1:48 Razorback P 47's of the 56th Fighter Group

Both subjects from one squadron

The whole sheet is aimed at the 61st Fighter Squadron: both schemes offered carry its code letters HV. The older machine is a C version with serial number 41-6620 and the letter H, on whose nose stood the name Powers Girl. The younger subject is a D version, 42-22456, coded HV-N and named Liberty Belle. A collector thus gets two machines of one unit from different phases of its service.

A pair from the same squadron makes it possible to build a small display group in which the shift between the early and the later appearance of the type is visible. The shape of the turbocharger exhaust fairings differs, as does the arrangement of the antennas and the color treatment of the propeller spinner. For modelers who collect the machines of one unit and want to show its development it is a more rewarding purchase than two sheets chosen at random.

Practical advice

The nose lettering belongs among the most sensitive elements, because it lies on a rounded surface. It pays to apply it last, on a perfectly cured glossy base, and to shape it gradually with several drops of softener, so that the film does not wrinkle. Between individual doses it is advisable to let the area dry completely; only then is another drop added.

Building the model calls for a separately purchased kit and paints matching the scheme chosen. The sheet itself carries the markings, national insignia and both pieces of nose lettering. Anyone who wants to build the pair at once should reckon with the fact that the early and the later version differ in the shape of the canopy as well, so a suitable kit has to be chosen for each machine separately.