P-47 "Jug" Group Build

I started my Tamiya 1/48 Razorback and 1/48 Hasegawa Bubbletop (both with 56FG)

Hasegawa is half price of Tamiya but ... a first thing I found while reviewing the parts:

Is it normal ? I see something like that a first time.Mr.White Putty will be suitable for such filling ??

HKShooter, that looks AMAZING. "Flaws" and all! (notice the quotations)

Damn, now you guys are starting to scare me. Heh.

this is a very nice build ! I like her should I say: both of them Nice choice for markings.

I like the clean look of this bird. Let me look at her again ... 

Alright, finally calling it quits. NMF is not my arena of choice but I finally completed one I'm mostly happy with. This is Hasegawa's 1/48. Built mostly OOB, I added detail to the main gear, and added a resin gunsight. Oh, and PE belts.

Paint is Alclad, Tamiya acryls, MM enamels. Weather is MIG oils and pigments. Flat is Polyscale.

Heck, OOB is out the window. I used Pyn-up decals from Cutting Edge.

Somehow I managed to muck up the nose art decal on the left side. After I had it in register I noticed that the image had some spots flaked off of it. Never knew it happened until later. So we wont look at that one to closely. I'm not sure if the plane was supposed to have nose art on both sides or not but I applied it to both sides anyway. The CE instruction with the cals made no comment about it.

I also cut the tail wheel strut away and made one from brass wire. Learning experiance, the raw brass rod could not be bent tight enough and kept breaking. A few seconds under the torch and the rod was like putty in my hands.

The plane is supposed to have covers on the wheels that are painted red but I had some Ultracast wheels in the parts box and could not resist using them. I guess that pretty well kills the OOB comment. I was not aware until now how much AM I used on this build. It was fun and I have two more to build, both with Pyn-Up decals. I was looking forward to this one being complete, not so much to be done with it but to see the final product.

Thanks for looking, comments welcome.

Fred: I like this plane ! The paint job is really nice and markings a real eye catcher !

I spent a bit time tonight and finished decaling my Jug.

Here are some picts

You're not alone, Greg; everyone remembers their first time.   

Ok, here's the jug with the corrected prop.  I'm calling this one done

And some poor cockpit shots

Enjoy,

Fred

gzt wrote:

For really tiny wires I use a telephone cord. Those going from the unit to the wall have really tiny wires inside - perfect for cockpit wires. Those I unplug first. It may be high voltage there too

 Actually, it's low voltage, -48 volts is standard phone power.  But if you cut it while it's ringing, that's 130 volts.  But I don't don't know the amps and that's what kills you.  6mA across the heart will zap you dead.

-Fred

razordws wrote:

wing_nut wrote: Fing yourslef an old lamp or extension cord.  Cut open the insulation and that wire shut work just great. Just make sure you unplug it first

LOL Good point Dave

For really tiny wires I use a telephone cord. Those going from the unit to the wall have really tiny wires inside - perfect for cockpit wires. Those I unplug first. It may be high voltage there too

wing_nut wrote:

Fing yourslef an old lamp or extension cord.  Cut open the insulation and that wire shut work just great.

Just make sure you unplug it first

and why not ? YOU CAN DO IT it is not a big deal

it is a good start. My Jug is my first and total of fourth kit I am building. And every time I see something interesting here, I want to implement it, even if it is though. If you spend 30 hours building a kit why not to spend two more hours and add a real hit ?

Here is a reference picture and more are available in this GB few pages back

Wow, high standard you guys are setting here! I've got my work cut out for me.

I have a feeling with this being my first Jug I won't be doing any engine wiring. Heh.

wing_nut wrote:

Hmmm, southern hemishpere Fred? I like it... quick thinking

It's the only way I know how

Well, I've got a small build update; after the required blood sacrifice to the model gods (maybe a bit too much blood), I managed to fix the prop issue.  Thankfully, the decals came off without affecting the paint.  I put on the spare decals, so I just have to weather it up and I'll post some new pics tonight.

-Fred

Hmmm, southern hemishpere Fred? I like it... quick thinking

For the pylons I figure I'll coat them with MicroMask liquid and just cut around the bottom 'cuas ethey are on there real solid. 

wing_nut wrote:

Yeah HK... I been thinking about it and I think your way is the way to go.   Hey here's a question.  What about the wing pylon?  It;s right in the middle of the stripe son the bottom of the wing.  Bare metal?  White or black depending how it falls?  I'm thinking metal (and wishing I had not glued them in yet)

That definatley makes things more complicated. If they are glued real good and wont pop off I'd just put a strip of Tamiya tape around them, do my stripes and touch up the pylons with a brush and some MM aluminum. Follow with an effective weather and nobody would know the difference.

Hey guys, thanks for all the compliments (and pointing out my boneheadedness)

As for how the prop ended up backwards, well, that's a story all unto itself.  This was a 7 piece prop (4 blades, 2 hub halves and the spinner).  So after I assembled the blades and the hub, I started taking a closer look at hasegawa's instruction sheet.  Based on the drawings and part numbers, it looked like they were assembling a counter-clockwise rotating prop.  Despite my instincts, I decided to follow their instructions.  Apparently, they were confused.  But, I'm going to look through my meager collection for spare prop decals.  If I have them, this should be an easy fix.  I'll just sand the prop, pop the spinner, turn it around, repaint, re-decal and reattach the spinner.  And if that fails, I was PM'd a very generous offer by our own gzt (much appreciated, buddy ).

Marc, those are some sweet legs that bird is going to have.  I built the prop backwards on purpose because, umm, this bird flies in the southern hemisphere and there they have to fight propeller induced torque in the other direction, because that's the way the water goes down in the toilets

As for the stripes, here's what I did; since the alclad has to go on in multiple layers, I sprayed a lyer of alclad and let that dry.  Then I measured about where the invasion stripes were and painted a base coat of white.  The alclad undercoat reduced the number of white coats I had to paint.  After the white dried a few days, I masked of the white stripes and painted the black.  I took off the tape after about 10 minutes to avoid paint ridges.  I gave that a day or two to dry.  Then I used some paper and wrapped it aound the invasion stripes and taped it down along the edges.  Then I sprayed the remaining layers of alclad.

-Fred

Yeah HK... I been thinking about it and I think your way is the way to go.

Hey here's a question.  What about the wing pylon?  It;s right in the middle of the stripe son the bottom of the wing.  Bare metal?  White or black depending how it falls?  I'm thinking metal (and wishing I had not glued them in yet)

wing_nut wrote:

It looks like you are correct John.  Hmmmm... I built a Has P-47 sometime back and I think I remember the prop being one piece, but I am probably wrong about that.  If so that's a neat trick Fred A bit of progress... landing gear finished. A combo of kit, scratch, resin and PE. Next up is the decision... Alclad 1st then mask the invasion stripe? Or stripes 1st then mask over them?

Sweet looking gear, Marc. About the stripes, this is what I do. Paint the entire area where your stripes will be white over primer. Mask for the black stripes and paint. When dry mask the entire striped area and spray the rest, whatever it may be. If you paint the base color first you have to mask the entire airframe while doing the stripes to protect the finish. This way you can be liberal with the stripe painting and then mask a much smaller area to do the base color.

Thanks Greg. I start with mix of flat black and Testor’s rubber in the little jar.   About 60/40 black/rubber to start.  Just want a hint of that rubber color.  I rub my thumb and 1^st  2 fingers on a brown, a gray and a tan chalk pastel and get them real dusty.  With the tire mounted on a toothpick, I spin the tire between my fingers getting it down in the treads and over the sidewalls.  This will rub off while handling the ties when you install them so some an be reapplied or a light coat of clear flat to help fix it.

Fred: nice build. Sorry for the pitch I always check the prop geometry making sure I do not mess up a leading with trailing edge of the prop.

Marc: nice work on the landing gear ! Will you tell me a trick with painting tires ? I tried my P11c tires with kind of mud effect, but I think I am going to repaint them. Do not look good.

John: you have a good eye for details John !!

It looks like you are correct John.  Hmmmm... I built a Has P-47 sometime back and I think I remember the prop being one piece, but I am probably wrong about that.  If so that's a neat trick Fred

A bit of progress... landing gear finished. A combo of kit, scratch, resin and PE. Next up is the decision... Alclad 1st then mask the invasion stripe? Or stripes 1st then mask over them?

Freddie... that wiring harness looks great.

Fred... That is a fine looing Jug. 

Well, she's finally finished; Fearless Dick/ Wild Bette of the 395thFG/368thFS.

As always, constructive criticisms and questions are welcome

Enjoy!

-Fred

    I got more work than I thought I would have done.  I've very busy with this model and it's a real shame that most, and I mean MOST of the stuff, will be unseen after it's all done.  If you are a super detailer, this kit is a real winner. 

    The kit's overall fit is good but I wish it would be better.  Some things are just a tad off here and there and I find myself in somewhat of a battle, making stuff line up.  Just like the last 1:32 Trumpeter kit I built, F4F-4 "Wildcat", this kit does not fall together like the Tamiya kits in 1:48 scale.  Anyway, here are a few progress shots of what I have done so far..

I got the fuselage together after a few marathon sessions.  Also the tail planes are attached as well as the rudder.  Some of the debris from scraping and sanding are still present, (apparently I didn't clean off the crap too well), so these pictures aren't too old.  The kit is sitting and drying as I write this.  I'll get more done tonight.

Thanks for looking and have a great day all!