Warbird Decals appears to be well on their way to answering a lot of peoples’ prayers for 1/48 Thunderbirds decals.  First was a sheet for the F-100D and now their latest release covers the F-105B, which the team flew during the first half of the 1964 season.  The Thud went through several slightly different paint schemes during their short stay with the Thunderbirds, mostly just variations in the nose scallops. Warbird’s sheet is supposed to represent the final scheme. 

 I’ve seen this sheet for sale on eBay, one selling for $34 just before the Atlanta Nats. Fortunately, I was able to pick up a sheet at the Nats for a more reasonable $12.

 You get two sheets, printed by Scalemaster using their Invisaclear printing process.  They are in perfect register, and provide serial numbers for all of the F-105Bs assigned to the team.

 There is no mention in the instruction sheet that the F-105B nose was vastly different than the D-model.  C&H Aero Miniatures, Airwaves (SC48080), and Falcon all have produced conversions for the Monogram kit.  As far as I know, the C&H set is the only one still in production, and is by far the best of the bunch. In addition to a new nose, the hydraulic line cover on the fuselage that runs between the canopy fairing and the base of the fin needs to be removed, as well as the radar warning receiver antenna on the tail, and the strengthening plates on the wings and fuselage sides where the cooling ducts mount on the D-model.

 While at first glance the decals look fantastic, there are problems. Big problems:

-First, and this will be a show-stopper for many modelers, are the nose scallops.  I photocopied the decal sheet and cut out the nose scallops to test fit them. They didn’t fit the resin F-105B nose at all, but they fit the unmodified F-105D nose perfectly.  I can forgive some of the minor details that have been missed, but not getting the difference between an F-105B and D just shows a major lack of research on the part of Warbird.  Somebody went through a lot of trouble to make a decal that fits the nose of an F-105D perfectly.  Why couldn’t they have gone through the same trouble to fit a C&H F-105B nose?  It looks like we can salvage the blue part of the scallops, but I’m afraid the red and white parts will have to be masked and painted.  Fortunately, it looks like Model Master or Xtracolor Insignia Red is a good match for the red on the decals.

-There are no crew chief names for the right canopy rail. Crew chief information is just about impossible to find, so I can’t fault Warbird on this one.

-The "USAF" on top of the wing is the wrong size. Use a standard size for a silver F-105.

-The "US AIR FORCE" on the fuselage doesn't run parallel to the ground like the drawing shows. Photos show it angled almost parallel to the white bit running up the fuselage spine.

-The flag panel is 1/72 scale and looks like a copy of the 45-flag panel from the F-100D. The F-105 should have 40 flags.

-The serial numbers look a little big.  Based on photos, they should be about as tall as the horizontal bar in the national insignia.

A very good reference to have is the Squadron F-105 Walk Around book. It has a good photo of the T-Birds Thud instrument panel, which had a bird-shaped control panel in the upper left part.

  Warbird Decals was on the right track with their new Thunderbirds decals. Unfortunately, you can’t build an accurate T-Bird Thud using this sheet. This would be an outstanding decal sheet if it were not let down by a basic lack of research.  I’m very hesitant to recommend this sheet.  I plan to mask the nose scallops, rob the spares box for some markings, and get some correct crew names and flag panel printed some day, but it’s really a crime to have to do so.

 I was given this contact for Warbird Decals by the person selling their decals on eBay, but never received a reply from them:

Warbirddecals@aol.com

If the person who manufactures these decals would care to contact me, I’ll be happy to share my reference materials for any future T-Birds decals. I for one would love to see a well-done F-84F and F-100C sheet.

 Review decals courtesy of my wallet.

 Ben Brown

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