Aircraft my Father Fixed Part 5 - Thunderbolt II 5 Sqn 1944

[Guest]

Planes My Father Fixed - Part 5

5 Sqn Burma Oct 1944-Jan 1945

Thunderbolt II

In the autumn of 1944, the Hurricane IIc and IId aircraft were replaced by Thunderbolt I and II - othewise known as the P-47D Razorback and Bubbletop. 5 Sqn and 123 Sqn converted to the type together at Yelahanka in sothern India and it was intended that 5 Sqn would be equipped with Thunderbolt Isand 123 Sqn would have Thunderbolt IIs, but both squadrons left with a mixture. 5 Sqn retained its Thunderbolt IIs until January 1945 when they were swapped for Thunderbolt Is from 258 Sqn.

Here we see a Thunderbolt II of 5 Sqn on a muddy airfield at Nazir in what is now Bangladesh in early December 1944.

This is the Tamiya kit with aftermarket undercarriage legs, wheels and cannon barrels. Decals are from the spares box. At this time, 5 Sqn were not using their "OQ" squadron code on their aircraft, just the individual aircraft letter. I used some artistic licence as I coudl find no information about specific Thunderbolt II serials for 5 Sqn, but this serial is authentic for the aircraft shipped to the RAF in India at this time.

... and here it is...

and here is the cockpit

[Dave W]

Fantastic build Andrew.I built the Tamiya Razor back as a SEAC machine.They are superb kits.Typical Tamiya.I love the base. That's something I want to learn how to make.

[Guest]

Thanks Dave

The base is easy - claycrete (aka pre-mashed papier mache) with artist acrylic mixed in to give the colour spread over an old photo frame. Add some rocks and railway modelling ballast in various places plus grass clumps and some strands of "long grass" hair and then mix in some mig pigments to darken the surface a little and finally a couple of jerry cans and fule drums from the Tamiya jerry can set in 1:48 scale.

Claycrete is lovely stuff as it dries with a rough texture, but you can smooth it out as it dried and add more water and a bit of thin plaster of paris to make smoother patches. You do need to research the type of soil and geology of the region to get the colour of the earth correct. Burma has a reddish soil/clay so I used a lot more burnt sienna as the base colour.

[Guest]

thats a fantastic looking plane and the weathering is great,also cool platform for it to sit on,colour looks awesome and realistic

mobear

[papa 695]

That's one fantastic looking build Andrew 5 stars from me

[flyjoe180]

Another top build Andrew, nicely done.