Official FMS 1500mm P-47D Razorback Thread

[davegee]

Is this depiction accurate or just a guess for the right side P-47D Thunderbolt 56th FG, Col. David Schilling, Hairless Joe, England, June 1944

James, there are only two or so photos that I have ever come across that showed any of the right side of Hairless Joe. Having said that, there was enough to make an educated guess, at least as far as the front half of the right side of this aircraft. Regarding the tail area, we can only do our best to continue with similar camo patterns that were on the left side ad are well documented with photos. I think mine is as good as I or most anyone could get with such limited photo references for the whole airplane.

Regarding that diecast steel model, it is quite a good model (I have one), but a lot of those camo patterns are inaccurate. I started using that on the green camo bands using the model as a reference, but then started to change them going directly from period photos from that time period. Due to tremendous battle damage that summer, this airplane changed a whole lot as they changed out wings, tail, engine, etc. Even so, in December of 1944, Schilling shot down 5 enemy fighters over Germany making his total kills up to 22.5. Those were the last recorded kills in this aircraft or by Schilling himself.

See below photo of Hairless Joe after crash landing at Boxted Air Base, Essex, after taking heavy AA fire in the Netherlands on the first day of Operation Market Garden, September 17, 1944.

Regards,

Dave

[vrosi1963]

Is this depiction accurate or just a guess for the right side P-47D Thunderbolt 56th FG, Col. David Schilling, Hairless Joe, England, June 1944

[jetfool]

Davegee,
cockpit and pilot looks fantastic. Dans painting of the pilot makes the whole illusion look real. Hoping for pics of the sliding mechansim.
Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

davegee,

Looks real good, Dave.

Best, LB

Thanks, Steve. I successfully separated the windscreen from the canopy with my handy razor saw, and am now going to figure out how to connect the canopy to the rail so it will move smoothly on the tracks but also be not difficult to remove the canopy when needed. The Actuonix linear servo is working like a champ. pretty much dialed in on the close/open limits. The brass carriage that I made that slides in the tracks is holding up well so far.

Cheers

davegee

[Elbee]

davegee,

Looks real good, Dave.

Best, LB

[davegee]

Just installed the pilot. He's glued into position, ready for action!

[davegee]

Been busy working on the cockpit and details the past couple of days. Most of it is done, I think the pilot will fit in ok when the parts I just glued in are dried and ready to install it. Will send pics with the pilot installed and then I'll start working on the powered canopy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that will work out as I am hoping.

Most of the cockpit parts are 3D printed, some are just old fashioned modeling like the pilot seat that is adjustable on its aluminum tubes and the control stick is attached to the floor with a small piece of surgical tubing so it is moveable and will be placed in the pilot's hand for display and flying. The placards inside the cockpit are cut out from photos of real P-47s.

A couple pics:

[davegee]

DG,

The taper of a fuselage was the issue and reason for a simple mechanism.

Keeping everything as square as possible was my goal, while designing something both simple and sturdy.

The carriage idea kept it all square and sturdy, though was never really a simple design.

I'd do it a bit differently next time, though dissecting the fuselage for best access would still be my method.

Locating the servo driven rack and pinion in the battery hatch cover kept the weight forward of CoG.

Aesthetically, that made no difference and gave me opportunity to check the mechanism each time I changed the battery.

Well, at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Best, LB

That was a brilliant idea, Steve! I borrowed a bit on my plane with a "U" shaped carriage where the crosspiece in the front would attach to the linear servo. My plan all along was to use brass, but I was having problems soldering it together. I had decent soldering guns, but it was like trying to solder using water! I then made one out of K&S plastic tubing, but it wasn't up to the stress of the movement. So, I finally used my wife's high power soldering iron she uses for stained glass work, and that got the job done. So far, so good. The "acid test" of course is when I attach the canopy to the rail system and hopefully it will slide smoothly open and closed when operating. We'll see, but I'm somewhat encouraged so far.

Cheers

Dave

[davegee]

That explains it- thank you! I never knew he transferred to the 62nd; you learn something new every day! Thanks for clearing it up.
Good luck on your bubbletop conversion- it looks amazing!

You bet! If Johnson had left when he was due and his tour considered completed, he would have left still serving with the 61st FS with the red tails. But when he requested the short extension of service, the needs of the service come first, and the 62nd really needed a replacement Ops Officer. So, he was ordered to fill the gap and complete his last combat flying time with the 62nd FS.

Cheers

Davegee

[Elbee]

I have or had a few "pinching" issues in that I had a small divergence from parallel due to the curve of the fuselage. It doesn't bind, but it puts the servo under a bit of a load in a few areas.

DG,

The taper of a fuselage was the issue and reason for a simple mechanism.

Keeping everything as square as possible was my goal, while designing something both simple and sturdy.

The carriage idea kept it all square and sturdy, though was never really a simple design.

I'd do it a bit differently next time, though dissecting the fuselage for best access would still be my method.

Locating the servo driven rack and pinion in the battery hatch cover kept the weight forward of CoG.

Aesthetically, that made no difference and gave me opportunity to check the mechanism each time I changed the battery.

Well, at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Best, LB

[Eagle15]

Hi Eagle 15. I missed your question until I relooked over the posts. Regarding Bob Johnson and the red rudder, it is true that part of the time while he was flying his combat tours with the 61st FS, they did paint that squadron's rudders Red. The 62nd FS was painted Yellow, and the 63rd was Blue. This was in a very dynamic period where markings were changing rapidly. With Johnson, he was keen to stay in combat as long as possible, but with his being the top-scoring pilot in the 8th USAAF at the time, they weren't going to let him stay very long until they gave him the "hook" and send him home for a well-deserved rest.

They extended Johnson's combat tour for 10-15 flying hours with the understanding that when he flew that time, regardless of how successful he was shooting down the enemy, he was Going Home! At this time, Johnson was moved from his beloved 61st FS to the 62nd FS as they needed a replacement Operations Officer. That is why he transferred to the 62nd FS, thus his being given a new airplane, which he named PENROD and SAM, in honor of his crew chief and himself. The yellow rudders are what the 62nd FS were using until the end of the war, and that's why you see Penrod and Sam with the yellow tail. Maybe more info than you needed, but brevity has never been my long suit!

Cheers

Davegee

That explains it- thank you! I never knew he transferred to the 62nd; you learn something new every day! Thanks for clearing it up.
Good luck on your bubbletop conversion- it looks amazing!

[davegee]

quick question, I thought Robert Johnson served with the 61st, which had red cowls and red rudders. Was Pernod and Sam a borrowed p47 from the 62nd? Or perhaps I’m mistaken 😂

Also, where did you find photos of Pernod and Sam? I’ve looked for them but never found any. That’s why I chose to paint my p47 as lucky instead … lots of good reference photos for that.

Hi Eagle 15. I missed your question until I relooked over the posts. Regarding Bob Johnson and the red rudder, it is true that part of the time while he was flying his combat tours with the 61st FS, they did paint that squadron's rudders Red. The 62nd FS was painted Yellow, and the 63rd was Blue. This was in a very dynamic period where markings were changing rapidly. With Johnson, he was keen to stay in combat as long as possible, but with his being the top-scoring pilot in the 8th USAAF at the time, they weren't going to let him stay very long until they gave him the "hook" and send him home for a well-deserved rest.

They extended Johnson's combat tour twice for 25 flying hours with the understanding that when he flew that time, regardless of how successful he was shooting down the enemy, he was Going Home! At this time, Johnson was moved from his beloved 61st FS to the 62nd FS as they needed a replacement Operations Officer. That is why he transferred to the 62nd FS, thus his being given a new airplane, which he named PENROD and SAM, in honor of his crew chief and himself. The yellow rudders are what the 62nd FS were using until the end of the war, and that's why you see Penrod and Sam with the yellow tail. Maybe more info than you needed, but brevity has never been my long suit!

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

quick question, I thought Robert Johnson served with the 61st, which had red cowls and red rudders. Was Pernod and Sam a borrowed p47 from the 62nd? Or perhaps I’m mistaken 😂

Also, where did you find photos of Pernod and Sam? I’ve looked for them but never found any. That’s why I chose to paint my p47 as lucky instead … lots of good reference photos for that.

Hi Eagle 15. I missed your question until I relooked over the posts. Regarding Bob Johnson and the red rudder, it is true that part of the time while he was flying his combat tours with the 61st FS, they did paint that squadron's rudders Red. The 62nd FS was painted Yellow, and the 63rd was Blue. This was in a very dynamic period where markings were changing rapidly. With Johnson, he was keen to stay in combat as long as possible, but with his being the top-scoring pilot in the 8th USAAF at the time, they weren't going to let him stay very long until they gave him the "hook" and sent him home for a well-deserved rest.

They extended Johnson's combat tour for 10-15 flying hours with the understanding that when he flew that time, regardless of how successful he was shooting down the enemy, he was Going Home! At this time, Johnson was moved from his beloved 61st FS to the 62nd FS as they needed a replacement Operations Officer. That is why he transferred to the 62nd FS, thus his being given a new airplane, which he named PENROD and SAM, in honor of his crew chief and himself. The yellow rudders are what the 62nd FS were using until the end of the war, and that's why you see Penrod and Sam with the yellow tail. Maybe more info than you needed, but brevity has never been my long suit!

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

As I go along completiing this model, I do some detail items, when convenient. I just taped and painted the red boxes around the covers for the two fuselage fuel tanks . I have an order in from Callie for another nomenclature sheet that I'll add the placards that went on these covers.

[davegee]

Looking great. Dave.

Best, LB

Thanks,Steve. Packing the parts for the powered canopy into a fairly small airplane was a challenge. I have a framework of brass tubes that a smaller square tube rides in back and forth and the smaller framework is powered by the Actuonix linear servo, which works like a champ. I have or had a few "pinching" issues in that I had a small divergence from parallel due to the curve of the fuselage. It doesn't bind, but it puts the servo under a bit of a load in a few areas. Last night when I tried it, it worked great and the whole distance needed to be covered is about 2 inches or less. That is what I've seen in all the photos of the real ones on the ground or in the air. Of course, they had a pull handle they could operate to totally jettison the canopy if they needed to for bailout.

I liked your idea for your Corsair of slicing the fuselage precisely to open up space to put the working cowl flaps and the powered canopy. That was just a "bridge too far" for me, at this point, even for a foamie. My preference would have been to put the linear servo behind the cockpit and pull and push the canopy from behind to open and close it. But that was not a good option due to lack of space back there. Instead, I mounted the servo in a cutout on the bottom of the removable stock cockpit part of the model. This seems to work pretty well so far (I haven't gotten to the point of mounting the canopy on the brass rails yet!) and everything concerning the canopy is contained in this removable cockpit piece which is a modified OEM part by James to become a bubbletop versus the original razorback.

I figure another month of getting the airplane ready for the maiden. I am going to use the shorter stock prop for that first flight and one or two more before I put on the well tested FMS Corsair V3 prop and motor mount. I'm looking forward to that, especially since I have been flying this type FMS plane since they came out in 2016. Really a great plane and very accurate to the real thing, with some modifications!

Cheers

Dave

[Elbee]

Had a pretty productive day...

Looking great. Dave.

Best, LB

[davegee]

Had a pretty productinve day working on Hairless Joe today. I started prepping the plane for masking for the fuselage invasion stripes, and anyone who has done these knows it takes time and headwork to be sure you don't screw them up when you take off all the "bandages." In my case, I just screwed up one black invasion stripe that was a bit too narrow, but that was an easy fix.

I added a lot of nomenclature markings from Callie, need to order another set as mine are a hodgepodge of several previous models. Best to start out fresh with new ones.

I powered up the fuse and ran the elevator and rudder controls, motor, and the new attempt to power the canopy using the Acuontix linear servo mounted to the removable cockpit. I'm hopeful that I'll get it to pair up with the canopy when I get that far and it will work ok We'll see. Worst case scenario, I do have an extra canopy and if all else fails, I can at least temproarily use that until I sort out any problems with the Acuontix unit.

Also I plan on diving into the printed cockpit parts, most of which are already printed and painted. Danger Dan hit another home run painting my Col. Dave Schilling pilot figure, and I can't wait to see how the whole thing works out.

For the past many scale models, I have been using Tamiya spray rattle cans. The paint quality and colors are first rate and it is easy to do. I still use the air brush a lot on detail items.

I'll post a few pics from today.

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

Lootsa work. Looking good

thanks, Craig. Besides the very busy paint scheme, it is also tough getting accurate photos or drawings of this airplane while it was flying in 1944. It underwent both wings being replaced, the tail, the engine, and other parts of the airplane due to battle damage. Plus, almost no photos exist of the right side of the aircraft, just a few so some educated guessing has to be done to come up with the final look. I'll keep plugging along with the sources I have to try and do it justice.

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

Davegee,
The paint scheme is coming a long really well. Going to look great when finished and you know they fly fantastic. My wife would kill me if I painted on that floor, yours must be very understanding.
Best Regards, Rex

Thanks, Rex. This is my "dungeon"in the basement. The previous owners used this as a "command central" for manufacturing dog clothes of her own design. For years, I kept finding little sparkly sequins and the like in the carpet. I'm pretty good about keeping pant and stuff off the carpet, which is very old, but eventually we'll recarpet the basement but probably will use some sort of flooring in this room suitable for rc projects!

Cheers

Dave

[jetfool]

Davegee,
The paint scheme is coming a long really well. Going to look great when finished and you know they fly fantastic. My wife would kill me if I painted on that floor, yours must be very understanding.
Best Regards, Rex