Tamiya 1/72 P-47D "Razorback" - Third American in... USAAF?

[Keep_calm]

Hello fellow britmodellers,

 

This is my third and last model in this year. Tamiya 1/72 P-47D “Razorback”. At first I wanted to follow my line of American fighters in British service but there were some good reasons not to:

 

1. My girlfriend wanted a plane in natural metal finish

2. We wanted to try nose art on a model and American fighters (especially P-47) are the best planes for it

3. This is P-47D! This plane represents the American way in aircrafting: bigger, faster, higher!

 

So apart from the model there was some aftermarket bought:

 

1. Hamilton propeller from AIRES

2. Eduard photo etched cockpit details (found locally for “bubletop” version only, but they are mostly the same)

3. Decals for the P-47D from Techmod

 

I’ve chosen the plane of polish fighter-pilot cpt. Boleslav “Mike” Gladych named Pengie III after the nickname of his then girlfriend. I recommend to read his biography which is very interesting and includes evacuating planes from Poland to Romania, escaping Romanian internment camp, joining French Air Force and participation in several fights (with unconfirmed victories), joining No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron… Also he almost shot down the Churchill’s aircraft

 

Most of the victories he claimed while serving in famous 56th Fighter Group under col.Zemke (61st Fighter Squadron under major.Francis Gabreski). His wartime 'score' totals 17 claimed destroyed, 2 probables, 1 shared damaged, and 5 ground kills.

 

Now back to the model. As it was expected, tamiya quality is on exceptional level. Building was without problem, unfortunately I lost closing cylinder for the undercarriage cover and made it from scratch. Model was painted by AK Xtreme Metal Aluminium after black semi-gloss primer (found gloss black after painting, always check your stash ). Other colours are from tamiya and gunze. Decals are very good, but the serial number is wrong so I’ve made it from two different numbers on a decal’s sheet.

 

Well, from here I hope you will enjoy the model and wish you the Happy New Year!!!

 

Alex

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alpha Delta 210]

Awesome! I love a 56th Jug!

[Alpha Delta 210]

Awesome! I love a 56th Jug!

[François Escudé]

well done !!!

[Culham]

Beautiful!

[Zoran Srb]

Nice model. By the way "Mike" has really interesting story, for those who would like to find out more, here's a quick read  https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolesław_Gładych

 

[georgeusa]

I hope your girlfriend appreciates your fine build of the Jug.  It is really nice and wonderfully done.  Thanks for sharing.

[ernestf]

Beautiful and inspiring built !

Thanks for sharing !

Ernest