Hi all.
Thought Id start a thread for my Thunderbolt. Its the Tamiya kit in 1/72.
Ive finished the cockpit tub.
Anything Ive missed before I close it up?


Almost tempted to have a go at the engine harness,,(Leon,,you have a lot answer for :-) :-) )

Hi Nigel!

Looks ok to me! Great Job...

Jean-Luc

Looks great Nigel! Isn't the cockpit really nice for 1/72?!?

As for wiring the engine. I think it would be very doable, but wimped out on my 1/72 builds of the t-bolt. The one that I had done all the wiring was 1/48 - easy. 1/72 probably not quite as easy, but very possibly worth the work. Plus you're coming off a short run kit, so for you - probably easy .

Anyway, it does look good and I look forward to seeing more as it progresses.
Leon

Hi Nigel,

This looks very detailed to me considering the scale. Are the seat belts moulded on the seat or were they separate items.

I look forward to the next stage.

Mark

Hi Nigel. Looks very nice. Well painted and weathered. Looking forward to seeing some progress shots, gotta love that Tamiya quality, Wingman out.

Nigel,

Looks good so far but I do think you have missed a couple of things :- The pilots sandwiches and his stainless steel flask.......I think it looks great

John

looks great Nige, Get it closed up so we can see the next bit
Mal

Hi all.
Thanks for the input.
Leon,


Had a close look and I think Im going to wimp out on this as well.
Mark,


The seatbelts are a decal,as is the instrument panel.
Wingman,



Isnt it brilliant! Going to have to look out on Ebay for some at a discount price.I am very impressed with this one in particular.Well worth paying the extra for.
John,


They are in the mapcase just to the right of the pilots seat.Obviously its closed now and you cant see them,,but I know they are there :-)

Cockpit is now closed up and finished.
Onto the engine next.
Nige

Nice Cockpit.

Hi Nigel:
That cockpit looks great. Are the seat belts the decals of the kit ?

Seems the factory is at full throtle !

Hi Carlos.
The instrument panel and the seatbelts are the kit decals.I managed to loose a lot of the "cartoonish" look of the belts when I gave them a watercolour wash.
Nige

Looks great Nigel.
Having started back into modeling at the same time as me, you've quickly surpassed my abilities. That cockpit would be great for a 1/48 kit but being 1/72 scale what you've done is awsome.
Glad to see you are enjoying a Tamiya kit. They're my favorite. Also, if you're interrested, many of the 1/72 Hasegawa kits my son has in his stash have excellent detail.

Great work so far.

Hi Nigel

Beautiful work! I agree with VonCuda - I did a real double-take over the scale. I'm really looking forward to seeing future updates.

All the best

Rowan

Hermon.
Thankyou for the very kind words but I can assure you that wouldnt say that if you could see the pile of scrap that my TigerMoth turned into. :-)

Hi all.
Progress report.
Cockpit has been closed up and fitted.Main fusalage is together and Ive made a start on the engine.No wiring harness Im afraid.So far this is fitting together really nicely.Despite several dry runs the cockpit was sitting slightly off when I glued the fusalage together,but I dived in with a cocktail stick and it popped into place,,,,phew,,,

Looks great lampie. Looking forward to more. One head's up...If I remember right (and you'll probably do this anyway) it may be advisable to dry fit the fuselage insert before glueing it together to see if it is better to glue it to itself first and then the fuselage or each half to the fuselage. I seem to remember a small fit problem, but really small.
Leon

Hi Leon.
Could you clarify what you mean by "fusalage insert"?
I presumed you mean the cockpit tub,which was a bit tricky,or do you mean the rear fuselage which sits on top? (parts G2 + G3).I'll be coming to this soon.
Working on the engine at the moment,(without wiring harness:))
Also,,while I think about it.When I get to painting the anti glare panel.Would it better to paint this first and then mask it off while I paint the NMF,or will the Alclad take being masked over and sprayed with acrylic?
Really enjoying my first Tamiya kit and Im on the lookout for the Razorback version at the right price to keep it company

I haven't used Alclad, but have heard that it is very durable. Might wait for others on that.
As for the insert, I do mean the rear fuselage. I think on mine there was a choice between having a small gap to fill at the top of the fuselage by choosing to attach the individual parts to the left and right fuselage pieces first, or a small step on the fuselage side(s) if glueing the 2 insert pieces together first (I think what the directions recommend). Anyway, it is just a warning to dry fit first and decide what to do. It is VERY likely that I had the small gap to deal with because of a mistake made in another place. :-)
Again, your build is looking great and I am really enjoying watching it develop.
Leon

Thanks for that Leon.
A couple of dry runs and it looks pretty close.I see what you mean about a "step" but I think it'll be ok.Famous last words,,haha.
Heres a progress pick on the engine.Sorry its not the clearest photo but its the best of a bunch.The detail stands out more than it seems to do on the photo.
I cant help thinking that it needs something more to finish it off,and I dont mean an ignition harness.
Any suggestions people?

More progress on this excellent Tamiya kit,,(the kit,not the job Im making of it!)
Ive finished the engine,I think.Still a bit undecided if it needs something else but 90% of its hidden so Im not overly bothered about it.Its starting to look like a proper "Jug" now.
Ive sprayed it gloss black and only a couple of small areas need attention so when these have been addressed I can press on with the Alclad.When I get some
Do I need to do anything to the gloss black primer before I Alclad over it.Ive never used a nmf before hence all the recent questions.
Heres how it stands at present.

Any comments,advice,hints and tips more than welcome

Hi Nigel:

Your P 47 is going very well.
I don´t have expirience with Alclad but if it works like the Model Master metalizaers i think you can apply it over the black paint without problem.
By the way MM buffing Metalizers work fine. I like them very much and they´re not expensive.
Keep on posting.

Nigel,

I have never used Alclad paint and was wondering why it has to be sprayed on over a gloss black surface.

In addition to this, do you need to use anything special to clean your airbrush when you have finished spraying Alclad through it.

I look forward to the next instalment.

Thanks

Mark

Hi Mark.
Alclad will be a new experience for me as well so watch this space.
Have a look at this thread,it answered all my questions for this project.
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/69250&page=1
There is also a link for the main Alclad site in there.Well worth a read through.
Hope it helps,
Nige

Sorry I cannot help you with the Alclad question (in respect to doing anything before spraying it)... but I wanted to suggest to paint the metallic finish first, then add the anti glare strip... you can weather it then (if you plan on adding chipping) by just scraping off the anti glare colour with an exacto lightly thush exposing the metallic finish underneath.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Tommyguns.
I will be adding the anti glare panel after decals and a coat of future so I can keep the matt finish without having to matt varnish over the alclad finish.