My thought was to do a 78th Fighter Group P-47 with the famous black-white checkered cowling. Having recently completed a razorback P-47 in olive drab, this time I wanted to do a bubble-top one in silver. There is a widely published photo of such a machine in full invasion stripes, with the 84th Fighter Squadron, serial 42-26640 WZ-X. See, for example, Profile Publication No. 7. I didn't have decals for this or any suitable machine but I do have a couple of sheets with the 78th's checker noses, and the other decals are easily cobbled together.
There's a reason for my late entry into this GB. From the outset I knew the appearance of this model would stand or fall by the checkered cowling, so I decided to complete the cowling first. If the checker decal disintegrated, didn't fit or just didn't look good, I was prepared to put away the kit and build it some other day in some other scheme. But, after painting, clearcoating and decaling the cowling over the course of four evenings, it looked pretty good.
So I decided to build a model airplane to go behind the nice cowling, and announce the GB entry. The checker decals, by the way, are from the old Aeromaster sheet "Thunderbolts Galore VII" and behaved very well.
I had an Eduard Zoom color PE set for the P-47D lying around. I don't normally use these things but it is time to use some of this stuff I've been collecting. It was fiddly work and I used less than half the items on the sheet, but it made for a nice looking cockpit. Good enough that I'll open the canopy on this one.
Once I got started on major assembly, everything fell together in an hour or so. I know this kit has its accuracy problems, like the non-vertically-staggered guns, the only vaguely correct engine, and the indifferent wheel well detail, that has led to it being abandoned in favor of the Tamiya and Revell by P-47 buffs. But it goes together as well as any kit I have built. The join lines on the major pieces are indistinguishable from panel lines, and everything has a positive position that defies misalignment. So the thing has reached a ridiculous state of completion for this early in one of my builds.
After some light clean-up it will be ready for paint. The head start is just as well since I'll be out of town and unable to model for the next several days.
August
