Hobby Master Archive

Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series HA2550 F-105G “Wild Weasel” 63-8320, 561 TFS, Vietnam War

Die-cast metal. Superb detailing in 1/72 scale. Pre-painted with pad applied markings. Fully assembled. Weapons that are not permanently attached. Comes with crew figure. Display stand included. Option to display model with wheels up or down. Minimum use of plastic.

The F-105 earned the nickname Thud after the character Chief Thunderthud on the Howdy Doody TV show. The main mission of the F-105G was the detection and destruction of North Vietnamese SAMs that would then allow other aircraft to safely carry out their assignments. In order for the F-105Gs to do this they were always “First In Last Out” and piloted by volunteers. The F-105 was the only U.S. aircraft withdrawn from combat due to high losses. Having flown 20,000 sorties over Vietnam 382 of the 833 F-105s produced were lost.

Republic Aviation built 833 F-105 Thunderchiefs of which 143 were “F"s and the USAF converted 65 of them into F-105G Wild Weasel III. The F-105G was the first aircraft dedicated to Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) missions. The 561st TFS was equipped with 12 F-105Gs and lost 4 to enemy fire and 1 to an accident. The surviving F-105Gs S/N 63-8320 that was converted to a G is credited with shooting down 3 MiGs and is on display at the National Museum of the USAF at Wright Patterson AFB.

The F-105G is a dual seat dual control advanced trainer variant of the F105D and is fully combat capable. General specifications F-105G Wild Weasel Manufacturer - Republic Aviation Number Produced - 65 Year Of Conversion From F-105F - 1970 Year Of Last Flight - 1983 Crew - 2 X (1 Pilot / 1X Navigator - Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO) Role - Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) missions Dimensions Length - 67 ft (20.4 m) Wingspan - 34 ft 11 in (10.6 m) Height - 20 ft 1 in (6.1 m)

Performance Powerplant - 1 X P7W J75-P-19W After-Burning Turbojet With Water Injection Producing 26,500 Pounds Of Thrust Maximum Speed - 1,372 mph (2,208 km/h) @36,090 ft (11,000 m) Service Ceiling - 48,500 ft (14,782.8 m) Maximum Range - 1,493 miles (2,403 km) Fuel 450 US Gallon Tank Under Starboard Wing 650 US Gallon Tank On Center-Line Gun - Nose Mounted 20 mm M61A1 Vulcan Cannon Missiles AGM-78A Standard Anti-Radiation Missile - Range 75 miles AGM-45A Shrike Anti-Radiation Missile - Range 10 miles Pods AN/ALQ-5 - Automatic Jamming System )