Ruh roh...I'm suddenly addicted to 1/32. This could be an expensive predicament. I'm finding that because everything is bigger, it's much easier to work with. The only problem is the larger size requires more detail. Lets hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew. Here I'm taking a shot at Tamiya's new Corsair F4U-1A, which will be the first of two.
Of course my first venture at this kit will be in the markings of one of my personal heroes, Gregory "Pappy" Boyington. I'll be doing his often used 740 from December of 1943. Those not familiar, he was commanding officer of VMF-214 and a 22 kill ace (I did his 915 last a few years ago with the 1/48 kit). He's most commonly associated with 86, but he never flew it apparently, only used it for a publicity photo. He did fly 740, 883 and 915 in combat and the latter he was shot down in.
I secured Montex masks for this project. They worked like a charm on my Typhoon and have no qualms about using them again.
Here I go. I started with the cockpit. The Tamiya cockpit is nothing short of a work of art. Hands down the best I've ever seen. I went with Gunze Interior Green over flat black base. I painted everything else by hand using the instructions as a general reference. It got my normal wash and then dull coat. The instrument panel was awesome. A clear plastic piece goes in the back and into the dials then decals go on the back of that. It looks like glass fromthe front.....simply stunning. I did find the kit provided PE (well...more like sheet metal) belts to be thick and unforgiving. I had trouble posing these realistically. I'll definitely go aftermarket with these on the second one. In the larger scale I find that more drybrushing is beneficial as it really brings out the detail.
Oh yeah, they have you build up the tail wheel area too. I painted it XF-4 Zinc Chromate over flat black. I'm not sure how much will be seen once closed up so I didn't go crazy in there.
I'll probably close it up then switch gears to the engine next....we'll see..