**** DONE: 1/48 Republic P-47D - Mediterranean Theater of Operations

[Jeff Hunt]

At least it isn't a selfie! Great looking bird John.

Jeff

 

[chris brown]

Your jug is looking great. Definitely one to be proud of!

 

[JKim]

In the home stretch now! Finishing the drop tank is the only major construction left on this build. First I need to remove the molded brackets they are on the fuselage.

Added some tubing via lead wires for detail. This had to be trimmed to fit since the space between the tank and the fuselage is so narrow.

Give the tank a coat of neutral gray...

After decals and weathering...

Wasn't sure how the center drop tank is attached so I just rested it on the sway brackets with little drops of white glue.

Looks ok...

Not much left to do... add the aerial and assorted bits and pieces and I can call this one done very soon!

 

[Wurger]

 

[javlin]

Very Nice John!!

 

[JKim]

Thanks for watching this build... this one is almost a wrap! With the completion of the drop tank, all that remains is the addition of the assorted fiddly bits. Rocket launchers and bomb racks are friction fit into the wing. I may leave them this way.

Drop tank looks good! Thanks Javlin!

The machine gun barrels are very good looking for stock pieces. The wings have stops built into them to ensure the correct barrel length for each gun. Very uniform and clean!

It's daytime so I like to review the exterior in good ambient light.

Bottoms up! Funny how the bottom doesn't look as weathered as I had thought. All the gear REALLY does mask alot of the weathering.

Tailwheel closeup with a look at the turbocharger exhaust port. It alternated between a gunmetal-ish shade and neutral gray and finally settled on gray with lots of weathering.

Full view of the bottom...

Wheel well detail...

Instead of stretched sprue, I used fishing line (2# test monofilament) for the aerial. It was painted black and blobs of white glue were used to simulate attachment hardware.

Being quite sure that all clearcoating is finished, I can finally start removing the canopy masks. Uh oh... something you always hate to see during this step: fogged up canopy. Not sure what happened there... I made sure CA glue was kept far away.

The canopy is "locked" into place by the front windshield, which was only lightly attached using a few dots of white glue. So was able to put it off and clean the foggy windshield. I will take advantage of this opportunity and shoot some pics with an open canopy.

 

[Wayne Little]

very Nice John!

 

[JKim]

A few peeks at THE WOG...

This one is DONE! Thanks for following this build with me... I enjoyed all of the comments and am so grateful for all of the information and generosity shared with me. Each of these builds has been a learning experience for me personally... I'm amazed at how much knowledge lurks on these boards. Thank you thank you thank you!

I will post a FINISHED with the required pictures tomorrow!

 

[Wurger]

 

[N4521U]

Dirty little bugger!

 

[javlin]

Finished up Superb!

 

[Crimea_River]

Looks brilliant John. Now, one thing to check is whether or not a second star and bar insignia would have been present on the underside. Many Thunderbolts had it. I had this discussion when I built "Fireball" starting on post 211.http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/-19-aircraft-nose-art/1-48-47m-aircraft-nose-art-gb-37996-15.html

 

[Catch22]

Just catching up with your build John, absolutely fantastic work!

 

[JKim]

Looks brilliant John. Now, one thing to check is whether or not a second star and bar insignia would have been present on the underside. Many Thunderbolts had it. I had this discussion when I built "Fireball" starting on post 211.http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/-19-aircraft-nose-art/1-48-47m-aircraft-nose-art-gb-37996-15.html

I didn't even consider that! My guess is no. The Rising Decal set shows no 2nd star insignia on the bottom and I'm assuming that it's accurate given the amount of documentation available on the 57th FG. The Rising Decal painting guide goes as far as indicating a replacement aileron (yellow wing band not going through to new aileron). But I haven't been able to find any pictures of the underside of that wing.

This is the closest I could find...

 

[Crimea_River]

That's actually a good pic because it shows the underside of the port wing of the Jug in the background with no insignia.