Republic P-47N Thunderbolt - 20.4" span; Dave Diels kit

Although the plans don't call for it, I tend to fill in the nose area with balsa for strength

Yellow tissue base with black tissue stripes

Wing joint prior to adding fillet

Black wing-walk bands hide a lot of mistakes, especially at the wing fillet areas

Hand drawn panel lines and personal markings

This kit was completed in Oct '05, just in time for the Wawayanda event that year. The "N" version of this plane is my favorite, with the clipped wings, large dorsal fin and bubble canopy.

The white Esaki tissue was sprayed silver with 'Design Master' floral spray. This is lightweight paint applied directly from the spray can. The yellow color is straight OOB Esaki tissue, and the black stripes are also tissue, applied over the yellow with gluestick. In this instance, the stripes were applied AFTER the yellow tissue was on the balsa frame.

The stars and bars are kit supplied water-slide decals, and the personal markings on the nose are hand drawn in place, after the fuselage was painted.

Unfortunately, this plane had a wing sheared off in the windy conditions at Wawa, and was never repaired.

For more information about the "Design Master" floral spray, try this link:

http://www.acmoore.com/search.aspx?categoryid=315

To see the complete lineup of kits and plans offered by Dave Diels, check his website here:

http://pageproducer.acninc.net/dielsengr/index.html