P-47D Thunderbolt - Lt Col Frances 'Gabby' Gabreski June 1944.
- 7 November 2013 08:23251504This is the aircraft flown by top US ace Gabby Gabreski as in June 1944 with its invasion stripes. the P-47 was the biggest single engined fighter of WW2 and was heavily armed with 8 x 50 cal machine guns as opposed to the 6 x 50 cals most US fighters had.
It is strange to think that the top US figher ace did not fly the top US fighter, the P51 Mustang. Nevertheless the P47 was a formidable aircraft that was overshadowed by its sleeker and sexier P51 rival.
The kit is the 32 scale Hasegawa one which was a quick and easy build but was the most complex and long painting job I have yet done. The white of the invasion stripes was the first challenge, having to mask them off making sure they the were perfectly proportional over the uneven surface as any 'deviation' would have been obvious after the black stripes were sprayed and they were to be done last. Then the second to last job was the complex green camo pattern over the grey as I am not good enough with the airbrush to do it freehand I spent 5 days just to mask it up, 7 hours work for 5 minutes of spraying. I could not resist taking a photo of that before spraying!
Anyway - here are the pics.
Here are the ones of it masked ready for the green camo...
- 7 November 2013 08:30251507Worth adding that I decided to experiment with chipping solution for the wing root wear and tear. This meant spraying the area with metallic paint first then painting over it a chipping solution that could be scraped off in places to create the worn effect. The problem occured when I had to mask up over it for the green... the paint would have come away with the masking tape. That is why some areas have a different clear masking film over it that does not stick down. A problem I caused for myself.
- 7 November 2013 08:39251508Well done again Barry, one of these days you'll have to take them to a model expo and win yourself a rosette.
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing. - 7 November 2013 08:47251511I am off to Telford on Saturday Tom with the biggest model show in the world going on. I won't be taking any models with me though, as I expect to be there for only about 4 hours or so as Janet and I will be off to Ludlow for a long weekend after. She gets a few hours to shop in Telford while I go round the show, win win....
- 7 November 2013 09:18251515Telford? You sure know how to show a lady a good time. I trust you'll both have an enjoyable and relaxing time, and I hope you will have some photographs of the show to give us all an idea of the 'competition'.Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
- 7 November 2013 12:01251547Another wonderful bit of modelling Barry, well done indeed, I'll be posting my latest effort later today, maybe I should build an aircraft and you could try your hand at a tank?
Well done mate.Phil Wyborn - Brown at www.wybornphotography.co.uk - 7 November 2013 12:17251549I do have a Centurion in my stash bought at Bovington last summer. I did a lot of armour in the 80's. It will be good to have a change at some point...
- 7 November 2013 14:12251557Very authentic paintwork Barry - well put together too.
Roger - 7 November 2013 20:22251622Thanks Roger.
Here is my next build. A nice kit but with terrible incomplete and misleading instructions so i am going to have to progress slowly using lots of third party references.
- 7 November 2013 20:58251632Good Luck with that one Barry. I'm sure that with your skill and patience, you'll make another great plane.
Roger
