**** DONE: GB-56 1/48 P-47D - Thunderbolts and Lightnings

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Thanks Hugh.

Had another rough day of pain and extreme stiffness, although things seem to be easing a little after a few hours rest.
The AEAF stripes have been brush painted free hand, to try to replicate the less than pristine appearance of the real thing, and the dark blue nose band and OD anti-glare panel have also been painted.
I messed up slightly on the positioning of the outer edges of the fuselage stripes, but this can easily be corrected by masking when the NMF is sprayed. The ant-glare panel needs another coat, as the paint reacted slightly with a probable grease spot in one area, but again, easily rectified.
I'll get some pics posted once the paint has fully dried.
 
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Thanks Vic.

Got a second coat on the anti-glare panel, and tidied-up the AEAF stripes. although a little more work is required in a couple of areas on the fuselage stripes, which will be done once the matt white has fully hardened.
The dark blue nose band may need another thin coat, but I'll decide once everything has settled and been cleaned. All of these areas were brush-painted using enamels.

A test fit of the wings showed that a very slight step was present at the leading edge of the roots, so the attachment slots, and the aft rebates, were filed back a touchette, allowing the wings to move very slightly aft, giving much better alignment.
Pic below shows how things look so far, and, with luck, I might get the masking done, and the wings and tailplanes fitted later today, and then sort the joints in the wheel wells, and add some pipework.
Thanks again to all for the continued interest.


 
Thanks chaps.
Yes, it certainly takes my mind off the pain and discomfort, although the stiffness can be frustrating, as it takes much longer to do things, and even the smallest tasks sometimes become very difficult.
All being well, I hope to get the wings and tailplanes attached later today and attend to the inevitable joint lines in the wheel wells, common to most P-47 kits.
 
Thanks Andy.
Got 75% of the masking done, then called it a day (or night), as it took so long, my hands and wrists now really hurt.
I'm hoping to find some time tomorrow to complete the masking, and then maybe get the wings fitted.
 
Thanks Geo.

Moving along nicely now, with clean-up and masking done, and the wings attached.
The upper surface joints are almost perfect after adjusting the locating slots, and just need a little attention as shown in the photos.
The under-surface joints aren't as bad as I expected and can easily be filled and blended in using stretched sprue, as can the joints in the wheel bays.
I'll let the wings set overnight, and hopefully get the joints sorted tomorrow, and add a little pipework detail, continuing from the foreshortened moulded detail.
Once that's done, the tailplanes can be fitted, and then concentrate on getting the radio mast fitted and the gaps around it filled and sanded.


 
Got all the wing and wheel bay joints filled, with thin plastic sheet, and finely stretched sprue melted into the gaps and then sanded. The pipework is done, using lead wire.
I'll let all this settle, then tidy-up things and attend to the radio mast, before attaching the tailplanes. Once that's all done, it'll be time to think about paint.
After my bad experience using the AK metal paints on a Mirage some time back, I'm reluctant to try these again without lots of experimenting, therefore I'll revert back to using enamels, either Revell No.90 "Silver", which I know can give a very shiny, bright finish, or Revell No.99 "Aluminium".
I'll probably use the latter as the main finish, as the real aircraft didn't appear to be that shiny, but I'll spray both onto a "hack" and then decide which I prefer.
Not sure if I'll get the spraying done over the weekend, as I need to get some more thinners, but there's a chance I might be able to.

Pics below show how things look so far.


 
As mentioned earlier in this thread, the kit provides for the radio mast to be mounted centrally on the fuselage spine. However, this should be offset to port, and therefore the locating hole was enlarged on that side.
A length of plastic rod was then sanded flat on one half of its diameter, and then firmly fitted into the enlarged hole on the starboard side, using CA, with the "flat" edge facing to port. Once fully set and secure, the rod was then filed and sanded to match the contours of the fuselage spine and sides, and the mast attached, after first removing some irritating sprue attachment tabs.
Once this is fully set, the edges of the joint will be cleaned up and filled if needed.
I spent around thirty minutes carefully masking the black I.D. stripes on the tailplanes, before attaching these to the fuselage and ensuring they were correctly aligned and set.
It wasn't until I saw the photos that I realised I'd dropped a rather large b*llock !
In order to make it easier to paint and mask the I.D. stripes, I did this before attaching the tailplanes. But I'd painted the stripes "square" to the leading edges of the tailplanes, not allowing for the "sweep" from the fuselage datum, resulting in the stripes now being angled outwards !!
Ho, hum. I'll unmask these, repaint as required, and then re-mask them, once the tailplanes have fully set. So much for making life easier !

I'll get some more paint thinners tomorrow, and with luck, I should be able to start painting the model in the next day or two.
Meanwhile, I'm still messing around with various metal shades, brush-painted onto a "hack" model, and will eventually decide which paint(s) to use.
Back soon(ish) ..............................


 
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