1/48 Tamiya F4U-1D #69, USS Franklin (Completed)

All right Brandon!! I love any one building a Corsair. I'll be following along on this ride. And yes, you will love the Eduard masks. I use them on every one of my builds. Simply an awesome time saver. With that said, Bring It On!!!!

Excellent - Can't wait to follow along w/ this one! I'm still having a tough time picking which Tamiya Corsair kit to build  - how'd you settle on this gem?

Cheers,

-Robb

Ah, yes! My favorite aircraft! Looking forward to this build!

Sweet!  That's a lovely kit....and a great subject.

Can't wait!

Brandon,

I have this kit brother.

I'll be watching this build like you were watching my MiG 3.

Sweet....I look forward to your thread.  Eduard masks are the best things since sliced bread.

Joe

I appreciate all the interest and kind words, guys. Thanks.!

I am done with the pit so here is what I did. I followed Lawdog's pit detailing as best I could. I painted the pit in MM interior green and the console in XF-1. I used a cockpit from an un-restored survivor F4 as my paint reference. So the pit walls are black as is the back and instrument panel with interior green everywhere else. I painted knobs and switches as best I could to match the real deal. I also added a few PE details like the knobs on the left console and the control levers on the forward right and a map pocket forward right. The instrument panel is Eduard PE which came unpainted but came out great. The plastic gauges gives the look of glass once it's in place, love it! 

I washed the pit in Flory Black and weathered it a bit with Tamiya's master weathering kit using silver to show some paint and panel wear. I added some small PE pieces to the side panels but they really don't add much in my opinion.  I finished the pit off with MM flat clear to seal it all in. It is hard to see the detail in the photos but I am very happy with how this pit turned out. Now to finish up on the engine wiring and that will be done also. Thanks for looking.

Well, I managed to finally complete the engine and it's ignition harness. 36 separate wires going to each plug. That was a lot of work but the engine looks much better with them than without. I began by painting the assembly Alclad Airframe Aluminum followed by a dirty wash of Flory Black. I sealed that all in and painted the push rod tubes gloss black and then added the 0.010 dia brass wire to each cylinder's plugs. I followed all that up with a heavy application of Tamiya clear smoke to darken the whole thing down a bit. I like to leave then glossy as it gives the engine an "oily" look.

 I am currently removing seems from the fuselage and should be ready for primer in the next few days. 

Engine looks fantastic!

Agreed.  Your engine looks great!

Steve

She's really looking good!  Keep up the good work!!!

Great work. More more

Got this one in my stash and looks to have Tamiya's typical high quality and great parts fit. Great idea to use the prop blur. Some guys don't like this product but it looks very realistic and want to add those to a 1/72 scale Super Connie I want to build soon.

Nice looking work there Brandon, I do like the look of that engine.

Excellent work so far..... looks great.  On the 2800, for a touch more realism, next time try adding the points around the ring with .10 styrene rod, then attach the wires to these.  It's easier than it seems.  Indeed, that Tamiya cockpit needs very little and yours is excellent.   I look forward to the rest..

Joe

lawdog114

Excellent work so far..... looks great.  On the 2800, for a touch more realism, next time try adding the points around the ring with .10 styrene rod, then attach the wires to these.  It's easier than it seems.  Indeed, that Tamiya cockpit needs very little and yours is excellent.   I look forward to the rest..

Joe

BrandonK

lawdog114

Excellent work so far..... looks great.  On the 2800, for a touch more realism, next time try adding the points around the ring with .10 styrene rod, then attach the wires to these.  It's easier than it seems.  Indeed, that Tamiya cockpit needs very little and yours is excellent.   I look forward to the rest..

Joe

Ya know, I really struggled with doing just that but I just couldn't quite pin down just how to pull it off. The next one I do will get those for sure. 

Its easier than it sounds really.....especially if you have Tenax or Tamiya extra thin cement.  Take two .10 rod and Tenax them together, like a double barrel shotgun.  Slice off the points an glue them around the ring.  The key is plastic-to-plastic with the Tenax which fuses it in place quickly.  Use pointed tweezers to handle the pieces.  Here's a tutorial I threw together a few years ago...

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/149327.aspx

Joe

Gotta say I am loving this kit. Such a true pleasure to assemble. Everything fits just right. 

Quick update. The wings are complete and ready to install and the flaps are done as well. Glass is masked off with Eduard mask, a real time and grief saver. For the most part the plane is very nearly ready for primer. I'll post more soon.

I've been doing a lot of nic-picky work on this bird and I decided I just don't like the fake molded in lights that the kit has for Nav lights in the wings. SO, I decided to fab up a set of my own.

I cut out the nav light in the wings and drill a small hole in the wing where I apply red and green paint. Not much, just a small drop. I then cut a piece of clear sprue and shape it to fit the notch and attach with CA. Once dry I cut, sand and polish the light to fit the wing perfectly. When done you see a clear lens from either the top or the bottom but a colored light from all other angles. It's a really neat touch that brings the wings to life. The look lit when you look at them directly.

Well guys, after many hours of tediously pouring over the Corsair I finally have her in primer. I used Alclad black primer and microfiller. I haven't had a chance to look for flaws yet but I didn't see anything glaring while I was laying it down. There are a lot of individual pieces on this bird and they all have to be painted separately and then installed. So, I have a ways to go, to say the least.

Looking great!

I gave the whole kit a good going over to look for any flaws that needed fixed and I actually didn't find any. So, once I had the Zero in the sun drying I hit the Corsair with a tack cloth and began laying down 3 coats of Mr Color 14 Navy blue. It went down without a hitch give one, I dropped one of the drop tanks and it is now all dusty. I'll let it dry and hit it with some 6000 grit, prime and shoot it again, no biggie. The paint went down exceptionally well I I have so much better luck spraying Mr Color Vs Tamiya. Perhaps I need to look at thinning Tamiya more to get it to dry more slowly, like I have to when spraying Mr Color. Hmm.

Anywho, I will give the bird a few days to cure and hit it with some clear and move on to decals.

I managed to botch up one of the white 69 decals and I cannot continue the build until I get a replacement. I have contacted Tamiya for a replacement. Hopefully, they will come through. If not I will have to purchase another kit so I can have the decal I need. I will post more as soon as I have something to mention. 

BrandonK

I appreciate all the interest and kind words, guys. Thanks.!

I am done with the pit so here is what I did. I followed Lawdog's pit detailing as best I could. I painted the pit in MM interior green and the console in XF-1. I used a cockpit from an un-restored survivor F4 as my paint reference. So the pit walls are black as is the back and instrument panel with interior green everywhere else. I painted knobs and switches as best I could to match the real deal. I also added a few PE details like the knobs on the left console and the control levers on the forward right and a map pocket forward right. The instrument panel is Eduard PE which came unpainted but came out great. The plastic gauges gives the look of glass once it's in place, love it! 

I washed the pit in Flory Black and weathered it a bit with Tamiya's master weathering kit using silver to show some paint and panel wear. I added some small PE pieces to the side panels but they really don't add much in my opinion.  I finished the pit off with MM flat clear to seal it all in. It is hard to see the detail in the photos but I am very happy with how this pit turned out. Now to finish up on the engine wiring and that will be done also. Thanks for looking.

Beautiful .

This is a model that I hope to have.

Regards

ajcmac

Nice paint coverage Brandon. You won't get Tamiya to spray near as nice as Gunze, but you could try thinning it with Mr. Color Leveling thinner. It makes Tamiya paints go down smoother and more transparent, so it takes a few more coats than normal.

Brandon, that's some very nice work on the cockpit!   It looks great man.

Gary

WOW !

Tamiya USA came through, no problem. $7.30 for a full decal sheet including the shipping. Should have it in a week or so. 

Ordered the decals on Friday, had them Monday. Man, Tamiya is awesome to work with.

So, just a quick update. I have about 90% of the decals down with only a handful of stencils left to apply. I will be back with more updates soon.