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What was a typical load for the P-47D Razorback and the P-47D Bubble Top? I am referring to the center/wing different drop tanks, rocket launchers and bombs. I am working on a couple Tamiya P-47D kits and most completed hits I see don't have much at all if anything and Tamiya's box is stuffed with armament.

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A 9AF close air support P-47 would usually have bombs on the wing pylons w/centerline fuel tank.

8AF escort T-bolts would usually be carrying tanks on the wing pylons

While there are photos of T-bolts with the triple bazooka type tubes, they apparently werent all that popular, at least in the ETO.

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It depends on what Air Force (ie: 8th, 9th, 12th), and what time period. You see people all the time building models of 56th FG Jugs from 1943 and early 44 with air to ground ordnance on them. That's all well and good, but those guys weren't tasked with, nor did they do ground attack during that time. They were tasked 100% with bomber escort. If they did do any ad-hoc ground attack, it would only have been strafing with their guns. They needed every drop of fuel they could carry to escort the bombers as far into Germany as possible (this was before the P-51 came along).

Later, most, if not all Jug units went to the ground attack role once the Mustang came along in early 1944. At that point they were supporting Allied troops on the ground in Europe (after 6/6/44 naturally), so iron bombs were the flavor of the day most of the time. As mentioned above, the bazooka tubes, while they look really nifty on a model, were, according to two P-47 pilots I've spoken with over the years, pretty much universally hated by pilots. They were inaccurate and often didn't work as advertised, so they found every excuse not to use them. It was much easier to shoot up motorized columns and trains using your .50 Brownings than to try to hit them with the rockets.

The Jug units in Italy were similarly split. Some units were tasked primarily with bomber escort, while others were dedicated ground attack units. It's always a good idea to study photos of aircraft from the unit(s) you're interested in modeling to see what you see most often hanging from their shackles...

J

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And the wing hardpoints where mounted on and off according to the situation. Generaly fighter pilots did not like those pylons as they been slowing down the planes. You can see many striped P-47s without them since D-Day. Some of them even with unpainted areas where the pylons have been fixed while the stripes have been painted. It could have changed in a day.

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What about the different style of tires for the P-47, diamond and block tread, covered diamond and block tread. Was the tires specific to a certain Thunderbolt or did they just use whatever was available? Did the Razorback use the same as the Bubbletop?

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