Rowan turns the pages of Valiant Wings' new study of the P-47 Thunderbolt.

The P-47 Thunderbolt is deservedly very much back in the modelling spotlight thanks to new-tool 1:48 kits like the extensive range of Bubbletops from MiniArt and, equally welcome to me, Dora Wings' kits of the usually neglected P-47B and 'C. So, the time is ripe for a new modellers' reference book on the "Jug", and Richard Franks has answered the need with arguably the most comprehensive one yet in the latest addition to Valiant Wings' Airframe & Miniature series.

The 288-page softbound A4 book kicks off with a Preface that tells the fascinating story of how the Thunderbolt evolved from an initial design for a lightweight inline-engined fighter to become the heaviest single-seat fighter of WWII. The author covers the steady development of the production variants, as well as the side-projects such as the laminar-flow winged XP-47F and the radically different XP-47H and 'J that culminated in the mighty XP-72. 

The 41-page chapter is packed with period photos and does an excellent job of providing a broad overview of the Thunderbolt's development and service, and even covers some aspects that I've never come across elsewhere - for instance post-war tests of the P-47N as a firefighting aircraft with water-filled drop tanks.

Coverage isn't limited to US-operated P-47s, and the chapter outlines the aircraft's service with some 24 foreign air forces. These not only include major users such as the UK and France, but also a host of much more exotic air forces, so there's masses of inspiration for some interesting modelling projects.

Airframe

As the titles suggest, the Airframe & Miniature series of books breakdown their content into two main sections - broadly speaking, "Reference and Modelling". The distinction is somewhat arbitrary and there's a fair degree of overlap, and aircraft enthusiasts will likely be interested in the Miniature chapters, while modellers will obviously want to refer to the Airframe section a great deal.

The Airframe section begins with Evolution, which is broken down into 3 chapters; Prototypes To P-47C, Main Production - P-47D to M, and The Long Range Thunderbolt - P-47N. These detail each of the sub-variants individually with short descriptions, side profiles by Wojciech Sankowski, and a nice selection of period photos. It serves as a very good quick reference for the changes to the airframe as it evolved and, importantly for identifying an aircraft in vintage photos, the serial numbers for each production batch.

Camouflage & Markings begins with a caution from the author about the danger of drawing definite conclusions from vintage B&W photos. Nevertheless, the 47-page chapter does a great job of explaining the variety of colour schemes sported by the P-47 over the course of its career. The plentiful vintage B&W photos are backed up by a nice selection of original colour shots, and the chapter is brought to life by dozens of colour profiles by Richard Caruana, who also provides a useful guide to P-47D stencil placements.

The chapter covers the Thunderbolt in US and foreign service, and the plethora of spectacular individual and unit markings should provide ample material to whet anyone's whistle to model some unusual schemes. 

Miniature

The Miniature section of the book begins with an overview of P-47 kits in all the main modelling scales, with full reviews of many of those which are currently available or easily found, plus a wider look at the myriad kits that have appeared over the years, cross-matching where they've been released under different labels. Some of the latter are probably collectors' items now, so the list could be useful for jogging your memory of what you may have stashed away and long-forgotten.

Building A Selection features a nice variety of excellent builds by Libor Jekl (1:72) and Steve Evans (1:48 and larger). Libor's work in particular always impresses me in how his small-scale could easily be mistaken for much larger models, and there's a lot to learn from both modellers. Among the 23 pages, five of the builds are covered in detail with a full account of the construction and any additions and changes explained clearly, while finished shots of a sixth model are included as a bonus.

The models featured are:

1:72 Tamiya P-47D Bubbletop 

1:72 Academy P-47D Razorback

1:72 Tamiya P-47D Razorback (finished photos only)

1:48 Dora Wings P-47C

1:48 Miniart P-47D-30RE "Basic Kit"

1:32 Trumpeter P-47D Razorback

Building A Collection spans 43 pages and rather mirrors the earlier Evolution chapters, but this time illustrated with isometric views by Juraj Jankowic. Again, it provides a very useful quick guide to the specific details of a given variant, with changes and additions highlighted and captioned. My only complaint is that I'll almost certainly be flicking back and forth between the two sections to cross-check the details, so I wish they could be combined into a single chapter with all the information you need in one place.

The In Detail chapter on its own will be reason enough for many people to buy this book, as it features a really comprehensive 63-page "walk-around" of the aircraft in its many versions. As usual Valiant Wings wisely combine the modern photos of over a dozen preserved airframes with vintage photos and diagrams from pilot/servicing manuals to ensure accuracy as far as possible. For me it's crucial to be able to compare shots of restored aircraft against photos of them in their original condition because, sad to say, many museum exhibits are compromised when it comes to accuracy for a variety of reasons.

The coverage is broken down into the following broad sections, each further sub-divided:

Fuselage

Engine, Cowlings & Propeller

Oil, Fuel, Coolant & Hydraulic Systems

Wings

Tail

Undercarriage

Armament

Electrical Equipment

Miscellaneous Equipment

The coverage is a real treasure trove of information for anyone looking to superdetail their Thunderbolt build, with 11 pages devoted to the cockpit (43 photos & drawings), 5 pages on the engine & cowlings (51 photos and drawings), and so on in what is probably the most detailed modelling reference currently available. 

Wrapping up the text is a useful set of Appendices, that list P-47 Kits, Accessories & Masks, Decals and a handy Bibliography for further reading. The list of kits includes models that are long out of production, but to keep things manageable, the accessories and decals listed are limited to those that are likely to be available at the time of printing (such is the number that have appeared over the years). 

Last, but certainly not least, is a set of 1:48 Fold-Out Plans by Richard Caruana that cover the main production versions from the P-47C through to the P-47N. The plans will be awkward to use whilst still attached to the book, so most modellers will want to cut them free carefully. It's a shame they couldn't have been printed loose and held in a flap at the back of the book, but this would probably have increased costs, so being fold-out is a fair enough compromise.

Conclusion

This is another excellent addition to the Airframe & Miniature series, and one that will appeal to both aircraft enthusiasts and modellers alike. It definitely deserves a place among the references for anyone planning a P-47 build if you're intending to correct or superdetail the basic kit, as the In Detail section goes into greater depth on the kind of details that we need as modellers than any book I've read previously.

Airframe & Miniature 25 - The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (ISBN 978-1-912932-39-9) is available from Valiant Wings now - Price: £29.95 plus P&P.

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