P-47D Snafu/War Eagle - AirDave 1:33

[talls6]

Hello Everyone,

I decided to come out of the 1/87-1/100 scale for a bit and try my hand at a nice "big" project. When AirDave announced his 1:33 scale P-47D Snafu/War Eagle, I decided to jump on it. Needless to say, I am no faster on a big scale as I am on the small scale, almost 6 weeks later with just under 5 hours of building I have the cockpit and main fuselage completed.

The kit is very nice. This is my first kit by Dave and I am very impressed. The detail is excellent, the directions are pretty straight forward and he gives nice options to build. (Landing gear, Cockpit, Canopy, Etc...)

I started with the Cockpit and it went together fairly easily. Detail was good and when it gets buttoned up will look nice. I was not as successful in the fuselage section in front of the Cockpit. Nothing to do with the design, just the clumsy builder. I learned from my mistakes and the after section went together much better with tighter seams.

So far this is an enjoyable project. The P-47 is probably my favorite WW2 fighter. My apologies for the lack of photos so far. I will try to get more as this build goes on. For anyone looking for a good project, check on Dave's creations.

As always, comments and Critiques are welcome.
Darren

[Don Boose]

Looks good so far. I always like to see one of Dave's models being built.

Don

[MacSongLi]

Darren,

Very nice job on the pilot's office and the fuselage.

Gary

[milenio3]

Not bad at all, Darren!

If you follow the instructionscarefully, you won't have any issues at all.

[Richschindler]

Great build so far. Can't wait to see the finished product. Love the leggo stand, it's made out of paper, right? Lol

[talls6]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement.
Gerardo - That was my issue on the forward fuselage. I didn't trust my eyes and the instructions and got the formers to close to the edge and it didn't allow for a tight fit. Lesson Learned, onward and upward.
Richschindler - Why yes, those are the latest Paper Legos that everyone is wanting. They are a kit unto themselves.
Darren

[airdave]

I totally missed this!
As Don says, its always great to see "one of Dave's kits being built"!

With respect, I admit that the P47 takes a little bit of patience assembling the forward fuselage.
There are a couple of awkward angles and you have to take your time with the seams and connections.

You seem to getting through the job okay.
My only criticism would be the roughness of your cut edges.
You've got a few areas that are jagged and frayed.
Not sure what type of scissor or knife you are using
...the sharper the better for cleaner cuts and less "tearing"
and a little more edge colouring will help hide some of the roughness.

Woohoo, this is lovely!

[talls6]

Thanks Dave for the Critique and for checking in. I hope I can do you design Justice then it is all said and done.

I think the rough edges comes from my use of Water color pencils. I use them as I can match colors better, but they tend to make the edges "smush" a bit. I haven't figured out the best technique yet. I have used markers in the past, but while they color better and don't fray the edges, they tend to bleed to much for my taste. I was using a brand new blade on the cuts for this section. I will try to work on that aspect of my build.

Darren

[airdave]

Markers defintely bleed...it takes practice to to use them lightly.
I also recommend using "artist's markers" and fine tuning the colour choice.
Art markers come in a larger selection of colours, you can get something that is a closer match.
You can also opt for paler, lighter shades of colours that won't show as bad when they bleed.

I have tried "wet" pencils...not to my liking, but I know many others who recommend them.

[talls6]

Thanks again Dave,
I will try to find better markers than the ones I have now. They are considered "artist markers" so perhaps it is the applier (me) and not the marker?
I think the wet on the water color pencils softens the paper too much and the edges don't stay crisp. Perhaps, too much wet on my part.
Darren