Eduard 1/48 P-47D Thunderbolt Bubbletop

[JonMW]

With my LTGB finally done I can get started on this one. Academy kit with some beautiful resin and PE extras, looks like it will be a nice build. The idea is to do it mostly OOB and not spend too much time on it.












Small damage on one of the wing tips.


Resin, PE, decals, masks and clear parts.


The details on the resin parts amazing.

[Goose]

I'v got it in my stash,

Indeed the resin parts are amazing, the wheels are WON-DER-FUL and the P/E parts interesting to add a bit more details

Will follow this thread carefully and pump all your ideas or tricks

have a good build!

See ya

Goose

[Willem]

Looking forward to this one, Jon.

Best of luck with your build.

[UKguyInUSA]

Ohhhhh, that looks like a gem of a kit with the nice panel details and all those lovely extras! Will look forward to watching this come together, Jon

[JonMW]

Thanks!

Noe it's finally time to get something done on this. The cockpit is finished, I started with painting all the parts Alclad black and aluminium followd by MIG absolute chipping and Vallejo zinc chromate which was later chipped to show the aluminium. Did a bit of detail painting, dry brushed some silver and gave everything a wash using Ultimate dark dirt.

[Joesdad]

I too have this kit and I'll be following you closely and yes I also will be stealing all your ideas...
Lovely start mate

[HistoryRider]

Great job on the cockpit tub Jon!!! Looks like a lovely kit!! Can't wait to see more!!



PS: Jugs over Germany? That sounds more like Playboy Bunnies in a USO Show!!!

[gaz45]

Awesome work on the cockpit mate

[AchtungPanzer]

Super work with interior , cockpit . I look forward to more

[JonMW]

Thanks for the comments!

Finally got some more work done. Joined the wings and fuselage together, was a pretty good fit only needed a tiny bit of filler and a bit of sanding. To get something to guide the scriber I used 3M fine line masking tape, this is a rather thick plastic masking tape that is really easy to get to conform and as it's thick it gives enough of an edge to guide the scriber.



Also started the painting, got all the colors on except for the metal finish. I didn't bother with any pre-shading as it won't show up on the metal parts so I'm going to do some post-shading instead.







All the paints are Vallejo Model Air. At first I used AK primer but it didn't want to spray on the model for some reason. It sprayed without a problem on the paper next to the model and as I moved the airbrush closer to the model it stop spraying, moving it away and it started spraying again, it just didn't want to go on the model. So I used Zero Paints White primer instead, which worked really well.

[UKguyInUSA]

ooooohhhhhhh.....she's looking gorgeous so far! Great details in the cockpit and the paint job so far looks really nice!

[rodrant]

Hi John ,

Great Cockpit , very good , and the paint job so far is really great . Shoud be another great build !

[JonMW]

Thanks!

Had a good painting session today and got pretty much every thing that was left painted. This is the first NMF plane I've done and I think it came out pretty good. Started by laying down a couple of coats of Alcald gloss black, I didn't put too much effort in getting a mirror smooth finish or getting the same finish over the whole plane. The idea being that having the paint a bit duller in places would give a slightly varying shine to the aluminium, and I think it worked pretty well. I then applied two thin coats of Alclad polished aluminium to the whole plane, after that I went over a few panels with a thin coat of aluminium to add some variation to the panels. I think one of them came out a bit too dull. Hope I can get some post shading on tomorrow, not sure how that will turn out but we'll see.


An all black P-47D


First coat of polished aluminium


All the masking off, the tape lifted the paint in four small places but not hard to fix with a brush.

[UKguyInUSA]

Sweet! Looking really good so far!

[bradsbunker]

Thats a very smart Jug if i may say so.

[Nige201980]

That is looking sharpe mate.

[JonMW]

Thanks for the nice comments!

All the decals are on and I have started the weathering. The decals went on without any problem, pretty much what you expect from Cartograf. The engine was also finished, used Alclad aluminium and a gray blue for paint and finished it with a wash of Mig oil.




The wash is not as strong as it looks in the pictures.




And off course you must have a naked lady on the nose of a plane.

[Willem]

Looking very special, Jon.

I wouldn't have guessed that this was your first NMF. Looks like you nailed it.

I've got my first NMF planned and if it turns out half as good as yours I'll be pleased.

Top job mate.

[rodrant]

Looking great! Paint job is beautifull,

Nice to watch another great build , this 'JUG' is worth watching

[JonMW]

Thanks, the paint is not as good as it looks, the camera (and lightroom) is a great tool for hiding small mistakes. Now I have a bit of a problem as I was touching up the Aluminium paint I managed to lift part of one decal on the side so I need to repair that. But for now a bit of info on the plane and the pilot who flew it.

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was one of the largest and heaviest fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single piston engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to eight tons, and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack roles could carry five-inch rockets or a significant bomb load of 2,500 pounds; it could carry over half the payload of the B-17 bomber on long-range missions (although the B-17 had a far greater range). The P-47, based on the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine — the same engine used by two very successful U.S. Navy fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought F4U Corsair — was to be very effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat and, when unleashed as a fighter-bomber, proved especially adept at ground attack in both the World War II European and Pacific Theaters.

The P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) fighters of World War II, and served with other Allied air forces, notably those of France, Britain, and Russia. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the U.S. were equipped with the P-47.

The armored cockpit was roomy inside, comfortable for the pilot, and offered good visibility. A modern-day U.S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, takes its name from the P-47.



P-47D / P-47G and XP-47K / XP-47L
The first P-47Ds were actually the same as P-47Cs. Republic could not produce Thunderbolts fast enough at its Farmingdale plant on Long Island, so a new plant was built at Evansville, Indiana. The Evansville plant built a total of 110 P-47Ds, which were completely identical to P-47C-2s. Farmingdale aircraft were identified by the "-RE" suffix after the block number, while Evansville aircraft were given the "-RA" suffix.

The P-47D-1 through P-47D-6, the P-47D-10, and the P-47D-11 successively incorporated changes such as the addition of more engine cooling flaps around the back of the cowl to reduce the engine overheating problems that had been seen in the field. Engines and engine subsystems saw refinement, as did the fuel, oil and hydraulic systems. Additional armor protection was also added for the pilot.

The P-47D-15 was produced in response to requests by combat units for increased range. The internal fuel capacity was increased to 375 U.S. gal (1,421 l) and the bomb racks under the wings were made "wet" (equipped with fuel plumbing) to allow a jettisonable drop tank pressurized by vented exhaust air to be carried under each wing, in addition to the belly tank. Five different auxiliary tanks were fitted to the Thunderbolt during its career:

200 U.S. gallon (758 l) ferry tank, a conformal tub-shaped jettisonable tank made of paper, which barely cleared the ground on grass airfields, was used as an interim measure between 30 July and 31 August 1943;
75 U.S. gal (284 l) drop tank, a standardized teardrop-shaped steel tank initially produced for the P-39 Airacobra, was adapted to the P-47 beginning 31 August 1943, initially carried on a belly shackle but used in pairs in 1944 as underwing tanks and adopted as a standard accessory in the US inventory;
108 U.S. gal (409 l) drop tank, a cylindrical paper tank of British design and manufacture, used as a belly tank beginning in September 1943 and a wing tank in April 1944;
150 U.S. gal (568 l) drop tank, a steel tank first used as a belly 20 February 1944, and an underwing tank 22 May 1944;
215 U.S. gal (810 l) belly tank, a wide, flat steel tank developed by VIII Service Command that allowed performance-degrading wing pylons to be removed, was first used in February 1945.

The tanks made of plastic-impregnated (laminated) paper could not store fuel for an extended period of time, but they worked quite well for the time it took to fly a single mission. These tanks were cheaper, lighter, and were useless to the enemy if recovered after being dropped, not only did they break apart, but they did not provide the enemy with any reusable materials that could be scavenged for their own war effort. With the increased fuel capacity, the P-47 was now able to perform escort missions deep into enemy territory. A drawback to their use was that fighters could not land with the tanks in place because of the hazard of rupture and explosion. Fighters recalled from a mission or that did not jettison for some reason were required to drop paper tanks into a designated "dump" area at their respective fields, resulting in substantial losses of aviation fuel.

The P-47D-16, D-20, D-22 and D-23 were similar to the P-47D-15 with minor improvements in the fuel system, engine subsystems, a jettisonable canopy, and a bulletproof windshield. Beginning with the block 22 aircraft, the original narrow-chorded Curtiss propeller was replaced by propellers with larger blades, the Evansville plant switching to a new Curtiss propeller with a diameter of 13 ft (3.96 m) and the Long Island plant using a Hamilton Standard propeller with a diameter of 13 ft 2 in (4.01 m). With the bigger propellers having barely 6 in (152 mm) of ground clearance, Thunderbolt pilots had to learn to be careful on takeoffs to keep the tail down until they obtained adequate ground clearance, and on landings to flare the aircraft properly. Failure to do so damaged both the propeller and the runway. A modification to the maingear legs was installed to extend the gear legs via an electric motor (un-extending before retract) to accommodate the larger propeller diameter. The P-47D-25 was a model with increased range, firepower, and maneuverability.

Even with two Republic plants rolling out the P-47, the USAAF still was not getting as many Thunderbolts as they wanted. Consequently, an arrangement was made with Curtiss to build the aircraft under license in a plant in Buffalo, New York. The Curtiss plant experienced serious problems and delays in producing Thunderbolts, and the 354 Curtiss-built fighters were relegated to stateside advanced flight training. The Curtiss aircraft were all designated P-47G, and a "-CU" suffix was used to distinguish them from other production. The first P-47G was completely identical to the P-47C, the P-47G-1 was identical to the P-47C-1, while the following P-47G-5, P-47G-10, and P-47G-15 sub-variants were comparable to the P-47D-1, P-47D-5 and P-47D-10 respectively. Two P-47G-15s were built with the cockpit extended forward to just before the leading edge of the wing to provide tandem seating, designated TP-47G, essentially to provide a trainer variant. The second crew position was accommodated by substituting a much smaller main fuel tank. The "Doublebolt" did not go into production but similar modifications were made in the field to older P-47s, which were then used as squadron "hacks" (miscellaneous utility aircraft).

Bubbletop P-47s

Republic XP-47K (S/N 42-8702)
All the P-47s produced to this point had a "razorback" canopy configuration with a tall fuselage spine behind the pilot, which resulted in poor visibility to the rear. The British also had this problem with their fighter aircraft, and had devised the bulged "Malcolm hood" canopy for the Spitfire as an initial solution. This type of canopy was fitted in the field to many North American P-51 Mustangs, and to a handful of P-47Ds (and far more on P-47Bs and P-47Cs). However, the British then came up with a much better solution, devising an all-round vision "bubble canopy" for the Hawker Typhoon. USAAF officials liked the bubble canopy, and quickly adapted it to American fighters, including the P-51 and the Thunderbolt. The first P-47 with a bubble canopy was a modified P-47D-5 completed in the summer of 1943 and redesignated XP-47K. Another older P-47D was modified to provide an internal fuel capacity of 370 U.S. gal (1,402 l) and given the designation XP-47L. The bubble canopy and increased fuel capacity were then rolled into production together, resulting in the block 25 P-47D (rather than a new variant designation). First deliveries to combat groups began in May 1944.

It was followed by similar bubble-top variants, including the P-47D-26, D-27, D-28 and D-30. Improvements added in this series included engine refinements, more internal fuel capacity, and the addition of dive recovery flaps. Cutting down the rear fuselage to accommodate the bubble canopy produced yaw instability, and the P-47D-40 introduced a dorsal fin extension in the form of a narrow triangle running from the vertical tailplane to the radio aerial. The fin fillet was retrofitted in the field to earlier P-47D bubble-top variants. The P-47D-40 also featured provisions for 10 "zero length" stub launchers for 5 in (127 mm) High velocity aircraft rockets (HVARs), as well as the new K-14 computing gunsight. This was a license-built copy of the British Ferranti GGS Mark IID computing gyroscopic sight which allowed the pilot to dial in target wingspan and range, and would then move the gunsight reticle to compensate for the required deflection.

The bubbletop P-47s were nicknamed "Superbolts" by combat pilots in the field.



Specifications

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 36 ft 1 in (11.00 m)
Wingspan: 40 ft 9 in (12.42 m)
Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Wing area: 300 ft² (27.87 m²)
Empty weight: 10,000 lb (4,535 kg)
Loaded weight: 13,300 lb (6,032 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 17,500 lb (7,938 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-59 twin-row radial engine, 2,535 hp (1,890 kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 433 mph at 30,000 ft (697 km/h at 9,145 m)
Range: 800 mi combat, 1,800 mi ferry (1,290 km / 2,900 km)
Service ceiling: 43,000 ft (13,100 m)
Rate of climb: 3,120 ft/min (15.9 m/s)
Wing loading: 44.33 lb/ft² ()
Power/mass: 0.19 hp/lb (238 W/kg)

Armament
8 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns (3400 rounds)
Up to 2,500 lb (1,134 kg) of bombs
10 × 5 in (127 mm) unguided rockets

Fred J. Christensen



Fred Joseph Christensen Jr. (1921–2006) was a fighter pilot and ace with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. A member of the 56th Fighter Group in England, Christensen scored 21.5 aerial victories. He later served 24 years as a command officer with both the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve, retiring as a colonel.

Pre-war
Christensen was born of Norwegian immigrant parents Frederik and Ruth Christensen in Watertown, Massachusetts, on October 17, 1921. His father worked as a machinist for Harvard University. Prior to World War II, he attended Boston University School of Music and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.



World War II
In 1942, Christensen joined the United States Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet and was commissioned in December 1942. After pursuit training, 2nd Lt. Christensen went to the Eighth Air Force in England in July 1943. Completing an operational training unit course at RAF Atcham to familiarize himself with the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter, he joined the 56th Fighter Group, based at RAF Halesworth, as a replacement pilot on August 26, 1943.

Christensen was assigned to the 62d Fighter Squadron. He was credited with his first German aircraft shot down on November 26, 1943, a Messerschmitt Bf 110 near Papenburg, Germany. He was recognized as an ace on February 11, 1944, with the crediting of his fifth kill, a Bf 109. He continued to regularly shoot down German aircraft, scoring two kills on the first day of Big Week, another on a long-range bomber escort to Berlin on March 6, and four more in consecutive missions of March 15 and 16.

Promoted to first lieutenant in February and captain in April, Christensen shot down his 16th aircraft on July 5, and also that day incurred the first battle damage of his tour. On July 7, leading the 62nd FS, Christensen was returning from a bomber escort mission and overflew Gardelegen Airfield, assessing it as a possible strafing target. Christensen noted numerous parked aircraft dispersed on the field, but then observed a flight of Junkers Ju 52 transports in trail at very low altitude, approaching to land.

Christensen dove on the landing pattern from 10,000 feet (3,000 m) and shot down the next-to-last transport with hits on the left side. He quickly overtook and fired at a second target, which burned and crashed. A third transport attempted to evade to the left, but he downed it with a deflection burst, setting its fuel tanks on fire. The German pilot attempted to land, but crashed short of the field.

As Christensen maneuvered for a fourth interception, his engine quit from fuel starvation. Christensen switched tanks, air-started his engine, and barely 100 feet (30 m) off the ground, fixed another Ju 52 in his sights. He scored several hits, and in its attempt to evade, the transport flew into the ground. Christensen attacked a fifth airplane, observing strikes on its fuselage and wing root, and shot it down before it could land. He then destroyed a sixth Ju 52 to become an "ace in a day" in an engagement that had lasted less than two minutes. In all, 10 of the 12 transports were shot down by the 62nd FS.



Christensen flew 107 combat sorties with the 56th Fighter Group and used five different aircraft to record his victories, including two assigned as his personal aircraft:

P-47D-10-RE 42-75207 LM: C, named "Boche Buster" on the nose cowling and Rozzie Geth near the cockpit, and
P-47D-25-RE 42-26628 LM: C, named Miss Fire and Rozzie Geth II. ("Rozzie Geth" was a diminutive of the name of a college girlfriend, Rosamand Gethro.)
Christensen's 21.5 officially credited kills rank him 12th among all Army Air Forces aces, 7th among aces of the Eighth Air Force, and 5th among P-47 aces.

[youtube]pNsKkmHCeZI[/youtube]

[youtube]WKX8E57kJ1I[/youtube]

[youtube]faWWwJl7bM0[/youtube]