Building
and detailing the old Revell P-47 Razorback (Part III)
aka "Who cares anymore!?!?!"
by Chris Sherland
|
|
Final
construction
|
Flaps
The
Jug's fowler type flaps represent a decent challenge. They are by
no means easy, but they are not impossible. Planning and more planning
before construction and mounting is essential to getting a good result.
I
had elected early on to ditch the kit flaps and fabricate my own.
I later rescinded this call, and salvaged the kit flaps after all.
I would HIGHLY recommend using the kit flaps as they retain valid
basic shape and need only fill and finishing. When you remove them
however, the bottom portion has a wider chord than the top, this is
due to the way fowler style flaps mount and function.
You
can see early mounting holes drilled to accept the flap actuators
explained below.
|
|
|
| Miliput
was used to flesh out the flaps' top and leading edge, as well as the
inboard section that is covered by the wingroot when the flaps are up.
Here you can see the side facades being added. These are not "accurate"
in as much as the lightening holes are misrepresented, but they give a
good feel. |
|
|
| I
used a hand drill and some Jeweler's files to create the actuator bays.
Again I must sing the praises of Milliput...it just never fails as a filler.
Here are the actuator bays from the top and underside. |
|
|
 |
|
For
mounting I used small brass "I" beams bent into shape and
then epoxied into the actuator bays. The brass goes about 1/2' into
the flap for added stability. I then mirrored the mounting holes in
the flap bays themselves for the other end of the brass beams to mount
into (see the first pic on this page).
|
|
Here
are a couple of shots of the flaps test mounted. The plan is to paint
them separately and then mount them for decaling weathering and sealer.
|
|
|
Landing
Gear
The
gear was made from brass and styrene rod and sheet. Nothing too special
here, lots of measuring and test fitting. Rutman wheels and the kit
doors are the only components not scratch built.
The
scissor links were a pain in the a$$! I used sheet styrene and cut
a template, but they were small and hard to work with. I'll be looking
for a better way next time.
|
|
|
|
|
| Prior
to mounting inside the wings, the gear bays were fitted with a mounting
cylinder for the MLG. I made these out of brass and epoxied them into
place. The MLG shaft tips will be epoxied into these cylinders after basic
painting tasks are complete. |
|
|
Scribing
Finals
I
made a couple of custom scribing templates out of soda can and sheet
styrene. The Jug has a LOT of access panels on the underside of the
wings, and getting them consistent from wing to wing would need a
template. I Xeroxed some scale drawings up to 1/32 and traced the
panels onto the sheet. Then with a trusty #11 and some jewelers files
I cut and trued the template guides.
|
|
|
| The
same thing was needed for the geometric lap joints on the tail feathers
of the P-47. These are very distinct and I wanted them to be consistent
as well. Soda can aluminum was used again, and the same drawings were
enlarged and used to trace the pattern onto the aluminum sheet. One side
is the elevator pattern, and the other is the pattern for the rudder.
Simply flipping these templates over on their backs allows for both sides
of the aircraft to get the same consistent scribing patterns. |
|
|
|
The
rudder and elevators were finalized and detailed with the scribing template
and some sheet styrene.
Of
note are the actuators for the elevators and all trim tabs. Mostly sheet
styrene and brass rod. The light on the rudder tip was made with scrap
clear rod and styrene tubing. Shaped with a dremel then polished.
|
|
|
|
Details
The
wing tip lights were made out of clear shower curtain rings. I cut a
basic pattern out, then made a "groove" lightbulb, painted
it and mounted the lens. From there it was just some shaping with the
dremel and files, then they got a final polish when the Jug was paint
prepped.
I
must admit to seeing this used on a number of other models, and also
in a few tips book. It's not big news, but it works well!
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
windscreen on the Razorbacked Thunderbolts was very unique. With a center
brace the gunsight was offset, and the armored glass was applied inside
the windscreen and mounted directly in front of the pilot's head position.
Clearly
the kit canopy had to go, it is misshapen and as thick a a 2 X 4 in
scale. Brian Cauchi sent me some vacs of the kit canopy and while they
were much better scale wise, they still did not have the correct outline
and shape. Squadron carries a replacement vac that is much more accurate
and I procured one of them. It is a great vac piece and makes a lot
of difference in the canopy and windscreen profile.
I
used sheet styrene to both make the framework and the brace for the
armored glass. The armor glass piece is just thick clear plastic cut
and shaped.
|
|
|
|
Painting
Prep
I
completed the Rutman gunsight (from the update set) and fashioned a
glare shield from thin brass rod and masking tape. Once these were in
place I painted the interior of the windscreen and armor glass and mounted
the windscreen.
I
sanded the whole kit down with 600, then again with 800, and finally
with 1K. I then went back looking for trouble spots and scratches, found
em, and repeated the above in localized areas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Once
I was satisfied with the sanding I masked off the cockpit and wing lights
with masking tape. The flap bays and cowling were masked using foam
cut a little bigger than needed and "stuffed" into the openings.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good
old tissue was used for the tail gear bay masking.
|
|
|
|
In
closing
At
this point it's all about painting and weathering. You won't see an
update on this old beast until I put a final sealer on it...you're probably
pretty happy about that by now!
I
hope these pages will be of some help to anyone wishing to work the
Revell T-Bolt over. It's not an easy job, nut it's not extraordinary
either. It's all about patience and creative thinking when you get into
a bind. I re did at least a third of the scratched stuff when my first
attempt failed or was measured incorrectly, and always bowed to patience
when I got stuck.
These
Revell kits are worth the effort. The best thing about them is that
they stand as decent OOB efforts, but they also form a great canvas
for taking them as far as you want to. Look at Scott
Murphy's D-25 or John
Formon's build of the Bubbletop and see just how far that can
be.
Construction
begins on the Revell Tony once I get the landing gear on the Jug. Gonna
do some cockpit work and some gear bay detailing, but the Tony will
be largely OOB. I need a serious break from detailing!
|
|
References
- Mustang
and Thunderbolt Aces of the Pacific and CBI (Osprey) ISBN 1-85532-780-5
- America's
Hundred Thousand (Dean) ISBN 0-76430072-5 (This is simply a MUST
HAVE for USAAF and USN WWII fighter reference!!)
- Aero
Detail #14: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt ISBN 4-499-22648-1
- Warbird
Tech #23: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt ISBN 1-58007-018-3
- Squadron/Signal
Walk Around #11: P-47 Thunderbolt (Drendel) ISBN 0-89747-375-2
- Squadron/Signal
In Action #67: P-47 Thunderbolt (Davis) ISBN0-89747-161-X
- Warbird
History: P47 Thunderbolt (Hess) ISBN 0-87938-899-4
- Pilot's
Manual for P-47 Thunderbolt ISBN 0-87994-026-0
|
|
© Chris "Mo"
Sherland |
