P-47D Bubbletop
Replacement Fuselage Set
 

J. Rutman Productions

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Reviewed by Brett Green

HyperScale's reviews of Jerry Rutman's resin conversions and kits have recently focussed on Luftwaffe subjects. However, the Rutman range includes a good selection of WWII American subjects too.

One of the newest additions to the Allied subjects is a total replacement fuselage for Revell's old 1/32 P-47D Thunderbolt.

Rutman Productions 1/32 scale resin Thunderbolt fuselage is supplied in their familiar pale yellow resin. The resin is quite soft to the touch, but detail is crisply engraved and it responds well to the knife and sanding. There are no pin holes or other imperfections on the surface of my sample. The fuselage halves have an almost imperceptible texture that looks like very fine sanding on the master. If your Thunderbolt is destined to wear a natural metal finish, it might be wise to polish the fuselage halves before painting.

Parts breakdown is quite simple. The fuselage halves are made up of two very large hollow castings. The cowl and the rudder are supplied in one piece each. The other parts are the prominent intake inside the cowling, tail wheel boot and various vents and hatches. A tiny skid bumper is also supplied for the bottom of the rear fuselage.

The cowl flaps are supplied as a simple strip of thin white styrene cut to shape and size.

The parts require very little preparation before use. I lightly sanded the mating surfaces of the fuselage halves before test fitting. Considering the size of these castings, the fit is really excellent. There were no gaps or mismatching between the fuselage halves despite the light taping.

I also test-fitted the rudder to the taped fuselage half. This single-piece casting was quickly removed from its block using the "score and snap" method after a few swipes with the scriber Again, the fit was excellent.

The cowl opening is sealed with a wafer of thin resin. This was also very quick to remove with a hobby knife. The air intake fits well inside the fuselage. The rear of the cowl features a recessed ridge along the trailing surfaces. Do not remove this ridge - it is there to locate the styrene cowl flaps.

Instructions are given in two hand-drawn scrap-view diagrams. Detail is sketchy but most modellers will be able to figure out the details.

A separate Dorsal Fillet was also supplied for review. This item costs only USD$2.00, and will be appropriate for late-model P-47 Bubbletops.

This is another high-quality conversion that will represent a great improvement over the fuselage of the Revell P-47.

Recommended.

Thanks to J. Rutman Productions for the review sample.

The full range of J. Rutman's kits and accessories may be viewed and ordered from his new website at http://jrutman.playnet.com/

Review and Images Copyright © 2002 by Brett Green
Page Created 08 March, 2002
Last updated 22 July, 2003

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