MiniArt P-47D Thunderbolt: COMPLETED 2/13/24

[BlrwestSiR]

Nice job on finding the joystick. 

Great progress on the build too. It's interesting what manufacturers leave out of their instructions at times. 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Kev, completely agree. Highly detailed kit for sure ... just so fiddly with so many ultra small pieces.  Can't wait to finish up the big P&W, the detail does look amazing.

[Peterpools]

Carl

Completely agree and just so lucky I found the joystick. I did send an email to MiniArt and received a nice response in about five days' time. I'm sure if I didn't find it, they would have sent a replacement. Just a shame the instructions are vague in a few critical spots but for their first aircraft venture, it's an amazing kit.

 

 

[DocRob]

Nice progress despite the obstacles, Peter. Good that you found the joystick, it´s terrible to loose such an important and visible part. Maybe MiniArt is listening and betters their instructions. 

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Thanks Rob, it's the little things that slow down a build and make it a non-enjoyable experience.  The just improving the instructions would be a huge plus. 

Working on the wing - fillet seams. Oh what fun. 

[CANicoll]

Peter,  Super work getting the plane together.  The detail really does look awesome.  Can't wait to see how this looks all buttoned up.

So, are all the fiddly bits, and poor instructions, worth the aggravation, in your opinion?

[Peterpools]

Hi Chris, Thank you for the very kind words on the build to this point. 

Having already built the Tamiya P-47D Bubble Jug I keep mentally comparing the two kits and when my MIniArt kit crosses the finish line, I know I'll have a few things to say in comparing them. 

At this point in the build, is the kit been worth all the frustrations I've been dealing with, fiddly small parts and the instructions: in all honesty - no.  It's very well detailed, beyond Tamiya's kit but a lot can't be seen and struggling with some part orientation and fit, for me just isn't worth the extra work. This is supposed to be the Basic kit and I would have thought much of these tiny detail parts would have been molded in place like the Kotare Spitfire and not then needed to be dealt with individually. The value of these small detail parts does add up but should have been reserved for the Advanced kit - just my two cents worth. 

I'm almost through installing the wings and MiniArts approach is much different then Tamiya and a lot of the other newer kits when it comes to the wing spar and alignment. Next update, I'll give my opinion on that stage of the build. 

.

 

 

[jep1210]

Looking good, what color did you use for the cockpit?

 

[Peterpools]

10 minutes ago, jep1210 said:

Looking good, what color did you use for the cockpit?

 

Thank you for your kind comments on the Jug build.

The cockpit was primed with MRP Gray and the air brushed with MRP- 229 Interior Dark Dull Green. Most P-47D's cockpits were painted as per specifications in either Interior Dark Dull Green (MRP 229) or Interior Bronz Green (MRP 132).  Some actually were painted in Interior Green due to war time shortages and/or dependent where and who manufactured the aircraft. I've seen photographs of wartime aircraft where the cockpit was definitely painted in a much lighter green then the two specified and could have been Interior Green or looked lighter due to the type of B&W film used, which is what the instructions call out for. 

 

 

[KevinM]

5 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Some actually were painted in Interior Green due to war time shortages and/or dependent where and who manufactured the aircraft. I've seen photographs of wartime aircraft where the cockpit was definitely painted in a much lighter green then the two specified and could have been Interior Green or looked lighter due to the type of B&W film used, which is what the instructions call out for. 

I read somewhere to Peter that alot of that depended on what manufacturing line they came off of and it's so much right on the tip of my brain who did the dark/bronze green.

[jep1210]

6 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Thank you for your kind comments on the Jug build.

The cockpit was primed with MRP Gray and the air brushed with MRP- 229 Interior Dark Dull Green. Most P-47D's cockpits were painted as per specifications in either Interior Dark Dull Green (MRP 229) or Interior Bronz Green (MRP 132).  Some actually were painted in Interior Green due to war time shortages and/or dependent where and who manufactured the aircraft. I've seen photographs of wartime aircraft where the cockpit was definitely painted in a much lighter green then the two specified and could have been Interior Green or looked lighter due to the type of B&W film used, which is what the instructions call out for. 

 

 

Looks good. I been using Model Master Euro Green for my dull dark green P-47 pits which looks amazingly like the color you used. Since my supply of Model master colors are running low, I'm constantly looking for replacements. 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Kev

I think it came down to more of how the zinc chromate color was actually mixed as there were apparently different ratios used and the actual mix was a bit different in which directive was used.  Could also be the P-47G 's that were manufactured by Curtiss Wright cockpit color was different but there isn't a lot of documentation or evidence to that. At this stage of the game, as long as the cockpit isn't green zinc chromate, any of the colors should be OK to use.  

 

[Peterpools]

John

Just a shame MM paints were discontinued a long time ago and what is left, is hard to find. Still do not understand why enamels seem to be treated differently then lacquers, while both have serious health hazards and need precautions when using. are 

 

[Peterpools]

GETTING READY FOR PRIMING

To my dismay, the wing to fuselage glue-up didn’t go according to plan. I’ve become fond of the “run through fuselage spar system” which aligns and squares the wings easily, helps ensure the correct dihedral and greatly helps eliminates gluing issues. MiniArt’s Jug uses two small stub spars which are part of the wing construction and are inserted into slots in the fuselage. Not a sure-fire way of helping with the alignment and trying to maintain what I thought was the correct dihedral and I wound up with a small gap at both wing joints. My best guess as to what caused the gaps; the flaps, which seem to have been designed to be positional and installed in the down position, which can only be done that way in the Advanced kit. I later discovered, when I glued up the wings, the flaps didn’t sit flush in the slot next to the fuselage, forcing the wing to be slightly out of place and thus the gap. - strictly my goof. 

Yup, becoming all thumbs these past few years, I managed to bend and snap off three of the eight machine guns. I should have cut off the MG barrels right from the start and glue them back on at the end of the build. I wound up removing all eight MG’s and buying a few sets of Quickboost 50. Cal MG’s. The holes in the wings leading edge were all drilled out with a 1.0 drill bit, the MG test fitted and are now ready to go when needed.

Last major assembly: The BiG P&W R2800 and cowl assembly.

The engine is beautifully molded with loads of details, no exhaust pipes (none would be seen anyway) and I had a devil of a time getting the major parts to fit together, including the engine mount system … just way too fiddly. Looks wonderful now that’s it done.

The four-piece exterior cowl does assembly went well with no real issues. I’m just not a fan of multi piece cowlings and am assuming to mold in the all the details, this is a concession that needed to be made. The internal part fit is fiddly as well. Still some tweaking and a bit of CCA to take care of a few offending seams.

Some parts in this assembly have locating pins, which just don’t work well in alignment, others none and you’re doing a lot of guessing. For my money, this entire portion of the build should have been regulated for the Advanced kit and a less detailed engine with a one piece cowl for the basic kit, would have been just fine. MiniArt seems to have taken this approach with the flaps and this area would have benefited as well for me.

I’m almost ready for priming but still waiting for my Eduard canopy mask set to arrive. Surely wish a set of masks would have been included as it is a huge aide in painting prep work. 

Closed cowl flaps shown but I'll be going with the open ones, as so far, the fit has a few issues, but time will tell. 

 

[KevinM]

The AM barrels will look the part better in the long everything else looks good from here

[Peterpools]

Thanks Kev and I completely agree - a happy accident.

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Peter, the Jug is looking good. Nice work on getting the wing sorted. That engine looks impressive.

[Peterpools]

Thanks Carl, very much appreciated.

MiniArt for my money seems to just keep over engineering assemblies and I'm guessing toallow them to add/cram in as much detail as they can. Just seems there needs to be a better tradeoff between detail and complexity. I just finished the cowling, cowl flaps and gluing the finished assembly onto the fuselage and what should have been a snap, turned into a frustrating procedure with all sorts of small fit issues. I know a lot has to be me, as I've never built a MiniArt kit before and how they chose the parts to be added leaves no room for the slightest alignment error. 

 

[Martinnfb]

Always enjoyable journey with your builds Peter, I keep forgetting that this is not 1/32nd scale. 👍

[Peterpools]

Martin,, always glad when you are along for the journey and adventure.

Would be grand if it were in 32nd scale ... hint, hint Kotare.

[KUROK]

That kit looks beautiful and you are doing a smashing job.

However, that multipart cowling makes me want to build my Tamiya P-47D then think about purchasing this kit.

[Peterpools]

55 minutes ago, KUROK said:

That kit looks beautiful and you are doing a smashing job.

However, that multipart cowling makes me want to build my Tamiya P-47D then think about purchasing this kit.

Kurok

Absolutely agree - just way too fiddly and too much work when adding the Big P&W and cowl flaps. I just finished the entire assembly and spend hours trying to get it to fit - just a pain. While the kit has awesome details, a lot should have been reserved for their Advanced Kit rather then on the Basic Kit. I've built the Tamiya Bubble Jug a few years ago, didn't have a single issue and used their decals - nothing but pure fun and enjoyment.

 

[DocRob]

Very nice Peter, the Jug is looking great. The engine, cowl, fuselage fit is always a bit of a challenge with the big radial engines. A one piece cowling would have helped, but what I see on your pictures seems to be a good fit. Hopefully the masks arrive soon for painting the beast.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Thanks Rob

Very much appreciated your comments on the Jug build and completely agree. Masks have finally arrived and trying to obtain the best front windscreen fit I can and then hopefully over the weekend I'll have the Jug ready now for priming. With the insane cold weather here on the Island, using the spray booth which vents outside is a no go until things warm up a bit next week. ⛄

 

[Peterpools]

IT’S AIR BRUSH TIME

While waiting for mask set to arrive, I tackled the cowl and cowl flaps which I thought would be a snap … oh, little did I know.

Trying to fit the nose cowling assembly onto the fuselage was a bit of a struggle, just too tight. Appears to have been a case of too many parts needing to fit together precisely and that wasn’t in the cards for me.

The upper fuselage radio mast I was so careful not to break off during most of the build, I managed to finally break it off and was not reusable. A new antenna was fabricated, test fitted but will not be added until the end of the build – I just know if I add it now, it’s a sure fired bet I’ll break it off again.

Finally, with the Eduard mask set in hand, the canopy glass was masked and glued into place. The front windshield required a lot of tweaking to get close but for sure, no cigar.

One last polishing, wipe down, initial masking and the Jug was ready for priming. I used the kit’s ‘In Flight” main gear doors to mask off the gear bays and they were a bit big, needing some slight trimming.

The correct underside color has turned into a minefield, as to what color the 78FS undersides actually were. One thing for sure, it was not RAF Sky. My main source for online research kept referring to both Dana Bell and Roger Freedman’s research, who both initially referred to the underside color as Sky and later on calling referred to it as light gray. I decided the color was a medium gray and my final choice was MRP Light Ghost Gray – close enough for me, as Neutral Gray seemed a bit too dark. Does all this really matter – nope, not at all, just a bit of Sherlock Holmes fun.

The freehand cammo went on without a hitch and after 24 hours to dry, it was time for a good two days of masking for the invasion stripes, which were then accomplished in two stages. What a pain and a test of nerves.

The engine cowling was masked off as the Tamiya Lacquer Gloss White would serve as a nice base for the checkerboard nose decals, the white stripes on all the tail surfaces were also air brushed. In the end, way too much unforeseen masking; but it’s done.

The painting guide showed the gear doors invasion stripes were not painted showing the stripes as straight lines across the undersides of the wings matching that of the wing's invasion stripes but rather the pattern is length wise across the doors. I’ve seen this a few times before in photos and always wondered why the ground crew painted them this way unless it was faster and easier – who knows.   

Still a good deal of detail painting to do but I'm making progress, slowly, oh so slowly.