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Hi all, This is going to be my build of the Tamiya P-47D Thunderbolt Razorback Kit as the RAF's Republic Thunderbolt Mk.I Kit and decals are ready to Go, going to pick up some bits from Hannants in next few weeks prior to starting 🙂 Thanks for looking, Can't wait for the Off 😃 Regards Matt

Hi folks! Finished this one back in December but neglected to post it because I had to pack up and move at the first of the year. 1/72 is not my usual scale, but I thought I would get out of my comfort zone and try something new. I'll definitely be building more 72nd soon! P-47D Razorback "Button Nose" Lt Albert P Knafelz 56th FG 62nd FS RAF Boxted, England July 1944 Eduard Zoom PE Superscale decals Riveted AK Real Colors paints On to the pics! Thanks for looking!

This is the third P-47 I've built, but the first Razorback. I liked the look of the P-47 in the RAF camouflage so it was a toss up between this scheme and the SEAC green, brown light grey scheme. Since my last P-47 was a SEAC camouflaged aircraft I decided to go with the RAF day fighter scheme. These aircraft were painted in the USA using colours "equivalent" to the RAF colours of Dark Green, Ocean Grey and Medium Sea Grey. The aircraft I've depicted is one operated by the No 73 Operational Training Unit (OTU) Roayal Air Force (RAF) based at RAF Fayid in Egypt in 1946. I wanted to go for a well weather dusty look as I figured the sand and sun would knock the aircraft around a bit. I'm pretty happy with the finish I achieved The Kit Tamiya 1/48 P-47D Razorback (Kit No 61086) The Tamiya P-47's are still IMHO the best fitting 1/48 prop kits out there. Aftermarket Ultracast Seat Ultracast Wheels Decals Freightdog 1/48 'Brits Abroad' Tamiya kit decals for the stencils. The set in my kit were the older style and were unusable but a mate came to rescue with the newer style which performed significantly better. Paint For Dark Green - Mr Color 12 "Olive Drab USAAF Aircraft For Ocean Grey - Mr Color 305 (FS36118) For Medium Sea Grey - Mr Color 315 (FS16440) For Sky - Mr Color Sky Other various Mr Color/Mr Hobby greens and greys for weathering Various Vallejo Acrylics for details Clear Coats Gloss - Gaianotes Clear Gloss Flat - Gaianotes Clear Flatt with a final coat of Testors Dullcoate Weathering Oil paints AK/Mig Filters Tamiya Weathering Sets The Base The surround is made from cheap skirting from Bunnings. I've made it so the ground section can be changed depending on the model. The sand is the stuff left over from one of those kids puzzle fossils they have to dig out. I originally was going to use this for the entire base but some research into where 73 OTU was based, RAF Fayid in Egypt, revealed that the base had extensive tarmac areas The tarmac is just a sheet of card painted with machinery grey spray paint

Something a little different from me - I'm doing a pair of Thunderbolt models of the same a/c, one in USAAF colours, the other German, as shown on the sheet below. I've had this particular sheet from Cutting Edge since my UK visit in 2007 (!!), and haven't managed to do anything with it - this GB is a good place to start, I think. To that end, I have 3 Academy P-47D kits, 2 of which will be used for this GB as a joint build - appropriate, seeing as they will be representing the aircraft named 'Beetle', as flown (and lost) by 2nd Lt William Roach, 358th FS, 355th FG, 8th AF both while it was in his charge and then as it was operated by the Germans, in the guise of 2./VVB OKL (aka Wanderzirkus Rosarius) at Wunstorf, July '44. The 3rd P-47 will at some point in the future fill the role of the other captured a/c on this sheet. Also on the sheet are a Mosquito and a couple of P-51s, which may be my entries in the upcoming STGBs for those types - we'll see. Obligatory box/sprue shots to start Those of you with a keen eye may notice the missing bits - bombs, drop tanks, and one of the props. They were cut out and dispatched to a fellow BMer at some point last year when he put out a call for P-47 things. I knew I wouldn't need them for these builds, so off they went. I hope they were useful. The kits are apparently not perfect, but they look like P-47s, which is close enough for me. A major attraction is that they're pretty simple kits, which should allow me to get them done in the allotted time span - like many of us, I find that I have signed up for rather too many GBs this year (it was a vintage crop, so whaddaryagunnado?) Before I start these, I plan to finish my Gnat for the Made in GB GB, then I'll be right into these. For thems as might be interested, Lt. Roach was on only his 3rd mission when it all went pear-shaped. On November 7, 1943, escorting B-17's of the 8th Air Force's 1st and 3rd Air Divisions, he became disoriented in poor weather, and with his fuel running low (and after watching the squadron leader crash land), he began looking for an airfield for an emergency landing. Lt. Roach spotted a runway and landed, then followed a vehicle to a parking place and shut down. He then realised that the people surrounding the plane were Germans - must have been a little bit sad-making for the poor chap. Lt. Roach had inadvertently provided the Luftwaffe with its first intact P-47D-2-RA, and spent the remainder of the war at Stalag Luft I. He survived the war, rejoined the USAF and died in 2010 at the age of 88. So although it's a bit of a sad story, it's a funny and sort of good one too. (Thanks to Warbirds Resource Group for the potted history.)