Fits quite nicely in the end, David @kahu
Great progress.

Coming along nicely, David @kahu. I am a big fan of positive alignment of parts rather than butt-joints in a sea of flat plastic.

Decided to try something different since MiniArt provides the cowling in four parts. I masked off the front portion of the parts making sure the tape aligned properly. Then shot Tamiya flat white to act as base. Followed about 12 hours later with Model Master enamel Insignia Red. This made masking a bit easier to do, just hope it stays painless. Did the same paint process on the rudder's two parts.

Decals from the Tamiya P-47M have been graciously sent to me by Louis @lgardner for red nose Thunderbolts of the 56th FG.

1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

Looking forward to your cowling put-together, my friend @kahu!

I always seem to get a misshapen cowling when it comes in multiple pieces, David @kahu. It looks like you are well on your way to cowling that will fit well. Undercoating with white will really help the red stand out.

Interpretation of the colors on old photos can be difficult, David (@kahu). Old black and white is really hard, but even old color photos can be deceptive. Sometimes you can find descriptions of the colors, but you really have to search for them. I am sure the plane will look great with whatever choice of colors you make.

I’m happy to hear that the decals are going to good use. This one looks great already and it will only get better from here.

I like how you have been painting it.

As far as the actual colors that were used you’re likely going to have to dive deeper into the rabbit hole to try and figure that one out.

I have seen several original wartime era color photos that show some of the Thunderbolts from this unit were painted in various Blues and had some Lighter colors that were sprayed on them as well. Plus they had some bare metal places as well.

But like George says these old pictures tend to shift as they age, so it’s not going to be an easy process for you.

I’m curious to see what you decide to use. It’s going to be wonderful and you’ll have some fun doing it. That’s what matters.

Keep it going.

No! NATO black is too gray! Wrongwrongwrong!