Republic P-47 (and derivatives) Ideas and Inspiration

[elmayerle]

Hmm! those bubble top 'H' and 'J' ------ very possible    How hard did someone say finding these kits are ?

Kits of the XP-47J are the really difficult ones to come by.  AFAIK, Sharkit is the only company to ever make a kit of that one.

[kitnut617]

Hmm! those bubble top 'H' and 'J' ------ very possible    How hard did someone say finding these kits are ?

Kits of the XP-47J are the really difficult ones to come by.  AFAIK, Sharkit is the only company to ever make a kit of that one.

You are correct Evan -- I already have one which I built years ago, along with a MPM XP-47H and an Alliance XP-72. I just like the look of those bubbletop versions Carl posted. The photos say 2006 but that was when I took the pictures, I built them around 2000-2002.

EDIT: Just looked on the Sharkit website, the XP-47J is still available at 50 Euros.

http://www.sharkit.com/sharkit/XP-47j/xp47.htm

[The Big Gimper]

Evan:

You can get a homegrown XP-47J conversion kit from "fastrodney" on Ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/284284280743



I have the Sharkit XP-47J so I will buy this and use the recommend Academy kit bubbletop P-47 to make bubbletop version.

[GTX_Admin]

1/48 options:

XP-47H:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/233891848742?hash=item36750a6226:g:R~cAAOSwZZFf9zm~
XP-47J:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/233921868334?hash=item3676d4722e:g:P1QAAOSw9qBgRCTX
XP-72:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/233924761403?hash=item367700973b:g:8xgAAOSwTSlgR3m7

[elmayerle]

I think I've bought other conversions for "fastrodney".  I'm thinking the P-47J conversion would go nicely with a P-47N.  IIRC, he also does a P-72 conversion in 1/72.

[GTX_Admin]

Quick sketch of an idea...

[kitnut617]

It wasn't because they didn't try to arm it with 20mm

[GTX_Admin]

It wasn't because they didn't try to arm it with 20mm

Not sure what you're trying to say?

[kitnut617]

It wasn't because they didn't try to arm it with 20mm

Not sure what you're trying to say?

Two 20mm Hispanos were mounted on the P-47 in the photo, one on each pylon ----

[GTX_Admin]

I realise that and indeed had even posted the same back at Reply #63 of this thread.  My question related to what you were trying to say with the comment in your post above.

[kitnut617]

Well it was in response to your cannon armed P-47 sketch in the previous post Greg ----- maybe it didn't come out right ---

[The Big Gimper]

I'm reposting Jeff's reply which is #65 on the .50 cal vs 20mm debate.


The ammunition feed on the P-47 Thunderbolt was arranged so that each of the feed chutes carrying the linked belts ran over the top of each machine gun to feed the gun next to it.  All of that still fit under a smooth wing panel.

Similar feed systems for the 20mm cannon were available and the F4U Corsair was set up in a similar arrangement so applying that technology to a P-47 Thunderbolt would make perfect sense if the USAAF had not been so stubborn in sticking with the simplicity of the .50 Browning machine guns they appeared to favour for fighter and ground attack aircraft.

I recall reading about this machine gun vs cannon issue during the Korean War where the USAF and USN each flew an aircraft in a comparison test against truck targets.  I believe it was a USAF Mustang (.50 machine guns) and a Navy Corsair (20mm cannons) that flew the test.  The target was a truck and each weapon type did what it was supposed to do and shredded the target.  The 20mm cannon did so with fewer rounds expended and obviously proved the point that a 20mm or 30mm cannon armed attack aircraft were obviously much better at destroying ground targets than an aircraft armed with machine guns that had at best only API/API-T as the damage mechanism to destroy the target.  The USAF did not change their mind even in the face of such obvious and overwhelming results, they stuck with their decision to continue to use the .50 machine gun.

[kitnut617]

I think having 20mm in the wings like how the .5's were installed would create quite a problem ---

For example in this photo, the ammo feeds into the front of the breach block on the .5's, but more to the rear end of the 20mm. The cannon would have to be staggered I think with one like where Greg has positioned the cannon in his sketch but the other further forward so that the ammo could be stored in the rear half of the ammo bay without too much wing redesign involved.

[kitnut617]

Or --- maybe like this as it is in a Typhoon

[kitnut617]

Or --- maybe adopt the Martin Baker solution in the MB5 where the ammo bins were turned 90 degrees and laid parallel to the cannon sides, which was similar in layout as the Typhoon. The MB way allowed for more ammo to be carried ---

EDIT: then the unused ammo bays could be made into fuel tanks --- 

[kitnut617]

Looking at this photo of a 20mm and a .5 together in a Spitfire wing, it would seem that the two cannon in the P-47 wing could be spaced a bit wider apart.
You could then have the ammo bins in between them parallel to the cannon sides, one lying forward and the other backwards. The cannon would have to be staggered a bit I think for that --

[Jeffry Fontaine]

With this renewed interest in larger calibre weapons on the P-47 why not amp it up a bit further and just go with a single 30mm ADEN along side a single .50 BMG?  It would make an interesting what-if in AdA service too with the DEFA 30mm instead of the ADEN.  The Typhoon and Sea Fury would also benefit from something similar. 

[kitnut617]

I like that idea Jeff ---    But you wouldn't need the .5 ----

But the ADEN and DEFA didn't come about until after the Allies got hold of the Mauser MK.213 and from what I've read, the two cannon were direct copies of it. So until then it wouldn't have happened during the war.  I have also read that Hispano did have a design for a 30mm along the lines of their 20mm during the late years of the war, maybe that would be a better train of thought.

I've got a couple of P-47N's in the stash (one part built), I think I'll build one with the 20mm as the discussion has gone ------

[kitnut617]

I went a step further with this project, armed with a pair of 35mm Oerlikon revolver cannon but they would be really long guns for the P-47

[raafif]

A nice Twinbolt Tho the fuselage is a bit small for the rest of the aircraft, maybe add a small internal bombay aft ?

[Jeffry Fontaine]

A nice Twinbolt Tho the fuselage is a bit small for the rest of the aircraft, maybe add a small internal bombay aft ?

The tail looks like it was taken from a Gloster meteor and the lack of wings beyond the engine nacelles is unfortunate but the in-action artwork certainly makes up for all of that.  A twin-engine Thunderbolt with a nose full of cannon and machine guns would be quite formidable not to mention frightening to anything it considered a target. 

[Old Wombat]

Small Brown Dog is a CG (pixel) artist whose work includes alternate aircraft, where the engines provide anti-gravity lift through a device attached (usually) to the rear of the engine & propellers provide motive power.

That design is not a twin P-47, it's an alternate universe equivalent to the P-47.

Check out his work in the Profiles & Pixels forum; http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=8710.0

[Logan Hartke]

Here's an idea I recently had. Use a P-43 Lancer as the basis for a "what if" Reggiane development. Instead of going slimmer and sleeker, have Reggiane continue going down the radial route and make and Italian equivalent to the Bloch MB 157 or the Focke Wulf Fw 190. The best engines I can think of for this application would be imported BMW 801s from Germany, just as the Re.2001 used imported or license-built DB 601s. Maybe modify the canopy and/or landing gear to make it a little less "American"?



Reggiane Re.2004bis Lanciere

You might need a donor BMW 801 from a different kit like a Do 217 because of the Fw 190s wing root stuck in the BMW 801's cowling.



Anyway, just an idea, feel free to take it as your own or play with it.

Cheers,

Logan

[GTX_Admin]

The best engines I can think of for this application would be imported BMW 801s from Germany, just as the Re.2001 used imported or license-built DB 601s.

Or perhaps a more developed version of the Fiat A.80

[Logan Hartke]

Quite possibly, especially for a prototype. I just thought using a P-43 as a basis for a Reggiane mid-war "what if" might throw some people.