Jump to content
Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

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


Recommended Posts

DONE AND IN THE BOOKS

I’m calling the Jug, Done and in the Books.

With the decals sealed with Tamiya X22, a final clear coat of Alclad ALC 312 Klear Kote Semi Matte was applied, which is my go-to display finish.

The landing gear was tackled next and a bit finicky. No matter how many times I glued on the small upper LG doors, they popped off as I fussed the gear into place. With the help of a lot of John’s ‘cuss words’, I finally managed to have the gear glued into place. I was fresh out of wiggle room to do any adjustments and how the gear legs with its wheel alignment are, it was as good as I could get.

I let the gear dry overnight and then started to tackle the remaining small parts: the spine antenna replacing the one I had already broken, the canopy sliding cross bar, the pitot tube and finished up with adding the replacement .50 MG’s which came from Quickboost, which looked a whole lot better then the kit offering.

The nav lights were painted with Tamiya clear red, green, the landing light added and IFF Lights were painted as well (sure wish these would have been decals).

The exhausted were painted and exhaust stains added with oil-based caulks. Last item to be added was the huge paddleblade prop.

The last photograph is of my now two Bubble Jugs: Tamiya and MiniArt’s offerings. Who is the top dog, as both have their pluses and minuses. In my opinion, for ease of assembly, clearer instructions, precise part fit, better fitting checkerboard nose decals and a zero ‘cuss factor’; Tamiya is the clear winner. If your goal is the model with the best overall level of detail, positional control surfaces and Cartograf decals, then your choice will be MiniArt.

For how I build and what I look for in a kit, Tamiya is the clear winner for me.

gVgsus.jpg

Bn1uoA.jpg

Dt521E.jpg

SklCOb.jpg

UkujPe.jpg

Zz4QZm.jpg

 

  • Like 13
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Peterpools changed the title to MiniArt P-47D Thunderbolt: COMPLETED 2/13/24
2 hours ago, Peterpools said:

DONE AND IN THE BOOKS

I’m calling the Jug, Done and in the Books.

With the decals sealed with Tamiya X22, a final clear coat of Alclad ALC 312 Klear Kote Semi Matte was applied, which is my go-to display finish.

The landing gear was tackled next and a bit finicky. No matter how many times I glued on the small upper LG doors, they popped off as I fussed the gear into place. With the help of a lot of John’s ‘cuss words’, I finally managed to have the gear glued into place. I was fresh out of wiggle room to do any adjustments and how the gear legs with its wheel alignment are, it was as good as I could get.

I let the gear dry overnight and then started to tackle the remaining small parts: the spine antenna replacing the one I had already broken, the canopy sliding cross bar, the pitot tube and finished up with adding the replacement .50 MG’s which came from Quickboost, which looked a whole lot better then the kit offering.

The nav lights were painted with Tamiya clear red, green, the landing light added and IFF Lights were painted as well (sure wish these would have been decals).

The exhausted were painted and exhaust stains added with oil-based caulks. Last item to be added was the huge paddleblade prop.

The last photograph is of my now two Bubble Jugs: Tamiya and MiniArt’s offerings. Who is the top dog, as both have their pluses and minuses. In my opinion, for ease of assembly, clearer instructions, precise part fit, better fitting checkerboard nose decals and a zero ‘cuss factor’; Tamiya is the clear winner. If your goal is the model with the best overall level of detail, positional control surfaces and Cartograf decals, then your choice will be MiniArt.

For how I build and what I look for in a kit, Tamiya is the clear winner for me.

gVgsus.jpg

Bn1uoA.jpg

Dt521E.jpg

SklCOb.jpg

UkujPe.jpg

Zz4QZm.jpg

 

Came out really nice Peter. The two models look great next to each other. :)

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow Peter, your Jug looks absolutely fantastic. I like it even better than your Tamiya build. The paintjob has the ´right´ amount of panel lining and weathering. I always liked NMF Thunderbolts better, but yours changed my mind.

Cheers Rob

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Mike very much appreciated. In the end, the MiniArt kit was well worth all the extra struggles ... just wish a b it more thought to the builder would have been incorporated into the planning of the kit.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chris, thanks so much for you very kind comments and compliments on my building style. After all these years, I've settled into building, where the aim is to display the finished builds in my display case, as my miniature museum. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Martin

so very much appreciated. I was surprised that in the end, with all the little annoyances and fussing as compared to the Tamiya Jug, MiniArts Jug looks every bit as good and they now sit shoulder to shoulder in the display case.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, DocRob said:

Wow Peter, your Jug looks absolutely fantastic. I like it even better than your Tamiya build. The paintjob has the ´right´ amount of panel lining and weathering. I always liked NMF Thunderbolts better, but yours changed my mind.

Cheers Rob

+1 on this , better expressed than I could come up with 😀

 

  • Like 2
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Carl. I was a bit surprised in the end that how well the MiniArt Jug came out and at the same time, how well the Tamiya kit has held up. I tried to be fair in my assessment and comparison and each kit offers the builder something different. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seeing the two kits side-by-side, I cannot help but see the differences between the two, in their stance on the ground, and more importantly in the windscreen / canopy area. I don.t know which one os closer to the original though.

Hubert

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Hubert

Yes, there are slight differences in the kits when seen side by side and pretty much the same as any two manufacturers producing the same kit. Some of what you are seeing is just the fact of how the kits were photographed, with one being in front of the other and the camera does make slight adjustments. Almost all the images I post on the forum are focused stacked for maximum sharpness and DOF in Photoshop and when the pixels are aligned and blended together, sometimes shapes change very slightly. Also, when taking the 5 plus images that become one, there is a bit of focus breathing as well. My long winded explanation explains why the two Jug seem to look more differently then they actually are. Close up, they do look pretty close in shape and outline. 

 

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...