Furball Decals FDS 4831 Colors & Markings of the P-47 Thunderbolt Pt.3

FURBALL has previously released the following P-47 decals:

“Colors and Markings of P-47s Thunderbolts Part 1”, in 2023. From ETO and MTO.

“Colors and Markings of P-47s Thunderbolts Part 2”, in 2024, only P-47Ns.

This is there third P-47 decal sheet, which was released in 2024. There are twenty P-47’s, from the PTO and CBI theaters. Ranging from -5’s to -23 Razorbacks and one Bubble Top D-28-RE, as follows:

The 58Th FG: 69th FS “Sleepy Time Gal” / 310th FS “My San Antonio Rose”, “Passionate Patsey”, “Jerry” (bubbletop)

The 80th FG: 89th FS “Burma Yank” and “Frankies Turbo”

The 318th FG: 19th FS “Patricia”, “Lady Ruth”, “BIG SQUAW”, “EL SMOKO”, Little Rock-ette” / 73rd FS “GEORGEOUS GAY”

The 348th FG: 341st FS “Miss Mutt”, “Miss Mutt II”, “Miss Mutt III”, “Miss Jacqueline”, WEST by God VIRGINIE” / 342nd FS “Kay”, “Fiery Ginger” / 460th FS “Bonnie”

The decals are of the highest quality, printed by Cartograph. Research is provided by DETAIL & SCALE. They provide a very good timeline of aircraft upgrades and when various versions were introduced.

Instructions:

My first comment is: Always do your research on any model you build. The decal manufacturers don’t always get it right!

camouflaged background; it is hard to see some of the printing about the aircraft. However, on the last pages showing the top and bottoms of them they bolded the planes name and it reads much better.

The type of aircraft, Fighter Group and Squadrons, are called out. However, not all pilot names are provided (can be challenging to find) and aircraft location would have been nice. I.E. Nadzab, Saipan etc. Also, propeller types did vary, would-be nice to call out propeller type for each aircraft.

You will find stencil and data for 2 aircraft only. I do like the 3 colored dots for the identification lights. Star and bars for two aircraft, however one set is without the blue borders and can only be used for “Miss Mutt”, “Miss Mutt II” and “Miss Jacqueline”.

Several items to note:

19th FS should have; Blue wing tips. Blue at base of the rudders. NO white leading wing edges.

73rd FS should have: White stripe around the top of the aircraft only, it does not wrap around the bottom. White wing tips. NO white leading wing edges.

90th FS should have: Dark Blue stripe on wing, horizontal and vertical stabilizer, it is not black.

Any type of fuselage, wing or stabilizer striping/bands will need to be painted, with the exception of “Miss Mutt III”

Note: last page says “Profiles of many of the P-47 Thunderbolts included in this decal set are illustrated in this publication” (Detail & Scale F/D&S-4831). I only found one: “Kay” p.25.

Recommended kits: Tamiya, Hasegawa, Monogram and likely the new Mini-Art kit.

Final thoughts: This is an excellent constructed set of decals providing 20 different aircraft across the Pacific and China. I definitely would recommend this selection to give a wide range of interesting aircraft.

References:

Instruction sheet.

Detail & Scale Series Volume 17, “P-47 Thunderbolt” (2023) – By Bert Kinzey

KAGERO – “P-47 Thunderbolt with the USAAF – in the MTO, Asia and Pacific” (2013) –

By Tomasz Szlagor

Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 26, “Mustang and Thunderbolt Aces of the Pacific and CBI” (1999) –

By John Stanaway

Avonmore Books – “Pacific Profiles Volume 10 Allied Fighters: P-47D Thunderbolt series Southwest

Pacific 1943 – 1945” (2023) – Michael John Claringbould

Saipan WWII 318th Fighter Group P-47, Zero, Isely Field National Archives NARA Airailimages

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEO99lPhcII

For a look at profiles for all the above options, visit them at https://www.furballaero-design.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=FDS%2D4831

Mark Rossmann

April 2026

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