Another Hasegawa T bolt Bubbletop, my first LSP. November 12, 2022, It is DONE at last!!!!!!!!

[Citadelgrad]

Well, even though i am almost finished, i could not break with tradition and have a smooth session. 
 

so i went ahead and used epoxy to glue the inner gear doors, and i got the angle just right. 

 

just as i was noting that the gear doors make it very hard to see the tank plumbing, i realized that i had made a mental note during my research that there is an unpainted panel on the inner gear doors, so i pried them off, breaking one of the fragile mounting points off.  
 

but i did manage to shoot some allclad aluminum and i think the contrast makes for some interest.  

 

 

q

 

heres the undamaged door, and right behind it you can see the plumbing that gave me all that trouble.  
 

i am pleased to report that while i was detail painting the hydraulic arm for these inner doors, i misplaced one and had to sweep the entire area into a dustpan, and i found it at last. Recovery!!!
 

Now to let that broken mount set up overnight, then i will install the second door, then on to the main gear doors, the flaps, which need some repair, the dorsal aerial, the d handle on the canopy, the guns, and the pitot tube.  
 

seems like only ive yeas ago that i started this build.  

 

 

[JayW]

Bill - just great stuff from a guy who knows a thing or two about P-47.  I like the natural metal panel on the gear doors; a necessary addition.

 

8 hours ago, Citadelgrad said:

the dorsal aerial

 

Do you mean the long antenna wire from the aft cockpit to the top of the fin?  If so, check your sources.  According to mine, the 8th AF in Europe didn't use the low freq (Detrola) radio and the equipment was removed in the field including the aerial.  MOF - my 1/18 P-51 has a little scratch built clear plastic cover that seals the hole in the bubble canopy - a modification kit provided to units during the war.  Don't know about 9th AF, but doesn't matter - yours is 8th AF.    Then again - as more and more units flew ground support for the invasion of the continent (at least 9th AF units but probably 8th as well), P-47 pilots had direct communication with tank commanders, and I do not know what kind of radios were used.

Edited October 5, 2022 by JayW

[Citadelgrad]

1 hour ago, JayW said:

Bill - just great stuff from a guy who knows a thing or two about P-47.  I like the natural metal panel on the gear doors; a necessary addition.

 

 

Do you mean the long antenna wire from the aft cockpit to the top of the fin?  If so, check your sources.  According to mine, the 8th AF in Europe didn't use the low freq (Detrola) radio and the equipment was removed in the field including the aerial.  MOF - my 1/18 P-51 has a little scratch built clear plastic cover that seals the hole in the bubble canopy - a modification kit provided to units during the war.  Don't know about 9th AF, but doesn't matter - yours is 8th AF.    Then again - as more and more units flew ground support for the invasion of the continent (at least 9th AF units but probably 8th as well), P-47 pilots had direct communication with tank commanders, and I do not know what kind of radios were used.

HI Jay, thank you for the kind words. 

 

I mean the mast itself, my sources don't seem to show any wire, just the mast sticking up.  That seems to mesh with your research, which is comforting.

[Ayovan]

17 hours ago, Citadelgrad said:

Well, even though i am almost finished, i could not break with tradition and have a smooth session. 
 

so i went ahead and used epoxy to glue the inner gear doors, and i got the angle just right. 

 

just as i was noting that the gear doors make it very hard to see the tank plumbing, i realized that i had made a mental note during my research that there is an unpainted panel on the inner gear doors, so i pried them off, breaking one of the fragile mounting points off.  
 

but i did manage to shoot some allclad aluminum and i think the contrast makes for some interest.  

 

 

q

 

heres the undamaged door, and right behind it you can see the plumbing that gave me all that trouble.  
 

i am pleased to report that while i was detail painting the hydraulic arm for these inner doors, i misplaced one and had to sweep the entire area into a dustpan, and i found it at last. Recovery!!!
 

Now to let that broken mount set up overnight, then i will install the second door, then on to the main gear doors, the flaps, which need some repair, the dorsal aerial, the d handle on the canopy, the guns, and the pitot tube.  
 

seems like only ive yeas ago that i started this build.  

 

 

Coming down the home stretch Bill. It really does look good. Great workmanship.

[JayW]

7 hours ago, Citadelgrad said:

I mean the mast itself, my sources don't seem to show any wire, just the mast sticking up.  That seems to mesh with your research, which is comforting.

 

Yeah Bill - two different radio antennas.  The mast is for the VHF unit, and it should be there.  

[Citadelgrad]

22 minutes ago, JayW said:

 

Yeah Bill - two different radio antennas.  The mast is for the VHF unit, and it should be there.  

Torn between whatever camo it sticks out of, a dark green, or aluminum...Thoughts?

[JayW]

2 hours ago, Citadelgrad said:

Torn between whatever camo it sticks out of, a dark green, or aluminum...Thoughts?

 

If it were me - I think the camo.

[TAG]

Hey Bill, not entirely sure I understood your query but here's another look at Gabby's plane from behind. Can't recall at the moment if Gabby used the same P-47 throughout this period of the war, so it might not be your specific bird as this one still had the wraparound invasion stripes, but in any case the photo shows the VHF antenna in a dark colored paint (hard to tell which color though as the antenna seems much darker than the nearby green on the fuselage) with a spritz of white overspray at its base from the invasion stripe.

 

Let's zoom in, also note that Gabby had an internal rearview mirror attached to the center of the windscreen:

 

Here's Gabby's plane after he was shot down, as you can see it is sans invasion stripes like your model and no hint of white overspray at the base of the antenna, so possibly a different kite? Or if not, then the ground crew definitely retouched the overspray at the base of the antenna when they painted out the invasion stripes. Also, note the NMF patch just above the serial number on the vertical stab (looks like a masking mishap to me) and the yellow stencil overspray around the serial numbers.

 

Hopefully these pics help you sort out your current conundrum,

 

- Thomaz

 

 

[JayW]

I cannot remember the decision making process on my own P-47 (1/18 scale Eagleston's 354th FG bubbletop).  But I painted the mast black after studying wartime pics.  Just FYI.  

[Juggernut]

Well, to be a little pedantic and according to my sources, Gabreski was not shot down, he got too low on a strafing run, pranged his prop, and caused the ditch and subsequent internment.  I think the antenna is a standard AN part and would be the same between aircraft (i.e., P-47 to P-51) but may have been finished differently.  If I remember correctly (and that's definitely debatable), the antenna was made of wood.  I'd have to do some retroactive research (checking IPB's) on it but that's what I remember off-hand.

 

I haven't yet figured out how the invasion stripes were removed without affecting the camouflage pattern underneath, unless it was a water-based paint (or some other medium). Most of the examples I've seen, the invasion stripes were just overpainted with OD or another suitable color.  This is quite different from what we see in the above photos of Gabby's plane.

 

Anyway, this build is really nice and I'm a pretty big "Jug" fan (notice my userID). 

 

 

Edited October 6, 2022 by Juggernut

[Citadelgrad]

4 hours ago, TAG said:

Hey Bill, not entirely sure I understood your query but here's another look at Gabby's plane from behind. Can't recall at the moment if Gabby used the same P-47 throughout this period of the war, so it might not be your specific bird as this one still had the wraparound invasion stripes, but in any case the photo shows the VHF antenna in a dark colored paint (hard to tell which color though as the antenna seems much darker than the nearby green on the fuselage) with a spritz of white overspray at its base from the invasion stripe.

 

Let's zoom in, also note that Gabby had an internal rearview mirror attached to the center of the windscreen:

 

Here's Gabby's plane after he was shot down, as you can see it is sans invasion stripes like your model and no hint of white overspray at the base of the antenna, so possibly a different kite? Or if not, then the ground crew definitely retouched the overspray at the base of the antenna when they painted out the invasion stripes. Also, note the NMF patch just above the serial number on the vertical stab (looks like a masking mishap to me) and the yellow stencil overspray around the serial numbers.

 

Hopefully these pics help you sort out your current conundrum,

 

- Thomaz

 

 

Thanks, Thomaz.  I think the consensus is that Lt. Col. Gabreski's plane was taken very good care of, and the two photos show the same plane, certainly with the same serial number and overspray.  It seems like they took an NMF plane and applied RAF colors to it, then the entire invasion stripes scheme for June 6, then, then the regs changed, they painted over the wing top and fuselage top stripes with the camo colors, and did a neater job on the wings than the fuselage. 

 

There are no photos of the plane that I can find where it is painted the same as the ditched scheme but before the ditching.  The pre repaint photos ( and film

)don't show that large area of missing paint, but do show the overspray.  I would like to think that happened in the belly landing, but honestly I can't figure out how that might have happened.   

Edited October 6, 2022 by Citadelgrad

[denders]

Notice how the sticker was added about 1:30?

[Citadelgrad]

Last night i installed the formerly broken inner gear door and used my 1 2 3 blocks to make sure the lower main gear doors are square.  I put the Jug on my grid cutting mat, made sure it was aligned, then used the grid lines and the blocks to square the doors to centerline.  The rear lower edge seems parallel to the ground, so i think this complex geometric scheme is working. 
 

progress shots

Edited October 8, 2022 by Citadelgrad

[Citadelgrad]

Lets drag this one closer to the finish line.  I git the super fiddly upper gear doors and their uncooperative swivel arms in place, 5 minute epoxy please dont fail me.  Then i could not resist hanging the flaps.  
 

here are the gear doors in all their glory 

 

 

the flaps are just…flaps, so how about some overall shots, shes not finished but i feel really close. 
 

 

the punch list is getting short. 
guns, pitot, a red handle on the canopy, prop emblems, mast antenna.  
 

i think thats it.  
 

comments welcome, as always.  

Edited October 9, 2022 by Citadelgrad

[JayW]

Now there's a Thunderbolt.  Question - the prop seems to be sagging down a bit.  Is it just the picture, or is it so?