Hasegawa

1/32 Republic P-47D Thunderbolt 79th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force, Italy 1945

Kit Number: 08187

Reviewed by  Fred Amos, IPMS# 6672

MSRP: $87.00 Distributed by Dragon Model USA: www.dragonmodelsusa.com I won’t bother you with a history of the P-47 but if you really need to know about it there plenty of printed sources. The two I used for this review were Squadron/Signal Publications Walk Around No. 11 and Bert Kinzey’s Detail and Scale D&S Vol. 54. The Republic P-47 has long been a favorite of mind and I have always wanted to do one in these markings. Because this kit has been in production for a while I will try keep this review brief Assembly of the kit, as almost always, begins with the cockpit. Decals are provided for the instrument panel. I suggest cutting them close to the edge for a better fit as they do look great when finished. While the cockpit pieces are drying, I moved on to other sub- assemblies. The cowling is assembled with four pieces but, with care, it will almost fall together. I painted the inside with a home-brew zinc chromate using Testors 1184 yellow zinc chromate with a little rust brown added to make it look better. I ignored the instructions and assembled it without the engine. Later, after the engine was built and painted, I carefully slid it into the cowling until the tabs on the support ring snapped in to the slots in the cowling. Gluing the wheel wells into the bottom half of the wing, I found an open gap between the parts that would be very visible later, so I glued some stretched sprue into it as filler. The kit offers the option of putting the landing light close to the wingtip or behind the wheel well. The instructions say to put it at wing tip but the part had several voids in it so I opted to put it behind the wheel well because research indicated that the light was installed in both locations by different factories. But, come to think of it, the light may have been moved to the wing tip when the factory started installing the dive brakes behind the wheel wells. Also, if you intend to use the wing pylons, it will be necessary to cut off a raised piece of structure first. I cut mine off with a sharp #11 blade at a 45-degree angle. This left a slight trench but not to worry it will be covered by the pylon. I left the anti sway brackets off until final assembly. The kit offers the option of building the landing flaps in the up or down position. As the landing flaps are built, be sure to select the correct hinge parts for the specific option. The flaps can be left off until final assembly. The wing marker lights are molded on the wing or they can be cut off and replaced with clear plastic parts. I left the molded lights in place and painted them with Tamiya clear blue and red acrylics. When the cockpit assembly is finished and placed in the right fuselage side, you will proceed to join the fuselage halves. Fit is very tight and will require little or no filler. There is a turbo exhaust piece that goes on next and the fit of mine was so fine that I only used four small drops of my favorite liquid glue, Ambroid Pro-Weld. The rudder strake can then be placed on the top of the fuselage. I strongly suggest that the builder gently sand to a fine taper the area that joins to the base of the vertical fin. It is way too thick.

The wing-to-fuselage fit is very good also but, if you glued the top and bottom of the back of the wing in the flap recess area, you may find the top of the wing too low at the wing root. I suggest you wait until the wing to fuselage assembly is completed before gluing this section together. The fit of the stabilizers to the tail is also so good it didn’t require any filler but you may use some if you feel the need. The builder has a choice of three different propeller types. My research leads me to believe that the cuffed paddle blade prop with the longer hub was the correct one to use. There is also the option to use a closed, one-piece windshield and canopy or the open two-piece -- both have exceptional clarity and the fit is superb. Painting and finishing. For the blue on the tail and rudder I used Floquil RR colors Conrail blue and four different shades of the Alclad II system. For the yellow chromate that was so prevalent on Thunderbolt exteriors, I used Testors 1184 yellow zinc chromate with a little rust brown added to make it look better. You can do this to your own taste. I learned this from a deceased friend and wonderful modeler. I always thought the Testors yellow chromate was too green and this mixture is closer to the photos I have seen of it. Decals offer three different sets of markings and are very colorful with no registration issues. I used Model Master semi-gloss as a sealer even though Alclad II doesn’t require it…but the decals do and it didn’t affect the Alclad II finish.

A word of warning. I always put the small pieces of a model on as the last steps of the build. This offers less chance of breaking something while handling it later. However I made the mistake of not putting the landing gear door cover onto the gear struts until after the struts were glued in to the wing. The smaller parts would not fit onto the struts so I had trim the two fingers that would go into the wheel well. In doing this I upset the alignment of the struts and they came out crooked. So I suggest that all of the gear door parts be attached to the struts and allowed to dry before putting the struts in to the wing. Also it would be a good idea to ream out the holes in the back plate that the machine gun barrels go into. The holes were too small on the first one of the kits that I built and I broke a few of the barrels trying to slip them into place. So there you have it, another wonderful Thunderbolt model from the fine people of the Hasegawa Company. I can very heartily recommend this kit to all modelers with even limited experience. My thanks to the fine folks at Dragon Models USA for the review kit. Be sure to support your favorite local hobby shop.

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