Get your jugs out part 2. Hasegawa 1/48 P-47D

[robemcdonald]

Liked building the Revell 1/72 kit, but really wanted the classic P-47D in the collection. I thought about going down the well trodden Tamiya road, but hear so many good things about Hasegawa I thought I’d give one of there kits a try.
It’s a bit of an older kit but everything in the box looks great. It’s. the P-47D-25. Really nice picture on the box too.


Quickly running through the sprues.

First up the main fuselage.


Second sprue has the tail parts, main gear housing, engine mount and cowl and a few other bits and bobs.


Third sprue is the lower wing and undercarriage bay doors.


Next is the upper halves of the wings


The fifth sprue is the drop tank, weapons pylon cockpit parts and the radial engine.


The we have two identical sprues with the ordinance and wheels.


Then another two identical sprues for the two prop options


Final sprue is the clear parts, which look ok in the bag but will need a proper look when I open them up. There are also some polly caps.


Decals are supplied for two options. Angie: as depicted in the box art and. A second option; Saucy Susie is also included. I think this will be my choice as I don’t really like the nose art on the primary option.


Here are the two schemes.


They are very similar, but I’m going with the one on the right.

The overriding first impression is how nice and crisp everything is. The quality of the plastic is a massive step up as well.

[dr_gn]

Looks good. I picked up a couple of old Hasegawa kits of Japanese aircraft not long ago, only £5 each. As you say, very nice plastic and surface detail. You won't get much better value for money.

[robemcdonald]

Now usually you'd be expecting a near finished model at this point, but I decided I want to do things a little differently with this build. To that end I have order a Eduard PE kit and canopy masks from Hannants. The project is now on hold until these parts arrive.


Now what do I do in the mean-time?

[dr_gn]

robemcdonald said:

Now usually you'd be expecting a near finished model at this point, but I decided I want to do things a little differently with this build. To that end I have order a Eduard PE kit and canopy masks from Hannants. The project is now on hold until these parts arrive.


Now what do I do in the mean-time?

Order some photo-etch pliers?

https://xuron.com/index.php/main/consumer_products...

And some Master Model Brass gun barrels?



And a whole shed load of resin detail parts from Hannants?

[robemcdonald]

I couldn’t find the gun barrels or any resin parts at hannats. Any other suppliers you’d recommend?
Also I could use those photo etch pliers, but the fact there is no price on them makes me think of the old saying “if you have to ask the price then you probably can’t afford if”

[dr_gn]

robemcdonald said:

I couldn’t find the gun barrels or any resin parts at hannats. Any other suppliers you’d recommend?
Also I could use those photo etch pliers, but the fact there is no price on them makes me think of the old saying “if you have to ask the price then you probably can’t afford if”

If you go to "Advanced Search", put in "1:72" for scale and "P-47D" in keywords, everything related will come up.

here:

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MR72002

The Xuron stuff is a bit steep, but worth it:

Scissors:

https://www.modellingtools.co.uk/xuron-professiona...

For holding and bending small parts, pretty much any small, flat surfaced pliers will do the job. I've got some with parallel sides and they're great.

[robemcdonald]

I will definitely get the gun barrels, but it looks like they need cutting to length. Is that normal?

I would also like to try and get some resin wheels. Any idea where I could find some?

Thanks

[robemcdonald]

Having just revisited the Hannants website I am now another £40 lighter. My much anticipated Eduards photo etch set is now redundant as I have ordered a resin cockpit, wheels, turned barrels and decals for a different colour scheme. (Better nose art and a more classic P-47 scheme)



I am going with the bottom of the two options.

[dr_gn]

robemcdonald said:

Having just revisited the Hannants website I am now another £40 lighter. My much anticipated Eduards photo etch set is now redundant as I have ordered a resin cockpit, wheels, turned barrels and decals for a different colour scheme. (Better nose art and a more classic P-47 scheme)



I am going with the bottom of the two options.

Nice work.

This is where you go from a 1 week build to 2 months.

Which cockpit did you get? I tried to find an Aires one, but I think it was for the Academy kit. Still, should fit with a bit of scratching.

ETA,

You can either cut the barrels, or drill the ports out and insert the barrels to the appropriate length after painting.

You might want to get a micro drill set and pin vice...

Edited by dr_gn on Tuesday 20th March 16:14

[robemcdonald]

I already have a pin vice, so that’s not a problem.

I have bought this cockpit.


It is indeed made by Aires.

As you say this is going to take a bit longer.

[dr_gn]

Don’t expect the aftermarket stuff to fit straight away. Every resin cockpit I’ve fitted required the original plastic sidewalls to be thinned and fettled, and sometimes new mountings to be made. None of it impossible, but it’s modelling rather than assembly.

A #10 curved blade is good to scrape plastic from concave surfaces, and Araldite rapid is great for securing resin to styrene.

A dark wash and dry brushing is also very effective at bringing out all the fine details in the resin.

[robemcdonald]

Wait. What? You’re only now telling me this isn’t going to be easy.....

Hopefully this isn’t going to end up as an expensive pile of scrap in the bin.

[dr_gn]

I dont know it might all fit fine first time. But chances are it won’t. Be patient and don’t put glue or final paint near anything until you’re sure it fits.

If you’ve not used resin before, it’s very brittle, you can’t bend it to fit. Often there are substantial header blocks on the larger parts that need removing. The best way to do the thick stuff is with a razor saw. It sands easily, but don’t inhale the dust - it’s nasty!

A light coat of primer on the resin will get rid of the de-moulded waxy finish and show the amount of detail you’re dealing with.

Be selective with photo-etch; sometimes the kit parts are better. If you get into it, you’ll find you’ll be using a whole range of adhesives from pva to Araldite for various parts depending on size and location.

Any large photo-etch parts can be abraded gently with a fibreglass pencil - it’ll key the surface for glue or primer. Again, the glass fibre dust is painful if you get it on your fingers, or worse if - god forbid - you inhale any.

All good fun though.

[robemcdonald]

Well at least my main worry isn’t the amount I’ve spent anymore. It’s now whether I’ll make it through the build alive.
New parts should arrive today, so pictures later....

Ps the cockpit is for the hasagawa kit, so hopefully it should fit ok.

[dr_gn]

robemcdonald said:

Well at least my main worry isn’t the amount I’ve spent anymore. It’s now whether I’ll make it through the build alive.
New parts should arrive today, so pictures later....

Ps the cockpit is for the hasagawa kit, so hopefully it should fit ok.

Even if the resin is kit specific - it can still be tricky. This was an Aires set for cockpit, engine and gun bays specifically for the Tamiya Spitfire, but there was still a hell of a lot of work. The wings had to be thinned to the extent they were transparent in some areas:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Not sure whether it was you asking about modelling techniques on here a few weeks ago, but these books are very good:





The first one contains all the basics of using resin and photo etch. The second one is good for avoiding the dreaded "Aviation Archive" die-cast model look you get when using solid colours.

[wolfracesonic]

What if any are the advantages of the after market resin parts, can resin accept more detail than whatever type of plastic the kits are made of, or is resin easier for small manufacturers to make parts out of?

[dr_gn]

wolfracesonic said:

What if any are the advantages of the after market resin parts, can resin accept more detail than whatever type of plastic the kits are made of, or is resin easier for small manufacturers to make parts out of?

Correct on both points: resin is cast from a highly detailed pattern, which is often hand made, and can contain features of a size and shape not possible with injection moulding. The moulds themselves are usually silicone rubber which are massively cheaper than injection moulding moulds, which are machined from metal. Resin casting is a simple and cheap process - I recently bought a diy kit for making my own parts.

[wolfracesonic]

[robemcdonald]

My parts arrived....

First up the decals


To be absolutely honest I can’t decide which scheme I prefer. I am open to a straw poll. Let me know which scheme you prefer and I’ll add up the votes and do that one.

Next my new resin wheels


Some turned brass gun barrels


And finally the new cockpit.

It comes with a bit of PE for the instruments and other bits and bobs.

I was thinking I might use the instrument panel and belts from the Eduard set I previously bought.


Someone was asking before about these detail up parts. Here’s a picture of the parts you get with the kit

And for comparison the resin parts


I think I might build both cockpits (kit and aftermarket) for comparison. Be interesting to see if the difference is that noticeable.

[dr_gn]

I like the second scheme.

Once that cockpit is built up with the photo-etch and painted, it’ll be better compared with the standard kit. Of course, how much you’ll see once inside the fuselage is a different matter.