Academy Models P-47D Thunderbolt - Part II

A quick update on progress of Thunderbolt project. As is customary, the first step was dedicated to the cockpit. The detail level is on par or a little better than that in recent offerings from Airfix - nicely detailed floor (although apparently incorrect for that specific type), a bit of detailing on the sides and simple, but adequate pilot seat. One detail that is different is the instrument panel - a truly lovely little piece of plastic with instruments engraved with surprising detail. In my opinion a much nicer alternative to the decals.

Since I intend to have the cockpit in the closed position, I didn't spend much effort on the interior. Cockpit green was sprayed everywhere with the exception of the instrument panel, while the detailing on the sides was picked out with a mix of black and german grey. The instrument panel was painted with same mix and when dry, slightly drybrushed with silver. As a last step, I filled in the instrument displays with gloss varnish, although I have to be honest and admit that in this scale it was a bit of a wasted effort.

With cockpit finished, it was time to put the model together. This step is idiot-proof and very simple. Grand total of six tightly fitting components produces a very nice Thunderbolt airframe.

Next it was time to proceed with the paint job, which is the main reason for me picking up this kit at this time. Since this particular Thunderbolt has mainly bare metal finish, it gives me the opportunity to try out these fancy Alclad2 lacquers everybody is raving about.

Couple of words about Alclad lacquers. First of all... well... they're laqcuers, a medium I have zero experience of and quite wary of. After all, anything that can only be cleaned up with cellulose thinner is guaranteed to be nasty stuff.

Oh well... who dares wins and all that. I've read up on Alclad lacquers on the net and was aware of the fact that black primer was a necessary first step. I used Alclad's own primer - my Badger 150 with 0,3mm needle didn't have any problems handling that paint, but cleanup was something of a nightmare. Anyway, the primer handles very well, dries very quickly to a mate finish. Having read that the finish of the primer is decisive for the final result, I took the extra mile and spent some time polishing the areas I could get to with 10.000 grade polishing sponge stick.