RAF P-47 Thunderbolt, Razorback By Kyle Lord for Tim Connelly

First photos of the build. P47BUILD by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD1 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD2 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD3 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47 today. Here’s what he said, “I spent the last two nights picking out details on the cockpit and I also joined the front and rear cylinders to the engine. Tonight, I'm going to try to get the instrument panel painted black so I can apply the decal.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD10 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD11 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD12 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me two updates last evening and this morning on my RAF P-47 build. Here is what he said; “Cockpit decal went on, set down with micro-sol and clear coat on the dials. You can see how tiny it is. The wings both were glued together, and the fuselage complete with cockpit tub are now one piece. After a few hours, the wings and tail can go on and we'll be looking at an almost complete plane. It's starting to look like a Jug for sure. Wings and elevators are firmly affixed. A little putty to be done and I have to see how the prop fits into the existing setup. Pretty soon I'll be able to get the Jug and the P-40 in primer.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD15 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD14 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD13 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD21 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD20 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD19 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD18 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD16 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD16 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD26 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD25 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD24 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD23 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD22 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update this morning on my RAF P-47 build. Here is what he said; “I washed the prop with soap and water to remove and mold release. The plans have you glue onto little dimples on the hub. This didn't seem very strong to me so I opted to drill through the hub and leave some of the stem on the blades. They are a snug fit and I think much less likely to pop off. I still have to put a tiny drop of thin super glue to hold them but I wanted to do that with fresh eyes.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD27 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD28 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD29 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD30 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD31 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD32 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47, and this is what he said, “With the P-40 approaching the finish line I set aside some time for the Jug. I started doing some fills. The panels on the bottom of the wing were smoothed back with acetone. The fills in the wing fillets will need sanding as there was a step going from the wing to the fillet. I also assembled the rocket launchers and wing pylons.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD44 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD43 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD45 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD46 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD47 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47, and this is what he said, “Only had an hour last night to work so I'm still chipping away at seam filling and smoothing. I mounted the outer wing pylons as well. One side will require minor filling to blend it into the wing. I used Tamiya lacquer thinner instead of acetone to clean the putty and the results were much nicer. I'll have a few more days of cleaning seams but hopefully by this weekend I can get some primer on it.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD48 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD49 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD50 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD51 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD52 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD53 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47, and this is what he said, “The gap for the outer pylon was also filled and wiped smooth. I drilled the holes for the rocket launcher. Yes, they're marked from the inside but in my excitement, I joined the wings first before drilling. When I made the first hole I was off a bit, so that hole got filled with some styrene rod and will be cut filled and sanded smooth. After another round of sanding and minor putty she'll be ready for masking and primer.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD54 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD55 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD56 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD57 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD58 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD59 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD60 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD61 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD62 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD63 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47, and this is what he said, “Here she is in white primer. False alarm about those rivers, they came back just fine as the primer dried. I'll give this a day to cure, smooth out with 1500 and start by shooting the wheel wells with yellow zinc primer color.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD64 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD65 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD66 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD67 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD68 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47, and this is what he said, “Just wanted to shoot off a picture of the zinc coated wheel wells. I used Tamiya lacquer thinner to reduce the Tamiya acrylic paint. I'm please with the way it behaved.” Here is a photo: P47BUILD69 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47, and this is what he said, “I snuck down to the basement and shot flat earth onto the upper surfaces. I've decided to do the earth color, freehand the green color then mask and spray the gray last. I need to get the canopy covered with future and masked before that point, so the brown will have some time to harden.” Here are a couple of photos: P47BUILD70 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD71 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Well, heck. That is looking really good!

Well, heck, ... you're right, sir.

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47, and this is what he said, “Just a quick update to let you know I'm still kicking. I dunked both airplane canopies into future floor polish. The P-40 canopy came out much better this time. I have to do some cleanup today and reorganizing the shop but I'm going to try to get the engine into the P-47 cowling and paint interior green on the back walls of the cockpit. Spent last night painting the back walls to the cockpit. I also got the radial engine in the cowling, and that assembly went into the fuselage. I assembled the centerline drop tank, got the wheels onto their axles and put the caps onto the rocket launchers. Up next when I can will be masking and attaching the canopy and marking out for the camouflage pattern.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD72 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD73 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD74 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD75 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD76 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD77 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47, and this is what he said, “Got the canopy masked and fit into place. The sides are frisket film and the front piece and top is liquid masking. The fit of the canopy was snug so I had file the back edge. The canopy will be taken off, sprayed with interior green and permanently mounted. Then I'll be ready to start camo.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD79 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD80 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD81 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47, and this is what he said, “I painted the frames of the canopy interior green and then painted the corner flat earth to match the camouflage. Then last night I attached the rear portion of the canopy and the sight. Fingers crossed but I'm hoping to get the front portion of the windscreen attached and start marking where the green will go. If I'm lucky I'll get to paint the green tonight, but I have to see where the day takes me. Amanda helped me enlarge the patterns and reprint them. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to cut out the patterns and use them to draw the camouflage onto the plane. I'm looking forward to painting the green.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD82 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD83 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD84 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47, and this is what he said, “I cut out the brown parts of my photocopy, taped them into place and traced the line with pencil. The lines land into the green, so when I spray the green all of the pencil will be covered. I'll do that tomorrow afternoon as I have some errands in the morning.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD85 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD86 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD87 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD88 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD89 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD90 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD91 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47, and this is what he said, “Went back today and touched up with brown any areas I had gone too far with the green. Up next will be masking and painting the gray underside. Stay tuned, I just got the P-47 masked and ready for painting the bottom gray. I'm painting it in a couple minutes, I'll have some photos in a couple hours of it unmasked. I just did the gray I'm going to unmask and detail as needed, stay tuned.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD82 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD83 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD84 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD85 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD86 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD87 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD88 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD89 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD90 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD91 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD92 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD93 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD94 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD95 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD96 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD97 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD98 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47, and this is what he said, “Just finished the underside gray. My masking didn't work as well as I hoped so I went back and cleaned up the lines freehand. Once this is fully hardened, the airplane will get a coat of gloss clear to prepare it for the white lines and decals.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD99 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD100 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD101 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD102 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD103 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD104 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47, and this is what he said, “Just finished the gloss clear. This time I used Tamiya x-22 with Tamiya lacquer thinner. I'm going to give it a couple days until it's hard enough to mask on.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD105 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD106 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me two updates on my RAF P-47 build, and this is what he said, “Major milestone is complete. The white stripes are painted on, and I am quite pleased with the mask lines. I used 3m vinyl tape and it held very well. Two minor spots to scrape back inside panel lines, but believe me if I didn't point them out you wouldn't know they were there. Up next will be the decal application. Hopefully I can get started tonight. Then it will receive another coat of gloss clear to seal the decals in. I started on the decals last evening. So far, I’m quite impressed with their quality. They release quickly from the backing sheet, are thin enough to set down into details with a little micro-sol, and they stay down firmly. I have the WK O L decals to put on the side, the decal in the right side of the fin, and some nomenclature to put on, then I'll be ready for flat clear.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD107 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD108 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD109 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD110 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD111 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD112 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD113 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD114 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD115 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD116 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD117 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD118 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD119 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD120 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD121 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD122 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me two updates on my RAF P-47 build, and this is what he said, “Made some more progress with the decals. I must admit a small mistake. I started with the left side on the WK L. I went to the right side and though yeah it should still read WK L. So, I put them down, then as soon as the decals set down and dried I glanced at the directions, sure enough I put them on backwards! Well I yanked those off with a quickness, as if the longer they stayed like that the more people will know. I'll get the replacement set and get them right this time! I'll take the waiting time to finish the small decals and tank and rocket launchers so when they arrive, I'll just have to do the flat clear and glue everything on.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD123 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD124 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD125 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD126 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me two updates on my RAF P-47 build, and this is what he said, “I got the gear door covers on the legs and assembled the bombs.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD127 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD128 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47 build, and this is what he said, “Some photos of the P-47 still moving along. I have a few more nomenclature decals to apply and I'm still waiting on replacement RAF decals. In the meantime, I still have to do the prop tips and hub, and start priming and painting ordnance.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD129 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD130 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD131 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD132 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD133 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD134 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD135 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD136 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47 build, and this is what he said, “Well guess what, we're back in business! Decals are on and gear doors are in too. I'm going to help my friend on his 1/5 p47 but if I'm lucky I can get the flat clear on tonight.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD137 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD138 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD139 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD140 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD141 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD142 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47 build, and this is what he said, “This time I decanted model master dull cote, I'm very happy how it sprayed and laid out. It's by far the flattest clear I've used. I still have minor things to wrap up such as painting inside the cowling and painting the prop but were closer than ever.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD143 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD144 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD145 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD146 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD147 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD148 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47 build, and this is what he said, “I finally painted the yellow tips and bombs stripes for the P-47. I'm going to shoot the prop today with flat clear, then I'll be able to mask for spraying the hub silver. A few more steps and the two 1/72 planes will be complete. Then we can talk about display options. I got the ordnance on and started to mask the prop for the hub.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD165 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD166 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD158 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD159 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD160 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD161 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD162 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD163 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD164 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Wow, it's all looking great.

Kyle sent me an update last night on my RAF P-47 build, and this is what he said, “Here is the prop and the drop tank. I used testers metallizer aluminum. It's an interesting paint and has a rather realistic metal finish. I'm waiting for an opportunity to do a NMF plane. I'll get these on tonight and maybe do the wingtip lenses. Realistically I'll try to be wrapped up with the planes within the week, then it'll be full steam in the ESSEX.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD167 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD168 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim

Kyle sent me an update on my RAF P-47 build, and this is what he said, “Well here are pictures with the prop and tank in place. This is my poor attempt at a photo booth. Amanda was kind enough to hold the walls up, gotta figure something better out. So all that is left is the antenna mast, underwing lights and landing lights, and I gotta figure something out for wingtip lenses because I lost one to the carpet monster last night.” Here are some photos: P47BUILD175 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD176 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD169 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD170 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD171 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD172 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD173 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr P47BUILD174 by Tim Connelly, on Flickr Tim