1:32 P-47D Thunderbolt

The heaviest single-engine fighter of the war

Fully loaded the Republic P-47D weighed as much as two contemporary fighters together, and it still became the backbone of the American escort over western Europe. The most famous unit to fly it was the 56th Fighter Group, which operated from Halesworth in England and was the only group in the Eighth Air Force to stay with the type to the end of the war. Above seven kilometers the engine, oversized thanks to its turbocharger, was in its element; down low, by contrast, it took a long time to pick up speed.

How the units were told apart over Europe and over Burma

Because of its silhouette, similar to Japanese and German radial-engine machines, the European examples received white recognition bands on the cowling, on the vertical surface and on the horizontal tail surfaces from the winter of 1943. The groups then replaced them with designs of their own, so one carried a black and white checkerboard across the whole cowling, another a colored band. In Burma the same aircraft flew with British squadrons under the name Thunderbolt with a roundel without the red center and with white bands across the wings, that is with an entirely different system of markings from its American counterpart.

On the set itself

The cut shapes fit the frames of the canopy as well as the small side windows behind the cockpit and save the most unpleasant part of the build. The inner parts belong on the frame as seen from within. The base has to be dry, degreased and free of dust, otherwise the film will not adhere around its whole perimeter.

If you want to make the frame look narrower, it is enough to apply the paint thinly and let it show through. A heavy coat thickens the frame instead, and in this scale that looks coarse.