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Tamiya 1:48 P-47D Bubbletop "Oh Johnnie"


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Hello Everyone,

 

I have begun work on my next major project.  I will be modeling Lt Knights P-47D "Oh Johnnie" and will be using the Tamiya P-47D as my base.  I have purchased the Eduard Big Ed set and a set of EagleCal decals.  It is my intention to model the following image:

060918-F-1234S-001.JPG

 

In addition to the airplane it's self I will be adding Lt. Knight and his crew chief Sgt. Childers onto a diorama base.  I will try to replicate the scene as best as possible, however, there are a few area's where I will deviate for "creative license".  I will be posing both ammunition pays in the open position to show off the sweet Eduard photo etch and I will be giving the plane a bomb load as well as the belly tank.  

 

For Anyone interested, I had started a thread earlier regarding the color of Oh Johnnie's wings, that can be found here:

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/311360-p-47d-bubble-top-oh-johnnie-color-question/

In the end, I settled on depicting the wings in a natural metal finish.  This should contrast nicely with the OD/Grey fuselage.

 

There is some interesting history behind this plane and her pilot, you can read a little about it here:

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/oh-johnnie/

 

Needless to say, this should be a fun project and I will probably take my time, so I apologize in advance if I'm not updating often.  

1NQ0fNH.jpg

Here it is all laid out.  Looking over the Eduard Photo Etch, I think I will be able to use about 90% of it.  There are a few items that I will substitute instead of the photo etch, mainly anywhere the photo etch is meant to depict hoses, wires, lines of any sort, I will use actual floral wire or solder.  I like the 3D look these give over the flat PE.  I will also replace the kits blast tubes with brass tube.  

 

Off hand, I can't think of anything else significant that I will be doing with the build, so I suppose I will begin.  For this project, it was really important for me to depict the two figures. But, I am not much of a figure modeler so I went about looking for some suitable figures to do the job, and quite frankly, I didn't find much online that would match these two individuals and their poses.  So, I went to the spares boxes and started combing through all of my OLD monogram kits.  Most of those that came out in the 80s and 90s had a few figures included with them and I settled on two that I figured I could modify enough to be a close resemblance.

 

These are the two I settled on:

Obm5GlW.jpg

I think the figure on the left came from an old Monogram P-38 and the one on the right from the Monogram B-17G.  But, I would need to modify each.  Left side figure would depict Sgt. Childers and would need both arms and his head replaced.  The figure on the right would depict LT. Knight and would need his left arm and head replaced.  I searched the remaining figures that I had to see if I could find suitable heads and arms.  I was able to find heads, but no arms that I liked, so I figured I would need to do some sculpting.

 

Here is each figure in process.  I managed to lop off some hands to use on Sgt. Childers and attached them and their heads using floral wire:

2fQC5Uh.jpg

They are slightly frightening at this point, but I'm hoping the next step will work out.  As much as I am not a figure modeler, I'm certainly not a sculptor.  But, I gave it a shot.  Using a two part epoxy putty mixture, I managed to blend in the necks on both figures and replicate their arms.  I had to make LT. Kinight look like his left hand was in his pocket.  I'm not totally satisfied with the result, but will allow it to cure before deciding to do more to it.

 

itvTEpx.jpg

 

Overall, I'm happy with the results, it's definitely not a spot on representation, but I think with a little paint, they will look the part.  Next up will be to prime and paint these guys and then I can move on to the plane.  

 

I will be deviating from the normal process of starting with the cockpit and will start on the wings.  The way the Tamyia kit is designed, the wings can be largely built up as separate sub assemblies, and my biggest concern with this kit will be the metal finish on the wings, so I want to try and get these out of the way first.  I've never really done a good natural metal finish, and I will be using this kit as a competition piece so I really want to take my time with these and do them up front while I'm still gung-ho about the build.  

 

Anyways, if anyone has built this kit I'd love to hear about any potential trouble spots or things to look out for.  Thanks for looking,

 

Brett.

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Brett

 

I've built 6 of them and it has to be one of the best 1/48 kits out there. You can build , paint and decal the fuselage and wings seperately then slide the wings on with a perfect fit. I added the landing gear and doors last because it was easier to slide the wings on without fear of snapping one off.

 

Don

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19 hours ago, DONG said:

Brett

 

I've built 6 of them and it has to be one of the best 1/48 kits out there. You can build , paint and decal the fuselage and wings seperately then slide the wings on with a perfect fit. I added the landing gear and doors last because it was easier to slide the wings on without fear of snapping one off.

 

Don

Don,

 

Thanks for sharing, glad to hear it's such a great kit.  I will do the same and hold off adding the LG and such until the end.

-Brett

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On 2/27/2020 at 5:03 AM, Hammerhead11 said:

They are slightly frightening at this point, but I'm hoping the next step will work out.  As much as I am not a figure modeler, I'm certainly not a sculptor.  But, I gave it a shot.  Using a two part epoxy putty mixture, I managed to blend in the necks on both figures and replicate their arms.  I had to make LT. Kinight look like his left hand was in his pocket.  I'm not totally satisfied with the result, but will allow it to cure before deciding to do more to it.

 

Brett.

 

Those arms and neck looks very good... Really looks like you're used to it :thumbsup: .

Looking forward for updates!

 

Cheers,

Mario

 

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Quick update today.  I’m in the middle of painting the figures and will post pictures once they are done.  I’ve started working on the wings as well, cutting open the panels for the ammunition bays. As well as assembling the photo etch for the bays and panels.

15Qcr8Q.jpg

 

aMIYHWN.jpg
 

thanks for looking,

 

Brett.

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On 3/4/2020 at 7:48 PM, Dutch said:

Brett, impressive! You have more guts & skill than me in building the ammo bays. Looks terrific! R/ Dutch 

Thanks Dutch, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.  This is my first serious project with a lot of photoetch.  
 

well, the figures are now complete.  Over all I’m satisfied, I may tinker with them throughout the project, but for now I’m calling them done.

A57eGXu.jpg

 

I’ve also finished the ammunition bays.  I laid down a coat of primer, let it dry for 12 hours then laid down a coat of MIG Zinc.
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  Let this dry for 12 hours as well.  Then added some Tamiya dark brown panel liner to add some weathering and added the placards.

zTDjxQl.jpg

Once this was dry it was on to adding the actual ammunition belts. These were prepainted and look amazing.  You can even see the different bullet types, AP, incendiary, ect.  
N0V6jPy.jpg  

 

I’m really happy with how these turned out.  Here is a picture of one of the sides temporarily set inside the wing.

eXxrHaH.jpg

 

You can see I’ve also started cleaning up the wing and re-scribing the missing panel lines.  I really have to do this right since this will be done up in a metal finish.

 

Thanks for looking!

Brett

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23 hours ago, titan8251 said:

Looking good dude!  Watching

 

Thank you,

 

I've hit a small snag.  I'm currently working on the wheel wells, and will need to add many of the lines and hoses with floral wire, but my micro drill bit that I was using broke, and now I'm waiting on a new set of drill bits to arrive before I can continue,  I will try and snap some pictures of what I've done so far.  There is a decent amount of photo etch added to the wheel wells from the Eduard set, mainly to add detail to the side walls of the wheel wells.  Each piece has fit perfectly and I have been satisfied so far.

 

Thanks,

Brett

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello everyone, sorry for the dry spell here.  I'm fortunate enough to have a job that allows me to work from home and you would think that that would mean more time at the work bench.  Yet, in the two weeks I've been working from home now, I've barely been able to get to the bench between an increased work load at work and kids needing help with their school work.  I was also waiting on some new drill bits to arrive and those took a little longer than expected.  But, this weekend I was finally able to make a little bit of progress on the P-47.  

 

I've been working on the wheel wells, adding Eduard photoetch and some lines with 30 gauge floral wire I think I've got it mostly plumed.  

 

This image shows the wheel well looking forward.  you can see some of the eduard photoetch as well as some of the hoses I've added.

i6R7IBU.jpg

 

Here is the wheel well facing aft, again many hoses we added.  Its not 100% accurate, but after looking at many photos of p-47 wheel wells, I came to the conclusion, that each example I looked at had slightly different configurations for their hoses, so this looks good to me.

 

56qYmIw.jpg

 

Final image shows where the brake lines will eventually lead up to the landing gear.  ( slightly out of focus far right of the image)

0dqGVRQ.jpg

 

Overall I'm happy with the results and I feel it makes the wheel wells look nice and busy.  Next step will be to get some paint on.

Until then, stay safe out there.

Brett

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Managed to get some paint on the wheel wells and gear doors.  Pretty happy with it all so far.  I need to put some paint around the lower lip of the wheel wells, and around the opening to the ammunition bays then I should be able to get the wing halves glued together.  I've also started working on the landing gear struts.

ebX5ysl.jpg

 

Thanks,

 

Brett

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13 hours ago, Dutch said:

Brett, 

Love the added detail.  You've got me beat, but I love to watch.

R/

Dutch

Thanks Dutch.

 

So, I may have gotten myself in too deep here on the next step of the wings.  I decided to go the route of applying metal foil...  I'm using thin kitchen foil and Microscale's metal foil adhesive.  It is a slow and time consuming process.  And I'm not 100% happy with the results.  I've gotten the entirety of the bottom half of one wing done.  Between all of the times i messed up and had to redo a panel, I feel like I've used a solid square foot just doing this part of the wing.  Good thing kitchen foil is cheap.  Also, I'm afraid it's a tad too shiny.  Please let me know what you think.  The reason I decided to try this out and not use paint is because so far, my attempts to apply a convincing metal paint job over a large surface has been less than satisfactory.  In the end though, if I don't like the foil, it's easily removable and I will just have to be content with paint.  I applied lines of rivets once the foil was down, it takes very little pressure to emboss the foil.  

 

yQUvdxY.jpg

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Brett,

I have used foil and Microscale Foil Adhesive before.  However, I have not used kitchen foil, as it is too thick, I believe.  I have used Nestle Crunch foil wrappers, back in the day when they were still packaged that way.  I still have a small stash left.  I got that tip from an old issue of FineScale Modeler.  Bare Metal Foil offers even thinner foil sheets (with adhesive backing?) that really brings out the detail.  The only problem that I have with the MS foil adhesive is that when I was brushing it on, even thinned with rubbing alcohol, it still pooled and left small bubbles under the foil when it dried, very much like the area on your wing under the ammo belts. 

 

I built an Airfix 1/144 deHavilland Comet airliner and am building a Monogram 1/48 SNJ-5/T-6D Texan, both using the Crunch foil & MS Foil Adhesive method and I am still getting the same effect (sorry, no in progress photos yet).  I have read in a modeling "How-to" manual somewhere long ago of thinning the adhesive with either rubbing alcohol or some other thinner and airbrushing it onto the back of the foil. I am afraid to gum up my airbrush spraying adhesive, so have never tried it. Perhaps the 3M brand of low tack photo mounting adhesive may work, instead.  I will see if I can find the article. Probably FSM.  

 

As to the reducing the shininess of the foil, you can use a little vinegar on a ear-swab (Q-tip) and gently rub it in / on.  Test it on spare piece first.  That may also help in getting rid of the bubbles.  Using the non-shiny side of the fail may also help.  Remember, only the starboard wing gets the treatment.  The port wing is ODD Green over neutral gray.  

Cheers!

Dutch

 

 

 

Edited by Dutch
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  • 2 months later...

Ok, so after a long hiatus I have returned to continue work on Oh Johnny.  I have decided to scrap the kitchen foil idea and fall back onto Alclad.  So I stripped off the foil that I had already done, and in case anyone was wondering, WD-40 makes quick work of the Micro Metal adhesive and didn't touch the plastic at all.  It was amazing.  I primed the wings, checked for seams or scratches and sprayed various shades of gray and tan onto different panels to give the Alclad aluminum some variation.  I decided to go with both wings in natural metal as the reports I have read indicated that at least both wings had been replaced at one point, so thats what I'm going with.

uuFjEAj.jpg

 

Here it as after spraying the Alclad and removing the masking, pretty happy with it, it looks pretty uniform here, but from different angels, you can really see the different tones.

nqIW0bJ.jpg

 

Here you can see the variations in the Aluminum, I also started adding the decals.

w5cUCEJ.jpg

 

Main decals applied, added a wash from artist watercolors mixed with water and a drop of dish detergent.  

YIcqK1j.jpg

 

Wash has been removed, Flaps added.

umdPjkP.jpg

 

Started working on the Landing gear and Bombs.

BTdYZeg.jpg

nDaWSPA.jpg

 

Thanks for looking, 

Brett

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Just wanted to provide a quick update.  I've got the landing mostly painted up and semi-permanently attached to the wings now.  Prop is painted up, just waiting a final matte coat.  Bombs and bomb racks are in progress.  Need to add the stencils to the bombs, weather them up then they'll be ready to be attached.  I've added all of the stencils to the wings and will start on weathering them.  I won't do too much, mainly just some oil streaking on the bottom around the flap actuators, some dirt and grime around the gun/ammunition access from the ground crew and a little soot staining around the shell ejection ports.  

BxmjwSt.jpg

 

Cheers,

Brett

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Moving right along on this build now, I've got the wings done enough that I feel I can move on the the rest of the build.  I added some light weathering on the wings using some artist oils, nothing too fancy.  Basically, all that is left for the wings are to attach the panels to the ammunition bays and the wingtip lights.  But, I think I will hold off on adding those until the end of the build.

n9fosaq.jpg

 

I've also got the prop matte coated and finished.  I had panting it was a base of Alclad, so I was able to scratch away the black paint on the leading edges of the blades to expose the bare metal, I like the effect, sorry you cannot really see it in the photo.

c2qSbBR.jpg

 

I've also completed the Bombs and bomb racks.  had fun weathering the bombs a little, perhaps they had been sitting out in the sun at the depot for a while.  Also added what I assume are the arming wires for the fuses.  Pretty happy with how these turned out.  Penny for scale.

9MUq7OB.jpg

 

With all of this complete, I have now turned my attention to the Cockpit.  There is a lot of pre painted photo etch that goes into the cockpit (Eduard Photo Etch) and so I had to remove some of the molded detail here and there, especially the instrument panel.  I also added in some plumbing using my go-to: Floral Wire.  There are photo etch parts provided in the Eduard set that depict some of the wiring, but I feel like the floral wire gives a better 3D effect than the flat photo etch.  Plus I added in some other details that I noticed in reference photos of the cockpit.

hGByoxo.jpg

HkvPQWb.jpg

c5Q7GJD.jpg

 

Next up will be to start painting the cockpit.  

Cheers,

Brett

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Was able to get a good amount of Bench time in today.  Cockpit is about 95 percent done.

 

I'd seen all kinds of reference photos showing different colors in the cockpit.  However, I was not able to find any reference to the color used in Brazilian P-47s.  My initial thought was to use the standard "Interior Green" as that is what I'm used to, but decided to go with the darker green instead, just to try something new.

 

All of the cockpit components were primed with Mr Surfacer 1500 black then given a coat of green by vallejo.  Details were then picked out in black, aluminum, khaki, and grey.  It was given a wash of Tamiya Dark Brown panel liner.  Then on to the Eduard photo etch.  There were quite a few small placards, and I spend a good amount of time getting them all added, but in the end, I think it's totally worth it, they really give a lot of life to the cockpit.

 

oiHeua0.jpg

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I still need to finish the Gun sight, but I will leave that off until the end since it has some very delicate parts.  

 

Next I will be working on the remaining parts that go into the fuselage including the intercooler ducting by Eduard.

 

Cheers,

 

Brett

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