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Throwing my hat in the ring, with Revell's 1/48 A-10. Let's see how long I can go keeping this OOB. Probably not long knowing me but DAMN the Martinis Full speed ahead! and don't spare the Olives! [/url [/url Nothing like the sound of ripping canvas overhead.

Joining with this 1/72 Hasegawa Republic F-105D Thunderchief. This box from 1992, showing a post-war, Virginia ANG aircraft. with a description of the Thunderchief. Parts, raised detail, light flash around cockpit opening, no real cockpit to speak of, very hard grey plastic - not really classic Hasegawa yet. first released in 1966! Offering 2 options - this 355TFW based at Takhli, in Thailand, for Vietnam. I've built the ANG option previously. One of my first Hasegawa builds in 1987, making me appreciate this company. Decals.

P-47D-30RE Thunderbolt BasicKit (48023) 1:48 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The Thunderbolt developed from a series of less-than-successful earlier designs that saw Seversky aviation change to Republic, and the project designation from P-35, to P-43 and P-44, each with its own aggressive sounding name. After a realisation that their work so far wasn't going to cut it in the skies over war-torn Europe, they went back to the drawing board and produced the P-47A that was larger, heavier, and sported the new Pratt & Whitney R-2800 18-cylinder radial that would also power the B-26 Marauder, P-61 Black Widow and F4U Corsair amongst others. With it they added eight .50cal Browning machine guns aligned along the axis of flight in the wing leading edge. The P-47A was still a small aircraft, and was initially ordered without military equipment to allow faster completion, but it was considered inferior to the competition then available, so an extensive re-design was ordered that resulted in the much larger P-47B, firing up to 100 rounds per second from the eight .50cal wing guns, and with a maximum speed of over 400mph, leaving just the fuel load slightly short of requirements. It first flew mid-1941, and despite being a heavy-weight, its performance was still excellent, and the crash of the prototype didn’t affect the order for over 700 airframes, which were fitted with a more powerful version of the R-2800 and a sliding canopy that made ingress and egress more streamlined, particularly when bailing out of a doomed aircraft. Minor re-designs to early production airframes resulted in a change to the P-47C, which meant that fewer than 200 Bs were made, the C benefitting from improved radio, oxygen systems, and a metal rudder to prevent flutter that had been affecting control at certain points in the performance envelope. A quick way to spot a B is the forward raked aerial mast behind the cockpit, as this was changed to vertical on the C and beyond. The production from a new factory that had been opened to keep up with demand led to the use of the D suffix, although they were initially identical to the C, but the cowling flaps were amended later, making it easier to differentiate. Of course, the later bubble-canopy P-47s were far easier to tell apart from earlier marks, and constant improvement in reliability, performance and fuel load was added along the way. The P-47D-25 carried more fuel for extended range, including piping for jettisonable tanks on the bomb racks for even more fuel. Taking a cue from the British designers, the bubble-top was developed and that improved all-round visibility markedly, although like the later mark Spitfires, later models incorporated a fin extension to counter the yaw issues that resulted. Its weight, firepower and seemingly unstoppable character led to the nickname ‘Juggernaut’, which was inevitably shortened to ‘Jug’ and led to many, many off-colour jokes during and after the war. Jokes that are still soldiering on to this day, despite being eligible for a pensioner’s bus pass. The -30RE was built at the Farmingdale factory, and was fitted with dive brakes and some other minor changes, such as the fillet on the fin for added stability. The Jug was used extensively in the European theatre as an escort fighter, where it performed well in its ideal high-altitude environment. Later in the war when the Luftwaffe was a spent force, it also went on to become a highly successful ground attack fighter, strafing and bombing targets of opportunity, and eschewing camouflaged paintwork to add some extra speed with a smooth (and shiny) bare metal finish. As well as flying with the US forces, many P-47s were flown by the other Allies, including the British, Russians, and after the war many other countries as the remainder were sold off as war surplus. The Kit This is a variant of a brand-new tooling from MiniArt, in the process of creating a range of kits that are set to become the de facto standard Thunderbolt in this scale. The kit arrives in one of their sturdy top-opening boxes with a dramatic painting of the subject on the front, and profiles of the decal options on one side, reserving the other side for practical details and text. Inside the box are nineteen sprues in grey styrene, although in our sample many of the sprues were handily still connected by their runners, which simplified photography. There is also a clear sprue, two sheets of decals split between markings and stencils, and the instruction booklet, which is printed on glossy paper in colour, with profiles for the decal options on the rear pages, plus detailed painting and decaling information on the weapons and tanks on the back page. Detail is phenomenal, as we’ve come to expect from MiniArt in the last several years, with fine engraved panel lines, recessed rivets, plus raised and recessed features where appropriate, as well as fine detail in the cockpit, wheel bays and engine. If you’ve seen their AFV kits you’ll know what to expect, but this is something special in this reviewer’s humble opinion. Construction begins with the highly detailed cockpit, starting by putting the seat together from base, back and two side parts, which have elements of the seatbelts moulded-in, and are finished off by putting the remainder of the lap belts on the seat pan. A pair of support are inserted into recesses in the back of the seat, then it is installed on the ribbed floor, which has control column, plus seat-adjuster, and two other levers inserted, after which the rear bulkhead, one of the cockpit sidewalls and the front bulkhead are added, trapping the rudder bar with moulded-in pedals between them. The starboard sidewall has a hose added, and a scrap diagram shows the detail painting as well as the location of the decals that need to be applied. A cushion is applied to the head armour, then the other sidewall is detailed with four controls, numerous decals and more detail painting, so that it can be inserted along with the instrument panel and auxiliary panel, both of which have decals for the dials, with a choice of two for the main panel. The tail wheel is made up in preparation for closing the fuselage, building a four-part strut that holds the wheel on a one-sided yoke, then adding a small curved bulkhead with sprung bumper at the front, or an alternative assembly can be made from four different parts plus wheel, which is less detailed as the mechanism is hidden by a canvas cover. The fuselage halves are new toolings that have a fillet moulded into the spine in front of the tail fin, and are prepared by adding two extra detail parts to the short sill panels that have ribbing moulded-in, and should be painted to match the cockpit. At the rear on the underside, the supercharger fairing is slotted into the starboard fuselage along with the tail gear bay, and at the front, a cooling vent and a centreline insert are added to the underside, fitting another vent to the port fuselage half in the same place. The fuselage can then be closed around the cockpit, adding the aerial mast into a slot in the starboard spine, although whether that will remain there until the end of the building and painting is a moot point, and I’d be tempted to nip it off at the base, gluing the base in to act as a socket for the aerial after the heavy work is over. There is a fuselage insert in front of the cockpit, and that has the two-part gunsight with clear lens added to the centre, and another equipment box on the port side before it is inserted and joined by a firewall that closes the front of the fuselage. The engine is a highly-detailed assembly that is created by joining the two fully-rendered banks of pistons together by a keyed peg, adding the push-rod assembly to the front, the ends of which mate with a circular support that is the frame onto which the cowling panels are added later. The reduction-housing bell is detailed with magnetos and other parts, plus a collet at the centre where the prop-shaft would be. This is joined to the front of the engine as it is mounted to a bulkhead at the rear, again on a keyed ring. The intake trunking at the bottom of the nose cowling is made from five parts and installed in the lower panel, and you have a choice of open or closed vents on the sides of the fuselage by using the appropriate parts, and in the same step, the rudder is completed by adding an insert at its widest point (the bottom), to avoid sink marks, following which it is mated to the fin on three hinges, allowing deflection if you wish. Going back to the engine, the finished assembly is enclosed by four segments of cowling, and at the rear you have a choice of open or closed cooling gills, using different parts to achieve the look you want. Under the tail, your choice of wheel assembly is inserted in the bay, with doors on each side, or if you are building your model in flight, a closed pair of doors is supplied as a single part, adding a small outlet further forward under the fuselage. The upper wing halves have well-defined ribbing detail moulded into the interior, which is augmented by fitting an insert, two rib sections, front and rear walls that form the tabs to mate to the fuselage, and an additional structure that has a retraction jack pushed through hole in one of the wall segments. The flaps are made from two sides, plus a pair of hinges and these are glued into the trailing edge of the wing with the ailerons, the remaining details of the gear bay, which includes another retraction jack, the gun barrels on a carrier to achieve the correct vertically stepped installation, plus a pitot probe, and the wingtip light, which can be fitted now because the complete tip is moulded into the upper wing so that it can be portrayed as scale thickness. A scrap diagram of the lower wing shows the location of the flashed-over holes that you can drill out for weapons, then it can be glued to the upper, along with an insert at the rear of the gear bay, which includes a moulded-in dive brake, and another near the tip with a flush landing light. The same process is then carried out in mirror-image for the other wing, omitting the pitot and landing light insert, after which the wheels and their struts are made up, each wheel made from two halves plus a choice of three hub types, and two styles of wheels are also provided, one without a flat-spot, the other under load on the ground, leaving it for you to decide which you prefer. The struts are detailed with separate oleo scissor-links and stencil decals, and are mated with their wheels, plus the captive gear bay doors, the lower door made from two layers, again to avoid sink-marks. The wings are glued to the fuselage with a stepped joint making for a stronger bond, and the elevator panels are each slotted into the tail, and have separate flying surfaces that can be posed deflected, each one a single part for finesse. If you are building your model with the gear down, the inner gear bay doors are fitted to the fuselage, which contains the inner edge of the main gear bays, so remember to paint that while you are doing the rest of the bays. The engine assembly with cowling is also mated to the firewall, locating on a pair of alignment pins. If you plan on making an in-flight model, there are two single parts that depict the closed main bays, or you can insert the two struts with their wheels for the grounded aircraft. The four centreline supports are fitted between the main bays for some decal options, then the model can be flipped over to stand on its own wheels so that the canopy can be installed, gluing the windscreen at the front with a rear-view mirror on a stalk above the frame, and deciding whether pose the blown canopy open or closed after gluing a stiffener across the underside. The prop is also fitted, and this is made up from two parts, each consisting of two blades in opposition, and the spinner is a separate part that slots into the front section. The Jug could carry quite a load, whether it was extra fuel, rockets or bombs, and all these are included in the box, starting with the two-part pylons, which can be depicted as empty by inserting a cover over the lower surface. You have a choice of four styles of tank, a 108gal compressed paper tank with a ribbed nose and tail, a 200gal wide and flat tank, the third 150gal streamlined tank with flat mating surface and a peg at the rear that can be removed, and the last one slightly smaller at 75gal. All but the third option has a pair of sway-braces between them and the pylon, which fit into slots in the pylons. They are built in pairs to fit under the wings, but the first two options can also be used solo on the centreline support. The bombs use the same pylons, and can be built in 1,000lb, 500lb or 250lb variants, each one made from two halves for the body and two parts for the square tails, and mated to the pylon by a pair of sway-braces that varies depending on size. There is also a smoke generator that looks like a drop-tank with a spout on the rear, which would be used to lay smoke for the Allied troops below to cover their actions, at least temporarily. A large diagram shows the correct location for all the pylons and their loads, the centreline option having no additional pylon, mating via the four sway braces fitted earlier. Markings There are two decal options included on the large sheet, both of which have substantial differences in nose art on each side, which is why we’ve included a look at both side profiles to avoid confusion. The first page of profiles are in greyscale, and detail the location of the many stencils worn by the Jug, including the pylons, all to avoid over-complication of the main profiles. From the box you can build one of the following: 346th Fighter Sqn., 350th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force, Italy 1945. Pilots: Major Charles Gilbert II & 1St Lt. Homer J St.Onge 509th Fighter Sqn., 405th Fighter Group, Spring 1945. Pilot: Col. Chester Van Etten Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The instrument decals on the sheet are separated by a box of dotted lines, and you have three choices of style. One is complete with the grey instrument panel for an all-in-one solution that is very realistic, while the others have just the dials that are printed in the shape of the panel, but are individual decals, so remember not to put them all in the water at once. Conclusion Another P-47D from MiniArt, expanding their catalogue further. Don’t fret, I’m sure the razorback will be along soon enough. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi all. Dora's new model. The first P-47 of Hubert Zemke. Enjoy watching! 🙂

Hello, as promised over on the build thread HERE I am posting a few more pictures of this odd P-47B variant, the "Double Twister": Thanks for looking. Ed

AS promised over on the build thread HERE Here are a few photos of the completed beast: These inkjet-printed "X"47J" on the tail didn't turn out great on this side, but if I ever find and 1/72 scale 6" high stenciled letters, I may paint these over and re-do later. We'll see. I had fun building this from the Academy kit. Hope you enjoy the pics. See you on my next project, Ed

Hello everyone... does anyone know if either Republic or its predecessor Seversky ever designed an aircraft for the airlines. I know they had the Seabee flying boat/amphibian. However I was curious if they ever tried to design an airliner. Or did they leave that to Boeing, Douglas, and Convair/Consolidated ? For that matter did they ever angle into Piper, Beechcraft, or Cessna territory ? Dennis

Well, as promised on on the F-84F Build Thread HERE I am posting up the pictures of the finished model, with a little embellishment to the kit: Thanks for looking in! Ed

Pics by Nick Cronin 44-90464 (ex-Yugoslav AF 13056) - Museum of Aviation, Belgrade

Hi all! Please knock some sanity back in to me .... Should I attempt to build 58-1155/D-10, the natural metal (or aluminium paint finish) and International Red test aircraft used by Republic early in the test phase? I will dig out an image so you can see the challenge i might be tempted to embark on. Credit: Republic Archives Martin

Dear forum members; Based on your wishes and feedbacks, we changed and improved the box content of our RF-84F kit, which we released to international market in January 2016. Therefore, new kit no. of our RF-84F is now 2201-1 and its barcode number is renewed. As TANMODEL, we put great importance to your feedbacks about all kits that we release. Plus, we are very glad to be in contact with you for our new projects. We strive to present the best for you, with support we receive from you. Please do not hesitate to contact us about technical documents, pictures and decal options you consider that may be useful for our new projects. First we would like to give information about decals. Content of our decal set is changed and printed by Cartograf. Dutch Decal prepared a multiple-choice decal set once again. We’d like to thank Daco Products (Belgium), Mr. Kim Zimmerman and Mr. Jens Jensen (Denmark), who assisted us for decal drawing. Decal options : 53-7571 KA-E No.729 Sqn. Kastrup Airbase Royal Danish A.F. – Denmark 1958 FR-27, 42e Smaldeel, Bierset Airbase. Belgian A.F. – Belgie 1970 FR-34, 42e Smaldeel, Bierset Airbase. Belgian A.F. – Belgie July 1971 “Adieu a Toi Petit Dernier” with farewell badge. 51-17056, AZ-O No.717 Sqn. Rygge Airbase. Royal Norwegian A.F. – Norway 1956 52-7367, 171st Tact. Rec. Sqn. Detroit Airbase. USAF Michigan National Guard – U.S.A. 1968 53-7566, 33-TJ ER 3/33 “Moselle”. Cognac Airbase. Armee de l’Air – France 1956 7450, 1. Havaussu 114. Taktik Jet Kesif Filosu, Eskisehir, Turk Hava Kuvvetleri – Turkiye 1956-1972 arasi Modelers liked profile poster and mouse mat but your expectations were different. As our kit has many clear parts, you asked for mask set in your e-mails. We evaluated your requests and prepared a wonderful mask set. As we are modelers ourselves as well, we added Anti-Glare Patch to the mask set in consideration of beginner modelers. We used a special paper for the mask set. Plus, we added a detailed application sheet printed on double-sided paper. From now on we will not give profile poster and mouse mat. 2201-1 box will include a detailed and high quality mask set. We corrected our minor issue on part no. 18 (Ejection Seat) of F sprue. We re-polished the moulds. Instruction Sheet was very well acclaimed by everyone. We corrected some numbering issues, added color names next to color codes and printed it on glossy paper. Decal Placement Guide is also printed on glossy paper. This way, the good became perfect. We added a download link to our official Facebook page for instruction sheet of previous 2201 kit, for those who haven’t built it yet. Everybody can download. Download link : http://www.dosyaupload.com/Vot Box-art was re-drawn in order to make changes noticeable. The new box art drawn by renowned Dutch illustrator Mr. Ronnie Olsthoorn (http://www.aviationart.aero/) is very well acclaimed. We thank him and now he is preparing a great box art for you for the 1/72 T-33 kit that we will release. (Homebee I’m sorry, we developed a re-box project without taking your permission. I hope you can forgive us ) Our 2201-1 kits have landed in USA, Germany, United Kingdom and Croatia. Japan is next. Boxes are being prepared for other distributors. If you’d like to see TANMODEL kits in countries where we don’t have distributors, please support us and encourage your local companies to contact us. Best regards, (Mr) Baris TANSOY Owner of TANMODEL Plastic Model Kits http://www.tanmodel.com/index_en.html https://www.facebook.com/tanmodel

1/48th Republic F-84F Thunderstreak by HobbyBoss in 2013 - catalogue ref.81726 Source: http://scalemodels.ru/modules/news/img_5748_1358082281_fe7282025aafa40f1fabea15ab64034f79f0190e.jpg.html V.P.

Dear forum members; We are glad to share build stages of our 1/48 scale RF-84F kit - which is loved by modelers and first batch sold out in 20 days. Model : TANMODEL 1/48 scale Republic RF-84F Kit No : 2201 by Master Modeler Mr. Daniel Zamarbide SUAREZ (Spain) (Pilot figure and detail set are not included in the box content) Regards, TANMODEL Part 1 :

Encore Models is to rebox in 2016 the HobbyBoss (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234932988-148-republic-f-84f-thunderstreak-by-hobbyboss-released/?hl=thunderstreak) 1/48th Republic F-84F Thunderstreak kit - ref. 48006(?) Sources: http://www.ipmsdeutschland.de/Ausstellungen/Nuernberg2016/Bilder_AT/Squadron_MMD.htm http://www.ipmsdeutschland.de/Ausstellungen/Nuernberg2016/Bilder_AT/Bilder_AT_1.htm V.P.

Hi All, I'm in with a Tamiya 1/48 scale build of the Republic P-47D-27-RE Thunderbolt 42-27234. Outside the box Inside the box Cheers, Daniel.

These Academy kits bear the product codes 2105 & 2174, but they are identical apart from the decal options. 2105 completed in the supplied decals for WZ*S “Eileen” of the 84th Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, Duxford, 1944. These decals were very thick and did not conform the to complex surfaces of the fuselage. For 2174 I chose decals by SuperScale (sheet No. 72-886) to make WZ*V “No Guts No Glory” flown by Major Benjamin J. Mayo of the 84th Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, Duxford, 1944. The SuperScale decals performed better than the kit supplied ones. Both together...

F-84F Thunderstreak 1:48 HobbyBoss The F-48 Thunderjet was a post WWII early jet with straight wings that suffered some horrible teething problems, which took a long time to fix, resulting in the F-84G. The Thunderstreak was a swept-wing variant that was needed to match the F-86's performance, as so different that it was pretty much a totally new design, but stayed under the F-84 designation. To maximise the performance gains, a British engine was chosen, which necessitated a deepening of the fuselage cross-section, which resulted in the intake having an oval profile. The Sapphire was eventually to be license made as the Wright J65, but flight related problems delayed its introduction into service until 1954, at which time it still needed a long take-off roll, and was prone to unrecoverable spins. In service it was a problem child from the start, and was ear-marked for phase-out almost as soon as it arrived with squadrons. The last airframe left the front line in 1958, and was replaced by the F-100 Super Sabre in active service, while in National Guard service it soldiered on until the early 70s. The fleet was briefly reactivated in 1961 due to tensions in Europe, but after being grounded the year after due to control-linkage problems, it was gone again from front line service by 1964. The Kit This is a new tool from HobbyBoss, and on opening the lid on the box, you are greeted by six sprues of mid-grey styrene, clear parts, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a large decal sheet, instruction booklet and painting guide. It's a surprisingly large aircraft, and the fuselage halves take up a lot of room, with lots of nicely engraved detail on the outer skin that should look good under paint. It's a single-seat fighter of course, so construction is fairly straight forward, starting with the cockpit, which is made up from a "tub" with rear bulkhead, rudder pedals, control column and instrument panel added before side wall detail inserts are added between the panel and rear bulkhead to block off the blank fuselage walls. The ejector seat is made up from a sizeable number of parts, and has a set of PE seatbelts added before being installed in the cockpit. The nose gear bay, which is a single part tub has surprisingly good detail within, especially considering the small aperture. The nose gear leg is moulded with an integral wheel, which makes it look a little flat, but separate scissor-link and landing light should help distract the viewer a little. You need to glue the gear leg in place before installing it in the fuselage though, which I find to be a little bit of a nuisance, as you can quite easily damage these frail parts during the rest of the build. The fuselage is closed up next, after adding the intake splitter to the front, the air brake bay inserts, and the exhaust, which is a tube split vertically along its length, with a rear engine face and some moulded in rib detail, that is attached to an oval bulkhead that curiously has a fan moulded into the forward side. When that would be seen is anyone's guess! The simple instrument coaming, which is a flat area with gunsight and reflector glass added, is closed in by the windscreen part that should be faired into the fuselage contours for added realism. The main canopy hinged up and back when opened, and this is replicated in the kit, with two vertical arms added to the side of the canopy, plus a section of the rear canopy that hinges up and is attached to the back of the opening part. The rear canopy section is glued to the fuselage behind the pilot, while the vertical arms hook into the cockpit sidewalls. If you want to leave the canopy closed however, there are alternative parts specifically shaped for the job. The air-brakes on the side of the rear fuselage are supplied as PE outer skins, which glue to styrene inners with a retraction jack added to achieve the correct angle. You will need to anneal and roll the PE parts to match the contour of the fuselage sides, but you'd be better of leaving them loose until later in the build to avoid damage. There is no option to have the airbrakes closed, but with some care and careful gluing, you could probably align the PE skin with the fuselage if you like the airframe cleaned up and sleek. Bay doors for the nose gear and a large canoe-shaped ventral fin/bump-stop is added to the rear, and for some reason the wings are decked out with wheels and fuel tanks before being added to the fuselage. Scratch all that and add the wings from their separate upper and lower halves, before you build up the main gear, which is made up from gear leg, two-half wheels and two bay doors. The wings have the flaps moulded into the lower half, and a large contact patch for good adhesion, as well as separate PE spoilers, which can be modelled raised or lowered to taste. The main gear bays are nicely detailed with ribbing and plenty of hoses, which is well done considering they are moulded into the wing skin. They also have sockets for the main gear legs and their retraction jacks, with a small inner bay door added closest to the fuselage. Holes for two wing pylons are already opened up on the underside of the wings, and you can choose to mount two fuel tanks under each wing, or the larger finned tank on the inner pylon, and a bomb on the outer one. Not much in the way of choice, but weapons technology hadn't yet progressed much past WWII levels, and these aircraft weren't involved in much actual combat. What is supplied however is very nicely moulded with filler caps on the smaller tanks, and fine panel lines throughout, including the separate pylons. Markings Post WWII was a colourful time for American jets, and the Thunderstreak was no exception. Plenty of bright colours over a bare metal or pale grey airframe was the norm until the ageing airframes reached the National Guard in their twilight years. Two US Air Force machines are depicted on the decal sheet, both of which are pale grey, and you can build one of them from the box: BuNo. 51-9432 432nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron – blue/yellow/red stripes on the fuselage, wingtips and tip of the tail. Strategic Command crest on a blue starry background stripe just aft of the cockpit. This aircraft also had stripes on its nose gear bay doors at some point in its career – check your references. BuNo. 26675 81st Tactical Fighter Wing, 78th Tactical Fighter Squadron, RAF Bentwaters UK, May 1958 – three red stripes on fuselage and tail, Bushmaster logo on tail, 81st TFW badge on fuselage in a stylised mushroom cloud on a blue backdrop. The decals are well printed, have good register, colour density and sharpness, apart from some diagonal black lines where "jaggies" are visible under magnification. The various badges and an instrument panel decal are printed on a small separate sheet, while the stripes are printed on the larger sheet with the national markings. Conclusion A nice looking kit overall, with enough detail to please many modellers. The nose gear is a little simplified, and the cockpit is adequate, but not inspiring, however the addition of the instrument panel isn't noted in the instructions, but is welcome none-the-less. The decal options are colourful, but knowing a little more about the subjects without having to search the internet would be nice. If the decal choices don't appeal, you could go bare metal or Vietnam era camouflage by sourcing some alternative decals. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

F-105D Pics by Darwin taken at the Combat air museum in Kansas

Hello people I just finished my second P-47D-30 Thunderbolt by Revell, I built one long ago when I was first building models after ages and I didn't even paint that one so had to build one painted and weathered. Here we go: Regards

P-47D-25 Upgrade Set (for Eduard) 1:48 Eduard Eduard's rebox of the Acedemy in 1:48 "Jugs over Germany" reviewed here takes a nice and often overlooked kit and makes it nicer, but there's always scope for more improvement, which is where this set comes in. Designed to complement the contents of the kit box, it contains plenty of extra detail to improve and expand on the less-than-stock kit. Arriving in one of Eduard's familiar flat packages, it contains a single fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass measuring 14.2cm x 8cm, packed with parts not included on the two frets in the kit box. The engine is upgraded with links between the piston heads, which should be added after it laced with the ignition wires, and the small exhausts under the nose and behind the cowling are removed to be replaced by thinner hollow PE parts on both sides. Similarly, the supercharger exhausts on the side of the fuselage are detailed and the doors are replaced with scale thickness PE parts. The main gear wells have all the detail removed within the wheel area, and are then given a full set of detailed skins to improve the ribbing that was present, and you'll need to bend some of the wall sections to fit, so take care here. Strengthening webs and additional wiring is added to the skins to further improve them, and the bay doors are updated too. The kit main doors are thinned down so that only the wider section remains, and they have a new outer skin added, with a new "leg part" made up from a flat sheet with ribs folded up from a single additional piece. Cross-braces are then added, and the resulting assembly should be much more impressive, with links to the leg itself and hoses running to the brake hubs. The tail wheel bay has its moulded in doors removed, and new ones fabricated from PE and brackets for the closing jacks added from separate parts. You will need to source some short lengths of wire or rod for the retraction jacks, which have matching brackets within the bay. The remaining parts improve the weapons and tankage, giving parts for hoses for the rear of the cylindrical laminated paper tanks, and a filler cap for the tapered intermediate tanks. The "bazooka tube" 3-pack rockets have a missing strut added, and finally the smaller 500lb bombs are given PE stabilising fins and priming spinners front and rear. Again, you'll need to find a little styrene rod to space the spinners from the bomb body, in the same way as with the 1,000lb bomb parts included in the kit. Conclusion Great news if you want to add just that little bit more detail to your special edition boxing, or to any Academy P-47D boxing. Plenty of extras and only a little folding, but be prepared to remove the moulded in detail in the gear bays, under the nose and on the 500lb bombs. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Pics by Darwin from the SAC Museum in Nebraska Pics By Darwin from the Combat Air Museum in Kansas