Kallisti Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 (edited) For the next part of my odyssey to built an example of each plane my Father worked on while he was in the RAF in WWII, I aim to fill in a gap between the Hurricane IIc ( Build Thread: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=234934871 RFI: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=234935554) I built at the start of this year and the Thunderbolt II (RFI: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=234942513) by building the companion that last one, a Thunderbolt I. In September 1944, 5 Sqn and 124 Sqn were converted to using Thunderbolts. The RAF had been acquiring this superior American fighter for some time and had adopted the nomenclature Thunderbolt I for Ridgebacks ie P-47D-15-RE, P-47D-21-RE and P-47-22RE and Thunderbolt II for the Bubbletops, P-47D-25-RE and upwards. It was originally intended to equip 5 Sqn with Ridgebacks to work ground attack missions and 123 Sqn with Bubbletops, but due to a mix up in the training and maintenance schedules, both units departed the training unit with a mix of both types. Eventually in early 1945, they exchanged aircraft so that 5 Sqn had its full compliment of Thunderbolt Is. So thats the preamble now to the build... I'm pleased to say that this is the first WIP I'm doing with my brand new Nikon D3100 camera since my old one suffered a failure of a tiny 4 mm long plastic clip that means the battery compartment won't close anymore which has rendered the bloody thing useless. That said, I've been wanting to upgrade from that camera for some time and this was the perfect excuse I must say having only had the new one for 2 days I much prefer it - its lighter, more flexible and takes photos much faster than the old one. Box: So having built the bubbletop not all that long ago the cockpit was familiar territory. I'd picked up an Eduard PE set while at the Abingdon show last month so this went in along with a resin seat with moulded straps from Quickboost: Now while at Abingdon I also picked up the Osprey book "Modelling the P-47 Thunderbolt" in which Brett Green builds a SEAC Thunderbolt and includes a couple of figures that are perfect for Burma. So I tracked them down to an American company called Jaguar and had them shipped over: Now although these say "Australian", if you see photos of the RAF ground crews in Burma, bush hat, shorts and boots seems to have been the standard "uniform" most of the time and I've got photos in the album of my Dad dressed like that - maybe not as buff as this guy, but it will be good enough so I can include my Dad in one of the 1:48 builds as well. I'm tempted to do more of an airfield scene and put both Thunderbolts into it, so it'll mean a bigger base and more clutter on the ground... love it! These Tamiya kits are excellent, very enjoyable builds. Edited November 4, 2013 by Kallisti 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paramedic Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Excellent build-thread and I love your other builds! The cockpit-start looks good. Looking forward to this and might have to pick up those figures myself. Gotta agree on the Tamiya "Jug" as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr B Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Nice choice and hope to see it up soon......if you don't mind .....those figures look great .....where can I get a set or two..... Rgds Mr b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngstROM Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Certainly gotta love those Tamiya Jugs -and SEAC markings are a big favourite of mine, so will be tuned in for this. Excellent work on the cockpit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Great start mate. Be watching with interest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted November 4, 2013 Author Share Posted November 4, 2013 The figures came from http://www.jaguarmodels.com/ Click on 1/48 Scale Models then 1/48 Scale Figures. They are based in California. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr B Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 The figures came fromhttp://www.jaguarmodels.com/Click on 1/48 Scale Models then 1/48 Scale Figures. They are based in California. Thank you and I will have a look see ...for sure and will be tracking your progress Best Regards Mr b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted November 16, 2013 Author Share Posted November 16, 2013 Bit of a hiatus after Telford - I'm stuck in the house with a bad chest so can't really go out to the shed to do any painting as the change of temperature triggers the really bad cough. So to get around this I brought the building stuff back INTO the house so at least I can do something! However, the Thunderbolt had got a long way last week so there really wasn't much left to do. Its a typically well engineered Tamiya kit so virtually assembled itself! I was able to do some brush painting - the shed is where all the spraying gets done. So the canopies got masked and painted, undercarriage assembled and painted, gun barrels painted and the prop was assembled: As you can see the cockpit is masked up as is the engine bay, nose wheel and undercarriabge bays, all ready for painting when the health improves: I've used resin wheels which have flat spots so here they are close up: and here is one of the undercarriage legs assembled, painted and just waiting to be weathered: This build is now stuck at this point. Further progress will depend upon health, so fingers crossed it will get painted up next week. In the meantime, I started another build... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted December 8, 2013 Author Share Posted December 8, 2013 So after a while with distractions and circumlocutions, including a visit from my dearly beloved girlfriend from Portugal, I have returned to the Thunderbolt I. It was left last time at the point where major construction had been completed and just required painting of the camo. This went ahead with a lot of masking tape and blue tac. After camo was painted, the white stripes were added on wings, tail and around the engine cowling. Then after a coat of Klear I started applying decals - this shows the progress once the roundels and identification code had been added The rest of the decals have been applied and its now in the shed drying from another coat of Klear to seal the decals before weathering. In the meantime, I sourced a nice wooden base from one of my collegaues at IPMS Farnborough (http://www.ema-heritage.com/displaybases) which will allow me to display both Thunderbolts from 5 Sqn in a suitable setting: The claycrete is still drying and it will need a dusting of pigment to get the dusly look. I've added some fuel drums, gerry cans and assorted bits from the ICM Groundcrew set, plus the tiny toolbox I built earlier in the ear for the Mohawk build. The soil look more reddish in this photo than in real life, but it is supposed to be the red clay-like soil that is common in the Burma highlands. Weathering will be along soon... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango 1 Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 Looking good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winenut Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 You might like to check out the thread from Shoey on the RAF in Burma. His Grandfather flew the Hurricane MkIIc . The thread is in the discussion topics by era WWII. Might be some common ground??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted December 12, 2013 Author Share Posted December 12, 2013 I've been contributing to that thread - there were some nice shots of Thunderbolts in there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Just found this and I am absolutely blown away by this. It's nice to see a P-47 finished in these colours from a lesser known area of operations! Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 ...and now we come to the moment of truth! yes it is complete... This one is a bit dirtier than the bubbletop from a few months back... Cockpit: Finally, the new base with both Thunderbolts, some crew and gear: 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PZRGREN Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Great work!!! I love the diorama too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 Thanks PZRGREN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Excellent model, great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winenut Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Crackking effort and great result! Wow well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Awesome builds mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now