Back in early December, I was over at The Fossils’ (my parents’) and helping them put the Christmas lights up on the house I grew up in. While I was digging around in their garage for the decorations, I came across a small, sealed, unmarked cardboard box and instantly recognize the sound of loose styrene rattling around inside. I opened it up and was surprised and confused by what I found inside.
It was an old Monogram P-47D.
The kit had been started and it still had all its parts. The instructions indicated the painting guide and decals were for Schilling’s Hairless Joe, but I didn’t find any decals in the box. A little research on the interweb told me it was Monogram’s “High Tech” boxing from their 1967 molds (date was stamped on the stabilizer). The strange thing was, I stepped away from the hobby about 10 years ago, and have only started up again within the last few years, so I wonder how long that kit’s been there.
Further, I didn’t remember buying or starting this kit. My folks didn’t know where it came from; they didn’t even know that it was in their garage. They thought that it was mine, but I’m not sure that could be. This kit included a fret of photoetch, but I’d never built a kit using PE. I’ve never even purchased a kit with PE, much less attempted one. I found the kit with one of the stabilizers cut free, so I ended up cutting the second one free to match. Lastly, the sub-assemblies had been completed and didn’t show the use of any filler at all. I KNOW that it couldn’t be my work!
Anyway, I figured I’d build it up for the Jugs GB. Why not? It was a free kit and it served as practice. So, here’s the finished product.
I rescribed the kit and shot it with Alclad paint. It was primed with Alclad’s white microfiller then sprayed with their White Aluminum. Once it was covered, I post shaded some panel lines with Testors’ Gloss Black in the little square bottle, then resprayed with more White Aluminum darkened to various shades using different amounts of Alclad Steel.
The blast tubes were missing when I found the kit, so I replaced ‘em with some SS tubing. I rebuilt the belly tank attachments using some fine wire. I know it’s not 100% accurate, but it’s better. Additionally, I rebuilt the vents behind the cowling using some aluminum from a soda can. The waste tube was replaced with some styrene tube. I think the decals came from an old SuperScale sheet that I had.
Anyway, feel free to share your comments and criticisms.
Thanks for lookin’!
Cheers,
-O