P 47D landing gear

[Starfighter]

Hi guys,

I'm after some info regarding this airplane. I've just started building the 1/48 Tamiya P - 47D "Razorback " in the markings of Lt. Frank Klibbe's " Little Chief " HV  V of the 61st. FS, 56th. FG. 

The aircraft is a P - 47D - 15,  and according to the instructions the landing gear legs are aluminium, but I've also read that early P - 47's legs were  olive drab.

My question is : Which colour is likely to be the more correct ? Any help from someone with more knowledge than me would be much appreciated. 

[Troy Smith]

14 minutes ago, Starfighter said:

The aircraft is a P - 47D - 15,  and according to the instructions the landing gear legs are aluminium

 

 

 

 

 

I've seen a close up somewhere, memory said aluminium., but this shows Olive Drab.

 

more searching...

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/23499192a2-p47-wheel-bay-colours/&do=findComment&comment=2164827

 

"note that the insdie of the UC doors are Zinc Chromate, but the UC Legs are Dull Dark Green"

 

 

If @Dana Bell  sees this, he maybe able to give a better answer

 

 

 

[72modeler]

According to photos and written references, the landing gear struts could be finished in either OD or silver paint; I would use a photo of the P-47 you intend to model, if at all possible. It is  possible that the struts were no longer finished in OD paint when camouflage paint was discontinued in October 1943, with P-47D-20's being the first blocks from both plants to be delivered  in natural metal, but there are numerous photos of later blocks that could still be seen with OD struts.  Slightly off topic, but I have attached a link to a video that shows the operation of the shrink strut that shortened the landing gear strut as it retracted, which allowed a tall gear strut for prop clearance but didn't take up space in the wing if a long strut was used.

Mike

 

https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/p-47-landing-gear.47572/

[dov]

Oh my goodness

Here I suppose most modeler have no idea what maintenance in the field was actually. All the American a/c where built in huge numbers, and each part by itself in many different plants. Here in all the different plants from Ford to North American, Republic and all the subcontractors had a different approach due to their facilities. The industrial production in the US was not so rigid in detail, because if it would have been many subcontractors could not have participated. So, the parts had some main attributes where they had to meet all requirements (measure) but on others as surface treatment and material was kept quite sloppy with minimum requirements. After a failure in the operational life of an a/c it was repaired with parts available. The American system was a gentle and excellent system which made it possible to use parts also from earlier and later versions. The intersection usually never changed. On the other hand the American system was covered totally by statistic. All maintenance crews got ranks due to their maintenance job. For instance, the maintenance crew of the Red Tails got quite bad marks. A good Fighter squadron with a bad maintenance crew was noticed and improved or exchanged in sake of the war goal.

You also may make your P-47 one side OD and the other side alu.

Happy modelling

 

[Starfighter]

Found a photo of Little Chief, and I can just see that the landing gear is aluminium, but many thanks for all your replies, it's much appreciated 

[72modeler]

4 hours ago, Starfighter said:

Found a photo of Little Chief, and I can just see that the landing gear is aluminium,

Yep- after I posted I found two photos of Little Chief, and the gear struts are clearly finished in aluminum paint, unlike Frances Gabreski's famous P-47D-25 bubbletop HV-A, which had OD gear struts.

Mike

 

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/75354-gabreskis-p-47d/

[Starfighter]

6 hours ago, 72modeler said:

Yep- after I posted I found two photos of Little Chief, and the gear struts are clearly finished in aluminum paint, unlike Frances Gabreski's famous P-47D-25 bubbletop HV-A, which had OD gear struts.

Mike

 

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/75354-gabreskis-p-47d/

Yes, it's nice to get these things right 🙂 . I must say this Tamiya kit fits like a dream, unlike my Eduard Bf 109F, but that's another story ! 

[Dak Driver]

Thank you, gentlemen. I'm building a Trumpeter 1/32 P-47D Razorback, I'm new here at Britmodeller and I find that discussions like this are a huge help.