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

[Thunnus]

I'll be using the 1/32 Trumpeter kit for this build.  I've reviewed a number of online builds of this kit. Trumpeter is not my favorite model company but from what I've read on line, the Jug is one of their better efforts.  I expect some fit issues but hopefully we can overcome those and present a decent result.

 

 

An interesting aspect of this kit is the inclusion of a clear, 1-piece engine cowling.  To Trumpeter's credit, the cowling is VERY clear to facilitate a view of the engine details but needless to say, I'll be painting this one!  I've read that the molded details on the cowling are very soft.  Perhaps to help maintain clarity?  I'll make a note to reinforce the panel lines and rivets here.

 

 

The traditional clear parts: windscreen and sliding canopy look ok.

 

 

The front face of the instrument panel is presented as a clear part.  The intention is to view the instrument details, supplied as a sheet of printed acetate, through the clear plastic.  If so, why in the world would you mold instrument details onto the clear part?  Nope, doesn't make sense but I'll be using an Eduard instrument panel and I can just leapfrog this silliness altogether.

 

 

It's a shame because the acetate instrument panel is rather well-detailed.  Builders wishing to utilize the kit parts could attempt to salvage this situation by drilling the gauge openings from the clear instrument panel. Also included in the kit are some rudimentary photoetch parts including  very simplified seat harnesses, which I'll be replacing with the HGW product.

 

 

Jumping to the main plastic parts, we find a very squat looking fuselage on Sprue A.  Big and beefy is how I would describe this aircraft.

 

 

The entire exterior surface of the model is covered in rivets, represented by small holes.  Some like this, some hate it.  I consider myself neutral.  I happen to like the look of rivets presented as small holes, but I prefer the smaller holes produced by using a rotary riveting wheel.  For this build, I am trading in a bit of refinement for a lot less work and I'm ok with that.

 

The wings make up the biggest sprue in the box.

 

 

Some panels are left open if the modeler wishes to show the machine gun stations and ammo feeds.  I'll be closing this model up so I'm hoping that these panels have a decent fit.

 

 

Four prop and two engine cowling options are provided but the Trumpeter instructions offer no guidance whatsoever on the differences or applicability of these options.

 

Which prop does this look like?

 

[Citadelgrad]

Not a T bolt expert, John, but I would say it's the bottom left of the 4 in the photo showing the whole sprue. It's a close call between the bottom two, but the blade profile and thickness at the tip is not as narrow as the bottom right one.  

Edited November 18, 2022 by Citadelgrad

[D.B. Andrus]

34 minutes ago, Citadelgrad said:

Not a T bolt expert, John, but I would say it's the bottom left of the 4 in the photo showing the whole sprue. It's a close call between the bottom two, but the blade profile and thickness at the time is not as narrow as the bottom right one.  

 

+1

[Thunnus]

I agree with both of you... the bottom left one.

[Sturmbock]

A P47 on your workbench! This is great!!

The kit is really good, ok some small fit problems but nothing you can't fix. In your hands it will turn into a masterpice! I'm really excited 

 

Lutz

[nmayhew]

On 11/16/2022 at 7:20 PM, Thunnus said:

 

The Trumpeter P-47D Razorback kit has been delivered and I'm now waiting for the AM items to arrive. Not familiar with the kit so I'll probably do a pictorial of the box contents to kick it off.

yes!
Eileen gets the Thunnus treatment!

 

Re the props, I suspect you may want the input of @Juggernut but from my feeble memory / knowledge of the Jug, these razorbacks would have started with the so-called needle prop, which is bottom *right*, but they were exchanged / upgraded in the field to broader chord props so the other one may be what you can see in some pics (sorry I have forgot all the correct nomenclature).

 

also interested in what you will do with the wings?

the P-47 had a similar putty protocol / smooth finish to the P-51 I thought, but somehow it generates little discussion and is rarely depicted as such.

happy to be corrected by @Juggernut but also very much looking forward to this build!

 

#popcorn etc etc etc

Edited November 18, 2022 by nmayhew

[Juggernut]

1 hour ago, nmayhew said:

yes!
Eileen gets the Thunnus treatment!

 

Re the props, I suspect you may want the input of @Juggernut but from my feeble memory / knowledge of the Jug, these razorbacks would have started with the so-called needle prop, which is bottom *right*, but they were exchanged / upgraded in the field to broader chord props so the other one may be what you can see in some pics (sorry I have forgot all the correct nomenclature).

 

also interested in what you will do with the wings?

the P-47 had a similar putty protocol / smooth finish to the P-51 I thought, but somehow it generates little discussion and is rarely depicted as such.

happy to be corrected by @Juggernut but also very much looking forward to this build!

 

#popcorn etc etc etc

 

Although I'm no expert either, I do concur.  I have to study up on the wing finish but I too have heard that the wing surface was smoothed but as above, I haven't heard a lot about it. 

 

For a razorback P-47, three of the four props shown in the photo have direct applicability from my knowledge and examination of extant photographs, the odd one out being the asymmetrical Curtiss Electric prop (upper L/H corner of the photo).  These may have found their way onto razorbacks but they're much more associated with the bubbletops.  The Hamilton-Standard hydromatic (Upper R/H corner) was used on certain production block razorbacks [and bubbletops] and was NOT directly interchangeable with the Curtiss Electric prop (without a bunch of modifications being done to the engine and the equipment in the aircraft); having said that, photographic evidence shows that this was done.  Since you've chosen an airframe with the Curtiss Electric symmetrical blade prop, you pretty much don't need to worry about any of the above...it's just FYI kinda crap.

[Dennis7423]

Grateful you're not using the Hamilton Standard prop (top right) in your build, because Trumpeter molded the prop hub and front cover absolutely ginormous. Better replaced with a Hasegawa one for others who may want to tackle this bird with a replacement prop. For your Curtiss Electric prop (bottom left), you'll want to fill in those "rivets" on the inner portions. Those flat interior spots were rubber baffles to assist with prop vibrations, and were smooth from what I understand.

 

You were inquiring earlier about some coloring... here's what I've learned over the years about P-47's. The cockpit interior was a bronze or dull dark green, similar to what you would find on a B-17 or B-25 cockpit. The rear bulkhead was often olive drab or a different shade than the rest of the cockpit, as it was an armor plate. The undercarriage bays, to include the interior of the undercarriage doors, were zinc chromate of the brighter variety, not what would typically be considered as "interior green." The landing gear legs were natural metal; I suspect the ones in your photo were just dirty and appeared darker. P-47's notoriously got very dirty on their undersides. And yes, you are seeing another American star under the port wing. To aid with ground recognition because P-47's were often flying low-level bombing runs, additional, often very large symbols were added under the port wing, and sometimes supplemented under the starboard wing as well.

 

- Dennis S.

   Mount Juliet, TN USA

[Thunnus]

Thanks everyone!  Especially the technical comments about the P-47D, which I am in the process of learning about.  Curtiss Electric prop with the rounded tips (lower left prop in the photo) will be used.  Not sure about the wing surface issue but most likely, I am going to leave them alone.

 

1 hour ago, Dennis7423 said:

The landing gear legs were natural metal; I suspect the ones in your photo were just dirty and appeared darker.

 

Thanks for the informative comments, Dennis!  Very helpful!  I do have to disagree about the landing gear legs.  Based on the photos that I've been looking at of other 78th FG Thunderbolts, the landing gear legs look to be a dark color, and not dirty natural metal.  In the photo below, you can see the natural metal wearing through under the darker color.

 

I mentioned Olive Drab as this was stated in an article I found at the IPMS Stockholm website called "Interior Colours of US Aircraft, 1941-45, Part II" by Martin Waligorski.  Regarding the P-47D, it says,

 

Quote

Undercarriage legs were painted Dark Olive Drab 41 on camouflaged aircraft. This practice continued over to at least some natural metal machines. At some point in production the requirement seems to have changed to allow an Aluminium lacquer finish to be used.

 

[Thunnus]

I've already shown the big important sprues so let's wrap up the sprue tour with the rest of the smaller frets. Another interesting aspect of this kit is Trumpeter's inclusion of the supercharger ducting, which becomes completely invisible after construction.

 

 

There are two identical sprues of ordinance, with some choices in drop tanks, bombs and even some small rockets.

 

 

All of the control surfaces are separately molded, which allows them to posed dynamically, if desired.

 

 

 

Trumpeter gives the Pratt & Whitney R2800 Double Wasp engine a lot of love and three separate sprues are dedicated just to the powerplant. The back of the engine is given as much attention as the front but for my build, cowling on and painted, I'll be concentrating on the view from the front.

 

 

Two sprues for the eight Browning machine guns.  The blast tube ends are molded with hollowed out ends, which is a nice touch. The instructions indicate that the machine guns are to be assembled and installed prior to the wing halves coming together.  Not ideal since this would interfere with the seam work and painting.  The bays on this aircraft will be closed so I'll be looking for ways to allow the insertion of the blast tubes after wing construction.

 

 

The final sprue includes all of the cockpit parts.  There is no AM resin available for the Trumpeter Razorback that I am aware of.  I have the Eduard PE interior set coming to help spiffy up the interior.

 

 

The landing gear legs look pretty basic and appear to be fully compressed.

 

That's it for the kit parts.

[Juggernut]

Quote

Undercarriage legs were painted Dark Olive Drab 41 on camouflaged aircraft. This practice continued over to at least some natural metal machines. At some point in production the requirement seems to have changed to allow an Aluminium lacquer finish to be used.

 

Totally concur. Color photos (if I can locate any, I'll post them) show this to be the case.  OD main gear struts phased out as NMF machines came into existence but used from spares until exhausted.

 

PS:  Corrugated floor is correct for P-47D's prior to P-37D-25 (first bubbletops).

Edited November 18, 2022 by Juggernut

[Dennis7423]

Happy to be proven wrong, and always happy to learn something new!

 

- Dennis S.

   Mount Juliet, TN USA

[D.B. Andrus]

1 hour ago, Thunnus said:

Thanks everyone!  Especially the technical comments about the P-47D, which I am in the process of learning about.  Curtiss Electric prop with the rounded tips (lower left prop in the photo) will be used.  Not sure about the wing surface issue but most likely, I am going to leave them alone.

 

 

Thanks for the informative comments, Dennis!  Very helpful!  I do have to disagree about the landing gear legs.  Based on the photos that I've been looking at of other 78th FG Thunderbolts, the landing gear legs look to be a dark color, and not dirty natural metal.  In the photo below, you can see the natural metal wearing through under the darker color.

 

I mentioned Olive Drab as this was stated in an article I found at the IPMS Stockholm website called "Interior Colours of US Aircraft, 1941-45, Part II" by Martin Waligorski.  Regarding the P-47D, it says,

 

 

 

+1 on OD legs, have seen many P-47's with.

[Out2gtcha]

Cant wait to see what you do with this one John!   My real issue with the kit is the damn horse-collar shaped cowl. 

[Dennis7423]

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?

 

- Dennis S.

   Mount Juliet, TN USA