My P-47D is finished......Gabby flies again!

OMG! That is so cool! Absolutely beautifull!

Very, very nice!.

Excellent build, Mike!  Definitely one to be proud of.

Mark

Mike,

What a fantastic job!  I'm getting back into modeling after nearly 15 years out of the hobby and can only aspire to do a job like this!  My first attempt is a C-47, also with invasion stripes, so any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.  I was inspired by the "Band of Brothers" series I recently watched.  I've just finished the cockpit and am preparing to join the fuselage.  My 'assistant' will be my 4-year-old son, so that will make for a little extra challenge in itself.  I will try to put some pictures up as I progress.

Again, that P-47D is beautiful! 

Bob

Awesome work.
I like the panel line detailing, without looking over-weathered. That, and Gabreski's paint scheme are very, very nice. Gotta love all those kill markings.

I take it you painted the camouflage freehand, a skill I have yet to master. You can get around the problem of the black stripes on the fuselage by modelling a slightly different version that had the no black stripes, just white with a thin black border. Techmod produce decals in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 scales for two variations of this scheme including the fuselage stripes. You can see what I mean here:

http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=TM32011

They also have decals for a razorback P-47D that he flew which can make an interesting contrast in anyone's collection.

Beautifull Jug Mike....outstanding AB work. Thanks for the look.

Jerry

Beautiful job on the jug Mike.

Very nice Mike.  Great looking Jug.  Gabby would be proud .

Regards,  Rick

Sweet. My favorite bird....

Steve

creekdude wrote:

Awesome!!!Great build of one of my favorites! I do have one question..maybe some others will know the answer. Like Hogan said earlier, I was going to build the C-47 from BoB but the invasion stripe thing has me puzzled. I know in the HBO series when the paratroopers are standing around the C-47, the invasion stripes look like the were free handed. In other words, hastily painted on. Now what I would like to know is were they just slopped on at the last minute or did the painters have a few days time to mark off lines, paint carefully, what not? But back to your bird...That's a sure contest winner!

The invasion stripes were to be painted with a special type of paint that could be washed off with hot water. Squadrons were told in advance to hold sufficient stocks of this paint to apply the stripes. The stripes could not be painted on in advance because it would give the game away that something was about to happen. There was only 24 hours notice and the the stripes were painted on overnight in most cases (between operations). Aircraft not involved with invasion operations did not have the stripes. In many cases the stripes were applied in a very slap-dash manner. Sometimes they were tidied up later on. After all that the invasion was delayed due to bad weather. Hurry up and wait as they say in the army.

Mike, which brush did you use for the camo? The finish is absolutely stunning!

E

H3nav wrote:

Mike, which brush did you use for the camo? The finish is absolutely stunning!   E