So what do you do when you've finished writing a "bookazine" (118-page book, published in magazine format) on the P-47 (due out from Key Publishing this fall)?

Why not pull out the kit that's been sitting there with the Thundercals sheet tucked in the box, waiting for the right time?

Prepaint all the detail on the sprues. Assemble the sub-assemblies. Bring the sub-assemblies together.

Then do it as the 78th FG's "Snafu" from the 84th FS, fall of 1944 when they were giving close support to Operation Market Garden? Using the great sheet from Thundercals.

A P-47D-6 that was about a year old - lots of UV sun-fading, well-used dings, the 83rd's trademark beeswax finish.

Forgot till I opened the box that I had the Edward T-face set to do the instrument panels, with an Eduard seatbelt.

I personally think Tamiya's P-47s will never be beat - I know Eduard has absolutely no plans to do one in the immediate future. Production design is stunning, fit is outstanding, follow the instructions and a great result is literally guaranteed An easy evening's few hours to assemble, a weekend painting.

A man can't have too many P-47s.

5 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Great entry and superb progress so far, my friend @tcinla, best way to complement your bookazine. Yes, the Tamiya kit assembly might be "an easy evening's few hours", but your pace is outstanding.

Very nice paintwork, Tom @tcinla
The white over black seem to work great.

Tom, @tcinla
The stripes look really nice ! 🙂
I'm way past due to build up a few of these Tamiya P-47's. Over the years I have built some of the older 1/48 Monogram and Revell P-47 offerings, but never anything that Tamiya had molded. I just didn't have the time ! But now I'm laid up recovering from my back surgery, so this might soon change.

I have accumulated quite a few of them over the years when I was working (and had the extra coin to spend), but not the extra time. Now it's just the opposite...

I have around 8 or 9 of the Tamiya kits in 1/48 scale. I have read that these are among the best building kits on the market today. I have gathered some decals to build one of "Tarheel Hal", one of Gabreski's planes, Hun Hunter XIV, Big A$$ Bird, and my all time favorite, Major Eagleston's T-bolt with the huge eagle on the yellow cowling.

One more thing I found out, is if you purchase the 1/48 Tamiya P-47M, it has all of the extra parts included in the box to build any of the earlier bubbletops, (except for the N of course due to the extended wingspan). The Tamiya M kit has the same cockpit parts as the D model, plus it has enough extra parts to do the later versions I mentioned. Plus it comes with the different props, and fin fillets for the rudder and vertical fin assembly.

You just might have given me the inspiration to fire up the "Iron Werke" and build these here. Ironically, the very first "Warbird" I sat in was a P-47N. I was just a little kid, and my Dad would take me to the museum where it was parked outside. It was called the Museum of Speed, and this is the actual plane.

Dad would pick me up, and set me on the wing. Then he would slide open the canopy and set me in the cockpit and let me play for a few minutes. This all stopped one day when I got stung by a wasp... They had built a nest inside the plane and I guess disturbed them by moving the joystick around.

I'm looking forward to seeing this one done and in the headlines section. By the looks of things, it shouldn't be too long now.

Great choice for a build, Tom (@tcinla). Like the others, I have several of these lurking around in storage someplace. The razorback version has always been my favorite. Looking forward to the rest of the build.

Looking good, Tom. Nice repaint of the stripes. Like Louis, I’ve never built a Tamiya Jug. I’ve only done Monogram P-47s. I’m looking to finally build one in the near future.

Decals look good on, my friend @tcinla!