What It Is:  Minicraft's P-47 asks a little more of its builder.  But some nice details and an excellent decal sheet will make the journey worth it.
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Minicraft’s version of the “Jug” depicts the later bubbletop type.  This release takes that distinctive canopy and seriously juices it by removing it from the sprue very carefully and giving it a nice paint job.

"Miss Ann" box art with a thunderbolt on the side of the Thunderbolt.

Traditionally, markings for 1/144 model kits of fighters from WWII were quite Spartan.  Decal sheets were typically the size of a postage stamp and included insignias and maybe a unit ID or tail number.  While the decal sheet to this kit isn’t huge, it’s at least four times the size of the traditional offering and Minicraft includes some nice extras there.
 
Two colorful options are included.  They’re both good enough that I’d recommend buying two kits so you can build one of each.  That will be easy at this kit’s low $12.99 MSRP. 

The 34th FG scheme version, “Miss Ann,” is depicted on the boxtop with a red-front cowling and lightning bolt on the fuselage.  The 36th Fighter Group version has the cowling painted completely red with a yellow tail.  With the olive-drab anti-reflection paint in front of the canopy and an overall metal finish, this is a spectacular scheme that I’ll build first.

Engraved lines for control surfaces look good for the scale.

The kit has a combination of finely raised and engraved panel lines.  The engraved detail between the canopy and cowling is particularly nice.  I don’t recall seeing a lot of flash and parts cleanup required shouldn’t be considerable.  While the P-47 looks great “clean” (nothing under the wings), and this is how it is shown on the box, a pair of wing pylons is included with a choice of bombs or drop tanks. 
 
As with most of the kits in this classic 1/144 series, you have the choice of landing gear up or down, and an in-flight prop spinner (no blades) is included.​

​Regarding construction, I have to be honest and say that the P-47 kit makes you work a little more than the others in the Minicraft 1/144 stable of small fighters.  Moldings on this kit are pretty thick compared to the other fighters in the series and plastic shrinkage after molding causes some distortion to the parts that needs a little extra work.  It’s nothing catastrophic, but the modeler should be aware. 

Fit of the wing to the fuselage will leave some gaps that beg for putty.  Slots for the horizontal tail are a little bigger than they need to be and some extra care (or plastic shimming) will be needed here to be sure the horizontal stabilizer is straight and the leftover gaps dealt with.  Plenty of dry-fitting and trimming or shimming prior to using glue will be helpful meaning more intermediate building skills will come in handy.  Beginners might get frustrated; perhaps a better kit for the beginner to try before this one is Minicraft’s P-51.

Six guns and the pitot on the wing leading edge are nicely executed.  You'll have to be careful not to break them during construction.

Optional parts include wing pylons and a choice of bombs or drop-tanks.  There's an in-flight spinner as well as the choice of landing gear up or down.

The model comes with these two very cool decal schemes.  Box cover version on the left, my favorite on the right!

Another fairly easy enhancement that will help the gear-down version is to thin the landing gear doors a little.  Skills carving and shaping plastic will come in handy since there’s a step in the plastic (the gear doors split into two panels which overlap on the real aircraft, so there’s a step between the two on the part).  Either you could shave and carve both different levels, or sand it all flat and add a small piece of plastic to represent the strut door that you shaved off.

Once your putty has fully cured, I’d recommend a couple rounds of sanding, paint, check, and re-puttying until all surfaces and joints are picture-perfect.  Constantly check alignment as you go by sighting the plane from straight-on to be sure that everything lines up correctly.
 
Another issue that complicates these construction operations is that the six guns and pitot on the leading wing edge are very petite and easy to break off.  If this happens, I’d recommend finishing your bodywork before any repairs on the guns.

Here is a macro-shot of the pre-decorated canopy.  We wonder exactly how Minicraft separates the canopy from the sprue so cleanly!  The kit also comes with the unpainted canopy still on the sprue.

Drill a new hole where the “gun(s)” broke off, and insert a thin piece of wire in the hole, securing it with a small amount of epoxy.
 
In the past, when I’ve built similar kits in the line, I’ve been tempted to cut out the cockpit area, throwing in a simple scratchbuilt seat and instrument panel.  It looks better than simply painting that flat area where the cockpit should be a non-glossy black.  Minicraft has provided a cockpit decal to go over that area instead. 

The right wing has been scraped and smoothed just a bit to deal with shallow sink marks.  If you're not building to contest standards, it might not even bother you.

Minicraft's kit catches the look of the "jug."  Note how the landing gear doors split and overlap.

Paint the area under the canopy a cockpit-color such as zinc chromate (many areas of the cockpit decal are clear and the base color underneath it will show through).  Before applying the decal, shoot over it with a light coat of clear flat paint or lacquer, and after the decal’s applied, use some pastels to provide a little weathering to add depth to the 2D cockpit area.  The results will be easier than scratchbuilding a seat.  Use Testors clear plastic cement and window maker to secure the canopy to the plane to keep from frosting the plastic on that nicely pre-painted canopy.
 
This kit asks some work of you to make a really nice model, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t produce a nice model with a little elbow grease.  Dem Brudders give this four thumbs up.

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