Trumpeter 1/32 P-47D Razorback- by Ron O’Neal - Round Rock, Texas

This is the excellent 1/32 Trumpeter P-47D Razorback, built with Roy’s Barracuda Studios markings for Lt Frank Oiler of the 84th Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, 1944. The fit and detail provided in the Trumpeter kit is outstanding. I made a few enhancements along the way, using Eduard parts and some scratchbuilding:

• The cockpit was upgraded with the superb Eduard interior set, including color etch parts for the instrument panel, radio faces, and placards.

• The cockpit floor was heavily detailed with wiring, hydraulic lines, brackets, and fasteners. The P-47 cockpit is wide, so detail efforts here add visual interest and are worth the effort.

• The engine is beautifully detailed, although tricky to align in the cowling. I added the ignition wires from .010 solder.

• Main wheel wells are nicely done from the box, but I added some additional wiring and structural detailing. The wiring was accomplished with .010 and .020 solder wire, and the structural detailing was made from .005 sheet plastic, embossed with a riveter, with thin strips cut with a straightedge and fresh X-acto blade.

• The main gear struts were plumbed up with .010 solder, with some left over WWI turnbuckle tubing from Bobs Buckles (yes, I’m now a huge Wingnut Wings fan!). The prominent placards on the main struts were drawn from the spare decal drawer.

• On a suggestion from a friend, I made a new tail wheel strut from brass wire. The plastic piece is too soft to support the model, and will bend under weight.

The base camouflage colors are Olive Drab and Neutral Grey, sprayed with Tamiya acrylics. For the upper surfaces, I started with a coat of OD, and then over sprayed shades of OD in a random pattern (in other words, I didn’t spray inside the panel lines). Shade variations were accomplished by adding drops of white, red (the red turns the OD more of a brown shade), and yellow. I broke out some shades of Gunze OD and also sprayed these in random blotches. In some areas I was more aggressive with the spray to simulate touch up or heavy staining. The final blending was done with heavily thinned OD with a few drops of white, sprayed with a wide pattern over the high surfaces. A black oil wash brought out the surface detail.

The area above the fuselage invasion stripes was sprayed with a Gunze shade of OD to simulate over painting of the stripes. To finish out the painting, I did a light dry brushing using oil colors and a wide, soft bristle brush. I used a mix of yellow with a touch of black (this makes a yellowish zinc chromate color) and a touch of white. This color was scrubbed around the wing roots in high traffic areas.

The Barracuda Studios decals were nothing short of superb. They are extremely thin, yet robust for final positioning. I used Micro sol to settle them in, though I’m not sure it was necessary. Once the decals were dry, I went back with a needle and pricked the many rivets to ensure the decals looked fully painted on.

To blend in the tone of the decals with the overall paint scheme, I mixed a few drops of OD with about a half tsp of Future, thinned with alcohol, and test sprayed on a white index card. The trick is to get a very faint, translucent tint on the card. This is a “no turning back” technique, so you have to make sure that the tint is very faint. Once satisfied, I sprayed this mixture over the decals, gradually building up layers until visually the tone of the decals blended with the surrounding color. Final topcoat was a mix of Future with Tamiya flat base to get a low sheen (but not dead flat) final finish.

This was a great project, and a welcome addition to my showcase.

Barracuda Studios products used:
BC32002 P-47 Thunderbolts - Part 1