Wednesday, May 29

Sprues, colours & markings of MiniArt's new 48th scale Thunderbolt Mk.II Royal Air Force - advanced kit...

We have had plenty of US & even a Free French jug - but now MiniArt release their RAF Mk.II Thunderbolt in 1/48th scale. We have the part & the colours, decal & etch for this "Advanced Kit" in our preview...

Sprues, colours & markings of MiniArt's new 48th scale Thunderbolt Mk.II Royal Air Force - advanced kit...

Thunderbolt Mk.II Royal Air Force - Advanced Kit
From MiniArt Models
Kit No: 48
1/48th scale
Kit No: 48012
The kit contains three marking choices in the box.
Clear parts, full engine & weighted wheels are included
The Subject: P-47D-28RE Thunderbolt. Royal Air force
The Thunderbolt was one of the three most important American fighters produced during the war and saw extensive service with the United States Army Air Force before its comparatively late introduction into RAF operational service in 1944.

Aircraft of 79 Squadron, such as HD235, breached the walls of Fort Dufferin to enable the capture of Mandalay on March 20, 1945.
This big and strongly built fighter bomber, with its good low level performance and long range made an ideal replacement for the RAF’s Hurricane fighter bombers operating over Burma. The RAF only used the Thunderbolt against the Japanese in South East Asia Command.

‘Thunderbolt I HD265 of 30 Squadron at Jumchar, January 1945.
By 1944 air/ground co-operation had been successfully developed into a powerful tactical tool and RAF Thunderbolts in Burma quickly adopted ‘cab rank’ patrols available to attack any enemy ground target holding up the Allied advance. Directed by ground visual control posts, the Thunderbolts, with their heavy gun armament and 500lb bombs, created havoc amongst Japanese troop concentrations and their supply lines.

British Thunderbolt Mk II, code AW-K of No. 22 Squadron RAF in flight, Burma
During the air battles leading to the re-capture of Rangoon, RAF Thunderbolts flew fighter escort missions with RAF Liberator bombers.

Thunderbolt Mk II HD298 RS-U of No. 30 Squadron RAF India
By the end of 1945 RAF Thunderbolt squadrons were re equipping with Hawker Tempest but some units were sent to Batavia in an attempt to re-introduce Dutch colonial rule. Whilst there they undertook a number of bombing missions against Indonesian guerrillas and rebel airfields.

The Kit:
There are seventeen sprues in this basic kit. We notice that there is the corrugated floor, no tail fillet and the earlier filling parts for the underwing (where the latter model's airbrakes go). This kit has all the stores & weapons that the other kits have, including the advanced kit extras like etch & plastic gun bay parts.
Photo-etch
A sheet of photo-etch is included for mostly the engine and the seatbelts of the kit...
Markings:
There are three colourful and well-known versions of Thunderbolt Mk.II's from the RAF in this boxing. They are:


Fill stencils, internal dials for the IP (3 different types) & individual & national deals are provided for this kit.
That is all we know about this kit so far. More to follow in colours, sprues & other info. See more about all of MiniArt's kits on their website...