1/48 Tamiya P-47 M Thunderbolt, 56th FG (FINISHED)......

Another beauty Joe!  

I wrapped this guy up last night.  To review, its the 1/48th scale Tamiya P-47M in the markings of the "Ugly Duckling", flown by Col. George Bostwick of the 56th FG/63rd FS.  Bostwick was an 8 kill ace to include an ME 262 jet.  The 56th FG was the only FG to get the "hot rod" Thunderbolts and they scored 4 ME 262 kills. Bostwick's came on March 25th 1945 when he caught one with his 8 fifies as it was taking off.

As I've said, the Tamiya Jugs are modeling bliss for me.  Pure joy everytime.  These are by far my favorite kits.  My example was built mostly out of the box, except for PE seatbelts and Ultracast tires.  My research revealed that the 56th did not use wing pylons for extra speed, so I did the same.  Of course afterwards I found a pic of this plane with pylons....ugh!.  I decided not to retrofit them.  I did manage to lose the canopy brace so I robbed one from another M in the stash.

Thanks for following this build and comments are welcome. 

Joe

Nice stumble Mart.  You won't be disappointed.  This and the razorback counterpart are probably my favorite kits.  You can make a D out of the M kit too....and your welcome on the pointers. 

Last night I got it clear coated and decaled.  I used a mixture of Superscale and the kit decals.  I had some uncharacterist wrinkling on the Superscale fuselage insignias.  I just couldn't get a few creases out.  I drenched them in  Micro Sol now they are barely noticeable.   Normally I dont have problems with Superscale.  The rudder was done in XF-8 Flat Blue lightened to match the tail codes with XF-2 Flat White. 

I also painted the prop and decaled it too. 

Almost time to dirty this turkey up with a Flory wash.....stay tuned

Joe

Joe,

Great build and WIP.  I just stumbled into this kit today in the clearance aisle at my LHS.  It was an opened return at a fabulous price. Wasn't I surprised to see you've got one underway.  

Thanks for the pointers and discussion.  Fantastic stuff.  

Best, Mart

Thanks Bvallot and Steve.  Bvallot, its just a matter of finding techniques and products your comfortable with.  It took me 15 years to find the right combination for my particular needs.  9 planes into this hobby I was still using a single action Badger 250 and Model Master emanels paints (not a dig, I just never really had luck with them).  Then on a whim, I tried out Tamiya's Olive Drab and it was like an epiphany for me.  I find that I get great control with their paint and I use them pretty much exclusively now.  I also found that when diluted with Isoprophyl, they make a great weathering tool by means of postshading.  Keep practicing and the continuity will come.  

Joe    

Wow, Joe, that's really looking good!  Looks like I will have to add an M to the stash!

Steve

Joe, it's really something to watch you paint.  You make these lines look so clean and pretty.  You've definitely established a niche in the style in which you do this.  Each plane I've done recently is so different from the next that they each have their own challenges.  So I never get the feeling of continuity between each build.  Consistently turning out similar builds to look like the one before it just hasn't happened for me yet in the 9 or so planes I've made.  So when I see the WIPs you post, I'm often left with this "son of a b!#@h" feeling.  lol

You make it look easy.  =]

GAF

Joe, don't let any of this scare you off!  Paint whatever you feel will look best, and damn the torpedoes! 

Thanks everyone for the compliments.  Antoni, thank you for the information on the colors, also great information about the 352nd too.  One of Preddy's "Cripes A Mighty " mounts is on my short list, so this will be useful when its time to throw down the blue nose. 

Gary, thanks for the encouragment.  I like to annoy my co-workers with the adage of "if you want it your way....Burger King is down the street".  That aside, I generally start out with the recommended formulas then eyeball them until they look good to me.  I've been doing this since I switched to Tamiya paints. 

Anyways, after him-hawing around on a scheme, I ultimately decided to do George Bostwick's Jug soley on the fact that he scored a 262 kill.  It also helped that the kit came with the markings.  I ordered Superscale sheet #48-1091 at Sprue Brothers with intent to build Eugene Andermatt's "Miss June" only to discover his plane was an early M and had no fillet....for the love of @#$!.  Well at least I can use the stenciling and insignias instead of the Tamiya ones.

I started by using Blue Tac to tape off the fuselage demarcation line.  The NMF wings and tail surface leading edges were taped off too.  I then painted the red cowl ring XF-7 Flat Red, taped it off, then blue tac'ed it to the plane.  I then sprayed the panel lines XF-1 Flat Black.  For the lighter blue, I mixed up the Tamiya recommendation of XF-18 Medium Blue, XF-2 Flat White, and X-16 Purple, which is supposed to be similar to Azure Blue.  I sprayed it and thought it looked too purple.  I added some XF-83 RAF Ocean Grey and liked it better.  Once It looked ok to my eye, I added white and made condensation streaks across the wings.   

I then used the instructions as a reference and masked off the camo pattern.  (note:  I had to tap into my fresh blue tac supply.....lol)

I then mixed up the darked blue.  I went with the reccommended XF-17 Sea Blue, XF-1 Flat Black then XF-2 Flat White.  It looked too grey to me so I added a touch of XF-8 Flat Blue.  I then added more white and streaked this too.  Here's how it turned out..

I removed all the tape and gave the air frame a light post shade.  I also taped off and sprayed the black band around the cowl.  I read some scuttlebutt that this band signified a jet kill, like a badge of honor, but I couldn't verify this.  Truth be told, I think it looks silly and kind of detracts from the overall look. 

I have no idea how accurate the blues are, but I'm pleased with how it looks so far.  I hope to get started on all of the fiddly bits soon. 

Joe

Great looking NMF, Joe!

Joe - Superb attention to details and construction work. This will be a beautiful representation of a genuine workhorse and sturdy war bird when completed, I'm looking forward to seeing it when finished.

Compressor: For about 35 years I used a diaphragm Badger, still works OK, then a Coleman with tank, but Herself finally said they're too loud, she's right. So a few months ago I bought a California Air Tools twin cylinder piston rig, less noise than the human voice when speaking, wish I had made the move LOOOONG ago. I have no affiliation with them, just a customer that's very happy with the product, and suggesting it as a consideration for replacing yours.

I ordered it online from Home Depot, US $170, free shipping to your home, (if in the US.) The wife and I both use hearing aids now, the other compressors were just plain uncomfortable to be around, this one fits my needs perfectly and is super quiet. Again, not a sales pitch, just a user recommendation.

Thanks so much for all the work you put into posting your progress, I learn a lot from following your work. Well done.

Patrick

Early colour films do fade or can have poor colour reproduction. Early Agfa often has a brownish caste that can turn light blues beige.

The colour photographs in Life magazine etc., were taken with Kodachrome which is different than other colour films and famous for not fading.

The majority of colour films use dye couplers. During development the colour forms by dyes coupling to couplers, hence the name. The dyes used in this system are not 'fast' and prone to fading.

Kodachrome has all the dyes already there, and during development the colour is formed by bleaching out the unwanted dye. This allowed Kodachrome to use dyes that were very 'fast' and did not fade.

Because this system differed so much from standard photographic film development you had to send it to a Kodachrome lab to be developed. There may have been a few independent labs but Kodrachrome effectively had a monopoly.

Cibachrome prints are made using similar technology where the dyes are bleached from the paper and I have had Cibachrome prints hanging on the walls of my house in full sunlight for decades without any sign of any fading.  

Antoni,

Unfortunately, the film use back then was different from what is used today (if anyone uses film anymore).  And, of course, film doesn't age well.  However, I'm wondering if Life or Saturday Evening Post magazines may have any photos that were printed in their publications?  Not sure how magazine images would fade over time.

Well, I've already noted the thread over at "P-47 Heaven" above, but I'll leave this extract here concerning the 61st fighter group. 

Hi Todd, and welcome.
Its very interesting that Krys Lanowski is saying his fathers plane was black, as its early 1970's colour profiles of Lannys HV-Z that appear to have started the colour debate. Notably, early publications always stated the 61st FS M's to be painted black.
Just goes to show that if something is said often enough it can become a "fact".

Heres an interesting angle on the 61st FS M's.
Little Friends lists 27 M's allocated to the 61st FS.
3 pilots have stated the aircraft were black. ( waiting to hear back from a 4th)
One pilots son has also stated the aircraft as being painted black.
Not all of the aircraft have allocated pilots confirmed as yet.
Of the 12 that do, we have 25 % of the pilots confirming they were painted black.

I shall leave it to the indivudual modeller can draw their own conclusions.
Nige

Gary

PS> Joe, don't let any of this scare you off!  Paint whatever you feel will look best, and damn the torpedoes!  I look forward to the sequins on the wings... (speaking of Michael Jackson, the pop star)

Professional photographers and many amateurs, including myself, will deliberately underexpose colour transparency film by half or one stop to produce more saturated colours. Light blues can look much more intense than they were in reality.

There are some obscure black pigments  but the common one is carbon black. This is a soft pigment that does not produce a good black paint. Many black paints are in fact very dark blue, purple, brown etc. Other pigments may be added to the carbon black to improve things. The colour Night was a mixture of carbon black and Ultramarine pigments. The Ultramarine made the paint harder and more durable. The overspray had a Prussian Blue look and consequently stencilling painted with Night could look dark blue.

RAF paints were used is one story. Techmod give Dark Sea Grey, Medium Sea Grey and Sky for Pengie IV. This is pausable. One story that seems to be very credible comes from Sam Sox Jr of the 352nd Fighter Group Association.

“The name panels for Moonbeam and Eleen were medium blue. The medium blue had gotten some lighter since blues during the '40s was very prone to oxidising. When all 352nd Mustangs were repainted in September of '44 to the darker blue, the RAF colour Deep Sky Blue, any Mustang which had been previously painted the medium retained the original name plates  rather than have the squadron painter, Sgt. Sam Perry, repaint them, hence the lighter back ground of the name panels. Petie 3rd was received by Meyer  after mid-September so it had never been painted the medium blue and the name panel and aircraft was Deep Sky Blue”.

Another story is that they mixed up their colours from a cache of car paint they found.

According to Gładych Pengie V's colour was match to his dinner jacket.

www.network54.com/.../Remnant+of+Elusive+Black+Paint+used+on+61st+FS+56th+FG+P-47M%27s+-+Photos

AJPress shoud be releasing a book on the 56th FG soon. I think they are planning more then one volume. There will be unpublished photos and decal sheet. Hopefully there will be more information about the various schemes they used.  

Joe,

You should be able to find it at Sprue Bros

lawdog114

Thanks guys.  Gary, sweet pic!.  That's Michael Jackson's plane right? (not the late the king of pop).  I could have sworn the 62nd FS, used RAF colors.  I suppose you can't believe everything you read........or perhaps that RAF colors are correct and this color photo was doctored?  That would explain the grey underside.  Who knows...I try not to sweat these details too much.  I'm convinced nobody, not even the pilots, really knew for sure.    

Joe,

Yeah, that's the problem with old photos.  You never know whether to trust them or not.  I was actually hoping you might have more concrete information than I do, as I have a couple of Tamiya jugs in the closet and was thinking of a 56th color scheme.  Oh, well!

Oh, and it's possible the underside is actually NMF.  I've read some info on that.  Either way, it makes for an interesting color combo.

Nice start on the NMF, BTW!  You'll do your usual outstanding work, I'm certain. 

Gary

Thanks guys.  Gary, sweet pic!.  That's Michael Jackson's plane right? (not the late the king of pop).  I could have sworn the 62nd FS, used RAF colors.  I suppose you can't believe everything you read........or perhaps that RAF colors are correct and this color photo was doctored?  That would explain the grey underside.  Who knows...I try not to sweat these details too much.  I'm convinced nobody, not even the pilots, really knew for sure.    

Dflu, Jim, and Bvallot, thank you for the compliments and input which is alway welcomed. I unfortunately painted the inner cowl per the kit instructions, being Zinc Chromate Neutral Grey.  It won't be seen much anyways.  

Radmax, where can I find Andermatt's markings?  "Miss June" might fit the bill. I may just build McBath's Dottie which looks interesting to me.  

Anyways folks, I was able prime the plane and get the NMF down last night. Unfortunately my compressor is on its last legs.  I think one of the pistons is shot since its getting progressively louder and won't expell air evenly anymore.  The longer I hold open the trigger the more the pressure plummets.....rather annoying.  Since this is my second Silentaire Scorpion and their customer service is crappy as well, I'm done with them.   Nice job Silentaire, I probably just cost you a few customers. 

I started with a base color of Alclad Duraluminum.  Due to my aforementioned compressor issues, some spots came out gritty, like pebbles.  I had to sand this out with 2000 grit paper.  I then broke out the Tamiya tape and started painting certain panels different shades of Alclad.  Here I'm about to get started.....you get the idea.

I painted the control surfaces Semi-matte Aluminum, other panels got regular Aluminum and Dark Aluminum.  After a few hours of messing around with it, I came up with this. 

The M had the leading wing and tail plane edges in NMF. I took car of this at this point.

God willing, I'll figure out which subject I'll be doing soon and I can get going on the scheme. 

Joe 

Joe,

This is looking great! It's making me all itchy to build my P-47D now... Of course I've got to wrap up my La-7 (not too bad) and my B-25 (that's been WIP for almost 3 years now) first. When I built this kit, I found decals for 1st Lt. Eugene Andermatt's "Miss June", who also shot down an Me-262. The instructions call out for Insignia Blue and Azure Blue upper surfaces with a Medium Blue rudder (I think I used Ford Engine Blue).

Anyway, just figured I'd give you another option since you didn't seem so sure.

Joe, another fantastic build coming together. =]  Sorry I can't contribute much here.  These aren't the jugs I'm most familiar with ;)  That engine looks great!  I'll definitely have to keep my eyes out for this kit. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Just a FYI Joe. While getting info from Joe Potts (WWII P-47 Pilot) on his plane, he said that the inside of his cowl was painted Interior Green. This might have been specific to just his Sqdn. or Ftr. Grp.

Jim 

This one is looking dang nice, Joe. I hope you're feeling better. The stomach flu ravaged our entire house a couple of months back and it wasn't fun at all.

Boy I really hope Tamiya does a 1/32 Jug soon. Just up-scaling this one would beat the two that are already available in that scale.

I was wondering what the documentation for this two-tone blue paint scheme was, Joe?  I've seen all sorts of pictures and schemes of these birds in this color, but is there any documentation (pilot remembrance, ground crew report,  or similar) that states what paint was used?

Just for discussion, I've seen color pictures of these aircraft, but I don't exactly trust old photos completely.  They tend to color shift over time.  Take a look at this one.

If this is dark blue, then it has the same hue as the national insignia on the side.  You would think the propeller would be black, until you look at the top blade... which has a "bluish" tint to it.

Also, it appears to my eyes that this may be a "3 color scheme", with dark blue, light blue and grey underside.  It's hard to tell in shadow, but looking back towards the tail wheel it does appear as if the underside might be grey ( or just muddy).

Was hoping you might have more concrete proof of colors here. 

Thanks!

Gary

PS>  I notice the inside of the cowl doesn't seem to be painted.  They were usually natural anodized aluminum.

PPS> Odd, I could have sworn that picture was there when I posted.  Oh, well.

Thanks Panzer and Gary.  I'm leaning towards a 63rd subject because I find the two tone blue appealing. I'll probably eyeball these colors with my Tamiya paints.  I've had the stomach flu for the past week so I've been out of commission.  The other night  I got the frame together with no issues.  I test fitted the engine, cowl, rudder and flaps.  All indicate they will fit nice.

Here's a shot of why I rig my radials.  They just look naked without ignition wires.

Soon I hope to prime it and spray the NMF lower surface.  I'm still trying to decide on a subject.  I've considered George Bostwick's Jug but everyone who does a two tone blue scheme seems to build that one.  There just doesn't seem to be many options available and I like that he had a 262 kill to his credit.  I'll probably just do his plane. 

Joe

Joe,

You might want to peruse this old thread over at "P47 Heaven" before deciding on a paint scheme.

http://p47.kitmaker.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=127214&ord=&page=1

(Afraid you will have to copy and paste the link.  It doesn't allow hot linking).

Gary

Excellent work so far, Joe!

I really like the tone and finish of that pit! I thought I'd chime in on the color schemes for M's.

I've got that kit and similar decals in my stash for a future time. I had done a lot of research on the colors a few years back. It seems the 56thFG did some of the usual "aquiring" of paint as they saw fit. The Grey tone is most likely the same grey used on spitfires, (The Ocean Grey or Medium Sea Grey), as I found some mention they came across an RAF paint stock.

The closest blue I came up with for the darker tone is MM Insignia Blue. (There is so much controversy, as you mentioned, about this shade of blue that I am not sure what is "right", though I did read some saying it was "Dark French Blue")

Thanks guys.  I'm glad you find some of my techniques useful.  The Thunderbolt is one of my favorites too.  It certainly would have been my first choice if I were in these heroes shoes back then.  I actually wanted to be an A-10 pilot growing up but my hopes were quickly dashed when I found out my uncorrected eyesight was not good enough.   It was A-10 pilot or nothing for me much to the recruiter's dismay.  

Here's the tutorial on how I rig my radials for those interested.... 

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/149327.aspx

Joe

Amazing so far, I'm going to be watching this as the Jug is one of my favorite planes.  Like the others I really appreciate the detailed how-to with each picture.

Great looking engine I always find your builds very informative.

That cockpit tub and engine look awesome, Joe! Thanks a bunch for posting all those mini tutorials in your build reports. I saw your technique for wiring engines a while ago and adopted it right away.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate you sharing the "how to " details on  this build.  As an aspiring realist modeler, I am learning a ton from your detailed descriptions.  This Thunderbolt is going to be my next build and I am anxious to attempt the techniques you are sharing here. TY TY TY

Sorry I took so long to reply. The Aero master sheet the decals came recommended flat sea blue and intermediate blue. It look right so....