Official FMS 1500mm P-47D Razorback Thread

[Grossman56]

Christmas is coming early at Dave's place, or late depending on how you look at it. Pilot is coming along. Still getting the hand of the new camera. this is before the white straps...



And after, beside my "Big Boy'...



You can see the head on the spike in the background. It's interesting what a difference it makes when you add the white straps. Up until now the colors a pretty dark as I paint from the deepest crevices outward. He looks pretty good so far even though it was a rough session. I roughed up the boots by applying a watered down mahogany brown and then wiping it off, shows some of the dirt and mud that would accumulate on them. Still a ways to go , but looking good.

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[davegee]

Parts starting to stack up in the workshop. James has already sent the modified bubbletop fuselage to me via UPS, should be here next Wednesday. In the meantime, I'm starting to print up cockpit parts so I can start in on the cockpit once I get the fuselage in-hand. Looking forward to that.

Cheers

davegee

[davegee]

what size lipo are you guys running in the P47 , I like the functional struts but need functional bomb releases also. I am considering the FMS F-86 possibly or this

I use the 5000 mAH batteries exclusively for this airplane since 2016. They work great, provide a good CG when installed correctly in the nose.

I just bought a bomb release from E Flite. I'm waiting for it to show up in the next week or so. I plan on installing it in the belly of this latest P-47, and if that works out well, I'll put it in at least one more of my P-47s. I would also like to look into a bomb drop from the wing pylons but need to check to see I can run the wires without making a big mess cutting into the wings. f

I see Flightline will be offering one for their new P-51D model, I'll look into that, too, for future possibilities.

Davegee

[vrosi1963]

what size lipo are you guys running in the P47 , I like the functional struts but need functional bomb releases also. I am considering the FMS F-86 possibly or this

[jetfool]

Fabulous work, Davegee.
Best Regards, Rex

[vrosi1963]

The fuse is on its way back to Dave , finish work on the 3d plug next week

[davegee]

Today's assignment on the docket is making the simulated hydraulic lines for the brakes and the shrinker bars. They actually move like the real ones during gear operation but don't actually increase or shorten the strut length. Years ago, there was a company that made functional ones for large scale P-47s. I never built a jug in that larger scale, but if I did, I would have bought a pair of these beautifully designed landing gear struts.

A few hours later update: I got the detail parts of the brake lines and shrinker bars installed on my airplane. All totally scratchbuilt, going from photos of the real thing. Should improve the look from a stock model to something a little more realistic.

There are small things I can do this weekend like installing placards and nomenclature around the wings and tail, and once I get the fuselage in my hands it will be fulltime work on it until I'm ready to put the whole thing together for more testing. I'll attach a few pics of my work today. The angled metal tubes are the shrinker bars.

Like with my other P-47s, my E-Flite 1.5M P-51Ds, and my Corsair, they all have been fitted with the 3.5 inch diameter Robarts. In the photos there are spoked wheels that will be covered with hub caps on the P-47.

davegee

[davegee]

We were out of town for a couple of days and when we got back Callie's packet of vinyl transfers were in my mailbox. Although tired, I Had to put on at least a couple of them on the bottoms of the wings. My aircraft is very time specific and at the time I have "frozen" for the airplane's appearance, the left bottom wing was not painted but sported a big 55 inch diameter circle with the star inside. The right wing still had the standard 40 inch circle and star inside. There are invasion stripes on the bottom of the right wing, but none on the new, unpainted bottom of the left wing

Callie's work was again, beautiful! Lots more to do and then a LOT More to do once I get my converted bubbletop fuselage back from modifecation center in California.

Tomorrow I hope to reinstall the main landing gear and doors and start working on details like hydraulic lbrake lines and the shrinker bars that on the real airplane mechanically shortened the gear during retraction by 9 inches so it could fit in the wheel wells. Upon gear extension, the gear would increase by that same nine inches for prop clearance. Imagine, this technology was available over 80 years ago!

Cheers

davegee

I just finished the redo of the invasion stripes on the bottom of the right wing. That was a few hours' work, but I'm glad I did it. It now conforms to period photos of the real airplane on that bottom right wing. I don't know why this is different than other planes invasion stripe painting, but it could be that this wing was replaced while they were still supposed to have the invasion stripes on the bottom of the wing and fuse, and it was painted differently the second time. I don't know, just a guess.

[davegee]

Dave,

Hah!

I hear you.

On the rare occasion Tamms asks "What is that?" when referring to the models, I will begin to answer only to watch her eyes roll as I read her thought cloud, "This boy is crazy."

We are geniuses in our own minds, if nothing else.

Love your work.

Best, LB

Believe me, I get the SAME reaction at home with my wife!! It's good they keep their senses of humor or sanity being around the likes of us!! 🤣🤣🤣

[Elbee]

Like with consummate artists like you, Rex, Dan, and others, I know you guys would appreciate this change while others would think I'm a loon for doing it!

Cheers

davegee

Dave,

Hah!

I hear you.

On the rare occasion Tamms asks "What is that?" when referring to the models, I will begin to answer only to watch her eyes roll as I read her thought cloud, "This boy is crazy."

We are geniuses in our own minds, if nothing else.

Love your work.

Best, LB

[davegee]

davegee

Beautiful work, Dave, Master Class.

Best, LB

Thanks, LB! Yesterday when we got back from a couple of days out of town, I looked through my reference photos and drawings, and came across one photo of Hairless Joe in 1944, which showed a slightly different lineup of the underwing invasion stripes. I did it as well as I could with photos and drawings that I had, but this period photo showed me that if I want to get it right, I have to respray and move the invasion stripes outward by the width of one stripe. At first I was thinking, "Nobody but me would ever catch this." But then, I rhought "Nobody but me would catch this, but I Have to get it right if I have accurate photos of it!" So, I started reordering and repainting some of the stripes, actually all of them. What was black has to be white, and vice versa.

I'll feel better with this change, even though I will probably never put it in a scale contest where someone could possibly catch my error. Like with consummate artists like you, Rex, Dan, and others, I know you guys would appreciate this change while others would think I'm a loon for doing it!

Cheers

davegee

[davegee]

Davegee,
Your research into the timeline details have really paid off. Excellent work.
Dave, I used the plastic Googlyeyes from Walmart to make my landing lite lens. Thay come in several sizes in one package . Found in the craft area or crayon aera, don't remember A perfect lens shape
Best Regards, Rex

Thanks, Rex. For some modelers, Hairless Joe is like playing detective for scale fidelity because it went through so many changes in a short time. Imagine, within the space of a couple of months, having to replace both wings, the tail, the engine and other parts. I'm sure Schilling had an affinity for this aircraft, although it was one of several that he flew during his long combat career in Europe in WWII.

Eventually, Hairless Joe came to grief with another pilot at the controls after Schilling was pulled out of active combat status for the remainder of the war. There was an M model Hairless Joe, but I don't think Schilling ever flew that one, or if he did, it wasn't very much or often. Sadly, all 130 M models were scrapped at the end of the war. It was probably the best P-47 to come out of WWII. But jets were already being designed and tested, and Schilling pioneered jet fighter aerial refueling after the war flying non-stop flights over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

Thanks for the tip on the "googly eyes." I know what you're talking about and will look for some at our local Walmart.

[Elbee]

davegee

Beautiful work, Dave, Master Class.

Best, LB

[jetfool]

Davegee,
Your research into the timeline details have really paid off. Excellent work.
Dave, I used the plastic Googlyeyes from Walmart to make my landing lite lens. Thay come in several sizes in one package . Found in the craft area or crayon aera, don't remember A perfect lens shape
Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

We were out of town for a couple of days and when we got back Callie's packet of vinyl transfers were in my mailbox. Although tired, I Had to put on at least a couple of them on the bottoms of the wings. My aircraft is very time specific and at the time I have "frozen" for the airplane's appearance, the left bottom wing was not painted but sported a big 55 inch diameter circle with the star inside. The right wing still had the standard 40 inch circle and star inside. There are invasion stripes on the bottom of the right wing, but none on the new, unpainted bottom of the left wing

Callie's work was again, beautiful! Lots more to do and then a LOT More to do once I get my converted bubbletop fuselage back from modifecation center in California.

Tomorrow I hope to reinstall the main landing gear and doors and start working on details like hydraulic lbrake lines and the shrinker bars that on the real airplane mechanically shortened the gear during retraction by 9 inches so it could fit in the wheel wells. Upon gear extension, the gear would increase by that same nine inches for prop clearance. Imagine, this technology was available over 80 years ago!

Cheers

davegee

[davegee]

Excellent idea Dave. You can get everything done and your time can be focused on the fuselage. Then just assemble all the finished parts together.
Sounds like you are the western FMS warehouse for P-47s. LOL
Rex

Sometimes I think I'm getting in a rut! Nonetheless, now I have the settings pretty much dialed in for this airplane, and can fine tune it when I get the fuselage finished. But it should be ready for a maiden this spring, I think. I think this will probably be the last jug I do, but I'm glad to finish on one of my favorites, Hairless Joe.

When I was thinking about getting into scale rc big time eventually settling on an Aerotech 50cc P-47 bubbletop), for me anyway about 2001, I looked at books on the P-47 showing all the different paint schemes. For some reason, in probably a hundred airplane drawings, I looked at Hairless Joe. Something just called to me to do this one. I researched the pilot, Dave Schilling.

There were some interesting coincidences between him and my dad somehow. My dad flew B-24 and B-17 bombers in Europe some of which got top cover from the 56th FG, specifically Dave Schilling on some missions when I cross referenced missions.
My dad and Schilling were born the same year, 1918, and died the same year 1956 within a few months of each other. My dad was killed in an aircraft accident, Schilling in a car accident.
Schilling originally came from Leavenworth Kansas, was born there. My dad is buried at Ft. Leavenworth National Cemetery. Made me ponder the coincidences.


Cheers

davegee

[jetfool]

Excellent idea Dave. You can get everything done and your time can be focused on the fuselage. Then just assemble all the finished parts together.
Sounds like you are the western FMS warehouse for P-47s. LOL
Rex

[davegee]

I decided to make myself useful during some down time as I wait for the new improved bubbletop fuselage mod from James. There was still lots of work I could be doing, so I got the idea to take the fuselage that came with the kit, the one that will be used as a testbed for other projects, but probably will never fly. It has all the "guts" in it that I will be transferring over the new bubbletop fuselage when it gets here. The wings and tail are painted although I still needed to get the gear extended some how to paint and detail those areas.

So, I put the fuselage in a Robart foam stand and added the wings and tail to the airplane. I had another "Hairless Joe" that crashed a couple of years ago, although I still have a lot of parts from it, being the same 1500mm P-47D razorback. I was able to use the settings for that airplane still in my DX18 radio and trim all the controls to what that crashed airplane was set at. I think the crash was some fluke of some sort on my part, as I had that airplane all dialed in, so I'm using the same settings for the new bubbletop Hairless Joe. Got the inner parts of the gear doors painted the correct yellow zinc chromate as well as the wheel wells.

I also changed out the hard OEM tires with 3.5 inch hollow Robarts that work so well for this plane and my E Flite 1.5M P-51Ds.

I'll attach a couple of pics of work done today. When the new bubbletop fuse comes, I'll have a LOT of work to condition and paint it and do a scale cockpit. Danger Dan is doing a splendid job painting up the pilot as Col. Dave Schilling who flew the real one in 1944.

Cheers

davegee

[Elbee]

vrosi1963

Once again, simply beautiful work, Sir.

Best, LB

[vrosi1963]

almost 100% done and ready to pack it up for the return trip to Dave G , the canopy plug is next weeks task to complete.