#21
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Awesome job Dave. Looking good.
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#22
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#23
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And by the way...GREAT looking model Dave!!...
...wonder how it will look at 1/24?....Rich
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#24
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Great job Dave, the pilot's office looks fantastic (the detailing of the gunsite are really nice).
Gary
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#25
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Very nice job, especially the beautifully detailed instrument panel. Such neat round holes!
Erik |
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#26
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I started fitting together the wing internals today.
Everything looks okay so far. It seems to be what I had planned. So, I am moving forward. The old P47 kit required you to assemble the wing internals on the fuselage. My new wing internals aren't any different...just more parts to put together. You have to install the main spars through the fuselage, and then fit the ribs and braces and wheel wells. And once its all glued together, the parts are locked into the fuselage. I don't see this as a problem? As long as your fuselage is completed to the required stage. Only thing I don't like is you have to handle everything during assembly. It gets a bit tricky...like you need four hands! I glued up one side...and then I got to thinking, if this is all okay, why waste the formers, and wheel wells (and cockpit) on the white build? I am ready to do up some coloured skins (because the fuselage is sorted), so maybe I will pull out the wings, before I lock up the opposite side and put all these parts into a colour build. I can pull out the cockpit and Tail Wheel box too. Anyway, this is the glued up side of the wings, with the new wheel well in place along with a whole set of braces.
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#27
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I like the wing spar braces.
Gary
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"Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything" - Wyatt Earp Design Group Alpha https://ecardmodels.com/vendors/design-group-alpha |
#28
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So...I have dismantled the test build...saved the cockpit tub and the Tail gear and Box.
Also saved the partially constructed Wing internals and Gear boxes. Was also able to remove all the formers from the fuselage, so I don't have to reprint and recut those. yay! And now I am attempting a full build in full colour. I will also photograph the entire build to create another Build Photoset. I'll post that a little later on. This "test build" and the first release of the new P47s, will be aircraft #44-32691. This is the Jug that is on display at the Udvar-Hazy (Smithsonian) Center which I got a very close look at. Its a mostly bare metal aircraft, so I got to experiment with some new metal colouring. I found the first printing to be a little washed out. (see the first pic below) I have since darkened up the colouring. (re: the second pic) Not sure why I continued the build with the first print, but I did...so I ain't stopping now.
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#29
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Warning - rambling Editorial about to commence!
Shut up and go away if you don't want to hear me talk. These thoughts and "facts" are based on what I have read on many forums and websites as well as in various publications related to the Tuskegee Airmen, the 332nd fighter group and the use of P47s in WW2. I am only relating the mix of details and information I have found and do not claim anything as factual or historically accurate. I started researching this topic because I wanted to produce a bare metal razorback P47 kit. I also wanted to produce at least one tuskegee Airmen P47. I am already aware of diecast models and profile artworks depicting bare metal Tuskegee P47s. So, that became the goal...a bare metal P47 razorback 332nd FG aircraft. Bare metal P47 Razorbacks serving with the Tuskegee Airmen fighter group in Italy during WW2...? highly unlikely unless the aircraft were stripped of paint before delivery? But...I have seen photos of bare metal P47s...in 332nd use. I have a photo of Benjamin O Davis climbing into a P47D razorback (probably #42-25280 which fits the type, delivery and time frame for that aircraft). Doesn't mean it is a 332nd combat aircraft...just means Davis got into that aircraft. Maybe just staged for a photograph? Most P47Ds, in Italy and that area, during 1944 were Olive Drab paint scheme. It is not disputed that the 332nd received P-47 Thunderbolts during 1944. However, these aircraft were hand-me-downs from the 325th FG and were only used by the 332nd for about four weeks. The 325th apparently had one, maybe two, bare metal Razorbacks at that time. The initial P47s received by the 332nd were all P47D Razorbacks...but there seems to be much confusion over their paint schemes ...or at least how they were delivered to the 325th. Every picture I have seen of the 325th P47 razorbacks (at that time) shows them as OD upper, with a wavy edged gray lower paint scheme with type 4 30/35" USAF bar and star markings (in factory placement - aft of the the intercooler doors). Known as the "checkertail squadron", the 325th aircraft had a black and yellow checker paint scheme across their tail Rudder and horizontal elevators. The claim is that the "red tail" started with the P47s. Reports of the first "red tail" 332nd aircraft rely on the idea of at least one 325th P47 having its tail artwork covered in red paint when it arrived. [important to note...there are reports of no more than one aircraft getting the red tail paint job.] If this is the case, why is only the vertical tail shown as being red (on all Tuskegee Airmen P47 artworks) and not the elevators? Since "red tails" was not a thing yet, wouldn't the entire checker pattern been painted over? But if the aircraft were bare metal finish...stripped of paint before delivery to the 332nd... why would the tail surfaces still have the checker paintwork anyway? Another common feature of 332nd P47 aircraft artwork is the addition of yellow stripes and trim tabs on all wings...something that is common on later Mustang Squadrons. Is this just a shout out to future design elements? I don't see why this would have been added at that time. According to one source, the P47s did not see any combat operations with the 332nd. With only four weeks service with the 332nd this might be believable. However, isn't patrol and recon considered to be combat? The reports of a 332nd aircrcaft sinking a German Destroyer while out on a patrol mission are now known to be greatly misinterpreted. A German "boat" was indeed damaged by an attacking 332nd aircraft and damaged enough to not be able to continue and was forced to return to port. (It was later scuttled due to being irrepairable). But it was not "destroyed". The "Destroyer" was later classed as a Patrol Boat ...some reports even say it was a small Tanker or supply boat...and the attacking aircraft was in fact a P47 (not a P51 Mustang as depicted in the Red Tails movie). So, if I am going to produce a "Tuskegee Airmen" bare metal razorback P47, it seems its gonna have to be an invention of my imagination. I'm going to guess that the aircraft in that photo of B.O. Davis is 42-25280 (a known P-47D-20-RE in bare metal finish)...and I will add a red vertical tail in honour of the tuskegee airmen, as well as a red front cowling (commonplace anyway). I am going to use the factory placement Type 4 insignia as depicted on most 325th P47s, but no side aircraft number. I will also not install yellow bands on the wings as seen on later 332nd Mustangs. Anyone got a problem with my theories and model design intentions? Or, you got a better idea of what to do about a Tuskegee Airmen P47? Please let me know. ... AS A FOLLOW UP TO THIS COMMENTARY... I came across this painting by Jerry Taliaferro. Nice artwork by the way! I don't usually use profile artworks as refernce, but this is the most accurate depiction I have come across yet. (At least, thats my opinion) The aircraft is painted OD with gray lowers...exactly as 325th P47s were. The entire tail vertical and horizontals have been painted red (presumably to cover the checker artwork). the nose has been freshly recoated red (to cover red or white banding). The large 34 side numbers agree with most photos of the real 325th aircraft. I think the side insignia is wrong...photos show 325th P47s with the smaller, aft placed insignia. (The larger insignia was placed forwards, to make room for additional buzz codes at the tail. And I am unsure about the use, at that time, of the black (100thFS) trim tabs. Maybe, a Tuskegee Airmen tribute should look like this?
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SUPPORT ME PLEASE: PaperModelShop Or, my models at ecardmodels: Dave'sCardCreations Last edited by airdave; 03-01-2015 at 10:40 AM. |
#30
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IMO, from what you've said, without 100% reliable evidence, no single interpretation is going to be correct. As such, a "generic" P-47 kit designed as a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen is probably the best bet. It honours their memory regardless.
Niki |
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