1/72 Republic P-47D Thunderbolt

Gallery Article by José Maria Reis Jr on Sept 23 2011

 

My name is José Maria and this is my first submission on ARC. This is my P-47D Thunderbolt. It’s an Academy 72nd scale model. I built it using enamel paints, mostly Model Master paints for the main colors and Humbrol varnishes for the clear coats. The Future Floor Finish went very well as decal setting solution. The decals are from FCM, they’re very well printed in Microscale. I used Future just to ensure a perfect set, but it is just an option, because the decals went very well on the glossy surface of the model.

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The model represents the plane tailcoded 226773, which was flew by the Lt. José Carlos Miranda Corrêa during the Italy operations of the Jambock squadron in 1945. As far as I know, it has the distinction to be the only one P-47D of the Brazilian Jambock Squadron during WWII to have a pinup and a nickname on the nose.

I dide a very clean plane, with a light pastel wash, because my model represents the plane during the early operation, with just 3 missions accomplished.

The Academy model is very simple and honest. With a very light amount of work you have a nice piece over your shelves. My model was done in no more than 40 hours of work along one and a half week and my model putty stayed closed during all the build – all the joints disappeared by wet sanding with 600, 1500 and 2000 grit abrasives, all without any drop of putty. I spent more time waiting the drying time of enamel paints than working on the model itself.

Despite the FCM decals, all the rest was done out of the box.

José Maria Reis Jr

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Photos and text © by José Maria Reis Jr