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Republic P-47D Thunderbolt Bubbletop "KOKOMO", 453rd BG Museum Build #2 (Tamiya 1/48)


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finito27

 

Here's my second build for the 453rd BG Museum in Old Buckenham, the mighty Jug, in the form of a P-47D Bubbletop named KOKOMO, belonging to the 551st FTS, 495th FTG and flown by Maj. Gen. William Kepner.  The model is going to be delivered to the Museum this Saturday, so I completed it just in time!

 

The kit is the Tamiya 1/48 offering, with the addition of the dedicated Eduard PE set for the cockpit and a few external parts. Apart from that, it was built mainly OOB, with some minor scratch building, such as:

 

- the engine piping and wiring, from solder wire, and a resin bit that sits in between the magnetos, courtesy of @corsaircorp (along with a full resin engine for a future Corsair build :winkgrin: Here's a pic from the WIP thread

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- the cowling flaps actuators, from plastic rod

- the brake lines on the main struts, from copper wire

- the antenna aerial, from some elastic wire I bought some time ago, whose brand I can't remember - great stuff, though

- the underwing light glazing, with clear UV resin

 

Paint wise, I used Lifecolor Medium Green and Vallejo Flat black for the cockpit, a mix of Tamiya Flat Yellow and Flat Black for the YZC areas, Tamiya Olive Drab mixed with a few drops of Tamiya Flat Yellow for the non reflective surface and Vallejo Air Metal Chrome over a Tamiya Gloss Black base for the NMF. The latter was polished with Dremel polishing discs to achieve variations and some degree of battering. Other minor bits were painted with various MM Metallizer hues (Burnt Metal for the gun barrels, Exhaust for the small side exhausts just aft of the engine cowling).

 

National insignia were airbrushed using self designed masks, cut with my Silhouette Curio. The black and white stripes were also masked and sprayed, all the rest is kit decals.

 

The weathering was done with black tempera wash, a dark brown pastel and some oil dotting on the engine cowling.

 

 

The build thread is here:

Thanks to everybody who followed along, encouraged, supported, gave tips and insights and even supplied parts!- a lovely bunch as always :) :thumbsup:

 

The first Museum model RFI is here:

How about some (more) pics? :D

 

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Some details/close ups

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The underside

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Some interiors shot from the WIP thread

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One last pic of the whole aircraft in full sunlight

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All comments welcome!

 

Ciao

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Awesome job there Giorgio, absolutely awesome.

 

What more can I say, other than I'm very much looking forward to seeing this at Old Buckenham this weekend, and very much looking forward to meeting you at long last!

 

Safe journey, and see you in Norwich!

 

Terry

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That's an absolutely cracking Jug Giorgio, really lovely paintwork and subtle weathering (& the decalling aint bad either...!! :) )

 

Hope you have a great trip over delivering it!

 

Top modelling again!

 

Keith 

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Real stunner of a Jug Maestro G !!

The bar is once again placed higher... Congratulations !!!

Such a gem deserve a place in the museum for sure !!

:mike:

Sincerely.

CC

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Excellent detailing and finish!
 

But, I’m not sure this aircraft had a wire antenna . . . My understanding is that UK-based Jugs used radios compatible with British comms, and the mast antenna (without wire) was sufficient.  


Any photos of the actual a/c might confirm/deny whether a wire was installed.

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14 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Awesome job there Giorgio, absolutely awesome.

 

What more can I say, other than I'm very much looking forward to seeing this at Old Buckenham this weekend, and very much looking forward to meeting you at long last!

 

Safe journey, and see you in Norwich!

 

Terry

Cheers Terry, thank you! :thumbsup: Very much looking forward to get there!

 

14 hours ago, keefr22 said:

That's an absolutely cracking Jug Giorgio, really lovely paintwork and subtle weathering (& the decalling aint bad either...!! :) )

 

Hope you have a great trip over delivering it!

 

Top modelling again!

 

Keith 

Glad you approve of, Keith! :thumbsup:

 

12 hours ago, corsaircorp said:

Real stunner of a Jug Maestro G !!

The bar is once again placed higher... Congratulations !!!

Such a gem deserve a place in the museum for sure !!

:mike:

Sincerely.

CC

Way too kind, Alain - thank you! :thumbsup:

 

8 hours ago, kapam said:

Wow!

That's a fantastic P-47!

Your metallic finish and details are superlative!

👏👏👏

Cheers mate, thank you! :thumbsup:

 

5 hours ago, Fritag said:

Cracking Jug, G.  Neat as a new pin construction and beautifully painted and weathered.

 

Fingers crossed it survives it’s first flight intact! ;)

 

Fingers crossed indeed! :D  Thanks Steve! :thumbsup: 

 

10 minutes ago, billn53 said:

Excellent detailing and finish!
 

But, I’m not sure this aircraft had a wire antenna . . . My understanding is that UK-based Jugs used radios compatible with British comms, and the mast antenna (without wire) was sufficient.  


Any photos of the actual a/c might confirm/deny whether a wire was installed.

Cheers Bill, thank you :thumbsup: 

 

Looking at this pic, it would appear the wire was there (courtesy of https://www.worldwarphotos.info, I will remove the photo and just post the link if this is infringing any sort of copyrights):

P-47D_42-26637_Kokomo_VM-P_of_the_551st_

 

Also, I don't think this necessarily contradicts what you mentioned above: the typical arrangement for a P-47D of that period would be the antenna wire connected from the fin to an insulator located just right of the antenna mast base, so maybe the different placing in this case was to improve compatibility with the British comms system. Of course, this is all speculation from my part, because I know close to nothing about radio equipment; I'm quite convinced I can see the wire from the photo above, though.

 

Ciao

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On 20/09/2023 at 16:42, georgeusa said:

This build and the Mustang you built are just fantastic.  The museum should be proud to have these kits on display.  Thanks for sharing.

Thank you, George! Much appreciated! :thumbsup:  See below for some Museum pics

 

On 20/09/2023 at 18:19, Toryu said:

Beautiful detail!

Cheers mate, thank you! :thumbsup: 

 

On 20/09/2023 at 18:26, Keeff said:

Stunning! Great work, paint and weathering ... spot on! 👌 

 

 

Keith 😁 

Thanks Keith, glad you like it! :thumbsup:

 

On 20/09/2023 at 20:29, mullac2001 said:

Now that looks nice !!!!!!

Cracking build 

Thanks @mullac2001! :thumbsup:

 

14 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

Beautiful worn P-47 Giorgio, you definitely gave this one some real personality! I hope it make it safely to Old Buck and that you folks had a great visit.

Thank you Cookie - so glad you like it! :thumbsup: It made to Old Buck all in one piece, it was actually a very smooth trip - and we had a great time with all the usual suspects there :D  Here it is, next to @Fritag's wonderful Defiant

 

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and here's the (ever growing) fighters collection at Old Buck:

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I couldn't take a picture of the bombers because Jim (for who doesn't know him, he's the Museum curator, top guy! ) is building a new (additional) Museum and is in the process of moving the big birds there.

 

Ciao

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A truly magnificent model Giorgio and still your attention to the slightest detail fills me with deep joy for our hobby. It was an honour to spend more time with you all IRL as they say, and to see the finished kits in the flesh was something I’ll not forget. Jim’s museum is filling with some fine examples of what BM can offer.  Bravo that man. 🙌

 

 Johnny

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On 26/09/2023 at 00:33, corsaircorp said:

Splendid collection !!

You can be proud of that achievement.

Sincerely.

CC

Thanks Alain! :thumbsup: They make quite an impression all together like that, uh? :winkgrin:

On 30/09/2023 at 10:43, The Spadgent said:

A truly magnificent model Giorgio and still your attention to the slightest detail fills me with deep joy for our hobby. It was an honour to spend more time with you all IRL as they say, and to see the finished kits in the flesh was something I’ll not forget. Jim’s museum is filling with some fine examples of what BM can offer.  Bravo that man. 🙌

 

 Johnny

Glad you liked it - and that it passed the "real life" scrutiny.... :winkgrin:  :D  And of course meeting with you and the others "in the flesh" was a lot of fun! :thumbsup:

 

Ciao

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  • 1 month later...

Just saw this Giorgio. That is some superb work you’ve done there, caro mio. To survive the camera’s merciless scrutiny so brilliantly in those close up pics is very impressive indeed! Five star!

 

Mike

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