Every so often I browse through my Scalemates “Started” kits list and search for inspiration. It’s like a digital shelf of doom, and can be a bit scary. After my recent 1/48 P-47 builds (Hasegawa dual-build and ARII) I got a bit inspired, and this journey into my dark past ended up with me dredging up a kit that I actually started back in 2009. I even started a thread on the old “P-47 SIG” on the original Aeroscale site, for those of you with keen memories!
This initial post is basically a transcription of the brief original thread.
Here are a couple of shots I took back in 2009 when I tinkered with a few of the sub-assemblies. There is a 1/72 Revell P-47D sitting amongst the 1/24 parts to get a concept of the scale.
The engine cylinder banks and push rods have been assembled, so the first task is to attend to the issue of the alignment of the engine and front and rear cowl rings.
When installed, the P&W engine has a cylinder vertically oriented at the 6 o’clock position in the front bank and in the 12 o’clock position in the rear bank. This is shown by the red line in the following image. The locating tabs on the gear reduction housing have it lining up perfectly with the cylinders, but the front cowl support ring is well out of alignment. The task is to remove the lugs (circled green) and reattach them in the correct alignment while maintaining correct spacing (yellow line).
I cut them off with a fine razor saw and reattached them while the support ring was dry-fitted to the engine assembly, and once the cement had cured I set about rebuilding the attachment points between the lugs and the ring itself using 'Sprue-Goo" in several applications with a couple of hours curing time in between each application. The aim here was to give the strongest possible bond between the filler and the part. It’s at the point now where I am happy with the rectification works and it’s ready for a final clean-up and primer.
The next little issue was easier to deal with. The push rods are attached to a central ring, and they are all a tad short and don’t meet up with the rocker covers on the outer end of the cylinders. I dabbed a drop of “Sprue-Goo” on each one to provide a strong bond and support, but neatness and clean-up isn’t a high priority as this point of the push rod will be covered by the cowl support ring once installed.
Once this was cured the engine assembly and cockpit sections got a spray with Mr Surfacer 1500 Black Primer, thinned at about 50:50 with Mr Levelling Thinner. The engine then got a coat of AK Xtreme Metal Steel, as did the seat and cockpit floor section which will both be going through a hairspray chipping process.
Now, at some stage in the intervening years I have painted the cockpit parts with an Interior Green. I can’t remember if I applied hairspray first, and I can’t remember what paint I used, but I’m thinking it was probably Gunze H-58 as this was my go-to at the time.
I’m going to have a bit of a go at chipping the cockpit floor with water and my usual hairspray chipping implements, and if I can’t get any sort of result I will go with additive chipping techniques (dry-brushing and sponges) to get some wear and tear in there.
I have sourced Eduard seat belts and Airscale placards for the cockpit detailing, and the Montex mask set for “Ole Cock III” so I’m setting the bar pretty high for myself with this project. I also picked up the Kinetic 1/24 Razorback kit a while back so I can have both variants on display together.
I have made some more progress, another update coming soon.
Cheers, D
