Kit: Tamiya
Vought F4U-1D Corsair w/ Moto-Tug 61085
Additions:
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Aires F4U-1
Corsair Detail Set 4225
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Ultracast F4U
Corsair Seats 48028
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Ultracast F4U
Corsair / F6F Hellcat Wheels Block Tread 48187
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Eagle Cals
Decals VF-17 Jolly Rogers EC#20
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Eduard Mask
F4U-1D EX 033
Construction
I've always wanted
to do a F4-U with a detail set, I order the kit from Calum and then ordered the
Aires set, Ultracast seats / wheels, mask and the Eagle Cals decals from Craig
at Aeroworks. Once I had all the gear needed to make the F4-U I got
started. The Aires cockpit was painted in Model Master
Interior Green FS34151 and once all the cockpit parts were painted I dry
brushed silver randomly around the cockpit followed up with some weathering
using Tamiya's weathering set A and B which really brought up the detail around
the cockpit. With the cockpit all painted up it was time to make
the necessary alterations to the kit so that the Aires cockpit would fit. I
used my little sanding drill to remove the cockpit wall on the kit
fuselage halves, with some dry fitting of the cockpit to make sure the fit was
going to be good. I then had to cut off the front halve of the fuselage and
prepare it for the resin firewall. It was time to install the cockpit and
the firewall, I found that once the two fuselage halves were assembled
together I had a slight gap in front of the cockpit window, I had to use some
Tamiya putty to fill the gap. With some light wet rubbing to get rid of any seam
line and putty it was time to install the fire wall, I painted the firewall and
some of the frame work to support the Pratt & Whitney R-2800
engine my own mix of Chrome yellow using Model Master Chrome Yellow FS13538
I added some Interior Green FS34151 to the Chrome Yellow. I found that
Model Master's Chrome Yellow was quite bright and very Yellow. Looking
at photos of W.W.II aircraft the chrome yellow seemed to have a green tint to
the yellow. So a couple of drops of Interior green seem to give
me desired effect I was looking for. With most of the kit built
I moved on to building the resin Pratt & Whitney engine Aires done a
fantastic job with the detail of the engine, the only problems I had building
the engine was using the PE set included with the Aires detail set. however I
think I got the job done in the end. I didn't attach the engine / frame because
the frame is brittal. The next job was to cut out the gun and ammunition bay on
the wing, I deicide only to do the one wing leaving another ammunition bay
for another corsair kit down the track. I used my scriber to cut out the kit
ammunition/gun bay doors, I then used my sanding drill to remove and make the
wing a little thinner so as I could install the resin ammunition/gun bay. I had
to use a little putty to fill in some gaps made by taking a little to much out
of the wing.
Click on
images below to see larger images
Picture 03 and 04 show the
Aires Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine weathered with Tamiya weathering
sets A & B
Painting and Decals
The Corsair was painted using
Model Master Aluminium Plate, Flat White FS37825, Flat Sea Blue FS35042 and
Intermediate Blue FS35164 with a cote of Humbrol gloss clear for the
placement of the decals. I chose the decals VF-17 "White 1" of
the Jolly Rogers nicked named "BIG HOG" flown by
LT. Cdr Tom Blackburn Squadron C.O. His Corsair was named "BIG
HOG" after Tom Blackburn first saw the Corsair he said "What a
big hog". So the crew chief painted "BIG HOG" on the vertical
fin. Once the decals where in place I covered the Corsair with another cote
of gloss clear. I then used a pastel wash to high light the panel lines and give
the kit an overall dirty and grimy look. when I was happy I airbrushed the
kit in yet another lite cote of gloss clear followed up with a
cote of matt clear.
Finish
With the Corsair painted and the
decals applied I installed the Pratt & Whitney engine along with the engine
frame, placed on the canopy, landing gear/door, prop, ammunition bay door and
wheels. I then added the final touch which was to brush four dollops of
paint on the left side of the Corsair just behind the number 1. These were
patches caused by Squadron's executive officer Roger Hedrick. Roger Hedrick
accidentally fired on Tom Blackburn after expecting a Zero formation
to come out of the clouds not Tom Blackburn.
Base
The base is Verlinden's Airfield
Section 1736 which I got from Craig at Aeroworks.
Thanks
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Calum for
getting a hold of this kit for me, Calum can be visited at http://a4alley.t35.com/ or
drop Calum an E-mail at Calum.Gibson@gmail.com
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Craig at
Aeroworks for getting in the after market goodies for the Corsair. Craig has
every thing for aircraft and armour modelling, at Aeroworks, Drop Craig
an E-mail for a product listing around Australia and over seas.
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To Steve Bamford
for his work on this site.
Alan Williamson
Click on
images below to see larger images
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