Subject: Re: Hasegawa P-47 Submission
From: "Steve Bamford" <[email-masked]>
To: "Justin Davenport" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2003 10:36:30 -0700

Hi Justin,
Thanks for sending in your P-47 article.  I'll run this next week.  Thanks
again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you have never been hurt; and
Dance like no one is watching!

----- Original Message -----
From: Justin Davenport <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2003 8:23 PM
Subject: Hasegawa P-47 Submission

> 1/48 Hasegawa P-47D "Bubbletop" Thunderbolt
>
> by Justin Davenport
>
> --------------------
>
> Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here
>
>
> The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, aka the Jug, has always held a special
place
> in my heart, simply because my grandfather flew this bird in World War 2,
> when he was assigned to the European theater.  I have spent many a happy
> time listening to his stories about the Jug and about the war, and when I
> was a kid I dreamed of making a Jug in the markings of a plane he actually
> flew.  However, until recently there were no references or decals
available
> to me, then Aeromaster came through with its 404th FG sheets.  Grandpa was
> in the 404th Fighter Group, 507th Fighter Squadron, and his war started
for
> him shortly after D-day, when he married Grandma and then shipped out to
the
> front.  2nd Lieutenant Lee E. Tucker, the kid from East Millcreek, then a
> rural community just east of Salt Lake City, soon found himself in St.
> Trond, Belgium, flying close air support missions against the retreating
> Germans.  St. Trond was very close to the front lines, and Grandpa, along
> with his squadron mates, flew strafing and bombing runs against German
> troops, airfields, and supply trains.  The squadron also escorted bombers
on
> occasion, and they had to fly "balls out" as Grandpa put it, to keep up
with
> the B-26 Marauders that flew very fast through flak curtains.
>
> Fortunately, Grandpa survived the war and is still around, and in very
good
> health.  When the Aeromaster sheet came out, I wanted to do a Jug that he
> flew, and "Elsie/Lil' Butch" fit the bill.  Though Lil' Butch was his CO's
> mount (Maj. Clay Tice), Grandpa got to fly it in combat a few times, along
> with other 507th FS pilots.  In fact, he remembers flying most of the
planes
> in the squadron; he was one of the replacement pilots that were shipped
> "over the pond" as reinforcements, so he never got his own plane.  The war
> in Germany ended in May 1945, and the 404th FG was earmarked for duty in
the
> Pacific.  Grandpa was 4 days out of New York on a Liberty ship when Enola
> Gay dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima.  He would not have to serve in combat
> any more; the rest of his service in the USAAF/USAF came in peacetime,
with
> the exception of Korea, when he was in Flight Test, and therefore, got to
> stay Stateside.
>
> Click on image below to see larger image
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>   Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo
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>
> THE JUG
>
> The P-47 evolved from the Seversky P-35, which was designed by Alexander
> Kartveli as a pursuit fighter for the US Army Air Corps in the late
> thirties.  The XP-47B prototype flew in May 1941, as war clouds were
> gathering over the Pacific, and was the largest and heaviest single seat
> fighter of the time.  It was designed around an R-2800 engine and
elliptical
> wings, and the plane was equipped with eight machine guns as well as a
> "razorback" canopy faired into the fuselage.  The P-47B ended up serving
> Stateside with the 56th Fighter Group, which got familiar with the
aircraft.
>   The P-47C was the first version of the Jug to go into combat in the
spring
> of 1943.  By late 1943, the D version had been developed, with a deeper
> underfuselage keel to accommodate drop tanks, to overcome the type's
> range/endurance shortcomings.  Other modifications, such as additional
cowl
> flaps, and underwing pylons, also aided the Jug's effectiveness.  The Jug
> began to develop into an excellent all around fighter with the ability to
> absorb punishment that would bring down other planes, as well as the
ability
> to hit planes and surface targets hard.  Eventually, the Jug set a record
> for the most produced US fighter, with 15,683 being built.  The Jug not
only
> served with the USAAF in the ETO, Italy, Pacific, and CBI, but also served
> with the RAF, Free French, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, the USSR, and others.
>
> One shortcoming remained, but it was a shortcoming common to most Allied
> fighters.  Namely, the "razorback" canopy limited visibility to the rear.
A
> prototype with a bubble canopy was developed, and the "Bubbletop" Jug
became
> the standard equipment for P-47 squadrons, such as the 507th.  Later,
dorsal
> fins were added to the P-47D-30RE and up, and retrofitted to earlier
> aircraft, to
> improve stability (though Grandpa says he didn't really notice any
> difference).  The P-47M high speed version with a souped up
> engine and supercharger was introduced into the European theater just
before
> Germany surrendered, and the P-47N with larger wings and fuel capacity, as
> well as an expanded dorsal fin and clipped wingtips, was developed for use
> in the Pacific.  It saw service on Ie Shima just before Japan surrendered.
> After the war, most Jugs were retired, but some served in the USAAF/USAF
> (designated
> F-47) until 1949, when it was passed on to the reserves, which retired
them
> several years later.  The Jug was almost done as a front-line fighter, but
> did serve in combat in the Dominican Republic in 1964.  The last
operational
> Jugs were retired by the Peruvian Air Force in 1969.
>
>
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> THE MODEL
>
> Around the time that I got the decals (early 2003) Tamiya came out with
its
> 1/48 Razorback Jug.  The decals were only in 1/48, not in 1/72nd, so I
> departed from my usual scale for this project.  I'd intended to buy the
> Tamiya Jug and do this project with it, but the Tamiya Jug wouldn't come
out
> for a few months, and I didn't want to wait.  I wanted to do this project
> while Grandpa was alive, and in good health, so that he could see the
model
> of a plane he flew and I could present it to him.  So I got a Hasegawa
> P-47D-25 kit.  I
> wanted to make this special, so I got myself a Jaguar resin cockpit on the
> advice of several ARC'ers.  I also got EZ-masks (by Chris Loney) and
> weighted wheels from Pend Oreille, and Charlie Arsenault kindly sent me an
> accurate Hamilton Standard prop from his Tamiya Razorback kit (thank you
> Cheetah!).
>
> I started out with the resin cockpit.  It took several coats of Polly
scale
> interior green to get a good finish on the walls.  (Grandpa remembers
> interior green, the cockpits and wheel wells were painted zinc chromate
> yellow in the factory, but often repainted interior green in the field).
I
> finished painting the instrument panel with flat black, then interior
black
> on the raised parts, and dabs of white in the instruments themselves.
Then
> I used clear cement on the instrument faces.  My grandpa was impressed
when
> seeing it, and I found the look acceptable, though the instrument holes
> looked a little "deep".  I was about ready to paint the rest of the pit
and
> assemble it when the family cruise to the Caribbean rolled around.
>
> I had a great time there, but when I got back I found myself wanting to do
> other projects, like the Lightning.  So the Jug languished for a few
> weeks...then late June rolled around, and for some reason I found myself
> wanting to get this done.  I think it's because my grandpa had a few minor
> health problems and also was leaving for the family cabin in Arizona, and
I
> wanted to get this done and present it to him when he could enjoy it.  So
I
> used the Detail & Scale P-47 book to get the colors right for the
consoles.
> Interior Black (MM Acryl) was brushed on the consoles, then white and red
> were drybrushed on various buttons.  I also painted the map box, and then
> decided to use the Black Box seat (yeah, I have that too) for the cockpit.
> The Jaguar seat has a cushion molded into it, whereas the BB seat was
bare.
> Grandpa related to me how the seat was bare and how he'd sit on his
> parachute pack.  I'd never known that before.
>
>
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>
> The assembly and painting of the pit went well, and I painted the
sidewalls
> of the Jug.  The cockpit fit well without problems, and initial assembly
of
> the fuselage went well.  I got the wings and tail on, using Tenax 7R to
weld
> the seams.  But there were still a couple of problem areas on the wing
> roots, so Tamiya putty went there.  But the wing halves were a little
> flimsy, next time I'll use tube cement for the general join, then melt the
> seams with Tenax or other liquid cement.  During the subsequent attempts
to
> get a good finish on the bird, I painted the engine and prop as well as
the
> resin wheels.  The engine was done in overall steel with Tamiya gunmetal
> drybrushes, and the crankcase was done in neutral gray.  The prop was
gloss
> black, with SNJ mixed in on the spinner, then after the decals went in, I
> brushed Testors MM Acryl flat base.  The wheel hubs are Tamiya Silver
Leaf,
> and the tires are done mostly in scale black (more on that later).
>
>
> Click on images below to see larger images
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> THE PAINT JOB
>
> Okay, this is where I ran into a few challenges.  One was that I lost some
> detail when I sanded the wingroots.  The Bare Metal Foil scriber helped
with
> that.  I primed the a/c with Painter's Touch (by Rust Oleum) gray, and it
> looked good.  But there were a few flaws so I sanded them off.  Then I
tried
> another coat of primer....a bit of surface detail on the left side was
lost,
> so I used the scriber again, made some missteps, sanded, and applied
Future,
> then gloss black.  Then disaster.  There was cracking on the left side
where
> the future was....so I had to sand and rescribe, and sand, and re prime.
> I'd run out of Painter's touch primer so I tried a cheaper primer and that
> was no good at all.  So it was back to the Painter's Touch primer, and
this
> time I got Painter's Touch Gloss black, and that helped considerably.  I
was
> now ready to spray Alclad.  But I sprayed Polished Aluminum and it looked
a
> little too shiny.  After talking to a few people, I got the bird reprimed,
> polished it with my Twobobs sanding stick and some fine sandpaper Grandpa
> had, and sprayed aluminum.  That looked better, and I used SNJ powder on
it,
> then checked with Grandpa, he really liked that and it gave me the look I
> was after, the look of the metal in the pictures of Lil' Butch on the
> Aeromaster sheet and provided to me by Cheetah.  I masked off some panels
> where I didn't use the SNJ powder, just to give the panels a duller,
> different look.
>
> So I got to work on the flat black anti glare panel.  I figured I might as
> well start with flat black simply because I wasn't sure about using the
> regular glosscoat/flatcoat technique on a BMF (though I understand
Alclad's
> pretty tough, I wasn't sure how it would affect the metal sheen).  I
brushed
> MM Acryl flat black and used Tamiya tape to mask it off, which worked well
> for the most part.  I masked off the D-day stripes area on the lower
> fuselage, then used MM Acryl 2 marine (formulated for brushing) Bulwark
> White, which went on great with 3 coats.  MM Acryl flat black stripes were
> then painted on, and I got the engine/prop assembly onto the a/c.  I was
now
> ready to weather the aircraft.  Juan Martin provided me with very helpful
> hints about oil washes, which I'd never used before.  I used a small dab
of
> Grumbacher Academy black oil paint (available at craft stores) mixed in
> turpenoid and a fine camel's hair pointed brush to draw the oil in the
panel
> lines, and used a cloth to wipe off the excess.  I liked the results so
much
> that this technique will be a regular part of my modeling.  I used black
> pastel chalk powder and rubbed it in to make the gun stains.
>
> I was now ready to decal the aircraft....I spent 2 nights doing this, and
> then I brushed on MM Acryl flat base on the decals to make them look
painted
> on.  The red stripe below the black anti glare panel was the most
> challenging decal to deal with in this project, and I ended up with some
> silvering in that area.  Not too bad, but next time maybe I'll paint the
> glare panel gloss black, then put the red stripes on, then brush flat base
> (there's another 404th bird with that marking I intend to do).  I finally
> was satisfied and ended up with painting the landing gear with Tamiya
Silver
> Leaf spray paint, then using the kit landing gear and Pend Oreille
weighted
> wheels, and came up with another problem.  I'd never used weighted wheels
> before and may never use them again.....I'd superglued the wheels on at
the
> wrong angle!  ("D'oh!"  in my best imitation Homer Simpson voice).  I
tried
> to use debonder to get them off but they never came off, and in fact the
> debonder marred the Alclad finish on the right wing.  So I sanded and
> polished the area, then used SNJ powder, and finally got the area to look
> decent again.  Next time I'll just use the regular kit wheels and sand a
> little on the bottom if I want a weighted look.  As it was I used Tamiya
> putty to make the tires look semi-okay, and used Polly Scale scale black
on
> the tires, plus some interior black closer to the wheel rims.  A little
> black pastel powder helped with making the tires look good.
>
>
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>
> Now a word about the clear parts.  I used the EZ masks on the kit canopy
and
> they worked like a charm when I sprayed Tamiya Silver Leaf onto the
frames.
> Unfortunately, the force from the spray blew the canopy and windshield on
> their sides and I ended up getting unsightly overspray into the other half
> of the clear parts.  Next time I'll keep them pinned down or use another
> method to do the frames.  As it was I used a Squadron vacform canopy - I
cut
> it out, sanded the frame bottom smooth, then used a Sharpie silver pen to
> draw the frames.  It worked well.  I painted the interior frames a/c
> interior black, then glued them on.  The windshield was a little
problematic
> as the kit windshield is a little smaller than the vacform windshield.  (I
> have learned that the vacform windshield is correct, there is no "step"
like
> the kit depicts.)  I simply glued the windshield with clear parts cement
> around the area where the old kit windshield went, and glued on the canopy
> in the open position.  After attaching the guns, antennae and small bits,
as
> well as belly tank and bombs, I was finished.  I presented the model to
> Grandpa and he loved it.  He really likes the job I did on it and it
enjoys
> a place of honor on his computer desk shelf.  The model also brought back
> memories to him, and lately I've learned a lot about his outfit and his
> wartime buddies.
>
>
>
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> CONCLUSION
>
> I enjoyed doing this build, and I learned a whole lot.  The Tamiya sprue
> snipper was simply invaluable for all the small parts, and I introduced a
> couple of new techniques.  I've also learned what NOT to do in some areas.
> The bottle of debonder is likely not to see any use for a very long time,
if
> ever.  And I've tried to improve my photography techniques, mainly by
taking
> pictures at 1280 by 960 fine resolution on my Fuji Finepix 1300, then
> resizing them to 640 by 480 in Paint Shop Pro 7.  Also I tried doing a pic
> with the prop spinning, with a fan in front of the Jug, after quite a few
> takes I found a couple I was semi-satisfied with.  The PSP 7 grayscale
> feature is great for "war period" shots too...and one shot was done with
the
> sepia effect.  What really made this project special, though, was doing it
> for Grandpa and learning a lot more about his war service....one of the
> things he showed me was a photo album with him standing atop the wing of
> "Lil' Butch".  That was the best part of the entire project.
>
> Happy modeling
>
> Justin
>
> REFERENCES: Bert Kinzey's P-47 Detail & Scale.   Many thanks to all who
have
> helped on this project.
>
>
>
> Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 02.jpg here
>
>
> Photos and text © 2003 by Justin Davenport
>
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