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 Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Tamiya 1:48 Republic P-47D Thunderbolt ‘Bubbletop’ (Kit #61090)
Tamiya's 1/48 scale P-47D Bubbletop has been around a few years now, being first released back in 2003. At that time it was hailed as being the best 1:48 kit available on the market and I believe that still stands. This kit is typical of the Tamiya style, being very well detailed, well moulded with crisp mouldings with very little or no flash, nicely rendered panel lines, a few raised panels as and where appropriate and very little in the way of seam lines or ejector pin marks to remove. In short, the quality of the kit parts is simply superb and it should build up into a very nice model straight out of the box!!
The kit is presented on four sprues of grey styrene, one sprue of clear and a couple of polythene caps and this kit appears to be equal to Tamiya’s earlier release, also in 1:48 scale, of the ‘Razorback’ version of the P-47D in terms of detail, engineering and accuracy and even more generous in this kit with regards to options and ordnance.
The biggest difference between the Razorback and Bubbletop kits is the fuselage sprue. The fuselage is split into port and starboard halves, and the entire rear top fuselage and fin are supplied as an insert to the main fuselage. The fuselage otherwise shares all of the nice features of the Razorback kit, including alternate styles of cowl flaps (either open or close, though if using the open flaps, it would be a nice idea to carefully scribe between the blades to make them look a little more convincing), positionable supercharger vents on the rear fuselage sides are included and the wing roots have structural detail that makes up the inboard sides of the wheel wells when the wings are fitted. Subtle options include two slightly different mirrors styles for the windscreen and a finely moulded DF loop, typically only installed for very long haul trips, though it doesn’t appear to be used anywhere in the instructions, so a nice addition to the spares box.
The cockpit is well detailed straight from the box. Although there are not many parts, the details on the sidewall and corrugated floor are deep and very crisp. A harness is all the cockpit really needs, which Tamiya supplies as a decal for this purpose, though an aftermarket PE or scratchbuilt set would look much better in my opinion. The finely moulded instrument panel has blank circles within the bezels for the instrument dials and a one-piece decal is supplied for this purpose. For those that like to add crew to the cockpits of their model aircraft, there is also a nicely moulded pilot included.
Alternate magneto styles are provided for the nicely moulded Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine and as supplied, the kit powerplant is very nice and perfectly adequate, but could be enhanced still further by adding some scratchbuilt ignition harness wiring to the front of the cylinders.
The clear parts are thin and free of distortion and the canopy is crystal clear. Tamiya has captured the subtle curves of the Bubbletop canopy very well, and there are also two different styles of gunsight offered as clear parts too. These presumably represent the Mk.VIII and N-3A gunsights.
Kit ordnance comprises a 150 gallon flat centreline drop tank, two 108 gallon pressed paper tanks, two 150 gallon teardrop-shaped tanks, two 500lb GP bombs, and two triple tube 4.5" rocket launchers.
In addition to the 12' Curtis Electric, 13' Curtiss symmetrical paddle blade and the 13' Hamilton Standard paddle blade propeller assemblies included in the earlier Razorback kit, this newer release also adds a 13' Hamilton Standard asymmetrical paddle blade propeller assembly though I don’t think they were used on the ‘D’ variant of the Thunderbolt and were probably included in the kit sprues here in readiness for Tamiya’s subsequent release of the later variants?
Also included with this kit in the instruction sheet, is a very handy ‘Load Configuration’ diagram showing which ordnance and fuel tanks should be fitted and where, according to whether the aircraft was on an ‘Escort’ mission or a ‘Ground Attack’ mission? Very useful and a nice touch.
To round off the kit there is a quite large and comprehensive decal sheet, with marking for two individual aircraft and a complete set of stencils of which there are many, with a stencil diagram included in the instructions. The aircraft included in the kit are those of:
A – Lt.Col. Benjamin Mayo, 84th FS, 78th FG, Duxford Air Base, England, 1944.
B – Maj.Gen. William Kepner, 551st FTS, 495th FTG, Mount Farm Air Base, England, Autumn 1944.
All in all, a fantastic kit of one of my all-time favourite aircraft, the famous ‘Jug’.
Model dimensions: Fuselage 230mm, Wingspan 259mm.
I will be starting a build of this kit in due course, probably in the new year, and which I shall ultimately be covering in real aluminium foil, currently my favourite method for achieving a convincing 'Natural Metal Finish' and an example of which can be seen here:
http://forum.model-space...spx?g=posts&t=17481
Happy modelling!!
KevModelMania attached the following image(s):
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Looks a nice kit Current builds:-C57,Zero, Lamborghini Countach, Caldercraft HMS Agamemnon,Robi,R2-D2, MFH Cobra .
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Thanks Andy, it looks even better in the flesh and hoping to receive the 'Razorback' version of this kit as a birthday present from my son next month!!
Kev
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 Rank: Elite      Groups: Registered
Joined: 13/02/2011 Posts: 2,236 Points: 6,828 Location: East Sussex
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P-47D Thunderbolt. A very well written appraisal Kev thank you for posting. Regards Trev. Work in progress: Tombstone (Scratch) - San Francisco 2. -The Mayflower ( scratch by plan).
OcCre- Santa-Maria (Kit).
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Fantastic review Kev, the kit certainly looks good and to usual Tamiya standards. Looking forward to seeing your build, foil by any chance?
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 Rank: Super-Elite  Groups: Registered
Joined: 27/01/2014 Posts: 5,060 Points: 14,980
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The Thumderbolt is a lovely looking aircraft, the kit looks like it has lots of very nicely molded on details.
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Thanks for your nice comments Trev, Daran and Dave, much appreciated and yes, a lovely kit which I will throroughly enjoy building.
@ Daran - Oooh yes!! A prime candidate for foiling and should be easier than the Mustang being in a larger scale with less compound curves too. Looking forward to it!!
Kev
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