Hey folks, need a little help here. I picked up three ww2 kits and none seem to have a wheels up option. What I need is some GOOD in flight shots of P-47’s, P-38’s, and B-17’s. Of course they need to be under wing pictures. The P-47’s problem is that the wheel doors do not fit. ( open area at “root” end of door) I figure I’ll use sheet styrene and putty but I need to know how “anal” to get. Thanks all! bob
HEY,
Dont know if this helps but try it.
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/p47.htm
Randy
13b20,
There are several good books with pictures - try the Detail in Scale series, or the Squadron series.
Your gear doors probably don’t fit because because as the gears were never intended to be presented wheels up on the model, the manufacturer has probably run a little “loose and fast” with the dimensions of the separate gear door pieces and didn’t get them right.
In reality, the gear leg length of any wheel-down P-47 is longer that the length of wheel well itself - this was done to accommodate the huge prop the plane needed and there wasn’t enough space in the airframe to extend the wells to suit. On the full sized a/c, upon retraction, the gear leg hydraulics “de-pressurised”, forcing the wheel up towards the gear leg hinge, effectively shortening the free length between the hinge centreline and the wheel hub centreline, allowing the now shortened gear leg to fit into the well. Clever.
There are also heaps of other websites around with lots of photos - just go to yahoo, altavista, google (or your favorite search engine) and search for “P-47”, “Republic P-47”, “P-47D”, “Thunderbolt”, “P-47 Thunderbolt” etc etc etc.
You’re bound to find heaps of websites with images you can look at.
Cheers,
LeeTree
Hey 13b20- Here’s probly the clearest representation of a P 47 belly that I have. I sized it to print for you (8" wide). Hope this helps ! It’s from Detail & Scale, an invaluable source. But I know that the cost of the reference material can often exceed the cost of the kit itself ! If you need any more pics, (cockpit, engine, wheel wells, etc.) e-mail me and I’ll shoot 'em out to you. Good luck, Pix
Thank you all for your help! I went to Wright-pat. AFB on vacation a couple of weeks ago and couldn’t keep from buying kits. The last thing I built was a '56 Chevy and that was in '85. I AM WAY RUSTY!!! So your tips are a great help to this old man. Bob