Miniart 1/48, P-47D-30RE Thunderbolt
346th Fighter Squadron 350th FG, 12th AF, Italy 1945. Pilots Charles Gilbert and Homer J. St. Onge.
Out-of-the-box build from Miniart. Nothing was added, so separately purchased rivets and seat belts remained in stock for the next Thunderbolt.
Nice kit to build, the parts fit well and putty was hardly needed at all. The only problem is and was a flimsy tail wheel that cannot support the weight of the model. I need to figure out some kind of support for the tail. And during photo session I seem to broke tip of the Pitot-tube, sorry for that.
Painted with Vallejo water-based metal color paints and Vallejo Model Air and AK acrylics. Weathering with AK, Tamiya and Abteilung 502 products.
Thanks for watching.
EDIT: I noticed that probably during the photo session the canopy had come bit off. I added a few pictures where canopy is in the right position.
Really fine work. Well done.
Thanks David.
Wow - that's an eye-catcher! Nice well-worn weathering.
Thank you Greg.
Beautiful build! Thanks for sharing.
Rod
You did a great build with your kit.
One reason why I got the SAC metal landing gear for my MiniArt P-47M-1 since, as you said, the kit tail wheel strut has the structural strength of a wet noodle.
All you have to do is reinforce the tailwheel leg with CA glue. No problem with the three I have done, using that trick.
Thanks for comment. If I had known that SAC landing gear, David mentioned I would have purchase it.
And I tried Tom's tip about CA and it seems to work. Thanks for handy tip Tom.
You're both welcome.
Thanks Tom, if I get another one in the stash will give that CA tip a go.
Excellent job and super result, Jarmo!
That Thunderbolt looks really nice, Jarmo @jp
Well done.
Fantastic build Jarmo. Finish and weathering look perfect.
Thank you all for comments. I really appreciate those.
I really envy your metal finishing and weathering technique. Great result.
Thanks Mark. Those Vallejo acrylic metal colors work pretty good for me.
Excellent work.
Thank you Dan.
Looks great...well done!
Thanks Gary.
Excellent build and great job on the paint and weathering!
I have this in my stash, this gives me a pretty high bar to strive towards
Thanks Steve.
Great looking aircraft. I've been in Vallejo's corner since their Metallic paints first came out. Finicky yes but when treated with care look great
Thanks George. I also like Vallejo colors, both metallic and Model Air series. Metallic paints just needs good black glossy base coat and enough drying time.