Without going into a lot of detail, the P-47 was probably America's finest ground attack fighter of the war. Though originally designed as an escort fighter with a turbocharged engine to allow it to fly at high altitudes, its short range, even with drop tanks meant that it was unable to escort bombers on missions that went very far into enemy territory. It wasn't until the advent of the P-51 Mustang into that role (after a lot of political wrangling) that the US had a true escort fighter.

The P-47 then spent the last year of the war performing admirably in the ground attack mission, where its robust construction and heavy firepower from its eight .50 caliber machine guns would inflict a lot of damage on whatever was in its sights.

The Revell AG kit has been around for a while and is one of those that is often overlooked by many modelers. It is of a reasonable cost and provides what seems to be very good detail. As it is a D-30 variant, it comes with the spoked wheels, Curtiss-Electric asymmetrical prop and the option of adding the fin fillet, something that, I believe is not available in any other P-47D in this scale.

The engraved detail is quite well done and it seems RoG has done their homework in getting this one right. The cockpit is quite complete with a floor, seat, rear bulkhead, control column and a nicely detailed instrument panel with rudder pedals. There is well done detail on the cockpit side walls. Detail can also be found in the main gear wells and though a tad generic, the engine is also nicely done. The tail wheel well is a separate piece that includes the doors molded in so no problem getting that done right. A two piece canopy/windscreen is provided so that the interior detail can be shown. This kit also provides the turbocharger exhaust side doors as separate bits and shows them in the open position. The wing pylons are separate and you have the option of a flat centerline tank and either bombs or wing tanks for the pylons. I should mention that my kit had quite a bit of flash. The engine cowling, wing guns, instrument panel, canopy, and some other bits being particularly noticeable.

The instructions are those usual top-folded booklet types that I have come to really dislike. Fortunately, the paper quality has improved. Construction steps are well drawn and color information (in Revell paints of course) is provided. Only two of the 15 shades required need to be mixed and generic names are given so you can use alternates if you can figure out what colors like 'Anthricite Grey' really are. A nice decal sheet is provided giving markings for the box art plane from the 509 FS/407 FG in unpainted metal, and a French version from GC II/5 in OD over neutral grey. The decals are well printed and matte, offering all the data markings and stripes needed. The modeler will have to paint most of the red bits on the initial offering.