Official FMS 1500mm P-47D Razorback Thread

[davegee]

Great! standby for a few photos and text on the shrinker bars for the P-47 model.

davegee

Hi Rex: I just took three photos of the main landing gear for my Penrod and Sam P-47D razorback.

I used some very small 1/16" tubing for some brake lines that start near the base of the landing gear strut, and then wind around and connect up with some small black tubing to go towards the wheel hub to simulate brake lines to the wheels. Just decorative with no real function, except for appearance.

The shrinker bars were a total experiment just to see if I could come up with something that would sorta look like them and not get in the way of the gear functioning while retracting or taxiing on the ground.

I used an aluminum tube larger than 1/16, maybe 3/32, I don't know. Just some scrap tubing that "looked" about right for the shrinker tubes. I both glued and tied down with thin aluminum wire to secure them to the main gear strut so they would stay in place.

In one of the photos, there is a small steel wire that comes out of the shrinker bar tubing, and connects to the plastic fairing below the oleo strut. I drilled a hole in that fairing for the lower gear door, made a 90 degree bend in the steel wire and what it does is simulate the "shrinking" capabilities of the shriker bar. In reality, it allows the oleo strut to compress as need be during takeoffs and landings, and that steel wire slides up and down in the fixed aluminum tube on the upper part of the main gear strut barrel so it doesn't break off.

I don't know if that makes sense just seeing some photos, but hopefully you get an idea what I'm talking about. It is important for that steel wire to ride up and down inside the tube to keep it from doing damage to the aluminum tube strapped and glued to the gear strut barrel.

Of course, this is strictly for show. It might add a bit of "bling" or realism to what the real airplanes had. It was a very ingenious design for the P-47 and I wanted to highlight at least the look of it to explain how this system worked and was an important part of the P-47's success. Incidentally, years ago, there was a company who made gear with working shrinker bars, very expensive. But I would have bought it if it was available for the 1/5 scale planes I was making at the time. I think it was for a 1/4 or bigger model. I never went bigger than the 1/5 scale.

Let me know if you have any questions. It is important to be sure that the shrinker bar won't interfere with the actual operation of the gear. With the abuse that the gear takes during takeoffs and landings, it should be inspected regularly to be sure it is staying in place. I"m also including another pic of the tail wheel spring that I use to get the gear doors to open and close properly.



Good luck! Let me know how it goes.

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

Elbee,
Thanks. After more detailing I think it will look good.
Will paint the white stripes today. Callie Graphics ordered and arrive in a week or so.
Instead of using chalk I think a dirty wash will outline the panel lines and tone down the paint a little. These aircraft were kept fairly clean by the maint. crews. What do you guys think?

Davegee,
The package arrived today safe and sound.

Best Regards, Rex

Great! standby for a few photos and text on the shrinker bars for the P-47 model.

davegee

[jetfool]

Elbee,
Thanks. After more detailing I think it will look good.
Will paint the white stripes today. Callie Graphics ordered and arrive in a week or so.
Instead of using chalk I think a dirty wash will outline the panel lines and tone down the paint a little. These aircraft were kept fairly clean by the maint. crews. What do you guys think?

Davegee,
The package arrived today safe and sound.

Best Regards, Rex

[Elbee]

jetfool

Cockpit parts are lookin' sweet, Bro.

Best, LB

[davegee]

Put my last spray coat of OD on today and mixed some darker int green paint. Painted the cockpit aera and inst. panels. Hope this looks more like the Republic green used at their factory.

Hi Rex: I think those colors are fine, especially for earlier D model P-47s. They produced over 15,000 P-47s from three factories over the course of WWII, and there were no doubt some minor variations in the colors of the interiors. I think the later bubbletop jugs were a dull dark green, which has a blue tint mixed in there. Yours will look great the way you have it set up.

Cheers

Davegee

[jetfool]

Put my last spray coat of OD on today and mixed some darker int green paint. Painted the cockpit aera and inst. panels. Hope this looks more like the Republic green used at their factory.

[jetfool]

F4Uausie,
It's getting there. Decided to give it one more OD spray coat today. Well, I thinned my paint too much and just as I was finished, I hit a spot, yeah, a run ran down. Thankfully I am using Latex paint and a quick wipe and light spray saved the day. Not spraying anymore OD on this baby. The white comes next then finish the cockpit and start on weathering details. Never Ending!
Hope your having good weather and able to do some flying.

Best Regards, Rex

[f4u ausie]

I have finally sprayed the OD and now I'll check tomorrow to see if any touchup is needed. Less than a month to get to this point, seems longer. May need to spray some grey to blend in the wavey camouflage on Lucky from my pictures. After a day or two I will spray the white stripes on nose and tail.
Hope some of you are enjoying seeing this. Rex

It looks awsome rex,, great job.. its all in the prep work.. vwalla ,,look at the results,, getin close

[jetfool]

Davegee,

The picture will work great. Gives me the dimensions I need. I'll order the 1/8 scale from Callie today, going to order the nomenclature sheet also.
Thanks again, Rex

[davegee]

Davegee,

How wide did you make your stripes on the tail and wings. Also,
how far in from the wing tips and tail tips did you start the white paint. I know they used 24" wide on the nose.
Going to order Callies decals- what scale did you order from her if you remember? !/8, 1/9. 1/10 ?
Would you post a picture of your strut retraction on your landing gear. I have it in my mind, but a picture would re-assure this old brain.
I said in the beginning I'd have a million questions

Best Regards, Rex

Hi Rex: I think I'll retract the idea of "waxing" the Lucky aircraft to make it shinier. I had read somewhere where Johnson talked about his crew chief waxing his aircraft for less drag, but in the pictures I've seen of Lucky while he was still flying it, it looks pretty much like most of the others. Compare that to some photos I've seen and am looking at of Bud Mahurin's and a few others' planes that did get the wax job, they look pretty darned shiny, especially when seen looking down the fuselage.

Regarding the scale of the aircraft, the real P-47Ds had a wingspan of approximately 40' 9" or about 489 inches. The scale of this airplane model, when you take the wingspan of 59 inches and divide that into 489 inches of the real thing, gives you a scale for the model of 1:8.28, or rounded off to 1:8.3. That should be pretty close, knowing that the designers of the model planes have to make some compromises from the real things to make a model airplane fly properly.

We are in the middle of a prolonged windstorm the past couple of days, so I don't have access to my plane "Ole Cock" tp measure the white stripes. I can do that once the storm abates enough to safely take it down in the garage.

I'll attach a copy of a page out of a book by Roger Freeman that I would take to the bank. He shows the white vertical tail stripe to be 12 inches wide, and varied between 30 inches to 36 inches below the top of the vertical stabilizer to the bottom of the white stripe. You's have to have a picture of Lucky showing that to guess how they did it. I think you posted a pic of Lucky earlier up the conversations on HS, so I'll look at that, too.

The horizontal tail stripes were 15 inches wide, and 24 inches from the outer tip of the horizontal tail to the outer edge of the white stripe on the tail.

See what you think from the attached page out of Freeman's book and let me know if you have any questions.

[jetfool]

Dangerous Dan,
I to would like to build the Bubbletop. I like the ones off the carrier Franklin, Dark blue with white Triangle symbol on the tail. They carried the #150 gal. pair of drop tanks. Not as dirty as the land based but some wear and tear. I also have a 61 1/2" Brian Taylor Corsair, plans, cowl and canopy I've had since 1983, would like to re-design it to an F2G model. Using the FMS 1700 Corsair motor and 4- blade prop. Probably scoot right along.
I will eventually get a mini- prusa because I'm keeping the HS class busy but want my own to do in my dark cave. Wife wants it for her craft figurines. Go figure!
The HS class has printed all my Elbee downloads, and his designs are fantastic, fit first time, etc.
After bringing the P-47 to the bedroom last night, Nooo I did not sleep with it (couldn't convince the wife to sleep on the couch, LOL) to dry out I will spray one more coat on today. Hard to believe how different it looks vs stock.
Hope you guys are save and warm in this cold spell. Elbee is probably in his bermuda's and sipping a margarita on his front porch today enjoying his balmy weather.

Later Rex

[Elbee]

I have sent you a PDF with photos of the Cowl Mod for your review via your email. Best, LB

[Grossman56]

Yeah, I'm looking at all the warbirds out there and what I could do to improve them. I'm thinking of the bubble top Corsair or next year, taking what I've learned from this one and applying it to the next one as well as kicking it up a notch. You know how it is, you do something and you think, 'I should have done(something) before I did that' I have a few of those!
Elbee has also offered me a hand with his 3D designed parts. Seriously thinking about investing in a printer, I just have waaay too much fun painting the pilots!!!

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[jetfool]

Dangerous,
Yeah, funny how once you start you never look at a model the same. Always see things to do to it and for me I love the detailing and making things. Your Corsair is going to be a beauty when you finish. I look at my Corsair and still want to add Elbee's cowl flaps, simpler spring-loaded operation than Elbee's but based on his design. I have his 3-D printed parts just need to brainstorm and do it.

Best Regards, Rex

[Grossman56]

Great job Rex!
Funny how R/C modelling turns into more modelling than R/C'ing!
With the corsair, it's opened up a new world for me as well, now I look at airplanes from the viewpoint of what I can do to make it even more authentic.

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[jetfool]

Davegee,

I like the dull finish so far. I'll wait until I have the white and decals before I decide if I want a polished effect. Do you think this time period they had time to polish, they were flying almost every day. A clear coat of poly would give a shiny effect

[jetfool]

Davegee,

How wide did you make your stripes on the tail and wings. Also,
how far in from the wing tips and tail tips did you start the white paint. I know they used 24" wide on the nose.
Going to order Callies decals- what scale did you order from her if you remember? !/8, 1/9. 1/10 ?
Would you post a picture of your strut retraction on your landing gear. I have it in my mind, but a picture would re-assure this old brain.
I said in the beginning I'd have a million questions

Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Fantastic, Rex! I was thinking, you have a possible option regarding finish on your airplane. Most warbirds have a dull finish on them. But for the top aces and their diligent crew chiefs and ground crews, sometimes they took a personal interest in their pilot’s aircraft and getting that extra couple knots of speed that might make the difference between life and death for their pilot. I’m talking about polishing the aircraft, giving it a brighter sheen than the average jug on the ramp.

Totally up to you if you want to have a slightly smoother and brighter finish on your airplane, or not. Just thought I’d throw that out for discussion.

cheers

davegee

[jetfool]

Thanks, Elbee. Came out better than I expected. Now the next 90% of finishing begins.

Best Regards, Rex

[Elbee]

jetfool

Beautiful paint finish, Rex.

Lookin' so good.

Best, LB