Antoine

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

Hi there, Last one out of the production line. Ok, yes, I've yet to add two wing tanks, and one last stencil... I did have a lot of fun with this one, but yet I managed to make a lot of errors and had my share of bad luck, don't worry! So, I'm not 100% happy with the result. 70% maybe? Still, I like it, and hope you will Weathering much too strong for this scale, to be more specific for the exhausts and the guns, antenna wire much more 1/32 than 1/72, bad fi tof the black upper antenna (Gonio?), etc... Also, bad luck with PMA decals. Everything went well with the stylized sun on six positions, but I had three different sets of numbers and stencils wrecked before the one that decided to stay in place! This specific F-51 is part of a group of aircraft that were paid by different donators, 067 (F-51067; 44-74956) being paid for by Taipei City(City name is written under the pit. Any comments welcome, do not hesitate to tell me what you think, whatever it is.

Thanks guys, I've other P-47D boxes, and I've plans for differents South American Air Forces. FAB is among them.

First finished from a twin Jugs build started a few weeks ago, here's my interpretation of a Colombian F-47D-30(?) based on Hasegawa's bubbletop kit in 1/48. SitRep F-47D-30 Fuerza Aerea Colombiana Madrid AB 1950's The end of the Second World War and the beginning of the Cold War saw the establishment by the United States of America of a succession of plans intended to provide modern military equipment under conditions for most of the allied nations, among them certain republics of South America. The Lend Lease program, which lasted somewhat after 1945, was succeeded by the American Republic Project (ARP) from 1946, then the best known Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP) and its many variations or sub-programs. In terms of combat aircraft, the USAAF / USAF kept the P-51 Mustang, so the P-47D Thunderbolt was selected, and several dozen airframes belonging to blocks 30 to 40 were thus be used in several Latin American Air Force. The Fuerza Aerea Colombiana took possession of eight P-47Ds in July 1947, while the country had been more or less immersed in a state of civil war since 1946 (If this ended in 1947, it was in fact only the first period of unrest in a long series which continues until today, making today the FAC one of the most experienced air forces in terms of anti-guerrilla warfare). Twelve other machines were authorized for sale in 1948, and delivered in two batches during 1949. All Thunderbolts are assigned to a Caza Bombardero Squadron, based in Madrid AB. Thirteen machines were still operational in 1952, and considering the direct participation of a Colombian contingent in the fighting in Korea, a new sale of fourteen machines was decided. Eleven of them arrived en bloc in May 1953, "diverted" from a ferry flight to Chile at the express request of the USAF Chief of Mission in Bogota, while the last three were delivered in September 1954. But the hour of retirement sounded, and the eighteen remaining machines were permanently banned from flying in December 1955, replaced by T-33s and Sabres. Place aux photos.

Thanks Mike, Are there any differences between the kit of the FR.XIV and this one?

And... off the masks! Looks like the result is acceptable! At least, on the upper side! Because on the lower side, well... I goofed when I applied the masks, as I didn't pay enough attention. The left hinomaru on the picture is completely off center, don't know how I did this... Lesson learned, next time I'll try to mark clearly the white band before applying the hinomaru's masks.

Here comes the -44! After a coat of primer and a bit of polish, another coat, TS30 this time, decanted in the airbrush as usual. And let it dry about one day.

I took a deep breath, then put another coat of IJA grey on the moving surfaces, then masked everything (I keep the fuselage as it is) Another coat of TS30, then a second try... Well, that's a bit better, but there's still room for improvement... That said, I'll try to be happy with that for the moment, as I don't believe I can do better for now. Otherwise, all the masks are off, and on this side the results suits me well!

This is how it should look. Should have started with this...

to make a long story short... I've tried to hilight some panels., but contrasts is sometime barely perceptible. Stainless steel on the flaps is about the only one noticeable. Off the masks. Grösse katastrophe! The result is quite ok on the fuselage, but it's a complete failure on the wings... Much toot thick, and not straigh enough. The kit nearly had its first flight out of the window earlier than expected, but I took off the masks on the fuselage and underside, and seeing it was ok, I then decided to continue.

For the moment, focus is on the -61, as it is the biggest paint challenge of the trio. Here we go! A coat of polyurethan acrylic primer, left to dry for 24h, before polishing it with cotton or microfiber cloth. After a last check, I use the good old TS30 sllver leaf spray, decanted straight in the airbrush

Back to -44 and -61! Anti-glare panel is painted in black, X-18 satin black in fact. Fuselage and upper hinomaru are painted on a white band. It's quite hard to find a white which covers well, my preferences going to skull white from citadel, available in spray (but decanted in an airbrush), or better, GX1 cool white from Mr Color.

Masking time! I start with hinomaru. I don't have the good size of tamiya tape, so I use a double band. Never had any problems doing that. Hinomaru are cut with a compass, and I use a blob of maskol once the masks are in place to hide the compass hole, so that you don't have a metal point in the middle of the red. And here comes the Ki-27! He will be kind of a stand-alone, as he will be the only one not to have a metal finish. As I've said already, the kit is from 1977! I started this one about ten years ago, and stopped at the cockpit. I choose to let it exactly as I painted it at the time, considering that very few things would be visible inside. FIne with me, as you'll notice that I've lost some parts (the wall behind the seat), and forgot to make others... (See, there's no belt...). IIRC, it was painted blue RLM 25, as the color is a close match to the originaL.

War has begun! I picked up an old jar of Aeromaster's enamel, of more than 30 years (!), to paint the identifications bands on the wings leading edges. Despite his age, the paint is like an old Scottish Whisky, and keep an incredible finesse! I took the opportunity to prepare the place where the hinomaru will be, so that I'll be able to get a reddish red. The paint's drying time is short, but I leave it for 24 hours before applying the red. I took this one in the Aeromaster acrylic range. On a previous paint session, I "saved" this jar that was nearly dry, but I had a heavy hand on the dilution. Not a big deal, I simply use the lower pressure possible, doing as much passes as needed, taking time between them to let the paint dry. Masks are coming!

Forgot to add that I did experience some problems with the engine, all due to my fault. There are to ring of cylinders, both with the same part number. I must have goofed somewhere (I suspect I assembled them the wrong way around), cause I ended up having to fit a tube of plastic to act as a guide when driving the engine in place. More of this later.