtle curves that Trumpeter/Hobby Boss completely missed. The Trumpeter/HB F-105D still has the F/G tail, with the broader chord. I didn't think the Monogram kit did as well, but I've recently seen comments to that effect. I just haven't had the time to confirm it for myself, yet.

 

Ben

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Well, I haven't had a good bashing lately, so I'll weight in here with my $.02 worth!

 

There was a huge hue and cry over it's accuracy, particularly compared to the Hasegawa and  the anemic-front-ended Airfix kit, and the Monogram kit came out on top.  It was mostly and loudly appreciated that Monogram corrected the defaults of the 1/48 scale kit, when they re-panto graphed the smaller version.  Oddly, when they did the F-101B, they got it right in both scales!

 

While probably all plastic kits have some tiny disparities from their full-sized counterparts, the Monogram and later Revell versionS have stood the test of time.  They are more than well worth taking the time to re-scribe, and also (for those inclined to cast their own resin copies of pilot's) feature the best seated-position USAF pilots for that era, that came with a kit, with position-able arms, etc.

 

Most important of all, they just "look right", and except for the re-scribe, take very little effort.  I also vote Monogram...

 

Ed

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  • 1 year later...
2 hours ago, Rick Tsujimura said:

I seem to recall an Airfix two-seater kit as well; but haven't seen this kit in decades.  It shows up on scalemates.

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airfix-05024-republic-f105g-thunderchief-wild-weasel--147581

The Detail & Scale book came up with a number of problems for the Airfix G.  IIRC one of them was that the fin was too narrow, more like what is on the D than the F or G.

Later,

Dave

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@Luka, thanks for starting this thread— @Rick Tsujimura & @e8n2 useful info—Monogram’s F-4s/F-105/F-101 really seem to have stood the test of time, though the F-4s have been superseded by some other manufacturers (IMHO), they are still great kits—just like this thread—great info all around, best, Erwin 

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The Monogram F-4Js were one of the first, if not the first, to come up with a proper Navy rear cockpit.  The F-101 has an error on it that was started with the 48th scale version of the kit and IIRC there is a vent just above the wing that should be only on one side, but is on both.  I believe the D&S book is where I first got that bit of information.

Later,

Dave

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My issue with the Monogram 1/72 Thud is that is “too full in the face”. Something doesn’t look right. It could be that the windscreen and canopy are too small, though. They certainly don’t fit well either. Overall, to me, it looks like it’s been eating too many burgers. The Trumpeter, of course, is a little lean. If you can get your head around the rash of so-called rivets I’d still suggest it is the way to go. Believe me, I’d prefer not to be promoting a Trumper!

 

Martin

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On 9/18/2022 at 2:58 AM, VT Red Sox Fan said:

Coming into the great thread over a year late. My vote is the Monogram F-105 in 1/72.  Reference the 1/72 F-105D, any words if Revell has the molds for re-issues down the road?  Best, Erwin

 

Not sure how it was in the US, but in Europe the 72nd D only ever was released by Revell I think, right after the Revellogram combination. I am pretty certain they have retained the mould(s), in particular if it was in Europe. The Great Mould Dump apparently only affected the moulds in storage in the US. 

On 9/18/2022 at 4:17 AM, Rick Tsujimura said:

I seem to recall an Airfix two-seater kit as well; but haven't seen this kit in decades.  It shows up on scalemates.

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airfix-05024-republic-f105g-thunderchief-wild-weasel--147581

I am generally a big fan of the Palitoy-era Airfix kits, but the 105 may be the weakest (tied with the Mi-24). It came out just about concurrently with the Mono kit, and they are worlds apart particularly detail-wise. And while I'm no hogster, it simply does not look right even on that photobox. 

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Thanks @tempestfan—-maybe we will see a re-release by Revell of the 1/72  F-105s—I did note they released the F-4J—who knows maybe they have 1/72 F-4C/D tooling as well (understand both F-4s were boxed Accurate Miniatures)—circling back to the Thud, maybe we will see a new molding of this important aircraft soon to compete with the current Trump/Revell stable—best and thanks to all—Erwin

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