1:72 P - 47 D Bubbletop

A Thunderbolt with a teardrop instead of a spine

The Republic P-47D was among the heaviest single-engine fighters of the war and its crews called it nothing but the Jug. The original form had a high spine behind the cockpit which took the pilot's view to the rear away at the very moment he needed it most. The answer was a cut-down rear fuselage and above it a one-piece teardrop canopy of the kind British technicians had already tried on the Typhoon. From the spring of 1944 machines in this form escorted bombers over Germany, and with eight half-inch machine guns in the wing they also took aim at trains and columns on the ground.

One pane, a great many curves

From a masking point of view the teardrop is treacherous precisely because it has a frame only around its edge and everywhere else it curves in two directions. Straight tape holds badly on it and breaks in the corners. The die-cut film in this set is designed straight to the shape of the part, so it drops into place without stretching and holds the edge equally wide around the whole perimeter.

Contents

• masking parts for the outer surface of the teardrop canopy
• a shape derived from the clear part of the kit named
• self-adhesive film removable without residue
• a backing sheet with pre-cut outlines

A 1:72 model has a canopy barely the size of a little fingernail, so the difference between a straight and a shaky frame edge decides the overall impression more than any other detail. The model, paints and decals are not included in this delivery.