Trumpeter 1/32 P-47D Razorback "Eileen"

[Out2gtcha]

12 minutes ago, Dennis7423 said:

Anyone tried to graft the Hasegawa cowling onto the Trumpeter kit? Granted, its sans matching rivets, but were there any other differences between the razorback and bubble top cowling units?

 

I've thought many times about making a Revellagawa razorback, but not ever really considered taking just the cowl over............. 

 

Its been years and years since I thought about mine, but I seem to recall some other issues there but cant remember what if any besides the cowl. 

[Dpgsbody55]

Your posts have made me take a look back at my build.  For the most part, I found fitment to be quite good, but I did have troubles with the alignment of all the engine parts.  That may have been my fault as the engine was built in fits and starts over a four year period.  I also spent some time detailing the engine and supercharger, which is pretty much a model within a model.  You can't see much, even if you open some hatches as I did, but I still think it was worth the effort.  I also opened up the area behind the cylinders which made some of my efforts on the supercharger more worthwhile.

 

The one really bad error on this is the shape of the front engine cowl.  It spoils the whole thing.  Overall, I'd happily do a Razorback again as I prefer it to the bubble top.  I just wish Tamiya or Z-M would do one instead.  And I think I could do better than this now, anyway.

 

Looking forward to seeing the start of this.  And the rest too.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Thunnus]

Thanks for the comments everyone!  I'm still waiting for some aftermarket items to arrive, most notably the Eduard PE Interior Set.  Looking at the clear instrument panels, I discovered that the one for the Razorback does not have molded detail on the faces but the plastic is still very thick. So I fiddled with the idea of drilling out the gauges on the clear instrument panel... it did not go so well!

 

Needing something else to play with without actually starting the build, I decided to check my color options for the Olive Drab/Neutral Grey finish.  I have these colors in both Mr Hobby Aqueous and AK Real Colors.

 

Here are the colors shot on a test mule with a flat coat applied. Mr Hobby on the Left, AK Real Color on the Right and my attempt at figure painting in the middle.

Edited November 19, 2022 by Thunnus

[D.B. Andrus]

Personally, I like the Gunze OD & NG. The AK's are good as well. but look lightened for scale effect.

 

Cheers,

Damian

[scvrobeson]

If it was me, I'd use the AK Olive Drab and the Gunze Neutral Grey. Those two look the best to my eye.

 

 

Matt 

[mc65]

maybe the test I did with different OD for the P51B may help?

I used mainly Mr.hobby H-52 and AK RC024, using MRP just for highlights.

 

in any case, expect a slightly higher consumption of color than usual... 

 

cheers, Paolo

[Antonio Argudo]

 my relics from a P-39 in OD/NG, just judging by the picture from your test mule I would go with the OD from AK and the NG from Mr. Hobby, I need to make some comparisons with those shades and paints available someday 

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!  I am leaning towards the AK OD and the Mr Hobby NG but I'll be varying both colors to simulate wear/fading. The pics of the 78th FG show the Razorbacks to be in pretty good shape, generally speaking, with minimal paint chipping.  I'll keep that in mind when I get to the weathering stage.  The destroyed instrument panel means I will rely on the Eduard instrument panel, which is included in their interior set.  I'm not a big fan of Eduard's pre-painted PE due to that very noticeable texture so hopefully I can reduce that with a flat coat.

 

I'm still waiting for the majority of the aftermarket stuff to arrive.  I have a couple of pieces but since the cockpit is usually the first place to start, I'd really like to see the Eduard interior set before anything else.  I already have the Barracuda resin wheels to replace the rubber ones that come with the kit.

 

 

The markings for Eileen are hard to come by since the Barracuda P-47D Part 1 decal sheet is out of print.  I got lucky and a John Stambaugh generously sent me his sheet with Eileen markings intact.  Thank you John!

 

 

I immediately scanned the decal sheet and traced the letter/number codes for this machine to cut custom masks for.  Here's a test of the masks on my paint mule.  I sprayed the masked area with a light coat of clear gloss before painting.  It is a good insurance policy to guard against any paint leaking under the mask.

 

[Greif8]

Looking forward to following along as you work your magic John.

 

Ernest

[mc65]

nice shot, find the decals!
sometimes the search for the missing sheet approaches that of the holy grail!

about the instrument panel, I take the liberty of giving my opinion: Eduard has done a great job on these, but today there are clearly superior products, like Yahu. 
sad to say, having a stash full of kit's boxes with their Eduard set within, but there is no game, IMHO.

[Dave J]

From memory, I had issues with the alignment of the engine too. Think I just cut away the locating nobs.

 

Also, keep an eye on the gun bay covers on the wings. They are designed to be open, and I had to shim mine to have them closed as the cover sat too deep in the bay.

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!

 

16 hours ago, mc65 said:

I take the liberty of giving my opinion: Eduard has done a great job on these, but today there are clearly superior products, like Yahu.

 

 

Yeah, I think this is worth a look... got a Yahu Panel ordered!

 

Since I am matching the Barracuda resin wheels to the kit landing gear legs, I wanted to check out the fit between the two.

 

 

The landing gear legs have some prominent molding seams and big sprue gates that need clean-up.  

 

 

The kit wheel is made of rubber or vinyl.

 

 

Strangely, they portray the back side of the wheels with spokes which is wrong... wonder why Trumpeter made more work for themselves here?  More importantly, you can see how snugly the wheel fits onto the landing gear axle.

 

 

The Barracuda wheel was designed for the Hasegawa P-47D kit and the hole for the axle is in between the two sizes featured on the Trumpeter axle.

 

 

I've had bad experiences trying to enlarge an existing hole so I decided to approach this another way.  I cut the axle pegs off of the kit legs and found a section of plastic in my spares box (Fw 190D-9 landing gear legs) that fit the Barracuda hole.  I attached pieces of this donor using a brass pins and CA glue to the kit legs.

 

 

The new axles fit the Barracuda wheels tightly, which should make alignment of the flat spots easier when it comes times to stand the model up.

 

 

I am modeling Eileen with the wheel covers so these were cut from their casting blocks and trimmed to fit.

 

 

Next, I turned my attention to the tail landing gear.  No resin replacement so I'm forced to use the black vinyl tire.  Looking at the tail landing gear leg, it looked suspiciously weak.  So I had thoughts of replacing it with something stronger.  I think this is do-able but I need to make sure that the tail wheel fits on this new metal axle, which I fashioned from a large paper clip.

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by Thunnus

[Gazzas]

Wow!  That IP is something else.

[scvrobeson]

Great problem solving already at work John, but we expect nothing less at this point.

 

I do wonder if the wheel doesn't need to fit a bit closer to the gear leg? The original Trumpeter version seems pretty deep on that lug

 

 

Matt 

[Thunnus]

I confirmed that the tail wheel fits without issue on the new metal leg.

 

 

The plastic leg was cut off an a hole drilled in its place to accommodate the new leg at the correct angle.

 

 

To further secure the leg in place, I added a blob of Milliput into the hollow and pushed the metal leg into it.  Once dry, the hardened putty should solidify things.

 

 

A simple modification but the tail wheel is much stronger now.

 

 

Does anyone know... can the vinyl tail wheel be painted?  Will Mr Surfacer 1000 as a primer coat help?

 

5 minutes ago, scvrobeson said:

Great problem solving already at work John, but we expect nothing less at this point.

 

I do wonder if the wheel doesn't need to fit a bit closer to the gear leg? The original Trumpeter version seems pretty deep on that lug

 

 

Matt 

 

Thanks Matt... I'll double check the main landing gear/wheel fit once again!