Revell 1/72 P-47M Thunderbolt [99 Tooling]

REVELL 1:72 P-47M THUNDERBOLT ['99 tooling]
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Simon Skinner (rec.models.scale)
A full build up review of the revised '99 tooling now appears on SMAKR, see links below.

Kit Details: Revell Germany #04141 - P-47M Thunderbolt

The Kit: I saw Mark's (SMAKR Webmaster) recent look inside the Revell P-47M as a bit of a pre-cursor to the one I had purchased a couple of years back, when I realised that my kit was a little different. I did a bit of investigative work and found out that Revell released two new tooling versions of the P-47M, one released in about October 1999 in Europe (#04141) which looked really good but then Revell revised this release to have an even better kit released only a short time later (#04185). It was my luck to pick up the older of the two boxings. So this is meant to supplement Mark's review pointing out the basic differences between the two releases. Anyway, inside the box is a kit molded in light grey with crisp plastic and lovely surface detail engraved into the parts.

Breakdown of the parts is pretty standard and follows the identical fashion of the newer P-47M release, in fact I can't really see much difference between the two kits although I don't have them both to compare, only the other review on SMAKR. The fuselage incorporates pretty much nose-to tail, with the whole fin molded on the port fuselage half. A separate section is provided enabling the intercooler outlet doors to be open or closed.

The wings are broken into upper and lower halves with the .50 calibre machine guns already molded onto the leading edges, and shown parallel to the ground, rather than the same angle as the wing. The tailplanes look correct and are also nicely molded with surface detail on all the parts very nice.

The cowling and engine area is nicely detailed with cooling flaps molded in the open position. The engine is made of up of three parts including two blocks of cylinders which all appear to fit snugly inside the cowling. The large propeller is paddled and looks pretty realistic when compared to photos of the real thing.

For a mainstream model kit the cockpit is very nicely detailed with the fuselage walls containing sidewall detail and the instrument panels also with raised instrumentation detail. Even the seat has harness detail molded onto it. A main floor, with rudder pedals, headrest on the rear cockpit bulkhead and control column make up the rest of the interior detail. The wheel wells all have nicely scribed structural and plumbing detail provided and are boxed into the main wings.

The undercarriage is good showing realistic hub pattern, although there is no tread pattern on the tyres. The tailwheel is boxed in at the rear of the aircraft and the doors are molded to allow wheels up modellers to close off the bays.

For underwing stores you are given a choice of drop tanks and ten 5-inch rocket on launcher racks. These are provided on small pylons which are separately added to the underwing, and by the looks, you may also have to decal the aircraft prior to affixing these.

Two aircraft are provided for in the kit from the 56 FG, 61 FS wearing the camouflage scheme as shown on the boxart which is pretty much a blackish upper surface, red trim and natural metal undersurfaces. They are Capt Gladych's HV-M "Penquie V" and Flight Lt. Lanowki's HV-Z aircraft. The decals are very nicely printed and are thin with a matt appearance to them.

Conclusion: Obviously the fact that this new tooling kit was revised and reissued later with different decal options, there must be a flaw somewhere, but it is hard to pick this up when looking inside the box. The kit still looks like it will go together superbly and a good P-47M should result. It will have to be left up to the modeller to decide.

Related Reviews:-

Related INBOX Reviews:-

Academy 1/72 P-47D Thunderbolt "Razorback"
Revell 1/72 P-47M Thunderbolt [revised 99' tooling]

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