**** DONE: GB-63 1/48 P-47D Thunderbolt - Stormy Weather

[Totalize]

User Name: Totalize
Name: David
Category: Advanced
Kit: Tamiya P-47D-22
Scale: 1/48th
Accessories: Eduard Canopy Paint Mask, Master Model Brass Blast tubes for .50's , ASK 6 Spoke P-47D tires, Quick boost P-47D Cockpit seat.

I am joining in guys. Here's my entry. I will be doing the popular Button Nose P-47D Razor Back Flown by Lt. A.P. Knafelz from the USAAF's 56th Fighter Group. More to come.

 

[fubar57]

All right. Welcome back Dave, love those markings

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Nice one Dave, did this kit not so long back and don't remember any major issues.

 

[Crimea_River]

A nice kit indeed, famous for its good fit.

Dave you might want to add the usual GB intro blurb in your first post.

 

[T Bolt]

Nice one Dave. That's a very enjoyable kit to put together

 

[Totalize]

Thanks Guys,

Andy, intro added.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Totalize]

Thanks Guys my add-ons are on the way. I will post once they arrive.

 

[Wayne Little]

Great choice David.

 

[Totalize]

The add-ons for this build have arrived. Blast tubes, Resin seat from Quickboost, 3D printed wheels and canopy masks.

 

[Totalize]

Main reference.

And where the "I wanted Wings" caption came from.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Nice set of additions David.

 

[Crimea_River]

No excuse now. Get on with it!

 

[Totalize]

Thanks Guys, getting into it now. I re-did my add-ons as I forgot to add the decals and the positive rivets from HGW.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Totalize]

Seems like there has been a lot of discussion and opinions on the cockpit colours of the Early P-47D Razorbacks. I have read Dark Dull Green but I have also seen some in the ETO with Zinc Chromate Yellow and what looks like interior green. I am planning to paint the cockpit in Zinc Chromate Yellow but DDG could also be an option?

 

[Totalize]

Continuing on with the question of Interior cockpit colours. This from a poster called Tbolt over on Brit Modeler.

"Well it depends what P-47 you are doing - early ones were zinc chromate then they changed to tinted zinc chromate then they changed to dark dull green. The problem is there seem to be no documents to tell when the changes occur, some photo show that zinc chromate was possible used up to the D-5, I haven't seen any evidence of it being used after this yet. Tinted ZC may be then been used for all the rest of the Razorbacks, when the Bubbletop came in at the D-25 they could have started using DDG, or it could have been used a bit earlier of a bit later, it is very hard to pin down."

So going with this logic my P-47D-22 would have tinted ZC.

 

[Totalize]

Aircorps Aviation restored a P-47D-23. These guys are known for their attention to detail and accuracy. Here's a link to some photos of the cockpit restoration showing they went with a Tinted Zinc Chromate, perhaps also called US interior green.

P-47 THUNDERBOLT TO THE HANGAR FOR FLIGHT | AirCorps Aviation

www.aircorpsaviation.com

 

[fubar57]

From IPMS Stockholm

The subject of cockpit colours of the P-47 seems to have thus far defied conclusive analysis. Surviving P-47s and contemporary photos show a dark green shade in the cockpit, similar or equal to Dull Dark Green. This is in contrast with the available Erection and Maintenance manuals which invariably call for green-tinted primer in cockpit areas.
The 1944 Erection and Maintenance Instructions covering P-47C, G and D state that "cockpits shall be finished with one coat of tinted zinc chromate primer to eliminate for glara resulting from untined primer." As can bee see, the use of "tinted primer" is not consistent with the Dark Dull Green found in other evidence.
Maybe an explanation is to be found in the formula of tinted primer given in the above manual. Nowhere in the above document is the tinted Zinc Chromate specified to match ANA Interior Green. Instead, the specifications include a rudimentary mixing formula, described as one gallon Black to one gallon Yellow Zinc Chromate primer. The formula is probably an error. If the intended colour was to be Interior Green, the document should have stated 1/10 gallon Black to 1 gallon Zinc Chromate, consistent with other Erection and Maintenance documents of the period.
A possibility remains that Republic followed the instructions to the letter, some sort of black-green color for the cockpit areas. Other hypotheses claim that the color could be Bronze Green or Dull Dark Green. Another mystery
Another conventional wisdom states that Curtiss-built P-47Gs differed from Republic-build P-47Ds by having Interior Green (actually, Curtiss Cockpit Green) in the cockpit and wheel well areas. However, this does not seem to be consistent with examination of wrecked P-47G parts, which show Dark Dull Green in the cockpit.
Since there were less than 200 P-47Gs made they were only used for training in the US, this controversy is of limited interest to models, which would usually be interested in Republic-made Thunderbolts.
According to the Erection and Maintenance manuals, the fuselage decking during the bubble canopy of the P-47D from the windscreen to the area at the cockpit armour plating, was painted be Dark Olive Drab 41, the same colour being specified for the anti-glare area of the forward fuselage. Armour plating was specified to the same colour as the interior finish of the cockpit.
Another unresolved mystery is the turtleback area under the rearmost cockpit window of the razorback versions. Many variants have been called for, but the most likely choices (based on the available contemporary colour) are Olive Drab for the early camouflaged aircraft, and some kind of medium further further down down in the production.
According to factory instructions, the fuselage decking inside the canopy on bubbletop Thunderbolts was to be painted in Olive Drab, with the inside of the canopy framing in flat black. The rear armour plate in the cockpit was to be painted to match the cockpit interior colour.
Interiors of P47 aircraft cowlings were natural metal. The aluminum in this area was anodised giving a darker and very dull greyish. The engine firewall was left unpainted. Engine mounts were primed in Zinc Chromate Green.
All other interior surfaces of the fuselage with exception of the firewall were completed in Zinc Chromate Yellow. This included also wheel wells, undercarriage covers and armament compartments in the wings.
Undercarriage legs were painted Dark Olive Drab 41 on camouflaged aircraft. This practice continued over to at some natural metal machines. At some point in production the requirement seems to have changed to allow an Aluminium lacquer finish to be used.