P-47D 1/87 scale Scissors and Planes

[talls6]

Hello,
For my next project I thought I would try a P-47D from Bruno and Scissors and planes. But in my crazy mind I thought it would be fun to modify it "slightly". So that being said I figured what a better way to start my very first build thread than to go all in on this.
Here are my plans at this point.
1. Copy to Metallic paper
2. Scratch build cockpit
3. Scale from 1/100 to 1/87 to join the HO scale crew
4. Add machine gun blast tubes, bazooka style rocket launchers and either drop tanks or 500 lb bombs
5. clear canopy to show off scratch built cockpit
6. order straight jacket
7. scratch build landing gear wells and landing gear
So now that you are all laughing at my dreams, here we go. It can only go 3 ways.....really good, really bad, or meh....

Here are 3 photos of my progress so far. I have to say it took me almost 3 weeks to get the metallic paper correct. Printed it 3 times, got it right once, only to have my spray sealer go "splotchy" on me and ruin a really good copy.

I started with the Cockpit. Not going to try to get to much detail in there as from my 1/72 days a lot gets lost when you close a canopy over it. Not a lot of progress so far as my 4 kids keep my attention most of the time. Thanks for checking in. Any suggestions are always welcome.
Darren

[Leif Ohlsson]

I applaud the choice of scale! (Can't do it myself, unfortunately, tried it). - L.

[talls6]

Thanks Leif. It was your posts and John Dells that tipped me over the edge and made me settle on that scale. Besides, it was about as big as my home printer would let me scale up without losing too many parts of the edge of the paper. Now I cannot promise to be even close to the proficiancy that others are at that scale. Maybe someday. - Darren

[chaparral2d]

This is going to be great!

Dave

[talls6]

Hello Everyone,
My apologies for the snail’s pace on this build. Just because it is small doesn't mean that I am any quicker. It's amazing what 4 small children will do to your free time.....I was able to eek out a couple hours this past weekend when everyone fell asleep early.
So here is what I accomplished.
I continued to build on the cockpit. Not sure if I like it, so I may start over. I was able to confirm the fit so that was good. I included a picture as I am an equal opportunity picture poster. Both good and bad....if anyone has input on what can be improved....I am just not pleased yet. I am planning to build the fuselage in 2 parts and join them toward the end of the build so I can change it if I want.
I cut out the landing gear covers and proceeded to build in the wheel wells. I thought they turned out pretty good for my poor scratch building skills. One note however, if you decide to do this step, score your folds first. I didn't and I had some pleasant comments to myself as I tried to not destroy what I just did.
I joined the main fuselage with the Front Cowl. I left some added material on the fuselage as I wanted to cut open the cowl flaps and needed to have some backing behind them. I thought they turned out good. In retrospect I should have tried to get the top and bottom portions butt joined while the cowl flaps were overlapped.
Hopefully this week will be the tail assembly. It should be pretty straight forward.
Darren

[talls6]

Hello,
I little progress this week. I was able to form the main back fuselage pieces. I still am debating on the cockpit so I refrained from putting the fuselage together. That being said I moved onto the .50 Cal machine gun tubes. I used 21 Ga veterinary needles, which I cut, crimped back open. and then reamed out the ends to get them back into circular form. After inserting them through the holes I glued them down. I was able to then seal up the wing structure and moved on to the tailplanes and vertical stabilizer. Thanks for looking. -Darren

[Don Boose]

Good work on this tiny gem of a Jug.

Don

[scissorsandplanes]

Really looking forward to see the result of this improved build.
First pictures show spectacular detail.
Thanks, Darren

(Don, three posts to go to reach 10,000 )

[talls6]

Thank you Don and Bruno. I appreciate the Kind words from master craftsmen such as yoursselves. Bruno, I keep marveling at the excellant weathering detail on this fine bird. To me the metallic paper really makes it stand out. I will try to not muck it up. - Darren
P.S - The lime green tubes on the overview picture are going to the be the 3.5" Bazooka launchers used prior to the zero length launchers late in the war. I hope I got the scale correct.

[YOAVHOZMI]

good looking one....well done

YOAV