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Time to start my tribute build project. Corsairs definitely seem popular lately Been awhile since I've done a prop so will try to do some justice to this kit. Like so many of us I built this kit as a teenager so when I had a choice of what to pick up I decided on this one. The intent isn't to be exact, my purpose is to recreate a childhood memory. My Uncle Dennis grew up in Akron Ohio by the Goodyear Airdock. He remembers seeing the corsairs flying over all the time. When he was about 8 he used to shoot his bow and arrow at them as they flew over lol. I expect this will be just a slightly dirty bird as I understand it they leaked oil from the radials no matter what the flying conditions were. Anyone who can drop in a few pictures as the project moves forward please feel free to do so. That will really help when I go to paint her. I may have to do my own decals for the major markings. The plan is to do an AC from VF653, which was a Naval Reserve Squadron out of Akron Ohio. VF653 was aboard the USS Valley Forge (CV45) during the Korean conflict. Most likely I will do Cook Cleland's AC. He was an Ace during WWII and became a Thomson Trophy winner before Korea. In addition to all this he was from Cleveland Ohio so the whole local area theme is playing big here!
Getting the office organized. No PE was lost in the making of this cockpit. I know you are all concerned LOL I leave you with this thought...Is Pappy a Russian Nesting Doll?
Getting the office organized. No PE was lost in the making of this cockpit. I know you are all concerned LOL
I leave you with this thought...Is Pappy a Russian Nesting Doll?
In the pattern: Scale Shipyard's 1/48 Balao Class Sub! leaning out the list...NOT! Ha, added to it again - Viper MkVii, 1/32 THUD & F-15J plus a weekend madness build!
Spent parts of the last couple days working on a bunch of things in parallel. Canopies are under glass letting the future dry. Engine is primered. Now I just have to find the wire for it so it has some character.
This 1st shot is for the in-flight pose. I plan to have it shooting out of the Goodyear Airdock.
I've done my best with the pilot. Pappy is now a 1951 Naval Aviator. Can you believe he is hollow! I carved away that heavy lambs-wool collar and the ear muffs and ended up going through the plastic. Nothing a little cement and plastistrut couldn't cure though. I made up the PE seatbelts tonight to see if I could do it. Never tried these before. I annealed them with a lighter and a quick dunk in water. They are working out good so once I have them painted up I'll show you how they turn out (just in case I still mess them up lol).
I've done my best with the pilot. Pappy is now a 1951 Naval Aviator. Can you believe he is hollow! I carved away that heavy lambs-wool collar and the ear muffs and ended up going through the plastic. Nothing a little cement and plastistrut couldn't cure though.
I made up the PE seatbelts tonight to see if I could do it. Never tried these before. I annealed them with a lighter and a quick dunk in water. They are working out good so once I have them painted up I'll show you how they turn out (just in case I still mess them up lol).
Well if you’re building Pappy’s F4U, and you are looking at putting a figure in the cockpit, Ultracast makes a seated Pappy Pilot Figure in 1/32
F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!
U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!
N is for NO SURVIVORS...
- Plankton
LSM
TheMongoose I leave you with this thought...Is Pappy a Russian Nesting Doll?
That's supposed to be Pappy Boyington??!! Wonder what Pappy would think if he saw it?
Anyways, great pick for a build. The Corsair is my all-time favorite plane. I'll be following along.
As far as photo-etch goes, all the more power to you on using it. I can never get the small stuff bent correctly, and, when I do manage to, I get super glue all over it. So, I stick to either kit parts or resin updates. Much easier for my old eyes.
Good Luck!!
Gary Mason
Devil Dawg
On The Bench: Tamiya 1/32nd Mitsubishi A6M5 Model 52 Zeke For Japanese Group Build
Build one at a time? Hah! That'll be the day!!
TheMongoose
Wow!! That's a great idea for displaying it in-flight. Might hafta steal that idea from you one of these days.
Devil Dawg TheMongoose Wow!! That's a great idea for displaying it in-flight. Might hafta steal that idea from you one of these days. Gary Mason
Gary feel free! If it’s of any help i use a profile gage, like those ones the kids play with that has all the little nails in it. What a great time waster that was as a kid! Really handy for this though. Just press it over the part and then trace the pattern onto some cardstock.
Stikpusher thanks for the link I may use that on my next one. He looks so good.
For this one I opted for just a modified Pappy as he’s just going to be a standard Naval Aviator from the 50’s. I found a set of decals for Cleland’s plane so those are going on order.
I always love a good Corsair build. I will be watching this one for sure.
BK
On the bench:
A lot !! And I mean A LOT!!
2024 Kits on deck / in process / completed
14 / 5 / 2
Good to see you come along Brandon! Just a few misc things going on now. I'm awaiting the mini LED lisghts and sound from MagicScale Modeling to show up. Can't close the fuse till I place all that.
Not much detail on this Revell kit but I will say the fit has been tremendous. Only trimming away flash so far. Today I added formation lights? on the wings
the landing light...I should have taken this pic more from the side so you could see the way I cut it out of the clear sprue corner so it would hold itself in place. And finally I cut out the openings for the exhaust. Made these from tube that I drilled out to give a thin sidewall... That may be it for a week or so. Guess I'll put something else on the bench for awhile...that or get some of my to-do list done around the house LOL
the landing light...I should have taken this pic more from the side so you could see the way I cut it out of the clear sprue corner so it would hold itself in place.
And finally I cut out the openings for the exhaust. Made these from tube that I drilled out to give a thin sidewall... That may be it for a week or so. Guess I'll put something else on the bench for awhile...that or get some of my to-do list done around the house LOL
And finally I cut out the openings for the exhaust. Made these from tube that I drilled out to give a thin sidewall...
That may be it for a week or so. Guess I'll put something else on the bench for awhile...that or get some of my to-do list done around the house LOL
Cool build log Mongoose. Its good you got a old release of this kit. I built one a few years ago from the ROG release and the light gray plastic was soft and warpage extreme. Building it was like bathing a cat.
I built at least three of the Baa Baa Blacksheep kits when I was young and they went together really well. All three didn't survive missions outside into the garden bombing ant hills or dogfights with my freind next door and his ME109.
Look forward to your build.
Scott
Not sure I would've used the OOB pilot but the rest of the build progress looks good so far.
Forum | Modelers Social Club Forum (proboards.com)
mustang1989 Not sure I would've used the OOB pilot but the rest of the build progress looks good so far.
You know it just became a challenge to see if I could make him look good. This build is running a little light on funding and since I haven't built a prop in 20+ years in this scale I had nothing in the spares box. Maybe I should have posted a request for one? We'll see how he looks inside the canopy and make a call on it then...not going to close this canopy till the very last thing following the debacle on my last build lol
My electronics came in last week. Right before my wife and I left for our anniversary trip. I'm back and on the bench now :-)
Drilled out the radial for the electric motor.Centered it up as best I could but will wait till final assembly to do a final check and glue it in place. A resin engine it aint lol
Here's just the wiring for the IP and tail.
I thought up a way to install the wing so it's removable to access the circuit board and wiring in the future. more on this once I get it set up. I have the formation lights, landing light, and speaker to hook up in here yet.
Then i finished assembling the fuselage this afternoon. now to let it sit and dry for a day. Almost no filler is going to be needed. You can barely see it but just a little down the center of the coming under the front glass. Overall fit is really good. Just some sink marks all over the model. May be somewhat related to the funky plastic. I've had trouble getting the Tamiya ETC to melt the plastic and bond pieces together. Weird.
An excellent job on the old Revell Corsair. A good friend of mine's dad worked for Goodyear at Akron, and became a pilot for VA-655, the sister squadron of VF-653, at Akron flying FG-1D's after WW2. He had carrier qualified on Wildcats and SBD's, during the war but never was shipped overseas.
WIP: Monogram 1/72 B-26 (Snaptite) as 73rd BS B-26, 40-1408, torpedo bomber attempt on Ryujo
Monogram 1/72 B-26 (Snaptite) as 22nd BG B-26, 7-Mile Drome, New Guinea
Minicraft 1/72 B-24D as LB-30, AL-613, "Tough Boy", 28th Composite Group
richs26 that’s a cool link to the corsair. I’m starting to learn some about the different models through this build. I found the akron libraryhas an online section with pictures of the squadrons at the Airdock. If your friend or his dad are interested i can send you the link to see if he’s in any of them?
Work continues on this cold and rainy May weekend. At least I haven’t had to waste time watering the grass I planted a few weeks ago. It’s modeling time. I got my way upthrough primer today. Wing lights are in. Velcro’d the circuit board in.
The wing is done. It looks good under primer so ready for paint here.
the fuselage is great except on top between the windscreen and cowl. Dang Revell has 4 big divots here. Thought i got then but obviously that’s not the case as you can see then from 18” away haha This shot shows how nice the rest is
the fuselage is great except on top between the windscreen and cowl. Dang Revell has 4 big divots here. Thought i got then but obviously that’s not the case as you can see then from 18” away haha
This shot shows how nice the rest is
This is a fun build thread. Thanks for sharing your build, and I'm liking what you are doing so far.
TheMongoose And finally I cut out the openings for the exhaust. Made these from tube that I drilled out to give a thin sidewall...
Shouldnt the exhausts be flared and angled heading in the opposite direction?
Actually VF-653 used F4U-4's where the exhaust comes out behind the cowling flaps on the side above the wings.
stikpusher TheMongoose And finally I cut out the openings for the exhaust. Made these from tube that I drilled out to give a thin sidewall... Shouldnt the exhausts be flared and angled heading in the opposite direction?
YEP, sure should. Must have been tired when i did that. I turned them around. Thanks for the catch! It’s not an accurate plane for the era I’m doing but the basics should be correct And that’s one of them.
richs26 Actually VF-653 used F4U-4's where the exhaust comes out behind the cowling flaps on the side above the wings.
That’s one of the things I’ve learned for sure. Plus a few variants and how they changed the designation going into Korea. Since this was a build for my Uncle I’ve not kept true to the details, just used what I had in the stash to recreate a memory for him. Wish I’d have thought about it though and did more research before i punched the holes as i could have put them anywhere. Gave him a preview yesterday and he sounded really excited about it!
Ok, I missed the beginning where this was to be a Korean War VF-653 F4U. The -4 had several differences. Exhausts, cowling scoops, four bladed prop, outer wings being fully metal skinned.
Anyways, since you also mentioned to drop in photos for your reference, here is a nice shot of a 653 F4U during Korea.
Thanks stikpusher. I can replace the lower antenna on mine with the ones shown. That’s an easy scratchbuild there. Maybe i can find someone with a spare 4-bladed prop. LSP has a for sale/trade section and I’ve often found people willing to ship stuff out of their spares.
I finished setting up the wing to fuselage attachment today.
Here you can see how I configured the magnets and the tab that keeps the wing from shifting forward. The magnets are neodyneum with a 0.3lb pull strength. It worked with 2 but I could shake it and get the wing to pop off so to be safe (I don't expect it to get shaken but you know how that goes...) I doubled the magnets up.
In the back I've made a tab that slips up inside the fuselage. This holds the left/right alignment and presses the two parts together to minimize the joint. Overall this will allow me to make changes to the lighting over time or make repairs if needed. The wing gap is nice. You can see a little gap up near the nose. Most will be covered by the cowl. Regardless, without glue there will always be a join there. I may work to see if I can get it to close up some more as in the detail picture above under magnification I can see one of the magnets looks crooked. Tomorrow I start painting!
In the back I've made a tab that slips up inside the fuselage. This holds the left/right alignment and presses the two parts together to minimize the joint. Overall this will allow me to make changes to the lighting over time or make repairs if needed.
The wing gap is nice. You can see a little gap up near the nose. Most will be covered by the cowl. Regardless, without glue there will always be a join there. I may work to see if I can get it to close up some more as in the detail picture above under magnification I can see one of the magnets looks crooked. Tomorrow I start painting!
The wing gap is nice. You can see a little gap up near the nose. Most will be covered by the cowl. Regardless, without glue there will always be a join there. I may work to see if I can get it to close up some more as in the detail picture above under magnification I can see one of the magnets looks crooked.
Tomorrow I start painting!
Making progress again. All the main parts are mottled and ready for a final coat. I may do some light sanding before that as there is some fine dust I see in the pics that I may be able to clean up some.
here is the 1st marble coat of dark ghost gray(DGG).
Next was what I call DGG+1, this mix has 10% black added to it. And the last mottle coat is Hull Red thinned 70%. Then to blend it together before the top coat I sprayed it all down with Grimey Black (similar to NATO black). I was a little worried I didn't cover enough black and that the colors would show up more like pre-shaded panel lines and look bad so I did a test shot on the tail. Here's a horizontal stabilizer using one as a "before" and one as a "after" shot. This close up really shows the hull red much better than any of the other photos. It's just there for shadows essentially. And this one shows the Navy Sea Blue, FS15042, top coat in better light... Going to continue on this tonight I hope. Who knows, maybe I'll be working on decals this weekend!
Next was what I call DGG+1, this mix has 10% black added to it. And the last mottle coat is Hull Red thinned 70%.
Then to blend it together before the top coat I sprayed it all down with Grimey Black (similar to NATO black). I was a little worried I didn't cover enough black and that the colors would show up more like pre-shaded panel lines and look bad so I did a test shot on the tail. Here's a horizontal stabilizer using one as a "before" and one as a "after" shot. This close up really shows the hull red much better than any of the other photos. It's just there for shadows essentially. And this one shows the Navy Sea Blue, FS15042, top coat in better light... Going to continue on this tonight I hope. Who knows, maybe I'll be working on decals this weekend!
Then to blend it together before the top coat I sprayed it all down with Grimey Black (similar to NATO black).
I was a little worried I didn't cover enough black and that the colors would show up more like pre-shaded panel lines and look bad so I did a test shot on the tail. Here's a horizontal stabilizer using one as a "before" and one as a "after" shot. This close up really shows the hull red much better than any of the other photos. It's just there for shadows essentially. And this one shows the Navy Sea Blue, FS15042, top coat in better light... Going to continue on this tonight I hope. Who knows, maybe I'll be working on decals this weekend!
I was a little worried I didn't cover enough black and that the colors would show up more like pre-shaded panel lines and look bad so I did a test shot on the tail. Here's a horizontal stabilizer using one as a "before" and one as a "after" shot. This close up really shows the hull red much better than any of the other photos. It's just there for shadows essentially.
And this one shows the Navy Sea Blue, FS15042, top coat in better light... Going to continue on this tonight I hope. Who knows, maybe I'll be working on decals this weekend!
And this one shows the Navy Sea Blue, FS15042, top coat in better light...
Going to continue on this tonight I hope. Who knows, maybe I'll be working on decals this weekend!
Finished with a Satin Clear. I was thinking that sheen would look more realistic. I've continued to work on my airbrush technique. Instead of spraying in long strokes I did smaller areas and built up the paint slowly. I managed to do all this in 2 coats doing it that way. It's taken me awhile to get the airbrush technique down. My other work with dark colors has come out somewhat splotchy I think, not a uniform color across surfaces. This is much better.
Good choice on the satin finish. Most F4Us seen in Korea had lost the shine off of the Gloss Sea Blue.
Thanks Stikpusher! I know that’s good confirmation coming from you.
I have to tell you the fit was really good on this one. Almost none of my rivets got sanded off in the process...a few are smaller than when they started tho
i’m Working on taking some better pics and finishing up the canopy. Here’s a couple where i was able to use a tripod and adjust iso and shutter speed...i think you guys can see the weathering better with these.
She's all done except for the decals...although after looking at the pics I may still do some touchups LOL don't we all do that! I left the canopy frame ZC but I think it needs to change. Going to look up some pics of them in flight with the canopy open to see what it should be. Way too stark in the pics below. Will have to do some work on the way I have it mounted. It wants to roll left
Now there's no prop on her yet. Until I get the decals on I don't want to risk messing it up. Also will see if the short video of the Magic Scale Modeling lights, sound, and engine will link up as well.
You gotta love this dopey pilot that came with the plane! I cleaned him up alot but there just didn't seem to be much more I could do with him.
Woohoo this ranks as one of my best ever! It’s a good thing to because Uncle Dennis is an artist and I’m putting pressure on myself to make it worthy
i took 3600 grit sanding sponge across all the markings in the direction of airflow. That was just enough to knock down the edge that was created by the tape and give them just a touch of wear. Lastly a satin clear and here you go...
I had nearly zero leakage under the Maketar masks so thrilled with that too. Tomorrow I want to do some exhaust staing, finish the canopy, and add the long pitot on the wing to finish it up. Then put some trim on the base and I’m ready for the model club show on Monday and presentation to my Uncle on Tuesday.
Done! Had a last minute change of course. I needed to change how the Corsair was mounted. It was too unstable for me to give it to someone, it would have ended up crashing. Lesson learned on that one as it wanted to do a roll and dive in for an attack.
Let's start with a realistic prop-blurr!
An original Revel pilot...still looks a bit like a Russian nesting doll even after all teh surgery I did to him.
And here's a video of the start-up of the radial engine with the lights and sound coming on in sequence. Click on these next 2 pics to see the videos.
Here it is running full tilt...
Ok that's it for this wonderful Father's Day! I have a few updates to make. You may have noticed the missing tail wheel. Originally the mounting rod left there, but with the change to keep it stable it looks rather empty. I may try and get it installed so it looks the part before I take it off to Akron tomorrow. If I do will include some updated pics. Until then, Happy Modeling all you Dads out there!
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