Tamiya 1/72 P47D Razorback

[Squirrelofwoe]

My latest completed model of 2024 - absolute gem of a kit to build, my first Tamiya aircraft model and I can see why they have such a good rep.

All out of the box, apart from the after-market decals depicting the aircraft of Michael Quirk, 62nd FS- chosen as I love the contrast of the yellow with the Olive Drab. I've always preferred the earlier P47s / P51s compared to the later 'bubbletop' versions- I just think they look superb

I made a slight cock-up in that I sprayed a flat clearcoat before decals, instead of a gloss - only realised when I was half-way through putting the decals on and struggling to get a good finish. I also forgot to paint the wingtip lights but it's not too big a deal at this scale.

This was the first model that I tried weathering, using oil paints over another clear coat. I didn't want to overdo it but I'm pleased how it turned out- I've realised that Olive Drab is a tricky colour to break up. I've got a 1/72 B26 and a B17E to do in this colour so this was good practice.

[Squirrelofwoe]

Eric Mc said:

Very nice. I like the Razorback versions of the P-47

Thanks Eric.

[Squirrelofwoe]

dr_gn said:

Very nice, clean build. Just the right amount of weathering I think. Did you drill the gun barrels out, or were they somehow moulded hollow? It all makes a difference.

Cheers.

The gun barrels actually came like that on the kit- quite impressive. My only criticism was that the inner ones were slightly bent and very tricky to realign due to the thin-ness of the plastic. Metal replacements would be ideal but the plastic ones work fine at that scale. I do have some spare metal barrels from a 1/350 ship aftermarket detail set which are about the right size that i was tempted to try, but really wanted to build it out of the box so as not to get bogged down in it.

[Squirrelofwoe]

gruffgriff said:

Lovely job. I especially like the finish on the yellow bits, subtle but brought to life.

Cheers, the yellow was a bit of a pig to work with- took multiple thin coats to get an even coverage. But it did react well to the dark wash.