CompARF P-47 Thunderbolt

[Phil Clark]

I was asked to give a talk at the Crook & District MFC last week so the P-47 came out for the evening.......1st time I'd had the whole model assembled since starting the project.

[Phil Clark]

Prior to the club evening, the undersides of the wings had been completed to match the tops, the gear doors had also been done & all tail surfaces had had their 1st coat of Klass Kote US Insignia Yellow..............

[Phil Clark]

Will the FliteMetal ever end???.........progress on the fuselage slow but steady. Yes, that supercharger exit scoop WAS done in 1 piece (ohh what fun!!!). Cowling gills also done in preparation for painting the rest of the cowl.

[Phil Clark]

1st painted areas complete.........had the proofs of all of the paint masks & dry set stencils through from Nigel @ Flightline Graphics this evening, so I'll be making a start on applying painted markings + the multitude of stencils to the tail & wings in between completing the metal on the fuselage shortly.

[Dean Mosley]

Hi Phil

Two different models I know but the detailing on this is First Class, if I only get half as much on mine ill be a happy man

How does it feel though to put your heart and soul in to a model like this for it to then roll out the door and perhaps never to be seen again...?

I'm sure the pay cheque covers it but still sometimes its not all about the money...

Out of curiosity what is the overall weight on this to be

Dean

[Phil Clark]

After 10 yrs of building for other people, I'm used to it by now but there have been 2-3 models over the years that I'd have happily kept for myself.......unfortunately I need the the pennies from the client at the end of every month so it's not really an option!!!

Weight on this one will be 50lb+......the Flitemetal has added a big chunk + at 110" span & Moki 250 powered, we have A LOT more engine than your inline twin + it's a chunk bigger airframe as well.

Phil

[Phil Clark]

Cowling all pretty colours now......soon be ready for some nose art.

[Dave Parry]

A work of art in itself there Phil.

[Phil Clark]

It's been a month since the last update............not much progress on the 47 mainly because we've been buy building this......our new 1000 sq ft workshop facility brought about by the continued & growing demand for our building services. We now have a larger office/stock room, a dedicated spray booth with extraction, more storage racking for in progress & completed models + A LOT more bench space.......all very neat & tidy at the moment, but that's unlikely to last long!!!!

[Phil Clark]

.....the last few days has seen activity restart on the P-47.......the metalwork on the underside of the fuselage is now pretty much complete. 20 individual panels make up approx. 1 sq ft or area behind the belly pan.......thankfully the rest of the fuz is all much bigger pieces!!!!

[Dave Parry]

Hi Phil, it is great to see you are going form strength to strength and the new workshop looks great. But I am not surprised you are expanding with the quality of models you build and the time you put in to them for your customers. Well done!

[Phil Clark]

Thanks Dave........we've a number of fantastic new builds in the pipeline that will be getting underway over the next few weeks & months so the new shop won't be looking clean & tidy for long.........so watch this space.

Phil

[Phil Clark]

Good progress now being made on the larger fuselage panels........light is beginning to flicker at the end of what's been a very long tunnel!!!

[Steve Rickett 2333]

I did warn you!! It's looking good though, worth the effort.

[Phil Clark]

Getting closer.....

[Steve Mansell]

Smashing job Phil, but a quick question. If the panels are all ali, how do you get them to be different finishes so they don't all blend together? The change in texture and shade really adds something, just like full size.

Cheers
Steve

[Phil Clark]

A photo speaks 1000 words......but all my build photos for this project are on my home laptop.......but putting it simply, after each panel is applied and trimmed, the edges are masked to protect the adjacent panels & the surface is block sanded with 240 grip wet & dry before being buffed with a fine scotch pad......some panels are sanded/buffed left to right, others top to bottom, some even diagonally.......the fine scratches you are adding to the surface catch the light differently giving different levels of reflectivity & it's this that gives the patchwork effect.

MASSIVELY time consuming......you're looking 200hrs + to metal a model of this size.

Phil

[Bob Thompson1894]

....but worth every minute. Fabulous Phil.

[Phil Clark]

Thank you ......being as this one will be winging it's way over to Norway once complete, if anyone fancies a 'looksee'.......I should be able to squeeze it in the van for East Kirkby this weekend.

Phil

[Phil Clark]

FliteMetal on the fuselage FINISHED

......the wing fairing took a bit of work!!!.........but each panel went on in 1 piece with no splits of wrinkles.

Next job.......riveting the fuselage.

Phil