Tamiya 1:48 P-47M (Kit #61096*2800)
The title is a bit misleading as this is supposed to be an F-47D-40-RA and Tamiya supplies extra parts to do so. The F-47D came about as the new U.S.A.F. changed from Pursuit to Fighter. If you want to see a photo of the actual aircraft, Google Image "fundekals P-47". The articles says there is only one photo of the aircraft but I found another in WARBIRDTECH Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Volume 23. I've only seen one other build and it kinda missed the dark metal underside and antenna. The interior was painted Vallejo Model Color 70.897 Bronze Green. This was the closest I had to Dull Dark Green. The parts fit including the dorsal fin and insert was painless. I sprayed the entire airframe with Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum and the over sprayed that in a haphazard pattern with Vallejo Metal Color 71.701 Aluminum to give it a weathered look. I also painted a few panels with Vallejo Metal Color 77.716 Semi Matt Aluminum. The anti-glare panels were shot with Tamiya XF-62 Olive Drab, again because this is all I had.The decals were a real hodge-podge: Tamiya, Academy, HobbyCraft and fundekal. fundecal didn't supply national insignia so those came from Tamiya and Academy. The red bars came from HobbyCraft. All decals went on well. For the antenna I used Uschi van der Rosten Superfine: 0,01mm. For weathering I used Tamiya Dark Brown Panel Liner
Another unique scheme, excellently executed. I can only image the purpose this aircraft served, presumable running off aircraft poking around WF?
PS, I really like how you weathered the aluminum finish, top-notch!
Thank you Andrew @pb_legend . Dang, I should have included the info above. This is from the book
"To clear test airspace of nonessential traffic - especially private aircraft with no radios (NORDO) - a late production P-47D (45-40329) acted as a flying billboard in the early post-war era."
Quite some unique scheme indeed, George @blackadder57
A nice way to inform other aircraft.
Nicely done, especially the painting and weathering.
Thank you very much John
A fantastic result, George! The scheme you chose is really amazing, which you replicated perfectly!
Thank you my friend. I've been waiting a long time to build this
Very nice work and a great result @blackadder57. I really like this.
Thank you very much Tom
Well done, George!
Thanks Gary
Very cool - you have a habit of finding the weird and wonderful. Thanks for sharing @blackadder57.
Thank you Erik
Nice work, George. We rarely see post war P-47s.
Thanks John
Great build George, good to see late models in unusual markings
Thank you Guy
Neat subject! You must've spent a lot of time getting the decals sorted out. Without the weight of the .50's in the wings, looks like it would've been fun to fly.
Thanks. The biggest problem was finding a red stripe for the insignia
That's a unique T-bolt! Great ideas for weathering the NMF. Very well done.
Thank you Greg @gkittinger After watching a half dozen or so tutorial video about Tamiya Panel Liner and not really succeeding, here is what works for me. Apply in 1-2 square inch areas and remove immediately using a very light touch towards the rear of the aircraft. Try and remove everything above the panel line and I try and leave small streaks below hatches and a few panel lines. I don't try to be neat as grime isn't. This is what I used to remove the Panel Liner, changing very frequently. Tamiya has something similar but at twice the cost for less product. You can find it online or in the lady section at the pharmacy
Interesting marking choice and very well done paint finish.
Thank you Dale, appreciated
A very unusual scheme, great job!
Thanks Robert...woof woof
Talk about something different, George. What an interesting role this Jug had. First I’ve heard of this. Looks terrific by the way.
Many thanks Eric
Great metal finish on this jug, George.
Thank you very much, George
That's a good looking Jug George. I'm familiar with that A/C as I'm not far from Wright Pat Airbase. And Jonathan from Fundekals lives down the street from me.
Very cool Tom and thank you
Nice post war Thunderbolt and great job on the overall finish!
Thank you Bob
Nicely done - love those Tamiya Thunderbolts!
Thanks