In Box Review of Revell 1/48th Scale
P-47N Thunderbolt
Kit no. 85-5314
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: $18.99 at Sprue Bros.
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: $18.99 at Sprue Bros.
HISTORY:
The P-47N was the last Thunderbolt variant to be produced. It was designed as an escort fighter for the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers flying raids on the Japanese home islands. Increased internal fuel capacity and drop tanks had done much to extend the Thunderbolt's range during its evolution, and the only other way to expand the fuel capacity was to put fuel tanks into the wings. Thus, a new wing was designed with two 50 U.S. gal (190 l) fuel tanks. The second YP-47N with this wing flew in September 1944.
The redesign proved successful in extending range to about 2,000 mi (3,200 km), and the squared-off wingtips improved the roll rate. The P-47N entered mass production with the uprated R-2800-77(C) engine, with a total of 1,816 built. The very last Thunderbolt to be built, a P-47N-25, rolled off the production line in October 1945.
At the end of production, a Thunderbolt cost $83,000 in 1945 U.S. dollars. A total of 15,678 Thunderbolts of all types were built.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role Fighter-bomber
Manufacturer Republic Aviation
Designer Alexander Kartveli
First flight 6 May 1941
Introduction November 1942
Retired 1966, Peruvian Air Force
Primary users United States Army Air Forces
Royal Air Force
French Air Force
Produced 1941–1945
Number built 15,660 or 15,677
Unit cost
US$ 83,000 in 1945.
Variants Republic XP-72
THE KIT:
This kit came in a shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box.
Revell is an older prolific model company with offices in the USA and Germany. It is associated with Monogram.
The box art shows a P-47N fighting 2 Japanese fighters, one of which is going down in flames and the other one is retreating. The P-47N is over a forested shoreline and its wing guns are firing. It is overall bare-metal with a green anti-glare panel in front of the windshield. It has yellow stripes over the wings and a yellow tail with diagonal blue stripes. There is a yellow circle under the cockpit with 5 aerial kill marks for Japanese planes and 7 bomb run marks, plus some stencils. The nose says "L'll Meaties Meat Chopper" followed by an illustration of a baby in diapers, carrying a Thompson machine-gun, wearing a derby hat and smoking a cigar. It has a black fuselage number 146.
One corner of the box sart says the kit is intended for modelers 10 and older and the kit is a skill level 2, which is moderate skill.
The skill levels are explained on the bottom of the box tray, plus it says there that the kit is not for children under 3 due to a choke hazard. Revell's street address and and a 1-800 number and their web address are provided.
One side panel has a paint color listing, followed by 2 color walk-around photos of the model made up. The copyright date of 2011 and Revell's street address again are below.
The other side panel lists features of the kit in multiple languages, including English.
The P-47N was the last Thunderbolt variant to be produced. It was designed as an escort fighter for the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers flying raids on the Japanese home islands. Increased internal fuel capacity and drop tanks had done much to extend the Thunderbolt's range during its evolution, and the only other way to expand the fuel capacity was to put fuel tanks into the wings. Thus, a new wing was designed with two 50 U.S. gal (190 l) fuel tanks. The second YP-47N with this wing flew in September 1944.
The redesign proved successful in extending range to about 2,000 mi (3,200 km), and the squared-off wingtips improved the roll rate. The P-47N entered mass production with the uprated R-2800-77(C) engine, with a total of 1,816 built. The very last Thunderbolt to be built, a P-47N-25, rolled off the production line in October 1945.
At the end of production, a Thunderbolt cost $83,000 in 1945 U.S. dollars. A total of 15,678 Thunderbolts of all types were built.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role Fighter-bomber
Manufacturer Republic Aviation
Designer Alexander Kartveli
First flight 6 May 1941
Introduction November 1942
Retired 1966, Peruvian Air Force
Primary users United States Army Air Forces
Royal Air Force
French Air Force
Produced 1941–1945
Number built 15,660 or 15,677
Unit cost
US$ 83,000 in 1945.
Variants Republic XP-72
THE KIT:
This kit came in a shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box.
Revell is an older prolific model company with offices in the USA and Germany. It is associated with Monogram.
The box art shows a P-47N fighting 2 Japanese fighters, one of which is going down in flames and the other one is retreating. The P-47N is over a forested shoreline and its wing guns are firing. It is overall bare-metal with a green anti-glare panel in front of the windshield. It has yellow stripes over the wings and a yellow tail with diagonal blue stripes. There is a yellow circle under the cockpit with 5 aerial kill marks for Japanese planes and 7 bomb run marks, plus some stencils. The nose says "L'll Meaties Meat Chopper" followed by an illustration of a baby in diapers, carrying a Thompson machine-gun, wearing a derby hat and smoking a cigar. It has a black fuselage number 146.
One corner of the box sart says the kit is intended for modelers 10 and older and the kit is a skill level 2, which is moderate skill.
The skill levels are explained on the bottom of the box tray, plus it says there that the kit is not for children under 3 due to a choke hazard. Revell's street address and and a 1-800 number and their web address are provided.
One side panel has a paint color listing, followed by 2 color walk-around photos of the model made up. The copyright date of 2011 and Revell's street address again are below.
The other side panel lists features of the kit in multiple languages, including English.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX:
The kit contains 4 medium-grey parts trees and a clear parts tree in a sealed cello bag. The clear tree is in its own sealed cello bag. The decal sheet and instructions complete the kits contents. The decal sheet has a tissue with it to protect its face from scratching. However, this tissue is floating around loose and not protecting anything.
The parts are tight in the tray and touching all four walls.
The instructions consist of a staple-bound booklet of 12 pages in 8 3/4" x 10 3/4" page format.
Page 1 of the instructions begins with a black and white repeat of the box art, followed by international assembly symbol explanations, READ THIS BEFORE YOU BEGIN instructions and a paint color listing suggested to complete the model in French and English.
The bottom of the page gives a 1-800 phone number to call with any questions or comments and Revell's Customer Service Dept's address in Elk Grove Village, IL. Their web address is also provided and the copyright date of the kit is 2011.
Pages 2 though 9 give a grand total of 14 assembly steps.
Page 10 has a 2-view showing both sides of the box art subject.
This is a P-47N RE of Pilot Lt. Oscar Perdomo, 464th FS. 507th FG. on August 13, 1944. Lt. Perdomo became WWII's last "Ace in a Day", downing five aircraft over Seoul, Korea.
Page 11 has a 2-view showing a P-47N-25-RE of Pilot Lt. Col. Ollie O. Simpson, Commander 125th FS, 116th W. Georgia National Guard, Marietta Air Base, 1947/1950.
It is overall bare metal with a blue cowling that extends as a scallop partway down the fuselage and has a white stenciled number 408 on it. It has a olive-drab anti-glare panel in front of the windscreen and behind the cockpit along the spine. The rudder tip is red and the serial no. 489408 is on it in black. GA in black is before the fuselage star and bars and NG behind it.
There are 3 diagonal red stripes under the fuselage stars. NG 408 appears in black letters above the right wing and below the left. Bombs color is called out as being olive-drab.
Page 12 has 2-views showing the tops and bottom of these aircraft.
There are no parts trees illustrations in the instructions. Trees are not alphabetized, but do have numbers on them.
To make things worse the part numbers on the trees are NOT sequential. They jump all over the place. This means great care will be needed to identify the right part numbers for each assembly. Bad move Revell !!
The 1st medium-grey tree holds: the fuselage halves, elevators, engine cylinders, cowling and prop shaft (9 parts)
The kit contains 4 medium-grey parts trees and a clear parts tree in a sealed cello bag. The clear tree is in its own sealed cello bag. The decal sheet and instructions complete the kits contents. The decal sheet has a tissue with it to protect its face from scratching. However, this tissue is floating around loose and not protecting anything.
The parts are tight in the tray and touching all four walls.
The instructions consist of a staple-bound booklet of 12 pages in 8 3/4" x 10 3/4" page format.
Page 1 of the instructions begins with a black and white repeat of the box art, followed by international assembly symbol explanations, READ THIS BEFORE YOU BEGIN instructions and a paint color listing suggested to complete the model in French and English.
The bottom of the page gives a 1-800 phone number to call with any questions or comments and Revell's Customer Service Dept's address in Elk Grove Village, IL. Their web address is also provided and the copyright date of the kit is 2011.
Pages 2 though 9 give a grand total of 14 assembly steps.
Page 10 has a 2-view showing both sides of the box art subject.
This is a P-47N RE of Pilot Lt. Oscar Perdomo, 464th FS. 507th FG. on August 13, 1944. Lt. Perdomo became WWII's last "Ace in a Day", downing five aircraft over Seoul, Korea.
Page 11 has a 2-view showing a P-47N-25-RE of Pilot Lt. Col. Ollie O. Simpson, Commander 125th FS, 116th W. Georgia National Guard, Marietta Air Base, 1947/1950.
It is overall bare metal with a blue cowling that extends as a scallop partway down the fuselage and has a white stenciled number 408 on it. It has a olive-drab anti-glare panel in front of the windscreen and behind the cockpit along the spine. The rudder tip is red and the serial no. 489408 is on it in black. GA in black is before the fuselage star and bars and NG behind it.
There are 3 diagonal red stripes under the fuselage stars. NG 408 appears in black letters above the right wing and below the left. Bombs color is called out as being olive-drab.
Page 12 has 2-views showing the tops and bottom of these aircraft.
There are no parts trees illustrations in the instructions. Trees are not alphabetized, but do have numbers on them.
To make things worse the part numbers on the trees are NOT sequential. They jump all over the place. This means great care will be needed to identify the right part numbers for each assembly. Bad move Revell !!
The 1st medium-grey tree holds: the fuselage halves, elevators, engine cylinders, cowling and prop shaft (9 parts)
The 2nd medium-grey tree holds: more engine cylinders, main wheels, pilot figure, wing guns, landing gear legs, cockpit side walls, air intake, pilot seat, cockpit rear bulkhead, under-wing equipment pylons, joystick, cockpit floor tub, landing gear doors etc, (41 parts)
The 3rd medium-grey tree holds: the propeller, rockets and their separate tail-fins, drop tanks, bombs, tail wheel, engine nose, foot pedals, dashboard etc. (46 parts)
The 4th medium-grey tree holds the wing halves. The lower wing is full-span (3 parts)
The clear parts tree holds: cockpit windows, gun sight, wing tip light lenses (6 parts)
The decal sheet completes the kits contents.
In addition to the 2 scheme marks it holds the dashboard instruments and numerous stencil marks.
In addition to the 2 scheme marks it holds the dashboard instruments and numerous stencil marks.
This kit has very complete cockpit details
My only complaint is that the trees should have been alphabetized for more ease in assembly.
My only complaint is that the trees should have been alphabetized for more ease in assembly.
I won this kit in a raffle recently at a IPMS contest.