Official FMS 1500mm P-47D Razorback Thread

[davegee]

The next major step for the Hairless Joe build just unfolded today when the modified fuselage arrived from James in California via UPS. Came in great shape, no damage.

I do have a couple of things I would like to add to this airplane, besides making an accurate looking represntation of Hairless Joe in WWII: first, a powered openable canopy using a small linear motion servo to allow for it to open and close in a satisfactory manner. The second thing I'd like to do is have a droppable tank from the centerline of the fuselage using a servo release unit from EFlite. If that doesn't work, I'll buy one for the new droppable servos with the 1600mm P-51 Flightline model. (I'll probably eventually buy the P-51 model once I finish with Hairless Joe. Getting some experience with these droppable servos can help if and when I buy the P-51 down the road.)

Attached is a pic of James' excellent job of modifying this razorback to a bubbletop jug.

[Elbee]

davegee

I look forward to seeing your progress on both of these mods, Sir.

Best, LB

[jetfool]

IT'S IN THE HOUSE! Yippee! The first P-47 Bubble Top FMS 1500 in the country. Popcorn is Poppin. We need another rebuild on this forum, can't wait.

Yes, I see the BIG grin on your face, Rex

[davegee]

Thanks, LB. I ordered a linear servo from Amazon yesterday but it won’t be here for almost 2 weeks to test it. In the meantime, I have been printing and modifying cockpit parts and just this afternoon started modifying the oil cooler flaps and the waste gates on either side of the lower cowl area.

First of all, for a foamie P-47 flyable model, this one from FMS is tops, IMHO. I always wanted a bubbletop, too, but until James made us aware of his abilities to modify it to a bubbletop, I was resigned that the bubble top would never materialize. But it will now!

Today I modified some plastic pieces for a more scale look of the waste gates. The stock model has these pieces molded with long exhaust tubes which the real ones did not have. Plus, when you slice off these tubes with a razor knife, they are oval shape which is inaccurate. I cut some rings of brass and glued them in to these areas to give a nice round exhaust. I’ll make up some scale wastegates partially open for a more scale appearance.

Below is a pic showing three of these stock oil coolers/wastegates. The one on the left is how they come out of the box. The other two I cut off the extended exhaust stack that isn't scale to WWII P-47s (some restored P-47 DO have these stacks when they have removed the turbo superchargers and wastegates) but this will give a more accurate round exhaust port where I'll add a a scale wastegate on each side.


cheers

davegee

[Grossman56]

Let the fun begin!

Feeling a bit under the weather and work is just taking it out of me. Hopefully, Schilling should be finished by next week.
Now, how about a bubble top Corsair?? (I shouldn't suggest that!)

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[davegee]

Let the fun begin!

Feeling a bit under the weather and work is just taking it out of me. Hopefully, Schilling should be finished by next week.
Now, how about a bubble top Corsair?? (I shouldn't suggest that!)

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

Hope you feel better soon, Dan. I have a stand-in test figure until we get Schilling in the seat! But for now, the stand-in is helpful to figure out the cockpit and other parts.

Cheers

davegee

[davegee]

I'm including a few pics of some somewhat unplanned developments in scaling out this model a bit. On previous FMS P-47s I have had, I have modified the exhaust stacks in the cowl to make it look somewhat more accurate for WWII airplanes. But I would fix the position of the wastegates in the exhaust tube and go with that. Yesterday and today, I decided to play with this a bit more.

What I ended up doing, with only a plan popping up in my head, was to drill holes in the brass exhaust tubing that I added, ran a pin through those holes on the inside so it could turn, and then glued the round wastegate onto each pin. The wastegate is moveable from close to open, and I think I might just leave it like that so ram air coming through the engine opening might push the wastegates open and provide a bit more cooling air to the airplane. Probably won't do much, but I'm happy to see if they work as desired. Nonetheless, I'm satisfied how it looks right now, in primer and unpainted stage to be finished and installed at a later time.

[jetfool]

Very Nice

[davegee]

Working on the fuse, sanding, priming, more sanding, painting with Minwax Polycrylic, more sanding...

I'm going to start transferring everything that was installed in the fuselage of the kit into the new modified bubbletop. I might even get it to the point where I can test the actual working of all the control surfaces in place before taking it apart again to continue working on the fuse. Lots of work to do there.

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

I'm about done for the day, been a long one. I finished up transferring most of the connectors, "brains" etc., of the old stock P-47 fuse (Bonnie) to the new one (Hairless Joe).. And to finish up, I fitted the wings to the new fuse for the first time! All the connectors work, although I had to flip one of the male/female wing connector units around as the Chinese worker who installed it must have been tryin' to mess with me! But I did get it done, even with the impossibly small screw heads and cheap steel that make them want to strip off putting them in!

Here's a couple of pics:the top photo shows the wings fitted to the fuselage for the first time. Tomorrow, I'll add the power to it and test all functions of flight controls, gear, etc.,

The second photo shows the set up for removal from the stock airplane (in foreground) to the new Hairless Joe fuselage, (in background.) Most all of this was done before I just quit for the day, but will see how everything works tomorrow with the power on it.

Cheers

davegee

[jetfool]

Davegee,
Really looking good. Lots of work but going to be worth it.
Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

[QUOTE=jetfool;n445750]Davegee,
Really looking good. Lots of work but going to be worth it.
Best Regards, Rex [/QUOTE

Thanks, Rex. Passed the first test this morning, put the airplane on internal power and everything works! You're right, a LOT of work to go, but so far, so good.

As an update in the evening of March 14, 2026, I have installed the tailwheel and tested the retract and steering. All works well. Theoretically I could do a test flight on it next week, but I won't do that. I might continue some outdoor tests and get them out of the way.

For now, I am waiting on the E Flite bomb release to come in the mail, possibly next week. Whenever it comes, I will install it in the spot where the OEM mount is on the aircraft belly. I'll have to figure out how to make this all work somehow. Once it is tested, I'll configure one of the foam drop tanks to use on tests this Spring. I have hopes of making a 3D printed "steel" tank of the type that was used commonly at this part of the war that Hairless Joe was flying. That would look very cool to have a larger rectangular tank punch off of the airplane as it flies by! The photo shows that drop tank before a mission in 1944.

The last big part will be the canopy that is still in production by James. He'll have it sent to me when it is ready. I have ordered a linear servo that I hope to use to operate the canopy mainly during ground tests. That would definitely look very cool!

Danger Dan is working on the pilot figure, so we'll add that later as I get the cockpit completed.

Cheers

dave

[Eagle15]

Hi all,

first to Dave, that project is coming along amazingly! I’m looking forward to see the result. My project is moving along a lot slower … finished the of tops of each wing, starting the fuselage now. I’ll make another update when I get around half the fuselage done, but right now she looks a lot better than I had hoped.

[Eagle15]

I don’t know why these didn’t send, here’s another angle

[jetfool]

Eagle15,
Your progress is looking great. Hope you add a full cockpit, sliding canopy and one of Dave and Dans 3d painted pilots. Adds tremendous realism.
Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Hi all,

first to Dave, that project is coming along amazingly! I’m looking forward to see the result. My project is moving along a lot slower … finished the of tops of each wing, starting the fuselage now. I’ll make another update when I get around half the fuselage done, but right now she looks a lot better than I had hoped.

Looks great, Eagle15! I know that is a LOT of work, but it is really coming along. When I used to have some carbon fiber kits in 1/6 scale, I would do the riveting with a small brass tube inside of a soldering iron. The process was similar to what you are doing, and I know how much work that is!

Thanks for the update.

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

I had success with my first attempts using the E Flite drop tank/bomb release. Still some cleaning up to do, but I think it will work. I did a video of several drops but I couldn't upload it because it was a.mov file. I guess that doesn't work in that form on Hobbysquawk.

I did take a pic while the tank was attached to the drop mount, for reference.. Got about 6 perfect drops using the "I" button (push button) on the top of my Spektrum DX18 transmitter. That was with nothing glued or screwed down yet, so I have good hopes this will be successful on the plane when I fly it. And I can use other 3D printed tank shapes, too.



.

[jetfool]

Davegee,
Great job on the tank drop. Might add it later to mine.
I know it's a lot of work but how are you finding the polyacrylic, sand, polyacrylic process. Do you feel it gives a harder shell and smoother surface to work with? I think it's worth the effort.
Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Davegee,
Great job on the tank drop. Might add it later to mine.


I know it's a lot of work but how are you finding the polyacrylic, sand, polyacrylic process. Do you feel it gives a harder shell and smoother surface to work with? I think it's worth the effort.
Best Regards, Rex

Hi Rex: The E Flite drop tank mechanism is easy to install on the FMS P-47. I removed the plastic OEM slot for the tank on the bottom of the fuse, enlarged it slightly and put a hole through the fuselage through that opening into the open area on the fuse where the receiver is. I am running a 8 channel Spektrum receiver from another plane that must have crashed or something, but I tested it and it works fine. I have two open ports, 7 and 8. The tank drop is in 7 and I'm reserving the 8 for the powered canopy. Supposed to get a mechanism today that might work for the canopy. Sorta a guess, and I hope it won't be too difficult to make that work. We'll see...

Regarding the Polyacrylic, it is pretty easy to apply, I put it on after I put Tamiya spray primer on it, sanded it and then have used about 3 coasts of the Polyacrylic, sanding between each coat with a light and fine sandpaper and water. Seems to definitely smooth it out some and make it a little less subject to dents, but I still got a few so far that I have had to fill during building. The only minor annoyance is an occasional drip that has to be sanded off later when I discover it. But I'm getting better at applying it.

Back to the E Flite drop mechanism, for this FMS model, I think it is going to be a little too wide to fit in the OEM pylons, so I'll wait for a different model to do that. Possibly get the new P-51 which you can buy drop mechanisms specifically for that one, but I don't think they've hit the market yet. Plus, I'm still awaiting delivery of the clear canopies from James.

I see the new Flightline P-51 on my next "to do" list project!

Cheers

davegee

P.S Rex: I wanted to let you know that I found those "googly eyes" in the craft part of our local Walmart and picked up a packet of the one inch diameter ones for $1.46. Trimmed them to shape and glued them on the landing lights of my P-47s. Works great! Thanks for the tip!

You getting excited about the Toledo show coming up sooner and sooner on the calendar???

[davegee]

Mounted the E Flite bomb/tank drop mechanism using a couple of 1/4" dia. dowels that I drilled holes in the foam and then epoxied in to be flush with the skin. Drilled 1/16" diameter hole in the two dowels and then screwed the mount in two places using the holes provided in the mount.

I had to clear away the foam just a little bit to allow a manual loading lever on a spring pin to attach the fuel tank to the mount. Once that is done, it is ready to go. Have not had a single misstep doing about 20 test drops using my transmitter last night and this morning. I will be adding scale looking sway brackets to keep the tank secure from wind forces until I release it with the transmitter. I expect that it will go unstable immediately upon release and tumble softly onto the field near the runway. I'll probably do this drop fairly close to the ground at first just to be sure I don't lose the tank, although I will get another one ready as a back up.

I'll attach a pic of me holding the drop tank next to the E Flite release mechanism. I have to commend them on good engineering and simplicity on this add-on. The proof will be in the pudding on operational tests to see how well it does with an air load on it. I'm looking forward to flying it in the spring.