MiniArt 1/48 P-47D "Advanced kit" review.

[@Octopootie1]

I got the basic version of the kit, because currently, that's the only version available in the US. I really appreciate the options even in the basic kit, wheels up is a nice choice you don't see often. I can bet Becker is pleased with that. I don't mind that the basic kit only has flaps up, as from what I've read P-47 pilots learned real quick to raise their flaps as soon as they touched down. So flaps down would really only be appropriate for a P-47 coming in for a landing. Which it's cool, that with the advanced version you could depict that. I'm waiting on some of the ASK and Eduard aftermarket to make its way to the states before I start building.

[@chriscoppin4465]

Best kit review I have ever watched! Thank you Nigel!

[@NigelsModellingBench]

Wow, thanks!

[@Th.G.M.]

You know how to wet one’s appetite for a kit, Nigel! Well done comparing the basic and advanced kit. Thanks for this review!

[@NigelsModellingBench]

Thanks for watching!

[@stephicohu]

You’re the first! The basic kit is what you described.

[@JeffDonahueScaleModeling]

Hi Nigel, Thanks for the review. I'm so happy MiniArt has branched out into other scales and subjects. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day. Jeff

[@MrScipio72]

I think Miniart are a very under appreciated company. Not had one kit that wasn't incredibly detailed and well put together. Thanks for the review Nige.

[@NigelsModellingBench]

Couldn't agree more!

[@wrathofatlantis2316]

About halfway through. It is quite complex, but if you understand all locating tabs are potential enemies, the actual outside skin fit is excellent, INCLUDING the 4 part cowling. Don't assemble the cowling over the engine assembly. It must be done separately on its own: I have done it that way and the fit is near perfect. I will trim the engine frame assembly so that only a minimum of support is provided, as I slide the cowling over like a one piece part. My cowling now looks almost as if it was moulded in one piece, but with a very slight sense of separation between the panels: A fair approximation of how the real thing should look. Keep in mind the Tamiya one piece cowl tapers from 29 mm wide at the front of the cooling flaps to only 27 mm wide at the front vertical panel line, so 2 mm of taper over a short distance of 15 mm, and in reality it was nearly parallel at 28 mm throughout, slight taper from 28.3 to 28 mm [Edit: The Mini Art is at 28 mm front of cowl flaps and tapers to 27 mm, the Dora Wings is 27 mm pretty much with no real taper, and I think that is best]. The cowling fit is a simple case of ignoring the instructions, and being wary of all tabs and internal locating surfaces: A slight amount of preventive scraping on all the high internal points (and rigorous pouring stub cleaning) will help allow for the thickness of the glue, or other issues. Many tabs should just be eliminated. Gear length might be 2 mm long, so it is possible I will use the Tamiya gear. To be confirmed. (I just learned from this video 2 gears are provided, loaded/unloaded, which might account for the issue!)

[@NigelsModellingBench]

I had a look at the Tamiya kit again and I think I prefer it?

[@wrathofatlantis2316]

​@@NigelsModellingBench The Mini Art Bubbletop Mgs gun ports are NOT quite lined up to the ground, so a solution will have to be found for that... I think the Dora Wings is generally the best P-47 available currently. I've hated both versions of the Tamiya P-47 for 20 years (the clear parts are both 1 mm too tall, with the wrong windscreen slope, and a wrong windscreen base "bite" on the Razorback, both more like egg plane material), so you won't find me saying a kind word about them. Except for the recent Ki-61 and Me-109G-6 (and previously the F4U, and maybe their Me-262/He-162), I've generally despised Tamiya 1/48 accuracy, especially their Storch, Il-2, P-47Ds and P-51s. These all have clear parts or cross-sections that show little knowledge of the real item.

[@wrathofatlantis2316]

​@@NigelsModellingBench Another black mark for the Mini Art is the Hamilton prop hub is too small, and the overall prop diameter larger than the Tamiya Hamilton by 4 mm or a whole scale foot(!!!): The Tamiya prop is accurate, but the Tamiya hub dome benefits from a slight shortening, and the blades from a lot of thinning. I don't know what happened to Mini Art there...

[@markfranks1329]

The issue with the tail wheel options is easy to resolve. On P-47s and P-40s the opening for the t/wheel to retract into was often covered by a soft canvas sheet which acted as a mud guard that prevented muck and detritus from being flung into the housing. Nothing more. MiniArt have simply given the option to show the tail wheel structure if so desired.

[@wendyhickson5284]

Great Review and a very very nice kit.

[@charliegrech4477]

When I building kits I always like to have options and I agree pay that little more and get the advance kit . Lovely review Nigel

[@NigelsModellingBench]

Right on

[@kennethlemke5865]

I finally found the advanced kit in the US. Great review! Can’t wait to get the kit.

[@andrewsimpson7997]

I think its a crap kit , poor fitting front end ,seams 😢

[@gadeeshi]

P-47 from Miniart has the only geometry flaw: wrong machine gun mask panel on the leading edge, which pulls wrong shape and heights/depths of gunbays and guns in them. On the real thing guns are mounted in parallel to the ground when you are looking on them from the front position. On the kits wing they are parallel to the wings leading edge, which causes the problems, described above.

[@NigelsModellingBench]

Actually, the kit is correct. the guns are not parallel to the leading edge.. they are parallel to the ground.

[@PhotoFlight]

I too hold out hope for a Razorback P-47 from miniArt. And while the Tamiya kit is now over twenty years old it's no slouch in terms of accuracy nor detail, and yet that MiniArt does raise the bar to new heights. Looking forward to see how well (or not) it goes together.

[@wrathofatlantis2316]

In the clear parts (After a dip in Gunze clear) The Mini Art canopy absolutely blows the egg plane Tamiya canopy to bits. The surface detail of the mini Art is also Eduard-like...

[@ronaldbyrne3320]

The Gabreski scheme is the extra in the Advanced version, Nige. Thank you for the review, I want this kit. 😍

[@NigelsModellingBench]

I believe all three schemes in this are different to the basic?

[@ronaldbyrne3320]

@@NigelsModellingBench oh you’re right, Nige. My bad. I just checked. There are two schemes in the Basic and three in the Advanced, all different. I was fixated on the Gabreski scheme. Apologies.

[@RCUKScaleModels]

you are spot on Nigel if you want a Razorback in Dora Wings 1/48 P-47C Thunderbolt

[@100yojimbo]

Another great review Nigel 👍👍. I am very tempted to get this.

[@NigelsModellingBench]

Go for it!

[@100yojimbo]

@@NigelsModellingBench maybe next year, been watching your Airfix 1/24 Spitfire build and got that on order to build next, not tackled anything that complicated yet

[@Sniper_Cat_71]

As I watch this, I'm currently finishing up my Tamiya P-47D using the Miss Fire/Rozzie Geth II decals from Zotz Decals lol. Can't wait to get this one as well!

[@NigelsModellingBench]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on how the kits compare.

[@Sniper_Cat_71]

@@NigelsModellingBench At first glance, they seem similar, but the Miniart kit just has so much more as far as surface detail and just detail in general. The engine is light years ahead of the Tamiya one, which is basic. The Tamiya one also has a one piece cowling. A lot more parts too with the Miniart kit. I do love the Tamiya kit though, it goes together as you'd expect from their quality. I think DetailScaleView here on YT recently did a sprue comparison between the 2 kits.

[@freemanreed5228]

Nigel, love your show, excellent analysis!!!! I'm a stickler for detail on certain airplanes, the P-47 amongst them. Does this kit include the ring and bead manual gunsight?? Honestly, most kits overlook this small, but if one wants to accurate, feature. Gabreski's aircraft had this as well as many others. I am sure the after market people are already busy with this kit.

[@NigelsModellingBench]

Not sure what a ring and bead gunsight is.. take another look at the instructions and see if it's there?

[@freemanreed5228]

@@NigelsModellingBench The P-40 Tamahawk had a ring and bead gun aiming device. Same with this . model of P-47 as a secondary to it's main gun sight. Look at pictures and you can see the ring mounted on the left hand side of the instrument panel. The aiming post is just barely visible outside the aircraft. Little details, but if you are going to court rivets, certainly this feature should be included.

[@DarrellThompson47]

You can see the bead sight on the top left of the PE fret, part 3. I don't thing the bead is there, but that's easy enough to make.

[@anniepoulton8501]

Good evening Nigel

[@NigelsModellingBench]

Hello

[@rileyk99]

It's hard to imagine anything topping the Tamiya kit in terms of fit and finish, it's kind of the ideal kit! Re: That thing with the tailwheel, there were originally aluminum dust covers over the tailwheel assembly, I'm guessing a lot of those were discarded at some point for simplicity's sake.

[@otter1959]

Waiting for this build! Will you be building the triplane soon?

[@NigelsModellingBench]

We shall see.. so much on the horizon!!

[@DarrellThompson47]

Why would you have an image of naked woman on an aircraft? 😂 Good review Nige. The most disappointing part of the basic kit for me is the canopy. It is a bit rough near the edges of the clear sections and I've got 3 cold shuts in the windscreen ( replacement was the same, a lot of other peoples seem to be the same ). It's a long way from the Tamiya canopy quality. Have they tweaked the canopy mould, as you seem impressed with it? The lower wing could do with a little sanding as the for some reason the panel lines and rivets are heavier than the top of the wing. The top of the nose, where they have used a slide mould, needs a little cleaning up and its also on a panel line, which will then need scribing in. The Dc sprue is for the optional panels for the later aircraft ( D-30 on ), where the landing light was moved to near the wingtip and the dive brakes were fitted behind the gear bays. The different tailwheels are just with and without the dust cover fitted. I would have though this was normally left fitted, so I would just use that one. The 165 gal, Lockheed drop tank is actually a napalm fire bomb, as they have moulded the igniter on the back end, so if just using as a drop tank remove it, If you want to use it as a fire bomb it will need the other igniter adding to the filler cap ( or you could removed the one from the tail and fit this on the cap as sometimes they only carried the one ). The 8 spoke wheels were only used on the P-47N, but several warbird P-47D's have them fitted so I guess MiniArt just got a bit confused there. Don't fit the magneto, part Gc13, as it shouldn't be there, just glue a piece of plasticard over the mounting point to replicate the blanking plate. The cockpit floor should be the smooth style, hopefully someone will come along with an AM one, but that probably won't worry most people. In the normal kit you can only build it with the flaps up. Reviewers keep calling that bulkhead the firewall, but it's got a larg hole in the middle where the back of the engine goes through, so it wouldn't be a very good firewall! The firewall is further back at the back of the accessory compartment.

[@warbirds-blog]

Yea, my canopy is not perfect too.

[@markfranks1329]

You've made some excellent points, makes one wonder if it's worth it. I personally would stick with the superb Tamiya offerings. Still, if it's another freebie, can't really turn it down. Smooth floors didn't start till D-28-RE/RAs, by the way.

[@DarrellThompson47]

@@markfranks1329 what evidence do you have that the floor change was with the D-28? My research shows that the smooth floor came in with the D-25, that's using Republic documents and I've produced a short article about it recently with all the evidence in.

[@marksmodellingmadness]

I thought I was done buying kits tis year but then this one turned up. And very reasonably priced, too! Thanks for the review, I was wondering what the difference between the basic and advanced and it looks like they are doing something similar to what Eduard does.

[@NigelsModellingBench]

You are so welcome!

[@411maintainer]

How are you coming along with your Lancaster build?

[@NigelsModellingBench]

Getting there..

[@ewin1st]

Do you have a link to that riveting tool. The ASK one

[@NigelsModellingBench]

He sells them on his site at Artscale dot eu

[@andrewtorrens947]

I love your channel Nigel...but I just wish you would say British gunners or British planes...not English. You dont say a Californian B17...you say American. I know its just a slip of the tongue...but as someone whose grandfather was a desert rat and Scottish...it does grate a little when you say it! But like i said ..i love your channel and wont stop watching you just because of this!!

[@NigelsModellingBench]

I shall try...

[@tonygary7611]

Nice

[@neilhaas]

I have the P-47D Thunderbolt as a die cast model love the United States of America.

[@СергейАртёмчик-ю5н]

((((....тооооо-ли еще будетттт-пройдет еще лет 30-модельный рынок будет кипеть!,кипеть!))))))

[@СергейАртёмчик-ю5н]

....да,да p-47 от tamiya ушел в прошлоеееее.......

[@soonermodels1173]

I purchased this kit and in my opinion I would stick with the Tamiya kit

[@NigelsModellingBench]

I'm thinking the same.