Republic P-47D "Beetle" Commission Build

 

while studying the photo references I notice a few differences from the decal and book artwork: bottom wingtips were a different colours than Neutral Grey, probably RLM04 yellow... 

... and the wheels hubs weren't NG neither, natural metal is more likely. 

No antenna mast and no antenna wire: it looks more a whip antenna like that of the German IFF system, more useful to avoid been chased by other Luftwaffe aircrafts in the air... 

Main undercarriage legs were Olive Drab, not silver... 

 

this is a test to see if I can get some 3D effect from the kit seatbelts decal: I carefully cut around the printed area 

and now I will leave it to dry 

I then dipped it in the Future (Pledge) 

Final result, not perfect but quite better than the plain applied decal to my eyes 

 

 

 

Instrument panel made with kit's plastic and decal, lenses done with UV curing resin 

cockpit completed only with the plastic parts provided in the box, Tamiya does not disappoint!!! 

while port sidewall and IP are quite accurate, the starboard one is less but nobody will notice it... 😉 

 

 

 

 

Customer asks for an open canopy: in order to have the kit's clear part to fit, I had to sand the fuselage side a little bit 

Ready for primer!!!