Profile Photo
Gary Brantley
44 articles

Republic P-47D Thunderbolt “Okie”

March 23, 2013 · in Aviation · · 8 · 3K

Well, yesterday was a busy day at the Cameron airport. I finally had an opportunity to spend a couple hours out there and photographed three more planes. These were the very first digital pics ever of this one, a Republic , a scale Testors kit, built many years ago. The build was inspired by one done by Dr. Paul Budzik in an old Finescale Modeller magazine. I remember that his was done in 1/32 and of course, was a magnificent model. I had the old Testors kit and was motivated to try and duplicate the bigger plane as best I could. This is my humble result. I added quite a bit of detail in the cockpit, on the engine and some brake lines. Built mostly OOB, I did lower the horizontal stabilizers, open the cowl flaps and drill out the gun barrels as well. This kit had the option of building either the razorback or bubbletop version; I went with the razorback because that part seemed to kit a little better. 😉 This was also one of the first builds where I tried to modulate the paint finish a bit but it is almost unseen in the pics. I'm sure I was too timid in my efforts. The decals mark her as a 84th Fighter Squadron plane with the 78th Fighter Group, operating out of Duxford, Cambridge in 1944. Thanks for your interest!

Gary

Reader reactions:
5  Awesome

11 additional images. Click to enlarge.


8 responses

  1. Ooo... She's pretty! Very well done!

  2. Nicely presented...a good job all around.

  3. Thanks to you both for your kind comments. That old Testors kit, (maybe ex-Hawk, uh, really old, lol?) doesn't come close to modern Jugs but if you squint just right, it sort of looks like a P-47. 🙂
    Gary

  4. I like the way this old kit came out. Excellent job and yes, it really does look like a P-47 and I'm not squinting my eyes. You don't see Quince Brown's T-Bolt very often, considering he was a really top pilot and did a lot of damage to the Luftwaffe before he was killed. Great job Gary.

    Freddie from LI

  5. very nice...yes the old budzik model was early gabreski...i still have it

  6. Gary, I love this built of this old Hawk kit. I know today’s kits are better but this old Hawk kit I feel still has it and can be made to display itself in a very nice way. Plus you have done a great job on this build. ?.

Leave a Reply