tim dix Posted April 5, 2010 Share Posted April 5, 2010 (edited) Hi, I chose the 1/72 P-47 starter kit for two reasons, a, it had six paints and 2 brushes, and B, I have never built a WWII kit before and fancied some thing new. The paints you get are, black, silver, yellow, red, olive drab and medium grey.These are great selection as from these you can do pretty much every colour you need, even a flesh tone to do the pilot. I quite like these paints as I dont really use an airbrush, (not for any grand 'I dont need one' reason, Ive got one, I am simply I am not very good at it!) I find you can water them down and use them to wash and stain the kit. The kit looks ok, raised panel lines, lots of rivets, no cockpit detail at all, apart from a seat and a pilot, but this doeasn't really detract from the kit. Like I said, Ive never built an old plane before, so I wouldnt really know what was good and what was bad anyway. I started by painting the engine (a mix of silver and black), and the insides of the wheel wells a mixed chromite yellow (ish)colour. I then tried mixing a better interior green, but failed until near the end of the build my wife suggested mixing the grey and yellow, as the grey is quite blueish it worked ok. Next up was the pilot. I wasn't really sure what colour they would be wearing, so i just went for a greeny colour with yellow life jacket, and kind of gave him a wash of darkened base colur heavily watered down. Now I did make a bit of a mistake next, I thought the cockpit looked so sparse, I used a spare drop tank/ bomb (not sure what it was) from the kit, and some flash of the wings to make a bulk head and a control column, however, I then read the rules again and realised this may be a little bit on the wrong side of the line, so I removed them and left it the way Airfix intended. As it goes, it doesnt look too bad. I then got all main bits stuck together. I used rubber bands to hold it tight whilst the glue dried (the only time I used tape in the whole build was to keep the up so the angle was right and no major gap left at the root. I painted the inside of the cowl the chormite yellow again, and put the engine in (after being given a dark wash with the black paint supplied) then put it on the front end. Whilst the glue was drying I started to paint the main colours. I found the best way to use these paints was one coat neat, the next few watered down until a good cover is complete. Then it was bed time! This morning ,once all household duties had been performed (just in case my wife reads this), I continued with the painting of the main parts and odds and sods. The red on the tail was mixed with black to get a darker more realsitic hue. The whole kit was then given a bit of a weathering with a black wash and silver paint used to simulate paint chips (the box art showed the aircraft in question was very shabby, so I tried to present the aircraft as such). (again using the black from the kit) Then the decals were put on. these are really nice, though I did have to cut the large insignia on the underside to go around the bomb pylon. After this, the prop was added, and the glass, bombs and silver fuel tank (I am not sure if this is put on the right way round). I will put a few more pics in the completed builds. All in all, I am well chuffed with it. It is actually a very nice little kit, ok the details are a bit sparse but I dont think this was the aim of the kit or GB. Every thing I used came in the box, apart from a yellow modellers knife, tweezers, a couple of rubber bands and an old pair of nail clippers I have used since I was a kid (for modelling purposes I hasten to add). Well done airfix, spot on kit for a starter model. I hope you like the finished article, My daughter I zzy will be doing her Gazelle this week (she was distracted by her new Star Wars lego today). I will prob nip down to the shops to get another one too! Regards Tim Edited April 5, 2010 by tim dix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plastic Bonsai Posted April 5, 2010 Share Posted April 5, 2010 Nicely done Tim. The rules just limit your tools and what's in the box. What you do with the contents ( spare parts, sprue, flash even) is up to you. I know what you mean about fancying another go. Quite addictive aren't they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milo Black Posted April 5, 2010 Share Posted April 5, 2010 Lovely stuff, Tim - great-looking plane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackLight Posted April 5, 2010 Share Posted April 5, 2010 If this is a 24hrs. job...for me it's quiet good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 Nice work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Gunthwaite Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 Good Stuff Tim! You beat me to have the first P-47 finished. It looks like the white transfer for the tail goes over the red paint Ok - i was a bit concerned about the red showing through and ending up with a pink stripe. I've going to have one more coat of Olive Drab on mine then the transfers go on. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magpie Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 That's come out very well, quite a decent paint job. Have a day off work tomorrow and will attempt my P47D. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim dix Posted April 12, 2010 Author Share Posted April 12, 2010 thx for all your kind comments guys. Al and Tim, your P-47's look great too, I esp the love the inflight pose! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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