Mad Viper Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 (edited) Long time since I joined a group build but a had to decide a new model for the bench and after seeing this group build my decision was made. Long ago I recieved a Academy P-47N in 1:48 from my brother, which stopped with modelling, and focussed himself on flight simulator ( flying and making repaints). So I had a nice base kit: But I wasn't happy with the quality of academy decals, so I search some aftermarket. The Aviation Megastore in The Netherlands had a nice aeromaster sheet, Thunderbolts from the Hawaiian ANG. Also I bought a true details cockpit detail set. The resin parts are already in the cleaning process during shooting this picture, so more of them later. Then the question which one sould I make? Well at first the yellow tailed one was my favorite, but the top one is also nice, so I'm gonna build that one for now and maybe the yellow tailed one later. First construction were the engine and cowling parts. The inside of the cowling was sanded down to remove molding plugs and locator pins which were in the way. Engine is basic but I'm trying to spice it up a bit. Any tips and trick about souping up the engine or other parts of the academy kit are welcome, also some nice high res reference pics if some has any. Because my laptop decide to die on me today most of my references on the P-47 are gone. Had some nice photos from hawaiian thunderbolts on my laptop but can't access them, and can't find them on the internet anymore. Still have some pdfs on the P-47 but that's about it, thank god for tablets and external hard drives. This is it for now, progress willbeslow because of limited time, but I'm gonna do my best to finish before the finish date. Disclaimer: post is made via tablet so any faults are due to not using it much for making posts with photos or editing photos. Edited February 10, 2013 by Mad Viper Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bdt13 Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Never new the T-bolt had a service life in Hawaii past the war. Nice addition to our GB - welcome! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spectre711 Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 I've had my eye on this decal sheet for a while and this might just push me to pick them up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Viper Posted April 14, 2013 Author Share Posted April 14, 2013 (edited) So its update time, last few months went slow for the build. It started off with problems getting updates because of a PC that broke down, that's finished but still hadn't enough time to build. The progress the last few months is best described as baby steps. But know I really made some progress. Used the True Details Cockpit set, it is really nice and al painted up it looks nice, did my best, to bad it can't be shown probably when completely glued up. Used a HUD from a 1:48 fighter jet for the gunsight cause I needed to use the kit one but that was just a block of clear plastic. Also finished up the engine, wanted to detail it but don't have enough time. So painted it Aluminium and a grey shade of Revell. And to bring out some detail a wash of tamiya Smoke thinned with future. Some other small parts are already painted and awaiting placement on the model After the paint and glue dried on the cockpit it was time to attach it on the fuselage. Spend a hour and a half just aligning it the right way. Finally I manage to get it just right, and I could glue the two fuselage halves together. And that's the progress for now. It finally starting to look like a Jug. Edited April 14, 2013 by Mad Viper Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spectre711 Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Slow progress is better than no progress but it looks great. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Viper Posted May 10, 2013 Author Share Posted May 10, 2013 The Jug got its wings and front fuselage piece. Prop isn't glued on and can be removed, think I'm gonna keep this. Got some extra days off because of some national holidays so hopefully I can make some fast progress the next weeks. One question for the P-47 experts: Does anyone has a good reference photos of the the connection hose of the 75 Gal fuel tank on the center pylon, or knows a good source? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Viper Posted May 20, 2013 Author Share Posted May 20, 2013 (edited) And again some progress. I realised that I don't much time left to complete the P-47, especially with the airshow season just around the corner. So I made some big progress today. This morning I first sanded and applied tamiya filler to smooth everything out. Added the small bits on the fuselage. The loose bits were prepped, painted up, etc. After a couple of hours, I sanded the tamiya filler smooth, taped off the canopy and added paint to the bird, just a small aluminium base coat to check for mishaps. This coat is now drying. After that, checking for mishaps and taping of to paint the Olive drab part of the fuselage, and perhaps some darker panels (to break the unified alu-colour). Also still haven't decided if it would be a Matt or Gloss coat. Gonna see if some evenings are available this week cause I really want to finish this one for the GB. Edited May 20, 2013 by Mad Viper Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spectre711 Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 I've only seen museum planes but my thoughts would be if you were doing a service plane it would be more of a matt or satin finish. I'm no expert though! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mlicari Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Glad you're still working on this! I enjoyed building mine, despite some of the troubles with my kit. It appears yours is going together a bit more easily! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Viper Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 (edited) Well it looks easy but its not. Construction went without a hitch most of the time, small issues that were solved fast. Had some trouble getting the paint on, now it's painted but not what I really wanted, but good enough. Think the thinner of Revell is to blame, looks like Model Master Aluminium didn't react well to the stuff. Status of the bird now is that it's fully painted and gloss painted for the decals. Canopy is only put in its place, not glued. Gloss coat is now drying, so that decalling and forgotten parts to paint can begin in the evenings this week, that way I can finish it faster than working on it during the weekends only. Making the deadline is within reach. :worship:/> Edited June 2, 2013 by Mad Viper Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spectre711 Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Glade to see your coming around the bend on this one. I haven't seen too many completed builds lately. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Viper Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Well I feel a little obligated to finishit, and I really want to cause its a great model. So started some decalling this evening, only for 45 minutes. The first decal became a disaster, it was the serial on the tail and I destroyed it. Used Microset to place it on the model but it wouldn't slide very well, so I used some Microsol. And the lather was a mistake, after a while during sliding and adjusting, the decal wrapped together. The End was my idea, but with some gentle work I managed to save some numbers. Later I discovered that with the two serials of the other option I could make one for this bird. Ah well at least I learned sometime, use Sol only after adjusting. The rest of the small batch of decals that I put on went very good, I'm very pleased with the quality of the Aeromaster decals. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spectre711 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Hammer down and full speed ahead! You'll do it!;)/> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Viper Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 (edited) Well I hit a complete stop on this build. A problem that can be fixed but with more work then I first thought. The regs don't match in Font style. Were the NG488854 has notches in his reg, the NG488535 hasn't. Here is the decalsheet which shows (hopefully) what I mean: So I can't use the other reg to fix the problem. So two options are left. 1. Buying a aftermarket reg decal sheet with that font style 2. Making own decals, but then I have to know which font style this is. Or the regular font style without the notches, that will work too. If anyone knows it or has that font, than I will be happy to recieve the info. EDIT: Found the font, Its Amarillo_USAF, according to the filename on my laptop Let the decalmaking begin Edited June 5, 2013 by Mad Viper Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spectre711 Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 I didn't read your whole post before a ran to pull out my sheet but, yea I think the closest font is the Amarillo. I was going to print up a letters and numbers but then my computer crapped out and had to get a new one. The decal making is on hold till I get this printer working with Windows 8 or I buy a new printer which I'm not happy about the thought. Had the same problem a while back with a scanner and the company wouldn't make a driver for the newer version of windows. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Viper Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 (edited) Little update: Working on the decalmaking right now. It's coming along nicely. When my younger brother came home he had a nice link for me: http://www.simmerspaintshop.com/forums/downloads.php?do=cat&id=4 They have a lot off stuff for modellers for making your own decals, including USAF Stencil & Serial Stencil font, which is almost the own I needed, N and G are not the right ones but that is solvable. Instead of printing out the the entire reg, I'm gonna print out seperate numbers so that I can set the pacing on my own during placement. EDIT: Decals are printed in the best possible quality, this afternoon its time to put them on. Edited June 8, 2013 by Mad Viper Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mlicari Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Glad you're still at this! Good luck pushing through to the end. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Viper Posted June 22, 2013 Author Share Posted June 22, 2013 Small text update, model is coated with a matt finish, next thing to do is adding the small bits. Nearly done, taking a extra breath for the sprint to the finishline. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Mad Viper, Really superb work. Quite like the propellor and that engine is the BIZ :jaw-dropping: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Viper Posted June 26, 2013 Author Share Posted June 26, 2013 It's Finished!!! Just added the final bits to it, model is drying from the mat coat touch-ups and glue. Gonna see if I can make some photos tommorow. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spectre711 Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Have those pictures yet? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mad Viper Posted June 29, 2013 Author Share Posted June 29, 2013 (edited) Here they are, thursday was a bit busy for me, had to work a bit later then usual so all the time I had left in the evening went on prepping for the trip to Wittmund for the Phantom Pharewell Spottersday yesterday. But managed to snap some photos today and here they are. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Placed on the display shelve next to the other Thunderbolt. Build went great no real problems. Only problem that were there happened during decalling and final coat. During decalling I managed to destroy the left registrationnumber on the tail but with some extra decals I managed to fix that. Also the Academy decals are rubbish, that's why the aftermarket Decal sheet, but I needed some of the stencilling so a bit of silvering is present. Aeromaster decals are a dream, never used them before but certainly will use them again, they are, when handled properly, a dream to put on. The final Revell matt coat reacted with the MicroGloss coat so the paint desolved a bit leaving a smudged paintjob. Despite this I liked building a WWII fighter, have a P-51 in the stash but it needs correct prop, otherwise that one was next in line. Little weathering was applied, only on the other edges of the prop to simulate wearing of the prop. I used the Tamiya Make-up sets for that Edited June 29, 2013 by Mad Viper Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mlicari Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Nice! Good recovery on the decals too. Had I not done the same version, I would have sent 'em your way. I like the bombs...I may dress mine up too, since I left the racks empty. Looks good! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spectre711 Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Nice Job Viper! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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