Here's the weekend's work...

Initial test-fit shows a ton of promise:

All the reviews of this Jug talk about how the internal ducting is necessary to support the cockpit tub. LIES.

I'm using Eduard's interior PE to dress up the interior...last night got most of the "pre-paint" bits laid down.

The PE seat was a bit of a pain, but sooo much better than the kit piece.

Next up is paint, color PE bits (there's a whole fret of those), weathering. I've also got a set of HGW microtextile belts, and have a Master Details resin Mk.VIII gunsight on order.

Geof

SF! Looks good! I kept mine pretty simple. Didn't even add belts, which is unusual for me, but I swore I would build this one OOB period!

A couple of things to watch. The gun fairings and hatch cover have tow different versions for some reason. The big ones are the correct ones. I almost created a major nightmare for myself with this near oversight. Other than that the kit is pretty straight forward. You will be at my stage very quickly. The only other annoying thing were the wing root lines in the wheel bays. There really isn't any way to fix this without ruining the raised detail of the wells. I just filled them with thick CA and smoothed them as best I could. Looking forward to seeing yours in the process!!

Geof: Are you building yours with the gun bay covers open or closed? I was at first tempted to leave them open just for variety's sake, but there's really not much there and I'm not inclined to add a detail set at this point.

Also curious how you handled the black border on the fuselage invasion stripes?

Doogs: That looks awesome!!! Hope to see more of her, I need to get over to your website.

Well, the P-47N is almost done, I tried to use the Flory wash on the panel lines but it just beads up on the Model Master Metalizer Sealer I used as an overcoat. I think I'll just skip doing the panel lines, they show up fine with the pre-shading. I wired the engine on the P-47D over the weekend. My ISP has been hit or miss as to an internet connection lately so I'll try to get photos up when I can.

Joe - Trumpeter kits are really hit or miss...some reviews I've read have mused that they must have two different design teams, one that puts out the "good" kits, and the other that puts out the ones with overboard rivets, shape inaccuracies so grave that even I notice them, parts that just don't fit, etc.

Their P-47s are widely regarded as some of their best kits, though, so we'll see!

Geof - Excellent, excellent paint job. Very fine invasion stripes indeed.

Stoutfella - Really fine work on your cockpit. Nicely done.

Doogs - I am really interested to see how that brut comes together for you. It seems that reviews for Trumpeter kits is a mixed bag. Yet a common thread seems to be overengineered with far too many fiddly parts.

SF! Looks good! I kept mine pretty simple. Didn't even add belts, which is unusual for me, but I swore I would build this one OOB period!

A couple of things to watch. The gun fairings and hatch cover have tow different versions for some reason. The big ones are the correct ones. I almost created a major nightmare for myself with this near oversight. Other than that the kit is pretty straight forward. You will be at my stage very quickly. The only other annoying thing were the wing root lines in the wheel bays. There really isn't any way to fix this without ruining the raised detail of the wells. I just filled them with thick CA and smoothed them as best I could. Looking forward to seeing yours in the process!!

DoogsATX

Got my new build last night...

Very early initial thoughts

- The rivet detail on this kit is phenomenal. I know that Trumpeter goes overboard with the rivets on some kits, but on this one they're plentiful, but restrained. 

- Trumpeter clearly studied the Tamiya kit. Many of the things that make the Tamiya kit such a pleasure are ported over. The locking cockpit walls that can basically hold themselves together. The beefy wing spars and the fit of the flaps. The one-piece cowl and separate cowl flaps. The cowl is strangely clear, but at least it's not strangely cut up into four pieces. It's also plainly designed to be slid on and off if you want to show off the engine, which is the most jaw-dropping styrene engine I've ever seen. In my opinion not even Tamiya's Merlin can touch this beauty of an R-2800.

- Cockpit detail absolutely blows the Hasegawa kit out of the water. Looking at the two of them, I'd guess the Hasegawa was made ten years earlier. 

- The whole "build the interior ductwork" thing is hilarious, but since it won't be seen it doesn't need to be pretty. There's also a whole accessory section between the engine and cockpit, also not seen. 

- I don't know if I want to do the gun doors open yet or not, but if I do, I'm liking the vinyl ammo belts. I imagine they'd look pretty awesome in some gold/brass baremetal foil. Still not sure if I want to spring for the Eduard gun bay set to really trick out the area...

- Vinyl tires, ugh. But the width looks good, and amazingly, I'm having trouble seeing a mold seam.

- I was going to buy some MV lenses for the underwing lights, but the clear parts for the lenses actually...look like lenses. Not just clear plastic discs. Might hold off for now.

- HVAR rockets! Which I'm pretty sure were never used on a P-47D-27. So, yoink! I'll snag those for a future HK B-25J gun-nose done up as a PBJ-1J.

Got distracted with the KV-2 last night, but I did start playing with a bit of the Eduard photo etch...really liking the whole replacement floor solution.

Got my new build last night...

Very early initial thoughts

- The rivet detail on this kit is phenomenal. I know that Trumpeter goes overboard with the rivets on some kits, but on this one they're plentiful, but restrained. 

- Trumpeter clearly studied the Tamiya kit. Many of the things that make the Tamiya kit such a pleasure are ported over. The locking cockpit walls that can basically hold themselves together. The beefy wing spars and the fit of the flaps. The one-piece cowl and separate cowl flaps. The cowl is strangely clear, but at least it's not strangely cut up into four pieces. It's also plainly designed to be slid on and off if you want to show off the engine, which is the most jaw-dropping styrene engine I've ever seen. In my opinion not even Tamiya's Merlin can touch this beauty of an R-2800.

- Cockpit detail absolutely blows the Hasegawa kit out of the water. Looking at the two of them, I'd guess the Hasegawa was made ten years earlier. 

- The whole "build the interior ductwork" thing is hilarious, but since it won't be seen it doesn't need to be pretty. There's also a whole accessory section between the engine and cockpit, also not seen. 

- I don't know if I want to do the gun doors open yet or not, but if I do, I'm liking the vinyl ammo belts. I imagine they'd look pretty awesome in some gold/brass baremetal foil. Still not sure if I want to spring for the Eduard gun bay set to really trick out the area...

- Vinyl tires, ugh. But the width looks good, and amazingly, I'm having trouble seeing a mold seam.

- I was going to buy some MV lenses for the underwing lights, but the clear parts for the lenses actually...look like lenses. Not just clear plastic discs. Might hold off for now.

- HVAR rockets! Which I'm pretty sure were never used on a P-47D-27. So, yoink! I'll snag those for a future HK B-25J gun-nose done up as a PBJ-1J.

Got distracted with the KV-2 last night, but I did start playing with a bit of the Eduard photo etch...really liking the whole replacement floor solution.

Geof: Great work! The invasion stripes came out great and did the red trim! Almost there now.

SF: Can't ever have too many Gabreski jugs! Nice work on the cockpit, she's coming along great.

Greetings,

I'll be eating Geof's  dust on this one, but I'm doing the same Academy P-47D Gabreski kit. The Jug was my mom's favorite plane, as she worked in the Republic factory in Evansville, Ind., during the war, and Gabreski was her favorite pilot, so I'm building this one in her honor. On to the pics!

Look, it's a box!

And it has pieces of molded plastic inside:

OK, after getting over my excitement at a cardboard box with plastic inside, I've gotten the cockpit in order. Nothing fancy other than a set of Eduard PE seatbelts. No washes applied at this point, though I may do so before closing up the fuselage. The cockpit washes and weathering look good, but once you close it up, the effect is pretty invisible, in my opinion.

That's all for now. I'm just hoping I can get this one done by year-end. I "retired" a couple of months ago, but soon started a "part-time" job that's become full-time, probably through the holidays. Keeping me much busier than I'd like and haven't gotten much modeling done of late.

Geof

Round 2! Smoothed out and filled in some of the camo, particularly on the wings. Decided to go with grey for the overall underside, keeping the tail undersides NM as suggested in most research. Also, got the invasion stripes and red painted. Next up, clear coat and decals...

Looks great! Hope mine turns out half as well. I'm just getting started on the cockpit. Already nervous about the camo. Yours looks really good.

Round 2! Smoothed out and filled in some of the camo, particularly on the wings. Decided to go with grey for the overall underside, keeping the tail undersides NM as suggested in most research. Also, got the invasion stripes and red painted. Next up, clear coat and decals...

Wow Geof that does look fantastic! I too love how the camo came out.

Geof - Absolutely Outstanding!! Just some really nice work there. The camo is is especially well done. Did you free hand that?

                                 Joe

stoutfella

Looks good. That's the same kit I'm just starting on. I see you went with NMF on underside. I was going too go with gray, but hadn't decided for sure.

Thanks! I actually just changed the bottom to grey. I did leave the lower of the tail NMF though, it seems the general consensus is these were kept NMF do to visible marking from the NMF tail. I decided to change the bottom to grey, as this is how Gabreski himself described it. Grey, green, and light grey on the bottom.

Looks good. That's the same kit I'm just starting on. I see you went with NMF on underside. I was going too go with gray, but hadn't decided for sure.

Get to do an update for my Gabby P-47 for this GB finally! Here are a few pics in progress. I didn't take any of the cockpit, it is pretty uneventful. Building this one OOB... no add-ons, no scratch building. So far the build has gone well with some minor issues. Fit has been good overall and the painting went better than I thought. I was a little intimidated by the camo scheme! Hope you like it so far!!

Ack Joe, she www coming along so well. Well, good luck with her when you do get back to her.

I cant wait to see it when you are under way with the repairs. Still looks good ...just gotta tweek it a little. Will talk to you later bro and hang in there.  That things gonna turn out awesome when its finished.

Well Compadres, I'm afraid I'm going to have to have to throw my arms up on this one. My attempt to reprime and repaint the fuselage ended in a dismal failure. Same Tamiya gray primer and same Alclad Airframe Aluminum, 2 completely different results:

 I am rather uncertain exactly how this occured all I know is that well, it did. Thus, my current option is to break out the Polly S ELO paint stripper and strip her down and start over. Yes, indeed it is disappointing and frustrating but I am not about to toss it out when, with a some time and effort, I can revive the patient. The issue is that in order to do that there is no way that I will finish by the deadline. I would be setting myself up to be unable to complete my other GBs should I direct my full attention to the Jug. I would rather not be able to complete the GB than try and hurry it through the holidays. I cannot say enough about how enjoyable this has been and I'll still be monitoring the GB to its completion. Now, if I can figure out how to delete the badge under the new format. Thanks guys and keep cranking those beauties out.

                                 Regards, Joe

P.S. I will post my recovery efforts on the forum as I progress.

stoutfella

Hey Doogs,

Can I get in on this GB with the Academy 1/48 Gabreski Jug? My mom's favorite plane and favorite pilot. She worked in Republic's plant in Evansville, Ind., during the war and I've always had a soft spot for these brutes. Hope I can get this one done by year-end, as life has gotten much busier of late.

You're in!

I've also updated the build photos on the frontpage - if I've missed anybody, my apologies, go ahead and yell at me and I'll get you up there.

Also almost ready to get cracking on my next Jug, a 1/32 Hasegawa done up in the markings of C9*I of Groupe de Chasse I/5 "Champagne" of the Free French Air Force.

This profile gets most of it right - the yellow flash on the bottom of the rudder isn't right, and I'm 90% certain the front cowl ring on the real plane was red and just hidden by the lighting (there's a distinct step down where it's against the neutral gray), but gives a sense of how colorful this one'll be.

I'm in the home stretch with my under the radar build, and should be starting on this guy sometime next week.

DoogsATX

Guys - apologies for being so lax of late - hoping to get the front page pics updated soon with all the excellent work that's been going on here.

Additionally...I should be staring another P-47 soon. This one'll be a Frenchie!

Hey Doogs,

Can I get in on this GB with the Academy 1/48 Gabreski Jug? My mom's favorite plane and favorite pilot. She worked in Republic's plant in Evansville, Ind., during the war and I've always had a soft spot for these brutes. Hope I can get this one done by year-end, as life has gotten much busier of late.

Off topic: Has anyone else here noticed that trying to post something with "rich formatting" from an iPad basically doesn't work, or is it me?

Here's a WIP.  I've just attached the landing gear.

I'm having a devil of a time keeping them straight, and (relatively) perpendicular to the landing gear housing (if that makes sense.)

Nice work Joe, glad to see you salvaged her and are once again making progress!

Gee whiz, I went back and checked the front page, I'd forgotten about the deadline! I've been working on and off on this Revell Promodeler P-47N for almost a year now! I knew I was slow but geee whiz! I'll try to finish her before the deadline. The Tamiya P-47D I pulled out again about a week ago and she's pretty much assembled as of last night. Doubt I'll ever get her done for the deadline though.

Well Gents, I finally got over the hmming and hahing over the challenge I faced to redo my mistake. Masked off the wings and tail and shot a coat of Tamiya gray primer over entire fuselage. Really, the only thing I'm bemoaning is having to redecal the bugger. Hopefully I can get 'er into full swing here and finish by deadline.

Guys - apologies for being so lax of late - hoping to get the front page pics updated soon with all the excellent work that's been going on here.

Additionally...I should be staring another P-47 soon. This one'll be a Frenchie!

Geof:  Thanks!  No problem on the heads up.  It started to give me fits to the point where I had to walk away for a couple of days. 

JOE RIX:  Thanks! 

Gamera:  Thanks!

G-J:  Thanks!  Photography isn't a strong ability of mine.  We're still working on finding a better camera than the point and shoot my wife has. 

Awesome pictures AceHawkDriver!

What I love about everyone's closeup pictures is that it helps me with stumbling blocks.

Which reminds me, I need to post some WIP pictures......

Brian: Wow, she looks fantastic!!! Great job and the weathering just looks stunning!