Academy P-47D Thunderbolt 'Razorback'

[Guest]

Hey guys,

I used to build a lot of scale models when i was younger and in a brief fit of nolstalgia i bought 3 kits today. The one i have started working on first is the P-47 from academy. I am at a bit of a loss as to what the best way to paint it would be though. you assemble the fuselage straight away in the first step of the instructions so would it be easiest to leave the main painting till last and mask off the parts i have already done (ie canopy, wheel wells, prop and engine etc etc)? Or should I just do it straight away with all the parts still on the sprue??? Its been so long since i did this sort of thing so some help would be MUCH appreciated

Lachlan

[Guest]

I would always leave the exterioir painting until the final stages, but if there is parts that are hard to access then yes, paint these first.

Painting on the sprue is usually a no-go for me becasue when you seperate them, there is a mark where it has joined, and also they will then be harder to tidy up.

[Guest]

Hi Guys,Im just in the process of opening my box of the P47D. the scale does differ slightly it is 1/8th. I scoured the net and found many variations of color schemes, from silver to camo. Let me know what you want, silver ect and ill send you some pics i have down loaded.

[Guest]

I just realised how damn vague i was about the whole kit/painting thing in general. sorry guys.

the scale is 1:72 so its pretty damn small even though its a p-47. the colour sceme i was going for was olive drab with a neutral gray underbody which is how it says to paint it in the instructions. i was also planning to give it a silver undercoat to give the paint a bit of a 'lift' so it looks like it has been sprayed on metal instead of plastic.

Bearing in mind that I will paint it with spray cans do you think I should mask between the colours or try and 'feather' them into each other? I also have an airbrush if you think that will make life a bit easier for me!

Cheers

Edit: OH and I was planning to paint the under body first (lighter colour) and then doing the olive drab upper body after that. I thought that'd be the easiest way to go. thanks y'all!

[Guest]

Youve got the order of spraying right for a start! That will make it much easier for you, and on a 1.72 models i world always use the airbrush, using spray cans will lose some of the detail!

[Guest]

Hey guys I finally got some colour on the p-47 and thought i'd put some pics up for you!!

I will put some more photos up soon, my photobucket isnt working and i had to use a friends

anyway I'm sure the more eagle eyed users will notice the olive drab overspray but keep in mind i havent done this for like 3 or 4 years so I'm a bit rusty!! Also how do you guys do the canopy frames? Do you go freehand or do you mask them off or make a stencil or something? let me know!!!

Lachlan

[Guest]

Honestly if you saw some of my attempts at airbrushing you wouldnt be worried! That overspray is easily sorted, and anyway it looks an excellent start!

Myself I paint canopy frames freehand, and I find a sharp pencil run along the frame afterwards neatens it up and adds a bit of depth to the frame.

[Guest]

Yeah the overspray isnt that bad I know. as this is my first model in quite a while I was actually just going to leave it and fix it later if it bothered me too much. Dad made me feel better by saying it looks like an oil/smoke stain from the engine! Anyway i decided to mask off the canopy and use a very sharp blade to cut the edges so it has a slightly raised frame. I also fitted the rockets, under-fuselage drop tank and the wheel doors and canopy. So its almost complete appart from the pitot tube which I will leave till after. Pics soon!!

[Guest]

Here is those pics of the canopy/underbody assembly so far. In quite a few of the photos you can see where I have 'attempted' weathering. for example on the leading edges and tops of the wings, tail, around the rear of the canopy, prop, and rear stabalisers. I think it looks ok but what technique do you guys use? do you do it freehand with a brush or actually scratch the paint?

[Guest]

Paint

Hey guys, I used to build a lot of scale models when i was younger and in a brief fit of nolstalgia i bought 3 kits today. The one i have started working on first is the P-47 from academy. I am at a bit of a loss as to what the best way to paint it would be though. you assemble the fuselage straight away in the first step of the instructions so would it be easiest to leave the main painting till last and mask off the parts i have already done (ie canopy, wheel wells, prop and engine etc etc)? Or should I just do it straight away with all the parts still on the sprue??? Its been so long since i did this sort of thing so some help would be MUCH appreciated

Lachlan

Nice paint job so far, however, the engine cowl should be one color all the way along. I have started a kit a week or so ago and havent got this far. it is a 1/8th scale. i will post some info for you. Stay tuned.Andy

[Guest]

Howdy Lachlan,

I just wanted to say that the P-47 Thunderbolt has always been one of my favorite WWII aircraft. This was an amazing aircraft and I found it hard to believe that it was related to the Seversky P-35 and seversky racer.

I noticed you went with the "razorback" version and not the "bubble top", while the "bubble top canopy was an improvement in technology and provided far superior views for the pilot, I just think the old razorback version still looks best.

You can see my P-35 seversky fighter photos here http://www.scale-models.co.uk/aircraft-pictures/4455-p-35a-seversky-fighter.html and my P-47 "Arkansas Blitz" photos here: http://www.scale-models.co.uk/aircraft-pictures/4374-p-47-thunderbolt-arkansas-blitz.html .

And I would have to respectfully disagree with Andy's assertion that the engine cowling has to be one color all the way back, many of my aircraft books show Thunderbolts with various color schemes on the cowling and a google search returned many photos of actual aircraft with cowlings in many colors and designs, some solid colors, some cowlings a single color all the way back, some with only the leading edge of the cowling a different color (such as both mine and yours renditions).

The P-47 thunderbolt was very colorful in its paint schemes most with nose art of some sort, but even without nose art, this bird was a beauty. You can see some nice photos of various color schemes in google images here: P-47 THUNDERBOLT - Google Image Search

Have a good day and again, the model looks fantastic!

Greg aka GEEDUBBYA (GW)

[Guest]

I've built an Academy P-47 and i would just like to point out my bad experience so you are forwarned. The decals on my model were almost (it seemed) like thick paper and they were very difficult to put on, Even decasol didn't seem to work. I'm not saying the decals on your model will do the same but i just thought it was a good idea to let you know as you are doing such a nice job on painting your model i didn't want the decal problem i had doing the same for you. My mate also had the same problem with one of his Academy aircrft kits. Has anyone else had this problem?.

Good luck and kind regards

Paul

[Guest]

Thanks for the replies guys. firstly greg, I totally agree with you! the P-47 is one of my favourite planes as well! They had an amazing shape and I especially like the razorback versions also. I think the pilots would have felt an awfull lot safer in them!! Have you seen the Discovery Channel's show dogfights? There is one episode dedicated completely to the jug, you should look it up on You tube! Also there is a film that was taken in 1944 and 1945 of a squadron based in Cicily and it filmed from gun cameras etc in the thunderbolts which is also worth a look!

And paul, yes I have come across this problem with my P-47 so I've become a bit disheartened with the whole model, so close to completion haha. I have a day off work tomorrow and I hope to resolve the problem then. I mainly am having troubles with the decals that go around the tail and rear elevators. One of the decals on the right hand side elevator on the top seems to be coming off so i will try and overlap the clear part at the very end of the decal from the one underneath to stick it down. I hope it goes ok. Next time I will put the decals on before i complete assembly and shoot a coat of clear over the top to seal it. Also. What is this Decalsol product you speak of. Who makes it? Please let me know!

And finally andy, I have seen some Thunderbolts with the whole cowel painted and some without. I think different squadrons had different markings etc etc. The Jug on the front of the box has a yellow and black checked patern just on the leading edge of the cowel (where mine is painted silver) and around the rear of the cowel where it flares out. I think it was the later models that had the whole cowel a different colour.

Sorry for the wall of text guys! I'll post pics of the decals soon. Tomorrow hopefully.

THANK YOU ALL

[Guest]

Hi, The decal solution i use is Humbrol decalfix and you put some on the aircraft before you put the decal on and after. You can probably get this or similar solutions from Hannants or other big model shops.

I have put a picture of my P-47 that i built over a year ago now but thought you would like to look at it. The aircraft should have an Indian's chief head on the engine cowl but because the decals were so poor i couldn't get them to stick down properly so left them off.

Kind regards

Paul

[Guest]

Howdy again lachlan,

I am looking forward to seeing the upcoming photos.

and to paul, great looking JUG, post more photos lol

have a good day,

Greg aka GEEDUBBYA (GW)