Hi to you all!
OK, I'm fully refreshed after skiing with the kids for a week in the French Alps and on my return I once again entered Southwick Model Centre and sat at the workbench wondering why on earth I ever decided on doing four simultaneous builds! I might just get into a simple OOB project in the near future as a diversion away from the Thunderbolts!
Anyway, progress has been fairly swift now that the detailing of the interior and engines is complete, so it was time to hide it all away between the fuselage halves and get the main airframe components together.
The photographs show the four P-47s in various states of progress, ranging from a bare plastic razorback, which will be completed as an RAF Thunderbolt 1, from Freightdog's Brits Abroad decal sheet.
The second one has been sprayed gloss black undercoat for the Alclad II finish. For this I decanted some Tamiya TS-14 Gloss Black from the aerosol into a film canister, then poured it into the airbrush. This paint is great and dries very quickly for a gloss paint, it's then an excellent base for the Alclad II. This aircraft will be a Duxford based USAF aircraft, the final scheme has yet to be decided.
The third P-47, a bubbletop, has the Alclad II sprayed on and for the final finish I used White Aluminium. This one will also be finished as an RAF Thunderbolt using The Freightdogs decal sheet.
The fourth one is nearing completion with the cowling and rudder painted white, some of the panels have been sprayed a slightly darker shade of aluminium and the upper nose area has been painted purple! Yes, purple! This aircraft was a squadron hack at RAF Duxford and is to have a black and white checked cowling with red flashes of detail, it looks pretty smart on the decal sheet instructions!
Anyway, here are the pics and hope you like them!