P-47 Engine Cowls

Different pattern makers get shapes and proportions differently according to how they interpret drawings and photographs. It's the models which are different, not the originals. It's up to you to decide whether the model looks wrong or right, and if it looks wrong, whether it's worth the effort to correct it.

47D kits. The Revell/Monogram and Academy kits use a cowl that is less tap ered and has a wider opening, while the Tamiya and Testors kits use more ta pered cowl with a narrower opening. I also noticed that the Revel/Monogram P-47N uses the more tapered cowl. Were different style cowls used on diff erent P-47D production blocks? I don't recall any references to this differ ence in any of the books on the P-47. Can anyone shed any light on this po int?

You may be right on the point of interpretation. But there may be more to it. It may lie in the difference between the Hamilton Standard and Curtiss propellers. The hub of the Curtiss prop extends further aft of the blades than the Hamilton Standard unit. When we look and the cowl and cowl ring on the model kits, it is a single unit. On the aircraft, the cowl was two parts and the cowl ring was a separate part. Thus, on the D25-RE, 25-RE an d 27RE the cowl ring may have been shortened to accommodate the Hamilton St andard propeller.