randypandy831

oh my, the tamiya kit is a dream. i need to grab the razorback kit. 

One of the absolute best kits in the scale, IMO! I've got three in the stash as is...and two already built.

oh my, the tamiya kit is a dream. i need to grab the razorback kit. 

Thanks guys! Actually you should thank Doogs, he's the one that introduced me to the technique!

I'm a big fan of Alclad now, I've had all kinds of problems with the undercoat but the Alclad seems to pretty much fool-proof.

Randy: She's coming along great!!!

I started work on the Tamiya P-47D this weekend, hopefully will have some cockpit photos before too much longer.

still working on the pit. where it's at right now. 

Cliff - glad to see the Alclad shading worked out so well for ya! I was VERY hesitant using it the first time, but the results just speak for themselves. 

For anybody who's on the fence, it's really not that bad at all. Honest.

Agreed. Cliff, that shading on the Alclad looks flippin' insane! I'd thought about doing a post-shade for that effect with Tamiya smoke, but am now doubting it would turn out anywhere near as nice as the job you did.

Gamera- Looking great my friend! I really like your shading work, very realistic! Can't wait to see the finished product!

Bockscar- That picture is of Ms. Second Front, and was the inspiration to kick start me to build her! IIRC it was featured in Life magazine. And yes, she is a Razorback.

when using alclad's black primer, what do you use to buff it to a glass smooth finish? 

thanks! 

bench has been cleared of everything because i want this jug built. broke the tam 47M out. 

this kit honestly builds itself. pics tomorrow when painting is done. 

Guys, it is D-Day, for an hour or so more.

Sorry if this isn't quite Jug related, that is I can't say

any of these were taken by a recon P-47, but if you

like recon photos on or about D-Day, have a look:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/interactive-high-resolution-aerial-images-from-the-second-world-war/article4233358/

Spectacular.

Thanks guys!

Vance: I'm using Alclad with Doogs technique of black undercoat, airframe aluminum over that and then painting the centers of the panels with plain aluminum, and finally a light dusting to bring everything together. The plain aluminum is a little lighter and the airframe aluminum shows partially though with the black undercoat giving a pre-shaded look. 

Doogs has more information on his blog with pictures.

Gamera

Here's how she stands now:

Gamera, your Jug has, uhh, jugs?....

What are you using for the NMF? I like the shading around the panel lines, nice work.

Yep, seen that pic before and really dig it!

Holy Cow Gamera!!!....lol....

Doogs:

Found this, supposedly in France after D-Day:

My eyes are dim,,, Razorback?

Gamera, very sexy.  And the nose art is good too!

Gamera - Looking very very nice there. Sure hope your other decal sheet appears.

  I am making very slow progress on the cowling on my Jug. But, I finally have it painted, decaled and gloss overcoated. Just need to apply a wash, some additional weathering, light sheen overcoat and then glue it all together and then I'll share some pics.

                                               Joe

Thanks Doogs!

Think I'm just going to skip most of the stenciling, since I'm going to paint the NM areas more or less semi-gloss I guess I could add them later if I decide to.

Wow! She's lookin' great, Gamera! 

And I totally feel your pain re: stencils. The B-25...none. The aftermarket decals...none. Grr...

Here's how she stands now:

Well, all the big decals are done and done. Only thing is the aftermarket decal sheet didn't come with much in the way of stenciling and the original kit sheet was mysteriously vanished  So I'm waiting hoping it will show up.......

 Followed through with my gun barrel painting plan last night. Sprayed only the portion of each barrel that would be exposed with Alclad Duraluminum and no primer. Turned out fabulously. The Alclad adheres to the brass no problem.

 NervousEnergy - Hope this be helpful to ya.

 Curious though, what methods have some of you all used for gluing the barrels in without making a mess or prematurely sticking before you get them slid all the way in?

                                                             Joe

Ordered some of them seat belts so I just need to wait for them to come in before starting on it again.

 This is excellent info. as I too was wondering about the exact color of the the gun sheaths. A bit of heads up concerning painting the metal gun barrels. I initially painted mine with Tamiya gray primer then Taniya aluminum. The problem that arose was that with the double coat, it made the barrel to thick to slide into the wing. Thus, I scrapped all the paint and primer off and will repaint with Aclad Duraluminum sans the primer and also only paint the part of the barrel that will be exposed. Just the voice of experience.

                                                        Joe

DoogsATX

The P-47's blast tubes were made (I believe) of aluminum. They were also one of the items that was undoubtedly subjected to some pretty loving maintenance - probably at least wiped down after every flight, ends retaped, and the entire tubes removed whenever the guns were cleaned. They also contained most of the muzzle flash, so, like the Brits' Hispano 20mm cannons, you don't see much if any staining on them.

(snip)

Even on a wartime aircraft, the metal is clean and shiny.

Ahh... there's the bit I didn't know.  I've got Robert Peczkowski's awesome P-47 reference book and I've stared at it till I've got it near memorized, but the majority of his color photos are, of course, from contemporary restored planes.  I'm building this one with little weathering, wanting to make a 'cleaned up ride', but certainly not to museum shiny, and the tubes in the museum shots can double as shaving mirrors.  I have a hard time telling color from B/W photos... for example, in the picture above those tubes look pretty dark to me.  ;-)

If they were well-maintained, though, then I'll certainly use dura or dark aluminum instead of gunmetal.  Can you spray alclad directly onto brass, or does the brass need to get surf 1200 like the plastic?  I'm not much of a chemist, but it wouldn't seem the surfacer would be any better at bonding to the brass than the straight lacquer would...

The P-47's blast tubes were made (I believe) of aluminum. They were also one of the items that was undoubtedly subjected to some pretty loving maintenance - probably at least wiped down after every flight, ends retaped, and the entire tubes removed whenever the guns were cleaned. They also contained most of the muzzle flash, so, like the Brits' Hispano 20mm cannons, you don't see much if any staining on them.

I've always kept them pretty clean on my Jugs...I imagine they could be painted over, but if you look at aircraft where that would've made sense - with D-Day invasion stripes or yellow bands on the wings, etc - the tubes are always left metal.

I'd stick with aluminum of some kind, though, unless I had direct photo references indicating otherwise.

Here...you can see the tubes pretty well in this shot of Arlie Blood's ride:

Even on a wartime aircraft, the metal is clean and shiny.

Nervousenergy,

Good question, it really depends on the actual plane you want to model and its wear and tear. I have seen multiple examples of blast tubes right out of the factory looking like pristine light metal shiny tubes. To me personally a more blackened gunmetalled up kind of colour looks more real for wartime conditions. I guess it really depends on your opinion and taste in this...

Bare metal aftermarket tubes i guess should be primed with the primer of your choice. Your average acrylic paint wont bite in the metal thats why.

just my two cents...

Richard

Question on the gun barrels... what do you typically paint them?  Current color photos are all over the place, either painted the same as the camo scheme when the plane isn't bare metal, or polished to a sheen that does credit to the museum floor, but probably isn't too realistic for the field.

I've got alclad gunmetal, but that may be too dark.  I'll use it if there aren't any other suggestions.  The barrels are Master turned brass, and I'm not even sure if that needs priming for alclad or other laquers.

ww2psycho

And where do I find these two items you speak of?

http://stores.ebay.com/HGW-Models

No new pictures yet (In Vegas this week for a conference... I can tell I'm getting old... I'd rather be back home working at my hobby), but the wings are on, and ready for some gap correction.  The wings themselves had a pretty good fit... a little Surfacer required in the leading edge seam near the root on the port wing, but perfect other than that.  Fitting the gun bay panels closed was a bit of a chore, as that took a bit more surfacer and some shimming.

The wing roots once fitted are nearly perfect on the top, only gapping some at the front.  The bottoms are a bit more problematic, with a significant step that needs to be filed down and filled.  I do like how the spars force perfect dihedral, though, and an absolutely solid connection. 

Psycho - Oh Yeah, I've used PE belts. They do indeed vastly improve the appearance of the cockpit. But, as Doogs pointed out, they don't lay down in the haphazard manner of real belts. My next step was the Ultracast seat w/ molded in harness that I'm using on this here Jug. Given a steady hand and some technique they are an improvement over PE IMHO. I've acquired a few more for some select kits in my stash. I have also obtained a couple of sets, 1/48 USN & USAAF, of the fabric seatbelts that Doogs mentioned. Haven't used them yet but upon opening the package I am duely impressed. I ordered mine from Hannants.

                                                                             Joe

Whilst this won't compare to the AM belts Doogs refers to, check out this link if you feel like attempting to create your own:

/forums/p/146343/1558125.aspx#1558125

It's a post by another dude on here called Valjed.  I think his scratch belts look terrific and will definitely give it a try for a future build (as i'm a real tight wad).

Admittedly, his are 1/72.  At 1/32, it might not look as good.