T Bolt
Colonel
Well…. Here Goes
I first came to this website a few days ago by chance while looking for references and stumbled on Gary's (Geedee) thread about his building a full scale P-51 cockpit. I replied to his thread with a couple of photos of my own build and Gary replied, urging me to start my own thread and letting me know of other guys here involved in similar projects, namely Darryl (Tony Hill) with a Spitfire and Tony (Rocketeer) with a Spitfire.
I've been building plastic scale models ever since third grade (the P-47 wasn't my first, but Monograms 1/48th bubble top was the second) In June 08' I began work on a panel and then it spiraled out of control from there until I restricted myself to a length of 28" so I could get it out of the basement (and in order to remain married, she kept asking when the wings were arriving).
It's based on a later model Thunderbolt, a P-47D30. I don't have any experience with the building or repair of the real thing so I used methods of fabrication that were familiar to me, namely woodworking and structural steel members. Along the way I've also gotten pretty good at bending aluminum as long as it's not a curved part.
The basic frame is made of Unistrut steel members bought at the local home improvement store and for the most part will not be visible when completed. The fuselage ribs will be plywood (forward 2) and poplar with aluminum bolted to it where it shows as I have no way to bend aluminum on a curve. It has many original components from the 47 including windscreen,and throttle. I hope to wire up some components such as panel lights, cockpit light gun sight.
Well then, here it is:
Part 1 The Panel
Picture 01: Cutting complete on panel
Picture 02: Genuine Thunderbolt windscreen that had been sitting on a shelf collecting dust for 60+ years. The edges were rather beat up and I had already starter to try to straighten then out.
Picture 03: Panel primed with zinc chromate. Nasty stuff. Only spray outside wearing a respirator.
Picture 04: Panel painted
Picture 05: Panel decal design using a spread sheet and printed on white decal sheet.
Picture 06: Decaling underway
I first came to this website a few days ago by chance while looking for references and stumbled on Gary's (Geedee) thread about his building a full scale P-51 cockpit. I replied to his thread with a couple of photos of my own build and Gary replied, urging me to start my own thread and letting me know of other guys here involved in similar projects, namely Darryl (Tony Hill) with a Spitfire and Tony (Rocketeer) with a Spitfire.
I've been building plastic scale models ever since third grade (the P-47 wasn't my first, but Monograms 1/48th bubble top was the second) In June 08' I began work on a panel and then it spiraled out of control from there until I restricted myself to a length of 28" so I could get it out of the basement (and in order to remain married, she kept asking when the wings were arriving).
It's based on a later model Thunderbolt, a P-47D30. I don't have any experience with the building or repair of the real thing so I used methods of fabrication that were familiar to me, namely woodworking and structural steel members. Along the way I've also gotten pretty good at bending aluminum as long as it's not a curved part.
The basic frame is made of Unistrut steel members bought at the local home improvement store and for the most part will not be visible when completed. The fuselage ribs will be plywood (forward 2) and poplar with aluminum bolted to it where it shows as I have no way to bend aluminum on a curve. It has many original components from the 47 including windscreen,and throttle. I hope to wire up some components such as panel lights, cockpit light gun sight.
Well then, here it is:
Part 1 The Panel
Picture 01: Cutting complete on panel
Picture 02: Genuine Thunderbolt windscreen that had been sitting on a shelf collecting dust for 60+ years. The edges were rather beat up and I had already starter to try to straighten then out.
Picture 03: Panel primed with zinc chromate. Nasty stuff. Only spray outside wearing a respirator.
Picture 04: Panel painted
Picture 05: Panel decal design using a spread sheet and printed on white decal sheet.
Picture 06: Decaling underway
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