This kit has been around since the mid-eighties but it is still a good kit for its age and the price. The shape of the fuselage and jet intake are more accurate than the Kinetic F-84F but the presence of raised panel lines is still a negative for most modelers. The wheel wells, cockpit and ejection seat are all well detailed and will stand up favorably to even more modern kits. There has been some question about the cockpit color in this particular re-issue and there is a possible answer. Republic used Dark Green in the earlier Thunderjets and some early Thunderstreaks did have this color as well, however, as they were sent in for overhaul their cockpits were repainted in the standard gull gray with matte black consoles and ejection seats. The kit still fits well for 45 year old moldings and the surface detail is still very good. The nuclear shapes, their special pylons, special carts and external fuel tanks are still included so you can also build a regular line bird but you'll have to provide your own decals for that option. Overall it's a good kit for all skill levels and the decals are good enough to reduce the amount of painting needed to create a nice model of an early Thunderbirds aircraft.

I really enjoyed this building this one. Everything went together really well with hardly any flash to deal with. Before I applied the decals I hit the leading edges of the wings and nose with Apple Barrel Real Red so that there wouldn’t be any silver gaps. With patience and a hairdryer and a decal solvent the decals will lay down nicely, somewhat nicely on the nose. The bomb cart and fuel tanks and bombs are a nice inclusion.

I purchased this for my teenage grandson, and he really liked it. He told me it was really cool.