My rendition of Pappy Boyington's 883 is now complete.
Tamiya really did a super job on this beast. It really looks the part.
The Fundekals went on with no problem although the Tamiya stencils were a little thick as usual.
After decals and another gloss coat, a Flory wash was applied to panel lines along with brown/black post-shading and exhaust staining.
For some extra weathering, a couple of rounds of salt fading were applied to the upper surfaces and the prop. This was a first for me but I like the results. It's subtle from far away but very noticable up close.
The Fundekals profile highlights the unique rigging on #883, which has a line attached to a post on the pitot tube. I scratch built the post and rigged the line with some brass tubing.
After looking at the photos, I realize I forgot to removing the masks on the small windows in the wings. There certainly a lot of masked clear parts on the wings on this kit.
Along with the AK weathering effects and silver/primer chipping, colored pencils were used for some additional chips and scratches.
The photos of 883 show some major fuel staining forward of the cockpit and it took three tries to get the effect the way I wanted it, using airbrush and thinned brushed acrylics.
Apparently this plane was only a few weeks old in December 1943. The Fundecals instructions has an interesting photos showing a lineup of Corsairs with finishes from brand spankin' new to several months old. I tried to estimate what 2-4 weeks of weathering and fading would look like along with trying to match the tones in the photos.
The wings are definitely darker that the tops of the fuselage for the darkest sea blue color. Mr. Color GX flat clear was applied as the final coat.
The cockpit shows well on this kit.
The IP is also reasonably visible.
The Barracuda cockpit decals add quite a bit and nicely visible when finished.
The time spent adding the wiring to the engine pays off - also visible.
Overall, a very enjoyable kit to build. Thanks for looking. Comments on critiques always welcome.