1/48 Tamiya P-47D Thunderbolt. Lt. Col. Francis Gabreski (Complete)

Looks great! What did you use for the interior color?

Paintwork looks amazing. Like you, I've used the Tamiya decal for the seatbelt on a plane... never again!

Great looking Thunderbolt and what a shine! 

damouav

Great build mate, well done.

 

Thanks!

lawdog114

Outstanding.  That gloss coat technique is fantastic isn't it?  

 

Thanks - I love the X22/MCLT gloss coat - smooth as glass. 

Great build mate, well done.

Outstanding.  That gloss coat technique is fantastic isn't it?  

Gloss coat complete with Tamiya X22 and Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. This is one of my favorite parts of the build process. 

Wrapping this up soon. I have a couple of interesting ones looking at me from the shelf. 

keavdog

Coming along nicely!  That is such a great kit.

 

Thanks John. It really is a pleasure to build. I'm really impressed with the detail and fit. 

lawdog114

Outstanding work. I’ll be starting my Gabby Jug tonight. Mine will get full invasion stripes. I agree, on a scale model neat looks better even if it’s less than accurate. I’ve read these stripes were slopped on with mops. Not conducive to scale modeling.

 

Agreed and thanks. I'm looking forward to seeing yours.

JohnnyK

I love Jugs. A real bada$$ airplane.

 

Agreed!

Coming along nicely!  That is such a great kit.

I love Jugs. A real bada$$ airplane.

Here's the latest update. Main construction and painting is complete. I decided to depict the July 20, 1944 version of Gabby's jug.

This subject is an interesting challenge because the actual photos show some significant overspray of white on the black invasion stripes, overspray of the serial number paint on the tail and the overall look of the Ocean gray over the dark green is inconsistent and sketchy. It all has the look of camo and markings hastily applied at the unit level as we'd expect -- not a factory job!  However, if one decides to replicate the field-applied paint job, the model is going to look a little sloppy IMO (at least for me). So I decided to avoid overspray, tape lines, and inconsistent camo. Hopefully the model will still capture the spirit of Gabby's jug. 

I primed, preshaded and then painted the invasion stripes and red cowl and rudder sections.

I masked these and painted the undersides with AK real colors Medium Sea Grey. For the upper sections, I started with RAF Dark Green overall, added some panel fading and shadows with lighter and darker versions of the main color. Then I painted the Ocean Gray camo color freehand, along with some fading and shading. Fortunately the masking worked well and only minor touch up was required. 

Gloss coat and decals are next.  

Thanks Tempest, Brandon and Lawdog!

You can't go wrong with Jugs or this Bada** pilot. This is gonna be one to really watch.

BK