1/48 Monovell F4U-4 Corsair

Not a problem. He was one of my childhood heroes. I've read his autobiography a few times and have other books on him and the 214 as well. I am far from any kind of expert on him or anything like that. Just a fan lol. 

Just found this thread but cannot view pictures on this computer. Will be checking this out later on this evening. 

I will say this. This kit is as tough as they come and you're gonna deserve a medal after completing it.

M. Brindos

Well, I'll start with an apology because you're correct.

Gregory Boyington was a Marine. 

 

A fellow I worked with some forty years ago had the good luck to speak with Pappy on the phone. My friend's wife arranged the call for my friend's birthday. When my friend told Pappy that he was once a Marine, Pappy corrected my friend with "Once a Marine, you are always a Marine, now you're just not on active duty." I thought that was quite good.

Ok Mike. I've had an opportunity to look at this build in depth and it looks like you're giving it alot of lovin'. I built this kit a few years ago as a Christmas present to a mentor of mine and it's one of the few kits that I've built that made it into the trash can not once....but twice. I filled in the large gap of the canopy with Testors Clear Parts Cement and I was happy with it.

I also countersunk the cannons and used medical syringes for the gun barrels.

I did the same thing you did with those NASTY gaps in the wing fold areas. I also used some wheel and tires from the Eduard Hellcat kit which was a FAR cry superior to the Revell wheels and tires.

This was one of the worst kits I've ever tackled and finished. Had it not been for the fact that it was a gift I would've left it in the trash can and purchased a Tamiya offering.

A couple of finishing shots.....

Okay, that is an amazing job on this kit and you've got me in absolute wonder at how you did those clear parts.

How, exactly did you do that?! 

Oh, and those exhaust stains look great. What was your formula for that? I was thinking of using Tamiya smoke, but what should I use for the lighter stains?

M. Brindos

Hi, Steve. 

I'd choose the Monogram kit first, as it's likely the parts will fit better right out of the box and use far less putty. The Revell reissue (same as mine) is a real pig of a kit as you can tell from my build here. As my wife would say, "Pick your battles" lol.

The kit being built here is the Monogram kit.  Revell did a 1/32 F4U but I do not believe they ever made molds for one in 1/48.  A current Revell kit is the Monogram plastic.  Here is one that has suffered a few slings and arrows over the years since I built it in '65 or so.  The outer wings are probably lost, I used one at least as a paint mule.  But you can see that the glass fits pretty well, with just a slight gap at the upper rear corner on the right side..  This one was built in the days before fillers so the fits weren't all that bad on the fuselage.  The wings always had a little trouble staying exactly right as I recall, in the extended position but if pushed up against the root there was pretty good fit originally.  Of course I built it so the wings could fold.

Would you guys Stop! I've been doing really well over the past year or so NOT spending money on eBay but you are making it very difficult!  Nostalgic build evil... must not do it... will not heat xacto blade and melt wheel axels... will not...

In all seriousness,  That build looks good still for being around for 50+ years!

jeaton01

 

M. Brindos

Hi, Steve. 

I'd choose the Monogram kit first, as it's likely the parts will fit better right out of the box and use far less putty. The Revell reissue (same as mine) is a real pig of a kit as you can tell from my build here. As my wife would say, "Pick your battles" lol.

 

 

 

The kit being built here is the Monogram kit.  Revell did a 1/32 F4U but I do not believe they ever made molds for one in 1/48.  A current Revell kit is the Monogram plastic.  Here is one that has suffered a few slings and arrows over the years since I built it in '65 or so.  The outer wings are probably lost, I used one at least as a paint mule.  But you can see that the glass fits pretty well, with just a slight gap at the upper rear corner on the right side..  This one was built in the days before fillers so the fits weren't all that bad on the fuselage.  The wings always had a little trouble staying exactly right as I recall, in the extended position but if pushed up against the root there was pretty good fit originally.  Of course I built it so the wings could fold.

 

 

 

No doubt it was a nice kit 50+ years ago. And I can't believe you still have that! That's amazing to me.

M. Brindos

Okay, that is an amazing job on this kit and you've got me in absolute wonder at how you did those clear parts.

How, exactly did you do that?! 

Oh, and those exhaust stains look great. What was your formula for that? I was thinking of using Tamiya smoke, but what should I use for the lighter stains?

 

The process for the exhaust stains came out of a technique book from FSM. NO Tamiya Smoke dude. Don't do that.

Here you go:

Thank you very much!

Sorry for the long pause between updates. I've been moving very slowly.

So far I've got a nice semi even gloss over most of the model and all of the decals are on. I must admit lining up the three separate decals evenly along the sides of the fuselage was not as tricky as I thought it would be, but not as easy as it could've been. The trick was to keep all three in a mild floating state before pressing the water out from under them. That turned out fairly well.

The next step is to clear cote them and work on my final detail painting.

Thanks for taking a peek and sorry for the wait.

jeaton01

 

 

M. Brindos

Hi, Steve. 

I'd choose the Monogram kit first, as it's likely the parts will fit better right out of the box and use far less putty. The Revell reissue (same as mine) is a real pig of a kit as you can tell from my build here. As my wife would say, "Pick your battles" lol.

 

 

 

The kit being built here is the Monogram kit.  Revell did a 1/32 F4U but I do not believe they ever made molds for one in 1/48.  A current Revell kit is the Monogram plastic.  Here is one that has suffered a few slings and arrows over the years since I built it in '65 or so.  The outer wings are probably lost, I used one at least as a paint mule.  But you can see that the glass fits pretty well, with just a slight gap at the upper rear corner on the right side..  This one was built in the days before fillers so the fits weren't all that bad on the fuselage.  The wings always had a little trouble staying exactly right as I recall, in the extended position but if pushed up against the root there was pretty good fit originally.  Of course I built it so the wings could fold.

 

 

 

You know, there's enough there to do an interesting diorama. An abandoned Corsair hulk on a far away Pacific island. Some sand, a palm tree, the wheels buried in the sand. Just thinking out loud.

I see it too. That would be a good dio idea!

Update time.

I'm not happy with this gloss finish at all! It's taken 24+ hours to fully cure after using almost half a bottle of Vallejo clear gloss just on the underside and it picks up every flaw, blemish, and fingerprint. It didn't even hide the edges of the decals very well.

I'm going to go back to a flat finish and try a satin finish instead. This gloss took a lot of work to look like crap to my eyes and I find it very displeasing to look at.

First off this looks pretty dang good to me Mike. I'll say this about getting a good gloss finish. I shoot mine on and leave it alone.....for like 2-3 days. It's just the process I use across the board. I've encountered far too many fingerprints, dust bunnies in the finish and the like by not waiting long enough with my auto builds. Patience is key when it comes to gloss finishes.  As far as the decals showing ...that's not your gloss bro....that looks like thick a$$ decals. A dull coat will blend them in some though and it'll make for a good looking build. Stay with 'er bro.....you'll get this.

Thanks. I'm okay with the practice I've gotten from this adventure. I'm just not happy with my prep. 

Waiting a couple of days between layers sounds like a very sound idea from this point forward. One of these days I'll have to dig out my Tamiya Skyline R32. I've got a pretty clever paint job imagined for it and it doesn't require gloss at all. Imagine a Skyline painted up as a Zero. Bingo. I've been sitting on this idea for years.

That sound killer with that Skyline Mike. I'm sure you know that I'm already looking forward to that one!!! 

Holy Crap, that is the exact model I have, and I have not started on it yet. I am still working on some other models, but tell me how it ends up when you finish it! 

mustang1989

That sound killer with that Skyline Mike. I'm sure you know that I'm already looking forward to that one!!! 

 

I had a hunch, bud. Lol

I've got that kit buried deep somewhere. Cars are not generally my thing, but I did quickly gain an appreciation for the engineering of Tamiya kits in that genre.

Teenage Modeler

Holy Crap, that is the exact model I have, and I have not started on it yet. I am still working on some other models, but tell me how it ends up when you finish it! 

 

Well just go back through this thread and keep my warnings in mind. This kit is a challenging one and it will require a lot of patience. Make sure you test fit everything or you may end up frustrated and angry lol. Trashing this kit seems to be a common end goal for a lot of people.

Looking good!

M. Brindos

 

 

Teenage Modeler

Holy Crap, that is the exact model I have, and I have not started on it yet. I am still working on some other models, but tell me how it ends up when you finish it! 

 

 

 

 

Well just go back through this thread and keep my warnings in mind. This kit is a challenging one and it will require a lot of patience. Make sure you test fit everything or you may end up frustrated and angry lol. Trashing this kit seems to be a common end goal for a lot of people.

 

Lol. I've never binned a single kit. I do still have one old bagged russian kit of a LaGG3 that has a severely deformed fuselage half, but I think the parts may be handy at some point.

I've put many aside throughout the years however. Which is why my collection is mostly shelf queens still. I've got a pretty common case of Modeller ADHD lol.

Speaking of Modeller ADHD, I got distracted.

Monogram by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

Monogram by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

Monogram by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

This is the only modification I plan on making to this kit, but I had to think this one out. I couldn't just chop and reglue. I just need to clean it up and then address the wing root issue.

I'll start a new thread for it later.

Small update. Since I've been working on a few of these old Monogram kits at the same time I have paused any further progress on this build because there is little left to do aside from the final detail painting. 

Monogram by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

Monogram by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

Monogram by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

I'm much happier with the matte finish. I was able to fix the mild silvering on some of the decals on the upper side because they were not drowned in layers of gloss paint. The underside is as good as its going to get and the Matte finish hides the decal edges far better than the gloss. 

Thanks for taking a look. The next time I update this thread will probably be with the final pictures. I'm making swift progress with the P-51 and the momentum is pretty solid. I'm posting a thread soon.

Progress on that Corsair is looking good so far Mike. On that exhaust staining I used ground up pastels and dry brushed them onto the sides of the aircraft. I believe I started out with the black and then worked my way to a grayish color the further I got away from the exhaust pipes.

I have sets A-D of the Tamiya weathering powders. I could use those.

That would work alright but in my experience you wont get the same feathering effects that you'll get with the ground up pastel chalk. 

Wellllll.... How about a combination of airbrushing and powders?

That'll work good as well Mike. To me, the pastels are a little more forgiving because you can simply wipe those off to make minor corrections. The paint.....well.....the paint removal is a little harder.