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

[MikeMaben]

[Greif8]

Very nice airbrush work and chipping John.

 

Ernest

[Dpgsbody55]

That's shaping up well.  I like the weathering as shown, but cameras see things differently to our eyes.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Scale32]

Nice work. That seat looks like it's in no man's land. Makes you appreciate just how big the jug was!

 

Cheers Bevan 

[spyrosjzmichos]

Lovely work John!

The painting is top notch and spot on! 

[Gerhard]

Superb!! 

[Woody V]

5 hours ago, Scale32 said:

Nice work. That seat looks like it's in no man's land. Makes you appreciate just how big the jug was!

Someone once jokingly said that taking evasive action in a P47 meant running around in the cockpit.

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!  Creeping along on the cockpit... it's nice because of the large size of the P-47 office as noted by Bevan and Woody.  There's lots of room to play with.

Here are some views of the components that have been painted so far.  I've tried to position the parts so that the chipping is more visible.

 

The seat.

 

 

The rear cockpit bulkhead and headrest.

 

 

The instrument panel with the foot rests added.

 

 

The cockpit floor with the control stick.

 

 

Adding adding levers to the main circuit panel was fiddly and I've decided not to go any further and add the even smaller knobs that could possibly populate other areas of the panel.

 

 

Completion of the main circuit panel signals the last step in the cockpit sidewall work.  The sidewalls are now complete.

 

 

The starboard wall mounted on the cockpit floor.

 

 

The port side.

 

[JayW]

Oh John - I just now noticed this build.  How did I miss it?  I am on page 5 so far and I have a ton of input already.  Bear with me as I finish reading ,and I will post.  Thankfully some of the other followers have provided correct input.

 

Warning - I don't like the tail wheel strut....  will discuss shortly.

[Jaro]

Marvelous. Setting a new benchmark for P-47!

 

BTW: I'm always very excited opening the link to your thread and to be surprised...

[Greif8]

Beautiful and skilled work John.  The cockpit components look great!

 

Ernest

[Woody V]

Mind if I ask what you used for the oxygen hose? 
 

P47 Razorbacks are high on my list of favorite WWII fighters and I'm really enjoying this build.

[John Stambaugh]

3 hours ago, Woody V said:

Mind if I ask what you used for the oxygen hose? 
 

P47 Razorbacks are high on my list of favorite WWII fighters and I'm really enjoying this build.

X2

[JayW]

OK.  First, man you are really moving on this project!  I am so sorry I didn't see it in November.  But true to form, what you have done so far is just magical.  I also want to say that you will find Aircorps Library to be an absolute treasure trove of info for you, especially their VERY complete P-47 collection of drawings and documents.  

 

If you have not looked at the Erection and Maintenance manual yet, please do so.  Everything you do will relate to some page or pages found in that manual.  You will learn stuff for sure.  Same can be said for the Parts Catalogue - indispensible, although technically the same info can be found in the drawings themselves.  Both documents are in Aircorps Library in addition to the drawings.

 

If you have not found this already, the "top drawing" for the P-47 you are doing (a P-47D-11) is 93X10100:

 

 

 

Every single engineering drawing of the P-47D (most of the variants) come from this drawing.  You may have to go down several levels into the tree, but this is where it all comes from.  If you find this navigation difficult, please let me help.  In particular, per this drawing, your "dash number" is 93X10100-7, good for P-47D-11RE through -15RE.  Study the included parts list and you will see that one component of this dash number is Powerplant  Installation 89X61005-9.  Go to that drawing (89X61005), and you will find a component 89P61003-9 "Install Power Plant Eng Comp".  Here is a portion of that drawing (89P61003):

 

 

Note I have added a couple of notes (brush housing and prop governor).   Note also that 37 7/8 dimension - that dimension, although not its intent, is useful in that it allows you to approximately scale anything you want in that view.  Including an important measurement between the forward edge of the nose cowl and the aft end of the prop hub body (I measure about 3.5 inches per this view - which in 1/32 is .11 inch).  You need to assure that dimension is incorporated into your model (aft end of prop hub to a flat plane on the forward edge of the nose cowl.  Few modelers get this right (and that dimension is different with a Hamilton Standard prop).  To meet that dimension, you are going to find that you have a gap between the prop hub and the front of the engine.  And that gap must be filled with the "brush housing" which I describe a bit more below.  You can also get an idea how far inside the nose cowl the front of the engine is.  I hope Trumpy got this about right (it looks pretty good to me based on your pictures), as you have done much work already on the engine installation, and if it's off by alot there might not be anything you can do about it.   

 

Your engine:  You chose to use the existing engine in the Trumpy model.  Fine - you created a "silk purse out of a sow's ear".   An understatement.  And Trumpy actually has a better engine than some other kits.  I wish however that you could snap your fingers and have a duplicate Tamiya Corsair engine.  Except for the aft sections, in real life it is basically identical.  Here is your Corsair engine:

 

 

Biggest problem I see is that your Trumpy engine lacks the prop governor and its mounting surface!!  At this point, after such beautiful work has been done on your engine, I am hesitant to even mention it.  So it is your choice whether or not to make the modification.  The prop governor also has a control cable that snakes aft, and is rigged to a bracket attached to one of the cowl rings.  This is shown in great detail on engine controls drawing 89P64002 (which is a component of above drawing 89P61003).

 

Also, the Curtis Electric prop needs to have with it the brush assembly, its wire bundle and electrical box, and the brush housing:

 

 

 

These features are strictly for P-47 aircraft with a Curtiss Electric prop.  The Hamilton Standard versions don't have this, and that is the source of confusion with almost every kit manufacturer either for an original kit like the Trumpy P-47, or aftermarket additions.  NONE of them get it right.  Unfortunately, the brush and brush housing are Curtiss Electric parts, not Republic P-47 parts, and I do not know how one could find their definitions so that a 1/32 version can be scratched out.  But I had the same challenge with my 1/18 P-47, and managed to make some representation of it.  The Erection & Maintenance Manual was helpful as it has some pictures.  You should do same; it is not too late.  I preached the same sermon to Bill on his bubbletop, and it worked out OK.  Again, so sorry to be a johnny come lately. 

 

As for the prop - you appear to have chosen the right one.  Although the drawings probably specify the thinner bladed one, per the pictures you have Eileen got retrofitted with a wider blade version. 

 

I will post on a couple other things shortly. 

Edited December 20, 2022 by JayW

[JayW]

Landing gear - the installation drawing is 89L41000, a portion of which is here:

 

 

I have looked at dozens of P-47 modeling efforts, many of them just outstanding.  But one thing that just slays me is incorrect orientation of the landing gear struts.  So many great modelers get this wrong, sometimes grievously wrong.  On my 1/18 effort, I spent hours upon hours trying to pin down the correct orientation of the landing gear.  It is not helpful that landing gear component drawings are not to be found (they were manufactured by a supplier, not Republic).  In the end, just scaling the above drawing would have sufficed.  

 

When you do some measuring on that drawing, you will see that the gear struts are "bow legged".  The oleos are about 3 degrees off from vertical.  And then the lower strut has a 3 deg bend in it to restore the axle centerline to pure horizontal.  Check your Trumpy LG, and see if this feature is present.  If it is, then just realize it and orient the gear properly once you final install.  Most modelers will orient the oleos vertically.  Don't do it - make them splay outwards by about 3 deg.  But the wheels/tires must be vertical.

 

You can also measure the "rake" angle.  Which is the angle the gear make when viewed from the side.  Measure that and you will get approximately 12deg relative to horizontal.  Make sure your model has this just right. 

 

BTW - look at how tight the clearance is between the tire and the lower strut.  Make sure your wheels are not too far away from the strut.  You made a correction already; recheck and make sure you are happy with it.   

 

As for amount of compression, the general arrangement drawing (93X10100 - I mentioned it in the previous post) states 1.6 inch oleo extension for "static load".  That is for a fully loaded aircraft, and would be more for a lightly loaded aircraft.  1.6 inches divided by 32 is 0.05 inch.  So you should have at least that amount of chrome plated oleo exposed.         

Edited December 20, 2022 by JayW