1/32 Tamiya F4U-1A Corsair - Pappy Boyington - 17883 (Complete)

I saw your Corsair on Scalmates the other day with all the well deserved awards.  Congratulations.  It's a hell of an achievement 

Hi, Hoss -

It's hard to find the right words to describe this build, without going completely overboard. You have everything going on here, it's one of the best models I've seen on the forums, or anywhere else for that matter.

Your detailed post and photos offer much to learn from, and I think it will encourage others to go the extra distance in improving their own skills. I'm motivated to do better now.

My sincere thanks for offering all of us, an example of just how fine a model project can be turned out.

Patrick

Thanks again for all the comments. As a quick update, this model was able to achieve a Gold Medal, "Best Navy Aircraft" (Gus Hager Award), "Best Aircraft" and "Best in Show" at IPMS Jaxcon 2022 in Jacksonville, FL, on February 8, 2022 as well as 2nd place, "1/32 or larger, prop," and the "Pete Peterson Best F4U Corsair" Award at the IPMS Regionals ModelFest in Cape Canaveral, FL, on May 1, 2022. Thanks again.

simply awesome  

Brilliant!

Cheers

Really like the faded paint job.  Fantastic.

JohnnyK

WOW!! What a beautiful aircraft model. You really nailed the engine and the paint job.

 

Thanks Johnny! Much appreciated. 

WOW!! What a beautiful aircraft model. You really nailed the engine and the paint job.

lawdog114

Probably your best work to date Hoss. How do you like that GX 100? I'm thinking about giving that a try.

 

Thanks LD - Very much appreciated. This was a fun paint job but it took me a while to get the courage to attempt it. Thanks again. 

Regarding GX 100, I really like it. It dries much faster than Tamiya X-22/MCLT and seems to be more resistant to fingerprints. I don't add a final coat of MCLT because the testing I did showed no real difference in the finish than not adding it. Very smooth and thin.  I'd recommend trying it out. 

lurch

That is a beutiful piece of work you did.

 

Thanks lurch!

I have that kit in my stash, but now I feel like my skills are totally inadequate to complete it.  

Oh, dude!
That thing....is AMAZING!
Awesome work!!!!
You must be happy with that!
I'm happy just looking at the pics.

Thanks for sharing, mate!!!!!

Probably your best work to date Hoss. How do you like that GX 100? I'm thinking about giving that a try.

That is a beutiful piece of work you did.

rangerj

WOW. That is a great tribute to Pappy. I worked with a WWII Marine who was a Medal of Honor (MOH) recipient. He was in Washington on the same day as Pappy and they were both getting their medal put on them by the president. Well Pappy was drinking heavily in those days and he went out the night before and got very drunk. My friend and another Marine were ordered to go find Pappy and get him to the President. They found him and had to hold him up to receive his MOH from the President. Pappy said on more than one occassion that if they (the government) knew he was still alive he would never have been awarded the MOH. He was found in a Japanese prisoner of war camp after the war ended and it was not known that he was alive when the MOH was approved. USMC Major Boyington, like many combat veterans, suffer from drug and/or alcohal abuse. Your fine tribute to Pappy is well deserved and appreciated.     

 

Thanks Rangerj! Thanks also for sharing that story. The history and personal stories are parts of this hobby that I love the most. Honoring those who served and sacrificed for their country is a pleasure. Thanks again. 

WOW. That is a great tribute to Pappy. I worked with a WWII Marine who was a Medal of Honor (MOH) recipient. He was in Washington on the same day as Pappy and they were both getting their medal put on them by the president. Well Pappy was drinking heavily in those days and he went out the night before and got very drunk. My friend and another Marine were ordered to go find Pappy and get him to the President. They found him and had to hold him up to receive his MOH from the President. Pappy said on more than one occassion that if they (the government) knew he was still alive he would never have been awarded the MOH. He was found in a Japanese prisoner of war camp after the war ended and it was not known that he was alive when the MOH was approved. USMC Major Boyington, like many combat veterans, suffer from drug and/or alcohal abuse. Your fine tribute to Pappy is well deserved and appreciated.     

Hoss WA

 

 

wpwar11

Outstanding!  Besides the pencils what other technique was used for chipping?  I ask because I like hairspray chipping but I'm concerned about tape pulling up paint when I spray the upper wing insignia.

 

 

 

 

Thanks wpwar! Much appreciated. My chipping approach was as follows:

• On the wing root areas:

• Painted the bare plastic with Mr Color Silver C8. 
• Applied AK worn effects fluid
• Painted with Mr. Color Yellow chromate primer (I forget the number)
• Chipped with stiff brush and a little water in the high wear areas. The plane was only couple of weeks in theater as depicted so I didn't go too heavy here. 
• Sanded surface with Micromesh pads 6000/8000
• Applied a gloss coat. Mr. Color GX100.
• Applied AK work effects fluid again. 
• Painted the main colors. 
• Chipped with stiff brush and water. 
• Applied gloss coat. 
• Note that the surface was still very prone to chipping afterwards when I was using masking tape. I suggest "desticking" the masking tape by taping to your arm or hand a few times before applying to this area and lift slowly and carefully. However, if you lift some paint, I think it's OK to just paint it over again with the base color. 
• The rest of the chipping was using colored pencils - gray, light blue, medium blue and silver. 

• On the prop:

• Sprayed the whole prop with C8 silver
• Applied AK chipping fluid
• Painted MRP black
• Chipped very lightly with water and stiff brush - mostly on leading edges and rear tip areas. 
• Gloss coat & decals
• Relatively heavy gloss coat to cover the decal edges. 
• Micromesh 6000/8000
• Flat coat. 
• Sponge chipping with Tamiya XF56
• Silver pencil

• Everywhere else:

• Sponge chipping with Tamiya XF56
• Pencils with blues, grays, silver. 

Hope that helps and thanks again! I'm looking forward to seeing your Corsair roll out of the hangar. 

 

Wilbur Wright

Beautiful paint job, and modulation of colors. Stunning.

 

Thanks Wilbur. Much appreciated. 

Beautiful paint job, and modulation of colors. Stunning.

Hoss WA

 

 

Nikola

 

 

cbaltrin

Beautiful work Nikola. Masterful cockpit and engine. Impressive.

 

 

 

 

Ah, I wish that this beauty was mine but it is Hoss who deserves all the praise. :)

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Nikola! Much appreciated. 

 

Oops! Sorry Hoss! GREAT WORK!

jeaton01

A masterpiece.

 

Thanks John! Much appreciated. 

Gamera

Magnificent job Hoss!!!

The weathering, wear, and fading look perfect!!!

 

Thanks Gamera! Much appreciated. This was a fun project and I'm glad you like it. 

Nikola

 

 

cbaltrin

Beautiful work Nikola. Masterful cockpit and engine. Impressive.

 

 

 

 

Ah, I wish that this beauty was mine but it is Hoss who deserves all the praise. :)

 

Thanks Nikola! Much appreciated. 

cbaltrin

Beautiful work Nikola. Masterful cockpit and engine. Impressive.

 

Thanks! I see that Nikola addressed the mistaken identity below. Thanks again. 

wpwar11

Outstanding!  Besides the pencils what other technique was used for chipping?  I ask because I like hairspray chipping but I'm concerned about tape pulling up paint when I spray the upper wing insignia.

 

Thanks wpwar! Much appreciated. My chipping approach was as follows:

• On the wing root areas:

• Painted the bare plastic with Mr Color Silver C8. 
• Applied AK worn effects fluid
• Painted with Mr. Color Yellow chromate primer (I forget the number)
• Chipped with stiff brush and a little water in the high wear areas. The plane was only couple of weeks in theater as depicted so I didn't go too heavy here. 
• Sanded surface with Micromesh pads 6000/8000
• Applied a gloss coat. Mr. Color GX100.
• Applied AK work effects fluid again. 
• Painted the main colors. 
• Chipped with stiff brush and water. 
• Applied gloss coat. 
• Note that the surface was still very prone to chipping afterwards when I was using masking tape. I suggest "desticking" the masking tape by taping to your arm or hand a few times before applying to this area and lift slowly and carefully. However, if you lift some paint, I think it's OK to just paint it over again with the base color. 
• The rest of the chipping was using colored pencils - gray, light blue, medium blue and silver. 

• On the prop:

• Sprayed the whole prop with C8 silver
• Applied AK chipping fluid
• Painted MRP black
• Chipped very lightly with water and stiff brush - mostly on leading edges and rear tip areas. 
• Gloss coat & decals
• Relatively heavy gloss coat to cover the decal edges. 
• Micromesh 6000/8000
• Flat coat. 
• Sponge chipping with Tamiya XF56
• Silver pencil

• Everywhere else:

• Sponge chipping with Tamiya XF56
• Pencils with blues, grays, silver. 

Hope that helps and thanks again! I'm looking forward to seeing your Corsair roll out of the hangar. 

Greg

Outstanding work, Hoss.

Thank you for this WIP thread.

 

Thanks Greg!  

disastermaster

                                                   

 I have to say that this masterpiece is just beyond magnificent. Not only are you a model builder but an artist and a first rate researcher in respect to detailed modeling. It really can't get much better than this.

  Those images are far above inspiring. Please keep the pictures up on this thread because I am bookmarking it for future reference.

 I look foward to your next subject adventure as I assume you will somehow manage to top this.

                                              

 

Thanks for the kind comments, disastermaster. They are really appreciated and I'm glad you like the result. I must say that this Tamiya kit is absolutely superb if you haven't tackled it yet. The paint adventure was a challenge and I'm happy with how it turned out. Thanks again!  

scottrc

Thank you for such an informative thread.  The paint formulas you posted help a lot.  Fantastic work!

 

Thanks Scott. Glad the paint formulas help. They may at least save you some time. The real challenge for me was getting the various tones correct in relation to each other. I found some excellent reference photos of Corsairs in theater that showed the variation of fading across the different sections of the airframe and tried to match them. In addition, I was surprised at how different the colors were between MRP and Mr. Color paints. MRP was "spot on" vs. the photos and Mr. Color was way off, especially on the Sea Blue. I'm thinking that the AK Real Colors are probably pretty close but didn't try them. It was certainly a fun paintjob. 

Aggieman

Beautiful Corsair.

 

Thanks Aggieman - much appreciated.