SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
Do you have any cans of Sterno lying about?
GB-56 1/48 P-47D-30RA - Thunderbolts and Lightnings.
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T Bolt
Colonel
Cockpit turned out great Terry
Wayne Little
Chief of the Air Staff
Doing some great work there Terry.....Nice ..!
le_steph40
Senior Master Sergeant
With all above ! Excellent work Terry 
Crimea_River
Marshal
Beautiful Terry.
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- #47
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Thanks very much chaps.
I had a day off yesterday, as I was extremely stiff and painful, especially in the fingers, hands and wrists. But I'm hoping to crack on later today, with the aim of installing the cockpit, joining the fuselage and adding the "spare" fin fillet, and then moving on to the lower wing.
From the D-30 onwards, a "compressibility" flap was added beneath each wing, aft of the wheel wells. This was intended to slow the aircraft in steep dives, as the massive speed of the P-47 in these instances saw it approaching the speed of sound, and the associated problems with compressibility.
I'm hoping I can make these fairly small items out of thin plastic sheet, but I may. have to use very thin aluminium - time will tell.
All being well, I should have another up-date tonight.
EDIT:- I forgot to ask, what's Sterno ?
I had a day off yesterday, as I was extremely stiff and painful, especially in the fingers, hands and wrists. But I'm hoping to crack on later today, with the aim of installing the cockpit, joining the fuselage and adding the "spare" fin fillet, and then moving on to the lower wing.
From the D-30 onwards, a "compressibility" flap was added beneath each wing, aft of the wheel wells. This was intended to slow the aircraft in steep dives, as the massive speed of the P-47 in these instances saw it approaching the speed of sound, and the associated problems with compressibility.
I'm hoping I can make these fairly small items out of thin plastic sheet, but I may. have to use very thin aluminium - time will tell.
All being well, I should have another up-date tonight.
EDIT:- I forgot to ask, what's Sterno ?
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- Thread starter
- #48
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
A few more shots of the completed cockpit - not much of an improvement over the previous pics I'm afraid, I just couldn't decent angles without causing shadows in the lighting area.
Just about to start fitting the cockpit in place and then joining the fuselage. The final pic shows a slightly unusual and partly irritating method of attaching the cockpit floor, with the locating lugs upside down, compared to the "normal" method. Perhaps the original intention of the designer was to mount the cockpit from below, once the fuselage is joined, although the instructions show it being attached to one side before joining the fuselage halves.
I'm a bit wary of this, so I'll add a reinforcing strip below the level of the floor, to add support, just in case.
Hopefully, I'll have more to show later tonight.
Just about to start fitting the cockpit in place and then joining the fuselage. The final pic shows a slightly unusual and partly irritating method of attaching the cockpit floor, with the locating lugs upside down, compared to the "normal" method. Perhaps the original intention of the designer was to mount the cockpit from below, once the fuselage is joined, although the instructions show it being attached to one side before joining the fuselage halves.
I'm a bit wary of this, so I'll add a reinforcing strip below the level of the floor, to add support, just in case.
Hopefully, I'll have more to show later tonight.
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- #49
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Made some good, if somewhat slow and fiddly progress, with the oil cooler vents thinned down and attached, the cockpit installed along with supporting strips mentioned previously, and the fuselage joined.
There was a very slight mismatch with the fuselage top and bottom joints, as one side seemed slightly thicker along its edge than the other, perhaps due to slight warping. However, this has now been remedied (I hope !) and the joints sanded and polished.
The kit includes the fin fillet, marked as a "Part not for use", this being a "D" variant, and I presume this was a common sprue for the Hasegawa "N" version. Good news for me though, as the subject aircraft had the fillet retro-fitted.
Believe it or not, these two small parts took almost an hour to sort out and join, as there were annoying sprue attachment burrs on each side, which were very difficult to remove, due to their location, and the delicate nature of the parts. But the fillet was eventually coaxed into place and set with Tamiya extra thin cement, and just needs to have the lower joints filled with PVA once set.
Next step is to measure, mark out and make the compressibility flaps mentioned earlier, shown in the extract from the drawings in Bert Kinsey's "P-47 in Detail".
Back sometime tomorrow with a further up-date, if things go to plan.
There was a very slight mismatch with the fuselage top and bottom joints, as one side seemed slightly thicker along its edge than the other, perhaps due to slight warping. However, this has now been remedied (I hope !) and the joints sanded and polished.
The kit includes the fin fillet, marked as a "Part not for use", this being a "D" variant, and I presume this was a common sprue for the Hasegawa "N" version. Good news for me though, as the subject aircraft had the fillet retro-fitted.
Believe it or not, these two small parts took almost an hour to sort out and join, as there were annoying sprue attachment burrs on each side, which were very difficult to remove, due to their location, and the delicate nature of the parts. But the fillet was eventually coaxed into place and set with Tamiya extra thin cement, and just needs to have the lower joints filled with PVA once set.
Next step is to measure, mark out and make the compressibility flaps mentioned earlier, shown in the extract from the drawings in Bert Kinsey's "P-47 in Detail".
Back sometime tomorrow with a further up-date, if things go to plan.
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Crimea_River
Marshal
You're making excellent progress Terry.
Vic Balshaw
Brigadier General
Its coming along nicely Terry. 
le_steph40
Senior Master Sergeant
Agreed with all above
- Thread starter
- #54
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Thanks all. I hope to have more to show tonight, if my hands behave.
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
These builds are pretty educational. Not just learning how the masters craft their art but about the modifications and the "bumps and lumps" of the actual airplanes.
Crimea_River
Marshal
That's what she said....
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- #57
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Oh, you know about her then !
Vic Balshaw
Brigadier General
"NO" we don't, pray do tell!!
- Thread starter
- #59
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Got a few small bits done on the fuselage, and also made and fitted the compressibility flaps. Fortunately, the real flaps don't sit flush with the wing surface, so cementing the thin plastic directly to the wing wasn't a problem.
As with some other P-47 kits, the Hasegawa kit has the starboard aileron with a trim tab, but lacks the small, fixed balance tab. This is incorrect, as only the port aileron had a movable trim tab. The moulded tab actuator has been removed, and the line of the tab itself filled with CA and sanded back. A fixed balance tab was then made from thin plastic sheet, and cemented into a slot filed into the inner surfaces of the starboard wing, but has yet to be "tidied up".
The wheel bays have been fitted and will have some lead wire "plumbing" added, and the landing lamp recess covered inside with a piece of plastic card, which will eventually have some aluminium foil attached. A hole has been drilled to accept a scratch-built I.F.F. dipole antenna. The wing was then assembled, and has since had the joints sanded and polished.
The mounting for the fuselage radio mast was a bit of a joke, being simply a flat area, with no means of firmly fixing the mast, so a groove has been cut to accept the mast later in the build. A hole has also been drilled on top of the nose, ready to fit the forward bead sight.
The supercharger exhaust duct and tail wheel bay have been attached to the fuselage, and the final job for today was to dry-fit the wing to check joint alignment, which looks to be fairly good at this stage.
Pics below show the progress to date, and I hope to get some more done late tomorrow.
As with some other P-47 kits, the Hasegawa kit has the starboard aileron with a trim tab, but lacks the small, fixed balance tab. This is incorrect, as only the port aileron had a movable trim tab. The moulded tab actuator has been removed, and the line of the tab itself filled with CA and sanded back. A fixed balance tab was then made from thin plastic sheet, and cemented into a slot filed into the inner surfaces of the starboard wing, but has yet to be "tidied up".
The wheel bays have been fitted and will have some lead wire "plumbing" added, and the landing lamp recess covered inside with a piece of plastic card, which will eventually have some aluminium foil attached. A hole has been drilled to accept a scratch-built I.F.F. dipole antenna. The wing was then assembled, and has since had the joints sanded and polished.
The mounting for the fuselage radio mast was a bit of a joke, being simply a flat area, with no means of firmly fixing the mast, so a groove has been cut to accept the mast later in the build. A hole has also been drilled on top of the nose, ready to fit the forward bead sight.
The supercharger exhaust duct and tail wheel bay have been attached to the fuselage, and the final job for today was to dry-fit the wing to check joint alignment, which looks to be fairly good at this stage.
Pics below show the progress to date, and I hope to get some more done late tomorrow.
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