WIP - Tamiya 1:32 Vought F4U-1 Corsair Birdcage; #60324 - FINISHED

So here we are, almost completed the decals, just a whole bunch of tiny ones to go.

Made a rather large boo boo early on, the 'roundel' on the top side.........got some Tamiya panel line wash on it and when I went to remove it with thinners I found that I also remove part of the white star..........never knew that would happen. Guess I learnt something new that day. There is no 'spare' so will have to patch it up and live with the result. I have seen that some people spray these roundels on but I do not think my masking skills are up to it and also worried I will make a bad situation worse by damaging the decal even more with the tape. Guess it will just have to be "battle damage".

Once I've got the rest of the decals on, then I will try weathering. I have been using Tamiya Panel Line Accent so far, but that requires X20 (which I cannot get) or thinners/turpentine to remove excess . This also removes the varnish and I'm not so happy with that, although that's no great issue. What varnish do you guys use? An enamel varnish?  (I currently use Windsor & Newton in satin / matt/ gloss).

I have ordered Flory washes which are due for delivery in the next day or so, so I'm going to switch to those as it appears they are water based so will not damage anything. Once the weathering is done I can then add all those little bits which I normally break off (antennas, wheel wheel doors etc)......I'm way too clumsy when there are little 'break off'able bits.........lessons learnt the hard way so leaving them til the absolute end 

So here she is as things currently stand

Well, my Flory washes showed up this afternoon...........and boy are they good. Sooooo much easier than the Tamiya Panel stuff I've been using 'til now. Slap it all over with a brush, let it dry, and then rub it off with a SLIGHTLY damp kitchen towel. I cant believe I never bought this before now!

Slapped it all over:

Let it dry for half an hour.......and then started to rub it off:

Does this....and the following pictures look about right to you guys......only ever done a few panel lines before and never a whole model (rivets and all).

Would appreciate a little feedback before I seal her all up and call her done...........thanks in advance.

Once I sort of weathered some armour, but when I varnished it it seemed that a lot of the weathering 'disappeared'. Is this 'normal' and so you weather them  a little too much so that its gets knocked back a bit when sealed up?

Thanks to all for following me along this journey and your helpful comment(s). This is the first time I have ever done and posted a WIP. I haven't been doing this for too long yet (maybe 7 planes and 2 armour) so all the comments /suggestions go a long way to giving me the confidence that I'm heading in the right direction and doing things at least "almost right".

On the finishing straight now, just a matt coat over the top and add some clear bits and antennas and I'll be calling it done 

Steve

My oh my ,your painting skills are very good.    I'm going to have to try my hand at building this one and thanks for the fine inspiration.

Well, here she is, all done. Finished with a matt coat of Windsor & Newton rattle can varvish.

It's been a fun/nice build and I'm happy with the finished result. The build progressed smoothly and fit was good with very little need/use of any filler which is a pleasant change from the last couple I've done. Had a few hiccups along the way but they were self-induced (didn't read the destructions properly.......note to self, read everything twice to be sure you get it right).

Not sure whats up next, nothing has been procured yet, though got my eyes on a couple of things . Might go for a car next, never done one of those yet (not that I've built that many models to start with , only about 10 so far).

Anyways, I digress a little...........here she is.....comments, both good or bad, greatly appreciated as these will let me know where I need to improve on whatever my next project turns out to be.

All you need to work on is getting another model on the bench.  Mighty fine work.

Nice job on your Birdcage. Just found this thread and glad for it. Nice WIP.

Thanks all for the kind words...... I am pretty proud of this one, probably the best I've done yet.

Looking thru the ones I've made before now I can definitely see my progression through this, what is slowly becoming, compulsive hobby. The missus is currently quite happy that this is finished and that I currently do not have another model to start on. She thinks I shall now have time to do all the things she wants me to do around the house. Wrong........tho maybe I'll get a few of them done before I start something else 

I'm thinking of something with NMF, something to challenge myself with.

Any decent 1/24, 1/32 examples you guys recommend/suggest?

That is one great looking model. Super results.