Italeri 1/48 P-47D Thunderbolt
Posted: January 18th, 2018, 5:24 am
Hi all
I recently completed Italeri's 1/48 P-47D Thunderbolt. Congrats to Italeri (Academy?) on a splendid model. Although not Tamiya, I would say 90% of Tamiya's standard. When considering the cost the Italeri kit is excellent value for money!
The model kit went together very well. The kit sports a well detailed cockpit and there are lots of drop tanks, bombs and rockets to choose from. My intention was to build the model to represent the aircraft on the box cover which is in overall silver with colourfull decals. Unfortunately the natural metal/silver was my downfall. I primed the model with a dark grey from a rattle can and then airbrushed the model with Humbroll Metalcote. This came out very well. I then sprayed a coat of clear gloss in preperation for deacling. It was here that the painting went south. The silver reacted badly to the gloss with the result that the silver "cracked" and "cobwebbed" to such an extent that buffing made no difference. Copius amounts of oven cleaner, lighter fluid and methylated spirits had most of the paint striped but the plastic itself had been damaged in the process. Change of plan had me respraying the model in the Olive Drab/Medium Grey scheme of a Brazilian machine in Italy during the fall of 1944. Although far from "show" standard I am nevertheless happy with the outcome.
I recently completed Italeri's 1/48 P-47D Thunderbolt. Congrats to Italeri (Academy?) on a splendid model. Although not Tamiya, I would say 90% of Tamiya's standard. When considering the cost the Italeri kit is excellent value for money!
The model kit went together very well. The kit sports a well detailed cockpit and there are lots of drop tanks, bombs and rockets to choose from. My intention was to build the model to represent the aircraft on the box cover which is in overall silver with colourfull decals. Unfortunately the natural metal/silver was my downfall. I primed the model with a dark grey from a rattle can and then airbrushed the model with Humbroll Metalcote. This came out very well. I then sprayed a coat of clear gloss in preperation for deacling. It was here that the painting went south. The silver reacted badly to the gloss with the result that the silver "cracked" and "cobwebbed" to such an extent that buffing made no difference. Copius amounts of oven cleaner, lighter fluid and methylated spirits had most of the paint striped but the plastic itself had been damaged in the process. Change of plan had me respraying the model in the Olive Drab/Medium Grey scheme of a Brazilian machine in Italy during the fall of 1944. Although far from "show" standard I am nevertheless happy with the outcome.