P-47 "Jug" Group Build

OK, this is a little better:

I thought I would post this pair of pictures for historical accuracy, as most of us (me included) are painting the R-2800 cylinders a light metal color.  That is correct for engines that have been overhauled in the later post war years, but I submit these pictures which are from a history published by Pratt and Whitney in the early 50's, and are of wartime factory scenes.  You would think we would never run out of new cylinders from the first photo.  But, they every one appear to be black.  These are Twin Wasp R-1830 cylinders, but the book does have photos of the R-2800 (Double Wasp) and the colors are the same.  I thought you would find these photos more interesting because of the number of parts in view.

John,

thanks for sharing. It is a good info ! 

You're welcome, Greg.  I have some pictures of my ProModeler P-47N.  As you can see I test ran the engine today!  Froomm Froomm!!  The side view is becaused I am impressed how small an R-2800 looks on the front of a P-47.

True Details seat and sidewalls, Eduard instrument panel, kit engine.

MikeV wrote:

Oops! I just realized it is not done. I still need to paint the black color on the pushrods. I think those are pushrods.

They are the pushrod housings, Mike.  They have packing glands on the upper and lower ends, those are the metallic parts there, and the pushrods are inside, with drip oil lubricating them and the cam rings.

jeaton01 wrote:

MikeV wrote: Oops! I just realized it is not done. I still need to paint the black color on the pushrods. I think those are pushrods. They are the pushrod housings, Mike.  They have packing glands on the upper and lower ends, those are the metallic parts there, and the pushrods are inside, with drip oil lubricating them and the cam rings.

Thanks John.

My dad isn't around anymore to ask these questions as he was a retired Master Mechanic who worked on SB2C's, Grumman F6F's and several others after he got out of the Marines in 1945.

He told me once that the carburator butterfly valve on a 4360 engine in an F8F Bearcat was so large that you could almost fit a baseball cap in it. 

I sure miss him.

Just popping in to say "WOW!" There's some really sweet builds on display here, gentlemen! Enough to light a fire under my seat and get me cracking on my 1/72 Tamiya kit, that's for sure!

Got the engine wired (used stretched sprue for the ignition harness) and some PE and scratchbuild details installed into the 'pit. Being as I have a day off tomorrow, I should be getting some painting done and hopefully some pics as well. Just hope they measure up to what I've seen here so far. Great work, guys!

I'm sure you do miss your dad, Mike.  I miss mine as well.  One of the dis-enefits of growing older. 

The Bearcat did indeed have a big carburetor, although it was an R-2800-C like the F4U-5, and P-47N and M.  The only R-4360 powered fighters that made it into service were the F2G Corsairs.  There was also the Boeing XF-8B that didn't make it.  Some of the big radials had variable venturi carburetors, although I guess fuel control unit might be a better term because most were fuel injection engines.

Here's where I am on my P-47N tonight.  Spent the evening masking off bumblebee stripes on all the tail surfaces, top and bottom, sprayed gloss black from the Testors square bottle.  The black stripes are the same left and right and also have to match as they run from the horizontal to the vertical surfaces.  There is Model Master Bright Yellow under the tape and black.  The decals were supplied for these stripes as separate units for each surface with clear decal between the black stripes so the yellow base could show through but I doubt I could have got those big decals lined up and on successfully.  So I did it this way.  I'll use those black stripes somewhere else.

I sprayed gloss black on the ailerons and leading edges hoping to get a little different shine when the SNJ is sprayed over it.  The whole model is gloss coated with Future on the bare plastic.  I've had a few issues with the Future coming off, scraping or scratching easily, seems OK for tape pulling so far.  Haven't had that happen before.  Whassup with that? 

Ahhh!  Almost instant gratisfaction!  The paint seemed to be about right so I pulled the tape.  Bumblebee revealed.  One or two lines to touch up and adjust but it worked pretty well.  I sure do like that Tamiya tape.

razordws wrote:

Wow John that looks gorgeous!!!   Can't wait to see the SNJ go on.   This is the first I've heard of futuring the bare plastic?  What did you hope to accomplish by doing that?

Thanks for the kind comments, everyone.

Dave, the Future fills a lot of the fine scratches on the plastic and make a gloss base for the metalizer, and it seems to do that pretty well.  This is the first time I have tried it, though, and I'm not sure at this point that the Future hangs on to the bare plastic as well as I thought it should from using it on canopies.  We'll see.  Maybe I didn't get the plastic as clean as I thought.

Absolutely incredible paint job, John .

And I thought invasion stripes were tough.

-Fred

The ProModeler P-47N.  Had to steal the clear parts from a Hawk Metal Plate P-47.  Where the PM clear parts went I don't know.  Perhaps they were not in the box, but the ancient Hawk parts will have to do until I either get the parts or find them prior to stepping on them  I made the wing tip transparencies from an old drafting triangle, don't need them for Autocad drawings.

The NMF finish is SNJ with a few patches of Alclad II, over a base coat of Future.   Markings are for Sack Happy, flown by Robert Redfield of the 73rd FS, 318th FG at Ie Shima, July 1945.

Fred, thanks for the comment on the stripes.  There is one that is a bit out of line, but I'm not saying which one!

John:

Nice Jug !! Fully armed and ready for action

You did a very nice job with painting this bird. I do not see anything wrong ... let me inspect those pictures a bit more ... NOPE nothing wrong !

mucker wrote:

Now that's just plaun SUH-WEET, John. Wow!

Very nice build John, I love the colors and the nose art.

Thanks for sharing that.

Beautiful fit and finish there, John Display it proudly.

-Fred

I have begun decaling on mine:

here is an update on my HV-A

Oh man, it's finally starting to clear up in the Reno area.  I swear, last Friday, Saturday and Sunday I did nothing but shovel snow all day and into the evening.  There was one point when I had cleared the driveway, sidewalk and front steps, then went to clear the back patio so the dogs could go out.  When I got back around to the front again another 2 inches had fallen in the areas I had already cleared!  It was one heck of a workout!  Whew! 

The only real bummer was that I had planned on spending the entire weekend working on my Pz II and Me 410, but that was not to be.  Oh well, hopefully we'll be good to go for this upcoming weekend and I can make some progress on my builds!!