Hasegawa 1/72 Thunderbolt Mk.II "RAF Combo"
By Matt Bittner
The Kit
Since the history of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt can be found practically anywhere, I will forego an introduction and jump right into kit contents.
This is the same bubble-top P-47 Hasegawa has had in their catalog for some time. This time they've released it as a Dual Combo (two kits in the box) with decals for nothing but Royal Air Force (RAF) machines:
- RAF, No. 73 Operational Training Unit (OTU), Spring, 1945, finished overall in black
- RAF, No. 42 Squadron, Squadron Leader W. M. Soutter, 1945, in an un-finished, natural metal finish (NMF) overall
- RAF, No. 134 Squadron, Flying Officer N. G. Salter, 1945, NMF overall
Decals appear to be in register.
The cockpit is very spartan, consisting of a pilot, a "tub" (just a "shelf" with a "seat") and an instrument panel to which a decal is adhered. Nothing else. So, you may want to track down more of a cockpit if you want a little more detail. Once the "cockpit" is finished than it and the instrument panel are glued into one fuselage half, and the fuselage halves glued together.
After painting the wheel well area in each upper wing half, the wings can be glued together then added to the built-up fuselage. Also add the horizontal stabilizers and canopy, if closing it (and after masking, of course). I'm unsure how the fit of the cowl will be to the fuselage, but if tight enough you could get away with leaving it off to paint. However, given the age of the kit, it may be that it will need to be added now (after building and painting the engine, of course) so any seams can be dealt with. Once the cowl is on, then the model can be painted.
The last steps to peform are to add either the bombs or fuel tanks (if using them) to the molded-on bomb racks, followed by the landing gear and prop.
Conclusion
To be honest, I have yet to build a Hasegawa Thunderbolt. It looks like my first one will be built as an RAF machine, as I have my eye on definitely one of the schemes that come with this kit.
My thanks to Hasegawa USA for sending this Dual Combo in for review.