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Greg Fabian
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Tamiya 1:48 Jug – “Little Chief”

October 24, 2020 · in Aviation · · 18 · 1.7K

This is the second model I've built since restarting my hobby after a nearly 40 year recess. The subject of this attempt was the excellent 1:48 Razorback Thunderbolt. I really wanted to build the "Spirit of Atlantic City" version, but that ship didn't have the underwing stores of "Little Chief." So I loaded her up with rocket tubes, 500 lb bombs, and the funny looking "pancake" drop tank ready for action. The model is hand painted using Ammo acrylics and no weathering, which I plan to do later.

I've added a few new pictures to show-off the underwing stores that are difficult to see in the original pictures.

Reader reactions:
4  Awesome

8 additional images. Click to enlarge.


18 responses

  1. Great results Greg. It looks rather tidy.. remember not every plane needs weathering 🙂

  2. Nice work! Welcome back.

  3. A beautiful Jug, Greg!
    Nice and clean!
    As Andrew said above, not every plane needs weathering...or it might need a very subtle one...
    That's a great comeback in modeling!
    And please, if it's OK with you, take more pics for us to admire!

  4. Your return to modelling starts with a nice P47, Greg @gwfabian
    Welcome back.
    Great skills on the hand painting I must say.

  5. Welcome back. Nice result. The Tamiya P-47 is such a great kit, it's perfect for a return First Model. Your brush painting is really good.

    Here's a tip to file for future P-47 projects (with the Tamiya kits, there will always be "future projects"): when painted in the factory (like this airplane), the leading edge of the flap is OD, since it was painted prior to being attached to the airplane on the production line. When they were "painted in the field," as was done in the ETO, the flap leading edge was natural metal since the airframe was complete, with the flap raised while the painting proceeded.

    • Thanks, the Jug was one of may favorite planes when I was a kid. Funny that you mention the flaps, I agonized over whether to paint the leading edges OD or NM since I saw some conflicting pictures on the web. Like the factory, I painted the flaps before I attached them to the wings, so the universe was telling me to paint the upper surface OD and I didn’t listen. My next Jug will be a bubble top natural metal finish, so I’ll have to up my game to get that finish correctly.

  6. Looks great, Greg (@gwfabian). You can't go wrong with a Tamiya kit, especially their P-47s. Welcome back. Retirement is great, once you get it figured out.

    • This kit almost built itself. I built a lot of Tamiya armor and auto kits back in the day and their products, already very good back then, are even better today. You’re right about retirement - it took me about two years to figure it out.

  7. Great job Greg! Especially with the hand painting. I can see why you opted for the version with all the ordinance, it looks the biz!

  8. A nice looking T-bolt - one of my fav WWII aircraft. You'll be getting those long-dormant modeling chops back in no time! And this is a great group for ideas and help.

  9. Nice looking P-47! Welcome back to the hobby.

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