Official FMS 1500mm P-47D Razorback Thread

[davegee]

Thanks, Rex. The FMS P-47 does have a few quirks, but I enjoy flying them. They look great in the air and on the ground.

Now that I’m finishing up a year’s work on NASM projects, I’m really looking forward to getting back into rc projects again. The P-47 redo is a perfect place to start. I’ll upload progress pics that might be interesting to fellow builders.

Cheers

davegee

[MikeT]

Had mine out the other day after years of sitting in the hanger for years. Flew great as always.

Mike

[davegee]

Had mine out the other day after years of sitting in the hanger for years. Flew great as always.

Mike

Looks good! I've had at least one of these planes since they were first introduced about 2016 or 2017. They have a good profile to the real thing, and I like that the gear is accurate down to the sequencing gear doors. I just wish they offered them without Any decals making it a lot easier to do paint/decal changes that I like to do.

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

New makeover for FMS 1500mm P-47D razorback starts Today!

I flew my new FMS P-47D this afternoon for three flights. Got a total of 7 on it now, things are pretty dialed in, so I'm starting in on stripping all the markings off it and getting going on prepping for eventual priming and painting. This is my first one I'll be doing in NMF (Natural Metal Finish) versus a type of camo pattern for the others. I'm looking forward to it. The eventual goal is to make it look like Penrod and Sam, the last mount of famous ace Robert S. Johnson of the 56th Fighter Group, USAAF in WWII. Bob got his last two kills in this aircraft, numbers 26 and 27 before being sent home from his tour.

These last two numbers were significant as they tied and then increased by one over the number famous ace Eddie Rickenbacker attained in WWI (26 kills.) He was the first American aviator to achieve that. Not too long afterwards, a squadronmate of Bob's, "Gabby" Gabreski, got a total kill number of 28, besting Bob Johnson by one, and any other 8th USAAF pilot in the European Theater. Gabby eventually had to crash land his airplane after striking his prop on the ground during an extremely low level strafing pass. He spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft I, with many other pilots until the end of the war.

I just carefully stripped off all the stickers that were on the airplane and will start carefully wet sanding all those areas making them ready for any thin putty applications and eventually priming those areas. Let the Games begin!!





Here's a pic I just took of where it is today, and what I hope to get it to look like in a drawing this spring. The plane is officially "grounded" for now.

Cheers

Davegee.

[jetfool]

Let the Show Begin

[f4u ausie]

Awsomeness ,,, coming.... excited to c pics infront of that mountain... and im sure we will get a history lesson... ..

[davegee]

Let the Show Begin

Here's something I found out yesterday for everybody who might be interested. I have an old Spektrum receiver that had a bunch of channels and two satellite receivers for a long time. Must have had it in some plane that needed that many channels years ago. Anyway, it had been in a crash or two over the years, the case was a little cracked, but seemed to work ok. Did have problems binding it as the satellites seemed to lose signal a lot. Well, I was thinking of replacing it, and found these Lemon receivers for sale on MRC. They had fabulous customer reviews and I thought I'd try one. I got a 7-channel Lemon receiver for $17 on MRC. It came a few days ago and I tested it in my new P-47 on the ground, and then flew it on three flights yesterday. It worked flawlessly!! And the price!! So, I have already ordered another 7 channel receiver and will put it in another plane that I have. Very Impressed with the performance, (and the price!) At this point, I'd say I heartily recommend it!

This model redo won't be an Elbee Corsair masterpiece, I save my best work for my museum stuff. But even though it is a foamie, I will try to get it to look as good as I can, within reason. Perhaps a few printed parts if I can figure my Prusa out. But there are a lot of little things that I can do and point out to others who might want to spruce up their planes a bit, just to give it a little better appearance without detracting from its flying abilities. The FMS Jug is really a fabulous flyer, especially for scale maneuvers that it was expected and capable of doing. That's all I do with them, and now my Jug fleet has risen to four! I probably will need to sell one or two off someday, but for now, they're fine.

My wife and I are headed up to Billings, MT with the TDRS satellite model for the shuttle to the FedEx facility there this morning. We wanted the least amount and quickest handling possible to Washington, DC (less chance for someone to smash it somewhere) and this is a good deal. I get a special break on the shipping with them as a former airline employee, and they do a great job. I once sent an E Flite 1500mm P-51D that I redid to look like the real one (LOU IV) that flew out of England with the 361st Fighter Group in WWII. I gave it to the museum there at the former RAF Bottisham (near Cambridge, England) as a present and to honor its pilot and commander Col. Jack Christian, Jr. Anyway, we dropped it off in Billings one morning. That evening it went to Memphis, TN, caught its connecting flight to Stanstead, England, and was promptly trucked the fairly short drive to the museum there the next morning! It arrived in great shape, as I hope this satellite will, too.

Cheers

Davegee

[MikeT]

Hope your luck with that holds up.

Mike

[davegee]

Me too! But many reviews I’ve read indicate they’re pretty solid. We’ll see…

davegee

[jetfool]

FED X has always delivered my FL models in excellent condition.

[davegee]

FED X has always delivered my FL models in excellent condition.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, Rex. It leaves tonight from Billings. I think there will be one connecting flight at Memphis, then on to Washington, DC area. I think Dulles airport (IAD) is the main hub for FedEX in Washington, DC area, and then would be trucked to final destination south of the Washington, DC area for storage for the time being. I should know tomorrow that it arrived safely. 🤞

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

I just started in on the P-47 this afternoon after we got back from dropping off the satellite model with FedEx in Billings.

I am uploading a few pics of the very initial progress on changing up this model. Some people have experimented with the light sandable filler to cover damage left behind on the foam after the decals are removed. I did that today on a part of the cowl where the "Bonnie" decal was, and will work on it tonight and tomorrow to see if that is the way I want to go with covering the areas where the stickers were. Usually, I use a two-part automotive primer that is mixed together, applied with a credit card, and then wet sanded smooth afterwards, before priming and painting. But I'll give this technique a go on this spot to see how I like it.

I'm also going to start in on the canopy and cockpit. Lots to do there. I'd really like to replace that goofy looking pilot, but haven't found a decent one yet to take his place. I can modify him some, and might do that to make it look at least a little more respectable!

The cockpit will be totally removed, repainted, and then placed back in when I get done with those parts. The P-47 used a paint called "dull dark green" that I found a couple paints that sorta matched like "Euro Green" but that might have been discontinued. Bummer, if true! I have some other ideas, though.

The gunsight isn't terrible that comes with the kit, but it is a later K-14 model that was not installed on these earlier jugs. Even the early bubbletops didn't have the new gyro-sight until they became available a bit later. I'll be replacing it with a 3D printed version of the earlier model Mk VIII gunsight.

The canopy had to have all the rubbery glue removed on the inside that came with the cockpit. The windows will be taped over and the canopy frame painted silver. I also like to include a trapezoid shaped bullet proof glass panel that goes in front of the pilot for these earlier razorback models. I think there is also a rear view mirror on top of the canopy for this particular airplane. I have found buying a spare FL 1600mm Spitfire canopy that comes with a rear view mirror can be modified and fashioned to fit on this P-47 model.

[jetfool]

Davegee,

These are the kind of photo's I like to see, The dirty details before it is prettied up. Hope you keep it coming.
I use light weight spackling on all my models and sand first w/ 120 grit and finish sand w/ 320 and I get a very smooth finish. Poly clear really hardens it up for the details.
I believe the 56 fighter squadron used Spitfire rear-view mirrors when they started operating early in Europe. Bob Johnsons book THUNDERBOLT is a very good read.

Buy the STL that Elbee used on his Corsair for his pilot. I think you can scale it for what you need. Think he said it is from Grubber 3-D?

Best Regards, Rex

[jetfool]

PS I worked in Billings at a customers hay plant in the early 80s. Fantastic country

[MikeT]

Check Aces of Iron for a pilot requires painting but that's no big deal.

http://www.acesofiron.com/home.htm

Mike

[davegee]

Check Aces of Iron for a pilot requires painting but that's no big deal.

http://www.acesofiron.com/home.htm

Mike

Hi Mike: the Aces of Iron makes a great looking fighter pilot bust. I really need a more full body pilot, or at least something that goes as far as the knees to look right. I might be able to kit bash one of these pilots to the bottom part of the stock pilot that comes with the FMS model. I'll look into it. The detail is great, my only complaint is: "why in the heck do they make the pilots' faces look like they are 60 years old???" Even the senior commanders like Col. Hub Zemke was only 28 and he was much older than most of his pilots that he commanded.

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

Davegee,

These are the kind of photo's I like to see, The dirty details before it is prettied up. Hope you keep it coming.
I use light weight spackling on all my models and sand first w/ 120 grit and finish sand w/ 320 and I get a very smooth finish. Poly clear really hardens it up for the details.
I believe the 56 fighter squadron used Spitfire rear-view mirrors when they started operating early in Europe. Bob Johnsons book THUNDERBOLT is a very good read.

Buy the STL that Elbee used on his Corsair for his pilot. I think you can scale it for what you need. Think he said it is from Grubber 3-D?

Best Regards, Rex

Hi Rex: I used a flat grey primer over the spackle and it is fairly smooth, although I'm still seeing just a bit of foam underneath that has expanded slightly. So far, I've only done one panel on the cowl as an experiment. Please tell me more about the Poly Clear, what full brand name, etc. I've never used it. Could I spray it over this panel I worked on to smooth it out a bit more? I'd have to check to be sure that it won't react with the primer I already put on there. I do have several areas on the plane where the stickers were that I would like to try using the Poly Clear (Minwax?) to seal in the smooth finish of the model and stiffen up the surface a bit against minor dings like moving the plane up and down the stairs to the car, etc.

I think I looked into Elbee's pilot figure before. I think his is more set up for a Pacific pilot with rolled up sleeves, etc., although it is stunning when painted as he did. I'll check out that website again, I think Max Gruber or something like that developed these fine printed pilot designs. I really need a pilot with a jacket and cold weather clothing, not like what the bomber guys had to wear, but something more than rolled up sleeves. I'm told from several pilots who flew the jugs and P-51s that they had very good heating in the cockpit, especially the P-47. They could fly in winter with just a light A-2 or B-15 cloth jacket in comfort at altitude. Many even wore regular dress shoes, although a lot liked to wear knee-high flying boots just in case they had to "hit the silk."

BTW, my satellite model package is on the FedEx truck in the vicinity of its destination and should be delivered in the next couple of hours. Tracking was excellent, as was everything else about the shipping transaction. Like you, I've always had excellent results using FedEx. I hope it holds true when they inspect the model for any damage when they receive it!

I concur with your previous statement about Montana. Beautiful "Big Sky" Country! My stepbrother and his family live up in Kalispell. Truly God's Country!

Cheers

Davegee

[vduniec]

Hi Rex: I used a flat grey primer over the spackle and it is fairly smooth, although I'm still seeing just a bit of foam underneath that has expanded slightly. So far, I've only done one panel on the cowl as an experiment. Please tell me more about the Poly Clear, what full brand name, etc. I've never used it. Could I spray it over this panel I worked on to smooth it out a bit more? I'd have to check to be sure that it won't react with the primer I already put on there. I do have several areas on the plane where the stickers were that I would like to try using the Poly Clear (Minwax?) to seal in the smooth finish of the model and stiffen up the surface a bit against minor dings like moving the plane up and down the stairs to the car, etc.

I think I looked into Elbee's pilot figure before. I think his is more set up for a Pacific pilot with rolled up sleeves, etc., although it is stunning when painted as he did. I'll check out that website again, I think Max Gruber or something like that developed these fine printed pilot designs. I really need a pilot with a jacket and cold weather clothing, not like what the bomber guys had to wear, but something more than rolled up sleeves. I'm told from several pilots who flew the jugs and P-51s that they had very good heating in the cockpit, especially the P-47. They could fly in winter with just a light A-2 or B-15 cloth jacket in comfort at altitude. Many even wore regular dress shoes, although a lot liked to wear knee-high flying boots just in case they had to "hit the silk."

BTW, my satellite model package is on the FedEx truck in the vicinity of its destination and should be delivered in the next couple of hours. Tracking was excellent, as was everything else about the shipping transaction. Like you, I've always had excellent results using FedEx. I hope it holds true when they inspect the model for any damage when they receive it!

I concur with your previous statement about Montana. Beautiful "Big Sky" Country! My stepbrother and his family live up in Kalispell. Truly God's Country!

Cheers

Davegee

I've used these files for my pilots. I have had great results printing them on my basic 3D printer. You can rescale them to whatever size you need. He even has a conversion chart to print them for different scales.

https://www.cgtrader.com/maxgrueter

[Elbee]

davegee, I have noticed that finding a fighter/bomber pilot wearing an A2 is not an easy task.

I sent Max Grueter a message this morning via Cgtrader and asked if had considered designing a WW2 USAAF fighter pilot wearing an A2 and what costs might be involved.

I have sent him other messages with decent results, so we'll see if he responds.

In the mean time, checkout this guy, not too bad, also from cgtrader.

https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-print-models/miniatures/figurines/us-wwii-fighter-pilot

Best, LB

[davegee]

davegee, I have noticed that finding a fighter/bomber pilot wearing an A2 is not an easy task.

I sent Max Grueter a message this morning via Cgtrader and asked if had considered designing a WW2 USAAF fighter pilot wearing an A2 and what costs might be involved.

I have sent him other messages with decent results, so we'll see if he responds.

In the mean time, checkout this guy, not too bad, also from cgtrader.

https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-print-models/miniatures/figurines/us-wwii-fighter-pilot

Best, LB

Thanks, LB. I will definitely look into it. Anything to get rid of the dippy looking FMS pilot!! 😊😊