Zee's Airfix 1/72 P-47D Thunderbolt

[Zee28]

Hi all,

Sorry I've been away from the forum for a while (life stuff) but I'm back now and thanks to David's PM reminders (nice idea David) I am joining this Group Build.

There some lovely stuff going on here, super detailed Revell kits and such like, so I will provide a diametric opposite, probably the most basic P-47 out there, the very old Airfix offering that dates back to (I think) 1963 (blimey, it's even older than me!).

It's been in and out of the catalogue for decades with various changes to colour schemes and decal options, I will be doing a fairly recent edition, straight out of the box using the kit decals.

This is it (nice box art):





And this is what you get in the box. It shows it's age with lack of cockpit detail but the surprise was that the canopy was commendably thin and very clear, so that's a plus. The twin row radial engine looks quite good to (I was expected the old CBK style sort of 2D 'moulded into the firewall' type affair (like the Hobby Boss one) but it's two separate parts which is nice.





More progress and updates soon!

Keep up the good work guys,

Zee

[TobyC]

Good to have you back and with an old classic.

[Stuart]

Nice Choice Mr Zee! Are you going with the paint scheme on the box?

[JohnRatzenberger]

Welcome back, and thank you for including a CBK !

[Zee28]

Good to have back and with an old classic.

It's good to be back Toby, so much 'Life stuff' has got in the way of both modelling and the forum, some of it big stuff too.

Nice Choice Mr Zee! Are you going with the paint scheme on the box?

Yep Stu! You know me mate, a CBK straight out of the box in the box art scheme and using the kit decals. To be honest, I like the yellow nose and red tail treatment.

Welcome back, and thank you for including a CBK !

It feels good to be back John, and I can't be relied on for much, but I can be relied on to bring a CBK to the party, always!

So far I have painted up the pilot figure, more progress pics soon, promise!

Zee

[Stuart]

So - judging by the time stamp on your posts - is it a late night or early morning?

Looking forward to seeing this - always nice to see a CBK built up.

[lancfan]

Well done Zee, this one is a blast from the past- I had hoped there would be a smattering of classic kits in this build and your choice is a star. Will watch avidly.

David.

[MarkyM607]

Hey Big Z, nice to see you back!.

[iggie]

Looking forward to the outcome of this!

[JohnRatzenberger]

Well done Zee, this one is a blast from the past- I had hoped there would be a smattering of classic kits in this build and your choice is a star. Will watch avidly.

David.

If I could afford the time, I had the Airfix, Matchbox, and FROG kits ready, but it's not to be in what is a very short month for me.
I am happy that Zee has gotten one of them going, surely there are more ...

[lancfan]

I have fond memories building all three of those kits John, if I can pick up a Frog and/or MB kit at Huddsersfield I will do so to use as my closing build(S)


David.

[Zee28]

Sorry for lack of updates guys.

Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement everybody, very nice. And Stuart, it's always a late night when you're raging insomniac like me....

I'm glad people approve of me bringing a real Golden Oldie to the party. There's some really nicely detailed more modern offerings being built in this GB and my old clunker won't compare well at all, but I am liking the simplicity of these older kits, they match my brain's simplicity and it takes me back to my youth, a simpler time ~ aaaah, the nostalgia is washing over Mr. Zee ~

Progress so far? Well the pilot figure was painted up and the wings assembled too. Parts fit so far looks promising, I don't think I will need a lot of filler, if at all, but we'll see.

The 'extensive' cockpit details consist of the following components: A seat.

Yep, that's all! No cockpit floor, no control column, no instrument panel, not even a bulkhead behind the pilot, nothing! The kit shows it's age a bit in this area. Now proper modeller would scratch build the missing parts. A sensible modeller would have started with a better kit in the first place. But this is me and I am neither of those things, so it's a straight-out-of-the-box CBK as usual for me.

The seat was added and the whole interior sprayed a suitable American style interior green and then Johnny Pilot was sat on his rudimentary seat. the area in front of him would be sort of be where the IP would be so I painted that bit black (this can't bee seen in this pic). Since the inside centre of the lower wing would effectively become the cockpit floor I hit that area with the green as well.

I'm now ready to close it up, a dry run shows the fit to be rather good, I should be OK with just a light sanding of the seam.




Thanks for looking everybody, more soon. I'm off to the bench to really get stuck into the major assembly and make some proper progress.

Zee

[Stuart]

Fantastic work on that interior Mr Zee! I don't know what you're complaining about-It's got an ip and everything. My FROGster Wildcat (on my workbench thread) doesn't even have that!

I know what you mean by the insomnia - I had it for over ten years - 2-3 hours sleep at best, and some time awake for 2-3 Days...never needed to take drugs - I saw enough pink elephants as it was...

[Marek]

It is big, it is brutish and it is Airfix. Then it is a proper Thunderbolt . Seriously though, I have never built it but already like the way the wing to fuselage arrangement is done.

[Stevehnz]

I've got one of these I built probably 45 or so years ago. Its in bits but largely complete having been one of the casualties of the shift from the home I grew up in 33 years ago whence it languished in a box for the next 25 till I dug them all out about 8 years back. Its in the strip & rebuild category. Theres been lots of cool inspiration in this group build.
Steve.