P-47B Thunderbolt 1/72

This kit was given to me by a friend whose step dad found it in their garage when they moved in their house a long time ago. The kit was already started and had loose parts but surprisingly had all the parts and decals still in the box.  

The model had been painted green and some paint brush marks. Don’t know if they meant for this to be a primer or the color of the aircraft scheme.  

Got all the parts stripped of the old paint. I slightly let it sit in the lacquer thinner too long and got my thumb print in the plastic a little bit.  

This is after I glued it back together, filled in some gaps, and painted it with a black primer. I then painted it in a neutral grey for the underside  

Painted the top side of the plane olive drab  

I cut out the stencils for making the marking in the airplane instead of the decal sheet since it’s so old and I feel like the decals would fall apart if I tried to apply them. 

Made a paper copy of the decals so I can make stencils and mask of the markings 

Painting on the roundels 

Mask I made for the star inside the roundel 

 

The result was not too bad. They are not perfect but good enough! I will have to go back in for some touch ups 

 

Masked and painted on the fuselage bands 

 

I measured and drew out some “1”s since I did not like the way the decals were shaped. Too bulky. 

Here is how the mask for the 1 came out.  

The finished model.  

 

 

 

I messed up with painting a matte clear coat, I put it on too thick and when dried it had an ugly white hue to it. I tried to paint some gloss to get rid of it, but I did not like the way it looked. So, I just repainted the olive drab and it came out ok.  

 

My reference.