1944 Group Build

Now that's a nice scheme Clemen's. Is that a Pacific based aircraft.

Yes, it was based in Burma in 1944.

Alright Gentlemen, It's time to get things warmed up here. Here's my pre-game pics of my Corsair and the plethora of goodies to go with it. It is uncertain as to whether I will use all of these on this kit. I really don't get a whole lot of bench time and it takes me about a year to complete one 1/48 scale aircraft. Thus, the amount of AM stuff I put into this will be determined by the amount of time I have to use it in order to make the GB deadline. This kit has been at the top of my build list since I came back to the hobby 5 yrs ago. It is my favorite aircraft. My father flew the Corsair, along with pretty much every naval aircraft, as a flight instructor out of Pensacola NAS  during the war and in the Naval Reserve after. So, this is a tribute to my father to finally build an F4U Corsair. So, I should note that I want to do this kit justice and if in the process I am unable to complete this by the GB deadline and not obtain a badge I will be okay with that. But, I will give it my very best effort. Thanks again everyone for letting me share this build with you.

My reference library for the F4U Corsair. Did I mention that I Love this plane?

Joe that is going to be spectacular to watch come together with all those goodies.  It is my favourite aircraft as well, and I look forward to seeing you bring it to life.

Allen

Thanks Allen. How's the P-38 coming along?

Nice collection of AM and references there Joe.

OPP's, wrong thread.

Joe: Let me express what I think about that:

Wow, that's a LOT of AM goodness in one place! I'd be a very happy camper if I had just 1/4th of the reference books you got there! This simply has to be a great build!!!

The Corsair isn't quite my favorite aircraft, but it comes pretty close to being it (although nothing can top my beloved P-47...)

Regarding reference material: Are there any books about the Thunderbolt you can recommend?

I decided to change my Corsair to Eduard's P-38. It includes plenty of AM stuff and that nice Dragon scheme i showed you earlier, so I can build something that doesn't look like the cheapest effort ever ccmpared to your Corsair. Just kidding, the real reason behind this is my urge to finally build this kit!

Hello Bish, Clemens and all.

Having just finished up a build for the NMF GB that Clemens is hosting, I'd love to join up with you all for my next effort:

I picked up a set of Barracuda's "Hell-Hawks" P-47 decals a few months ago, and am planning on building Neal Worley's Razorback, "Mortician's Delight" as it appeared while operating out of Chièvres, Belgium in October, 1944:

(borrowed from the outstanding www.hellhawks.org website)

Looking forward to diving in!

Blue

Just noticed the 2 different style tires in this photo... weeeeee!

Welcome aboard Blue. Look forward to seeing your build. I seem to recall someone else who built an aircraft with different patterns of tires, not sure if it was a P-47 though.

Welcome, Blue! This particular Thunderbolt kit is the best aircraft kit out there IMO! It just has NO fit issues at all and the amount of details is awesome! It's even a bit better than Tamiya's Bubbletop Jugs! I'm building this one for the Reich Defenders GB right now (with German markings and all lower surfaces painted in yellow).

The different tread patterns are quite interesting indeed. The right tire seems to have the "diamond" tread pattern, but I have no clue about the left wheel.

There are 3 common P-47 tire styles AFAIK:

Diamont tread (seems to be the most common):

Block tread:

Cross tread:

The tire in the picture doesn't seem to match any of those versions... 

Bish: Plasticjunkie built a 190 D-13 for the Butcher Bird GB a short while ago. It had one smooth tire while the other one had a tread pattern on it. Maybe you are referring to his build?

JOE RIX

Thanks Allen. How's the P-38 coming along?

It came to a screeching halt for a while.  I am growing increasingly tired of the airbrush I'm using; a Paasche H.  It is a proper pain in the behind to clean, so spraying little parts takes a long time to accomplish.

I've spent the past few days poking around the web looking for a double action gravity feed airbrush that is easier to clean.

If it is any help to you Allen, might I suggest the Badger 155 Patriot. Just a great all purpose airbrush that is very quick and easy to clean. I love mine for that very reason. You can usually find them at a fairly reasonable price. Here's a couple of sites to check for airbrushes and supplies that I use:

http://www.dixieart.com/

www.tcpglobal.com/airbrushdepot

Thanks for the welcome guys.

Clemens, I have looked at the various resin offerings as well, and agree that none seem to match that left wheel's tread.  It may be a cool detail that I can't replicate perfectly... my build may turn out to be set prior to blowing the diamond tire out.  

Turns out that I have both block & diamond tread resin wheels here on my desk (I am planning on at least one more build from the phenomenal Hell Hawks decals), but both sets have open spoked wheels and the photo clearly shows the covered versions!  Oh well.  

Anyway... glad to be part of this group build,

Blue

I've heard good things about the 155 as well. I have a 150 and I've done everything to it and never got it to work. It's a fluke and been around a long time so lots of info on it. I use an aztek 470a for my work. Owned it for the last 10 years and started using it as a real rookie. I like it and it cleans easy. You'll find people hate it as it's different than other brushes, but I like it alot and have no problems except my own incompetence, which I work through. Based on the info out there though, I'd go the 155. I just had the bad experience with the 150 so I'm where I am at.

I'll check those out Joe, thanks for the links.

William, appreciate your advice also.

Welcome aboard Blue - I really admired the p-47 build you did a while back, as your first crack at using Alclad.  Beautiful work.

Allen

the patriot is the 105 not a 150.  i have a patriot and have used an aztek in the past. patriot cleans real easy and i haven't had any problems.

Indeed you are correct waynec. It is 105 not 155. Dadgum bout of dyslexia.

I would recommend you visit this site. I've found it to be a wealth of info: sites.google.com/.../home

Bill, Glad you thought of Don's site. That is indeed a terrific one.

JOE RIX

Indeed you are correct waynec. It is 105 not 155. Dadgum bout of dyslexia.

just fat finger typing. i look back at a post and am embarrassed about some of the typos though i'm sure most folks here understand. still haven't decided what to nuild for this but the 251/17 FLAK or 88mm GRILLE are at the top.

SchattenSpartan

Regarding reference material: Are there any books about the Thunderbolt you can recommend?

Allen: Another Airbrush I'd recommend is the Harder&Steenbeck Evolution. You can spray really fine lines with it if you want to and it is very easy to clean. I posted a step-by-step guide on how I clean mine here.

Cleaning takes only 5-10 minutes once you get the hang of it. I'd either get the 2in1 set (0.2 and 0.4 needles included) or the same set of the "Silverline" (basically the same as the normal one with an adjustable trigger stop)

Joe: Thanks a bunch for that info! Are these the right ones?

I found the Aero Detail book at Hobbylink Japan for 21€, so i think I'll order it there together with one of the more rare Hasegawa 1/32 kits (maybe a P-40?)

You've got it Clemens. What I like about the Detail & Scale book is there is some color photos of a P-47 cockpit in the dark green color prior to restoration. I used those photos to compare to when I mixed my own dark green on my, still unfinished, P-47.

Allen,

Thanks for the welcome and kind words.  It was very nice of you to say.

Clemens, I'll concur about "Detail & Scale".  I have it and find it very useful as well.  I also have "Walk Around" and "In Action."  I go to both D&S & WA ahead of IA because they focus on specific details which are useful for modeling, but all three have a place.

I purchased mine used off of Ebay, and saved a decent bit of money.

Also, since I know you are a Jug man, I'm sure you'd enjoy having this one as well:

Not a pure P-47 modeling reference per se, but more like deep dive history of that particular group.  The stories and pictures are great.  If you do pick it up, you may as well order the Barracuda decal set that goes with it; you're definitely going to be inspired. The decals are beautiful.

EDIT:

(Completely forgot to say this)

Allen, I use an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS and have been happy with it.  I don't have much experience with anything else to compare it to, but any limitations I've found are due to the operator rather than the tool.  Very quick and easy to clean.

Blue: Thank you very much! I have the "In Action" book as well, but I use it more as a source to get some nice pics of the Jugs in the enviroment they were used in (with the object of interest not always being the plane in this book) and for some short info on the development. It's not as great as a reference book as it is a source of inspiration...

That Hell Hawks book looks great! I thought about buying it before, but the price kinda put me off. I'll have to take a look at it again.

I have heard a lot about those aero detail books, but they don't seem easy, or cheap, to get hold of. Seen some on Amazon for a lot of money, but Hobby link seems decent, just have to wait for more to come back in stock.

Clemen's, I have finally made a decision. Put me down for AFV Club 1/35th 251/3 Ausf D. I need to make a dent in my rather large 251 collection, and this is one of a couple that suits 44.