Author Topic: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger  (Read 7775 times)

Offline Brian da Basher

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1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« on: May 24, 2015, 01:50:31 AM »
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is indeed iconic:



Lesser known is its forerunner, the P-43 Lancer:



Even lesser known than the Lancer is an aircraft that bridged the gap between the P-43 & P-47, the Republic XLRP-4 Ranger:



Sensing the looming war in Europe in 1939, the U.S. Army Air Corps knew they'd need combat aircraft far more capable than those then in service or in the pipeline. Thus bids were sought for Project XLRP (Xtra Long Range Pursuit).



Republic came up with the winning 4th proposal, an enlarged, lengthened, more powerful and heavily armed version of their P-43 Lancer. The new prototype XLRP was powered by the Pratt & Whitney R-1940 Twin Wasp Senior, a turbo-supercharged 15-cylinder, air-cooled radial engine.



The XLRP-4 was heavily armed with eight .50 machine guns, three in each wing and two synchronized to fire through the propeller. It was also heavily tanked and carried the largest amount of fuel in any U.S.A.A.C. pursuit to date. This gave the XLRP-4 an incredible range, unmatched by anything then in service or on the drawing board. This in turn gave the XLRP-4 its more commonly-known name of Ranger.



The prototype passed flight trials easily and a service test squadron was ordered into production. Initially, performance in service was better than any other pursuit in the Air Corps, so the test squadron was expanded to a full group which received their aircraft in October, 1941.



After the Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor & the Aleutians in June, 1942, the U.S. realized it needed long-range pursuits to handle the vast distances involved, so the 325th Pursuit Group, the "Fighting Elephants" were assigned to Dutch Harbor.



Early on the morning of August 16, 1942, a sharp-eyed observer spotted what looked like a Japanese air raid.



The alarm was sounded and the 325th "Fighting Elephants" were scrambled. Unfortunately, the 15-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-1940 Twin Wasp Senior engines on the Rangers were a mechanic's nightmare and only one aircraft, #100 flown by Capt. Hogan, managed to get off the ground. Courageously, Capt. Hogan flew his Ranger at top speed towards the enemy.



Whether a case of combat nerves or something else, it may never be known why Capt. Hogan opened up with his Ranger's eight .50s at maximum range, but the raid scattered and a few of the enemy fell from the sky.



The next morning, the press was ecstatic at the successful defense of Dutch Harbor as this edition of the Daily Metropolitan attests:



Even Prime Minister Winston Churchill was impressed, stating that "Dutch Harbor is a model of modern air defense and proof of American tenacity in the face of a vicious enemy."

However, enhanced processing of Capt. (now Col.) Hogan's gun-camera footage showed he had not actually become an "ace in a day" by downing five enemy aircraft. The enemy was actually a flock of seagulls.



No, not that Flock of Seagulls...more like this:



By now it was too late to undo what had been done as Col. Hogan was now an internationally recognized air hero on a nation-wide War Bond tour. The Army quietly reassigned Col. Hogan to bomber training to learn how to fly B-17s. Soon Col. Hogan would be far away, over Germany.



As for the Republic XLRP-4 Ranger, its cranky engine, somewhat sluggish performance and expensive to mass-produce all plexi-glass canopy doomed it to ignominy and the last aircraft was scrapped in 1944. However, it remained an all but invisible step on the way to the famous P-47 Thunderbolt.

Brian da Basher

« Last Edit: May 24, 2015, 02:18:42 AM by Brian da Basher »

Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2015, 02:13:12 AM »
This all started innocently enough with a 1/72 Hasegawa/Minicraft P-47D bubble top I won in a raffle at the Renton show.



I've always had a real soft-spot for the P-47, but with that enormous engine, modifications can be a challenge. Then while playing around with various parts, I found out the engine cowling from an Advent Buffalo was a decent fit. Those guns in the cowling reminded me of the P-43 Lancer and a concept was born. Next I played around with canopy options and found half a drop tank seemed the best bet. Here's how it all looked before paint.





I also decided the Advent Buffalo kit engine was a little wimpy looking for the XLRP-4, so I swapped it out for one from a 1/48 Hs-129 tank buster.





This was a nice, easy build. I only had to fill in a small gap from the 'pit with a slice of card, cut off the wing pylons and fill in the 4th wing gun on each side.



The model was brush-painted by hand in acrylics, PollyScale light olive mostly with some Testor's Ghost Gray on the undersides. Testor's gold was used on the canopy. Lastly,I added a prop from a 1/72 Wellington as the finishing touch.





Decals were a mix from spares. Tophe sent me the elephant insignias and checkerboards. Many thanks, mon ami!



I'd also like to thank Bill for the huge assist in helping me pick a winner.



I had a lot of fun building this model, the toughest part being carving out a moment here or there to do it. I hope you enjoyed the Republic XLRP-4 Ranger and reading a little more esoteric aeronautical history.



Brian da Basher
« Last Edit: May 24, 2015, 02:17:10 AM by Brian da Basher »

Offline Tophe

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #2 on: May 24, 2015, 02:33:33 AM »
Congratulations for providing the missing link. ;)
(But sorry, I am unable to love the aesthetics of the P-43/P-47 family [except the in-line XP-47H])

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #3 on: May 24, 2015, 04:42:52 AM »
 :)
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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Offline deathjester

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #4 on: May 24, 2015, 08:47:54 AM »
Very nice, Brian!  I do so like your bizarre twists on commonly held aeronautical history!

Offline Acree

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2015, 08:57:20 AM »
Certainly looks like a Seversky product!  Reminiscent of the SEV-3.  And Colonel Hogan was a childhood hero of mine!

Offline apophenia

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #6 on: May 24, 2015, 10:00:41 AM »
Love it!  :-*

And, obviously, if you can't have spats, a 15-cylinder radial engine is the next best thing  :)
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline ed s

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2015, 10:25:22 AM »
Nicely done model. But the back story is a real winner.

Ed

Offline elmayerle

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #8 on: May 24, 2015, 10:28:36 AM »
Beautiful conversion and your usual most excellent back story.

Offline Frank3k

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #9 on: May 24, 2015, 10:30:32 AM »
It looks like a real bruiser, especially with that canopy/spine. Great back story, too!

Offline Tophe

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #10 on: May 24, 2015, 01:59:58 PM »
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is indeed iconic:
Lesser known is its forerunner, the P-43 Lancer:
Even lesser known than the Lancer is an aircraft that bridged the gap between the P-43 & P-47, the Republic XLRP-4 Ranger:
Brian da Basher
Dear Brian, according to the secret sources I have access to (every night, closing my eyes), this Republic fighter between P-43 and P-47 was simply the P-45 (officials speaking of "Bell P-45 Airacobra" to fool the spies). And the P-45C Twin-Ranger was a Zwilling twin-plane, with one engine best for cooling and one engine best for aerodynamics. I swear this is true: this was very clear in my dream, I saw it actually!

Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #11 on: May 24, 2015, 09:33:25 PM »
I think I like your "zwillig" better than my version, Tophe!

That stretched inline version is certainly something to consider. Will need much more putty to pull that one off though.

Brian da Basher

Offline Tophe

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #12 on: May 24, 2015, 09:47:31 PM »
Don't be shy, your model is certainly better for History and smile about History! ;)
I thought I had 2 copies of (long nose pretty in-line) MPM 1/72nd XP-47H but I have not found them anymore. It seems not sold on Hannants anymore but one is sold on e-bay:

Offline The Big Gimper

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #13 on: May 24, 2015, 11:40:45 PM »
Don't be shy, your model is certainly better for History and smile about History! ;)
I thought I had 2 copies of (long nose pretty in-line) MPM 1/72nd XP-47H but I have not found them anymore. It seems not sold on Hannants anymore but one is sold on e-bay:


There is one for sale for $25 USD with free shipping to Canada. I can get it for you and trans-ship it to you Tophe. 
Work in progress ::

I am giving up listing them. They all end up on the shelf of procrastination anyways.

User and abuser of Bothans...

Offline Tophe

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #14 on: May 25, 2015, 12:31:42 AM »
Thanks. But I think: no need for me, as I had two copies somewhere and I should find them, I cannot understand how I can have lost them. Anyway, this may interest one of us very much, thanks for him or her.

Offline finsrin

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #15 on: May 28, 2015, 10:42:05 AM »
So thatz it !    Roots of P-43/P-47 go back to XLRP-4 Ranger.  One of those things I never researched.
Without a XLRP-4 Ranger kit available, you did excellent job of bashing a likeness.
That Hogan guy's name and picture do strike a familiar chord.  Hmmm,,,
« Last Edit: May 28, 2015, 10:58:22 AM by finsrin »

Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: 1/72 Republic XLRP-4 Ranger
« Reply #16 on: May 31, 2015, 08:55:13 PM »
Fins, does that familiar chord go like this?

 :icon_music: Bah bah bah bah bah de bup bup bahh...  :icon_music:

Brian da Basher