Trumpeter

1/32 P-47N Thunderbolt

Kit Number: 2265

Reviewed by  Bob DeMaio, IPMS# 45186

MSRP $129.95 Web Site: www.stevenshobby.com The Republic P-47 was the biggest, toughest, rugged, and dependable single engine fighter aircraft in all theaters of World War II. The P-47D dominated the skies and then came the latest P-47N Thunderbolt version in early 1945, in time to send them on missions in the Pacific Theater. Trumpeter has released this P-47N in their usual big way with 421 parts, which include several clear pieces, 16 Photo-etched, one film instrument panel, 3 solid rubber treaded tires, and 8 vinyl MG belts. The external rivet patterns are exquisite! This kit is surface flaw free and no sink holes to fill. A hefty box, lots of pieces, perfect molds and detail, but no shake-n-bake kit. There are many optional parts for the model throughout, most of these pertaining to two engine types, four props, three mirrors, two gun sights, three drop tanks, and external weapons. You have to rely on your own research to build the replica you wish to construct. My library collection includes a Detail & Scale Volume 97 series book that was extremely helpful depicting clear color and black and white photos of the different engines and cockpit angles of all the P-47 versions. The Instrument Panel is made of a film strip to be sandwiched between clear plastic and rear opaque instrument structure. When assembled you have to make sure the film instruments are lined up with the clear plastic instrument covers pre-molded on the clear part. Do the best you can; it's not perfect. In my picture, you'll see the left instruments are lined up symmetrically; the right side being off center. The clear piece is somewhat thick and when viewing the instruments at any angle, causes the instruments to look three dimensional. The clear plastic piece needs to be at least half the molded thickness. There should have been an optional cockpit floor piece, for the 'M' version had a smooth surface; the one given is for the 'D' version. The left side cockpit wall of all P-47 versions was essentially unchanged, but the right side had substantial changes, enough to warrant a new molded wall; not provided. The seat was missing padded pilot arm rests. I didn't take the time to correct these changes since I was building this for an out of box review, but would make the changes if I build another kit. The 'N' interior and seat was still painted an Interior Green but the frame support and bulkhead behind the seat were painted black. I replaced the kit PE seat belts with masking tape and used the buckles. What ever happened to the Waldron Product Seat Belt Buckles where we can thread our own belts? Bring them back! Being a contest judge, I find most modelers are not using the PE belts.

The engine was a kit in itself consisting of 76 parts including the 3 engine frames. The reduction gear housing was more cylindrical (part S1) for the 'M' and 'N' series aircraft. S5 pieces were used on the production engine. If you plan on removing the entire cowling to view the engine after build-up, the engine has to be sub-assembled and painted as you go. Since I wasn't sure about where I was going with this, I decided to paint everything in my path. Test fitting the complete engine is absolutely necessary for I found a couple of alignment pins had to be removed for proper rotation and fit. If you know that you will not be removing the cowling, you can paint the engine parts between the first two engine mounts, beyond that is not visible even with a flashlight. The cowling does not have a means to hold itself in place other than the friction of the three engine support frames. The upper cowling portion kept forcing it away from the fuselage. I discovered that the two large twisting pipes had been the culprits and had to be shortened.

The cowling is molded in clear plastic with optional flaps in the open or closed position. If you decide to permanently fasten the cowling, the air intake duct under the cowling has to be finished back to the butterfly filter screen that is visible with a light. Beyond the third engine frame are twenty-five more parts consisting of two large twisting pipes, two bulkheads, and huge duct works that run under and both sides of the cockpit to the rear fuselage that are all hidden when the fuselage is sealed. Don't waste time sanding seams and painting them, but you can paint inside the ends aluminum where ever the fuselage skins meet. Assembly of the landing gear in step 5 and 6 is early and I never mount the doors or tires on the struts until the model is near completion. Because the strut locating pin and structure was in the shape of a cross, my gut feeling kicked in to test fit these in the wing halves. Place the strut in position and try closing the wing halves. The wing skin behind the strut is forced upward considerably. Some strut shaving and rework is necessary, and if you follow the directions to wait to glue the gear in place in the last step, you will be sorry, or you will be shaving more of the strut to get it in place. The fuselage has two structure beams on both sides that support the wing installations. One beam contains part of the wheel well detail. Test fit the wing to the fuselage root where tabs have to be cut down for a proper fit. Really nice wheel well interior! Gluing the inner gear door support (part N37) in each wing should be left out until the wing halves are assembled. It mounts too far toward the wing leading edge and when you assemble the wing halves, the arm will break. Glue in place after the wings are assembled.

The machine gun and ammo bays are beautiful. Optional MG barrels are provided and all are pre-drilled. The vinyl MG belts fit into the wing tracks perfectly and look great because of the slight flexing in the vinyl. Separate doors are provided to display one or both wing gun bays. The machine gun leading edge wing cover (parts F13 & 14) contour angle is too acute. I tried opening the angle with several attempts of finger pressure. Eventually I got the angle open without breaking the parts in order to meet the leading edge wing contour, but then the depth comes up short.

The kit is provided with two sets of wing flap hinges for closed or open positions. The ailerons are molded halves with one set of straight hinges for the neutral position. If you don't over file the elevator edge and pins, they can remain movable on the horizontal stabilizers. The rudder is made to be stationary. The two piece tail and dorsal fin halves are part of the rear upper fuselage. This makes it easy for Trumpeter to make different P-47 versions, but causes problems for the builder. Matching up the tail/fin subassembly to the fuselage was extremely close to the recessed panel lines and rivet pattern. I had to use a few pieces of plastic rod (tree pieces), to expand the fuselage body slightly in order to match up. Apply too much glue in these seams and the plastic will create melting indentations. Trumpeter's plastic density is soft and glue reacts very quickly.

The clear windscreen piece doesn't fit well and the canopy track has to be cut back carefully for the windscreen to fit properly. The canopy has beautiful rivet detail on the frame, contoured perfectly to snug against the fuselage in any position, but why is the canopy mold flawed inside with a notch for the canopy frame support running into the clear glass? I have a collective amount of paints over the years that will probably out live me. None of my hobby shops were able to obtain Alclad Silver paint that I wanted, and wasn't in stock on Internet sources, so I used Testors Silver for the finish. I duplicated the P-47N of the 333rd Fighter Squadron, 7th Air Force in 1945 to add color to the overall silver finish. I used the kit decals that worked perfectly with Solvaset, but was ready with an alternative decal company for backup. Trumpeter produced an all out detailed P-47M Thunderbolt kit with lots of extra parts that should have had a clear fuselage for an option, and made a two piece full length fuselage. Or produce a separate kit with the opaque fuselage, without the unseen and unused parts, and sell for a cheaper price. Let the modelers choose to buy and spend what they desire. Take your time and make the cockpit changes if you want a great P-47N on your shelf. A great build- my thanks to Stevens International and IPMS for the review kit.

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