P-47D "Sweetie" 1/48th Tamiya, Bombshell Decals
This is my rendition of the P-47D-5 RE PZ-R SN 42-8412 Sweetie flown by Luther Richmon from the 352nd Fighter Group, 487th Fighter Squadron, Bodney England from July 1943 to April 1944. The Tamiya kit is a wonderful build and well detailed. I did add the Eduard instrument panel and seatbelts to the cockpit. The panel is made to fit the existing mounts and is straightforward to place. Master Model gun barrel covers were used. The barrels are a much better rendition than anything in plastic. I did wire the engine, but it barely shows up with the tightly cowled engine, I forgot to take a picture during construction.
Tamiya paints were used. I mixed the various colors of Olive Drab and so on until there was something I liked. Darker shades were used to highlight the panels on the top of the aircraft. There was only a little weathering since the pictures and pilot statements showed that the aircraft was in good shape during its career. Shading was also used on the underside. Artists oils are used for weathering. The oils are applied after I have painted the aircraft and applied the decals. A gloss coat (still future) was applied before decaling and afterwards to protect the decals and other markings. An oil wash using mineral spirits is then used to bring out highlights and panel lines. A variety of colors are mixed as appropriate. A light dull coat (Testors) is then used to seal the deal.
The Bombshell decals are excellent. The Nose Art is nicely reproduced and resembles the Vargas style of that period. The National insignia are very nice and simulate the blue borders covering the original red of early stars and bars. The white stripes on the tail are airbrushed using Tamiya flat white. I may have overdone the powder stains from the wing guns, but there is such a thing as artistic license.
The instruction sheet and documentation is superb (http://www.bombshelldecals.com/decals/48-BS-0011/index.shtml). A history of the aircraft is presented along with the career of the pilot Luther Richmond. Several photos of the aircraft illustrate its history and the changes in markings and the update of the cowl flaps. Some of the photos can be found on the web and the one in this article are sourced from the online collection.
Thanks for looking.
Superb result, Wayne!
Thanks Spiros, I can strongly recommend the Tamiya kit as a nice canvas to work from.
Love the P-47 and yours is really nice. It looks great, and well one might say it is a Sweet build.
Thanks Walt, and Sweetie to build.
You gotta love this chunky bird! Awesome build 👍 Wayne.
Thanks Alfred, but the P-47 has always been one of my favorite aircraft. They are huge compared to a Mustang or FW-190.
Well done, Wayne. The paint and weathering are nicely accomplished.
Very nice paint work and excellent choice of subject depicted. And like Gary says, the weathering is spot on
Pedro, thanks. All the pictures I had showed well maintained aircraft. I admit it was tempting to add some but not accurate for the time and place.
Really great result, Wayne @spotlandis
The way this scheme is applied and the interior details are superb.
Well done.
Excellent P-47. You really nailed the look of this one. Top notch!
David, thanks for the note. Fortunately there is good photographic coverage during the 1943-44 period.
Nice Bolt, Wayne!
Great job Wayne, good detail love the decals. I recently used Kits World for my 1/48th B-24H. They had what I was looking for. If you need anything custom made try Bedlam Creations (www.beglamcreations.com) just send a color photo and give them a size in inch or mm. They have great communication for detail.
2 attached images. Click to enlarge.
Robert, thanks for the suggestion. Many are many aircraft that are well documented but which there are no decals for. I will have to keep this in mind.
👍🏼
Robert - Thanks for the info on Bedlam Creations. I'm hoping they can help with several markings I've been looking for for years!
Beautiful Jug - the paintwork is really nice for the monochromatic scheme.
Greg, sometimes I think that such a paint scheme is harder. So I used shades of OD and Neutral Gray to try to give some depth and feel to the scheme. But easier than doing an all black aircraft.
Nice work. The Tamiya P-47s virtually guarantee a great result if you're paying attention. Which you obviously were.
Minor correction: 352nd Fighter Group, 487th Fighter Squadron. 🙂
Tom
Thanks for the comment and correction. That is what I get for writing the article after a long day. I will fix that in the article. Take care...
Glad to help. I have to constantly check that stuff after writing a chapter in a new manuscript. It's easy to get the numbers flipped.
Been there, I have an excellent proof reader (my wife) when I am submitting my professional work. For me it's references/citations.
Tom, I made the change. Most people know of the squadron after the mustangs arrived. They had already seen a lot of the war before then.
Yes. You'll enjoy "A Clean Sweep" when it comes out in May, since the 352nd gets covered before P-51s. Jay Stout's "Fighter Group" is very good about the Blue-Nosed illegitmates (Nanny won't let me use the "B" word 🙂 )
Nice looking Jug Wayne, you can't find a better kit than the Tamiya line of P-47's.
Thanks Tom. I have another kit waiting to be built. The one pictured here was for a build in a month contest for our local Tracks and Props club. It took only a couple of weeks to build.
Excellent job on the '47, Wayne! Never get tired of looking at them.
Thanks Mike. There is a restored P-47 bubbletop in my area that shows up at Air Shows. What a brutishly beautiful lady.
Great build and finish on that Jug, Wayne. Tamiya makes a great P-47 and you really made it stand out with that paint fading on top.
Thanks Chas! Apparently these sat outside from the fall and through the English winter. You would think there would be some damage.
Actually, since they only flew 2-3 missions/week because of bad weather in the ETO (guys told me they used to say "If you're lost, find the biggest cloud in Europe - England will be right underneath") the ground crews had lots of time for maintenance so the planes do look clean. Most "fading" on ETO airplanes is "high altitude" (above the clouds) giving things a slightly-violet tone due to increased UV radiation.
Nicely done!
Thanks Russ, it was a fun build after the Accurate Miniatures build I will be posting next.
Wayne, Very nice work on this P-47, and if may add, probably the best P-47 kit on the market in 1/48 or 1/72 scale.
Thanks for the note. I agree. I have built several of the 1/72 scale kits and they are of similar quality. The cowling is also more accurate compared to the Hasegawa kits.