Thundercals 48-003 Razorback Thunderbolts: PTO part 3

This is Thundercals third sheet and like the previous two, concentrates on Thunderbolts of the Pacific theater. This is great for those who want to model something that is different from the usual European T-bolts. These guys worked just as hard and often in conditions that were less than optimal in terms of personal comfort at their operating bases. There are several nice kits for this sheet and while designed for the Tamiya kit, will also fit those from Hasegawa, Monogram and Otaki.

All of these aircraft have white wing leading edges and tails, though the design is somewhat different  on some planes. So what is on the sheet?

First up is P-47D-16-RE, 42-75955, 310 FS/58 FG, 'San Antonio Rose' as flown by Capt LeeRoy Chadwell. His aircraft is OD and Neutral Grey with  a yellow cowling and spinner with no white paint on the top of the stabs.  Yellow as also painted on the wheel covers. The upper cowling is OD and the cowl flaps are alternating yellow and unpainted metal. This aircraft as well as the others have a 12.2I Curtiss-Electric prop with no logos on the blades and yellow tips.

Next is P-47D-23-RA, 42-27617, 311 FS/58 FG, 1945, 'Slick Chick', as flow by two different pilots. This aircraft has most of the paint removed and carries a black fuselage band. Notice that like the other choices, the fuselage insignia does not go over the fuselage waste gate exhaust. Wheel covers on this one were also unpainted. This aircraft will have the 13' prop is one wants to model it with the victory flag. The sheet also supplied the tail number and nose art separately for those who want to paint on the black and blue stripes.

Finally we have P-47D-15-RA, 42-23152, 69 FS/58 FG, 'The Golden Gopher' as flown by Capt Harry McMullen. This plane is OD over Neutral Grey and has a white cowling with an unpainted metal prop hub. This one is pretty much a standard plane with Neutral Grey wheel covers.

Instructions are superbly done, providing detailed notes on each aircraft so that you can properly model your choice of scheme. The sheet also includes a full data and stencil suite, though many PTO planes did not carry full data markings.

In all, this is an outstanding sheet that is superbly printed by Cartograf. Well worth obtaining if you like the T-bolt and tire of the usual decal options.

November 2013

Thanks to thundercals@yahoo.com. for the review sheet. E-mail them for more information on ordering this fine sheet.