The Official 1943 70th Anniversary Group Build

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang, looking good!

I couldn't say it better!

That's really an impressive bird you are building there!

May I ask what paiints you used?

Clemens

it's all Testors MM enamels, the camo was Intermediate Blue, Dark Sea Blue and Insignia white.  For the interior, I used MM interior green, which should come out the same as the color the instructions wanted me to mix for that.  I used an airbrush for the fuse, but everything else that wasn't hand painted came out of a spray can to save time, I subbed flat white for all the insignia white on the control surfaces and doors, since insignia white doesn't come in spray.  the Wings are also sprayed, that's why they're a slightly darker shade then the fuselage, it should be the same, but you probably know how those cans work.  If I had to do it again, I would have used the airbrush on the whole thing to match the color better.  I hand painted all of the formation lights, which I should mention are not in the instructions.  Most of the model pictures I found on google, while doing research, don't have them, so I think that's a common thing to miss.  Another mistake in the instructions is the tailhook, it wants you to paint it flat aluminum, just like the rest of the gear, but in reality, they were striped white and black, which is another thing most modelers miss.

Here's the underside of the starboard wing, showing the formation lights.

And here's a picture of an F4U tailhook, this is a -7, but as far as my research can tell, the -1s had them too.

UPDATE TIME!!!!

As promised, I got some pics for ya!

Cockpit is finished, fuselage is nice and smooth and the stabilizers are on as well...

Here are the pics (I hope I took enough...)

Some pics of the fuselage (the seams are as smooth as i could get them after 3hrs of sanding...)

Any ideas on how to fix that? There is a slight gap and a step between the fuse and the wings, in case you can't see it.

With the canopy on top and the doors on (all just taped in place), you can't see that much of it...

I can`t put all the pics in there for some reason, so here is the last one:

I am actually quite pleased on how she turned out.

Most of the damage can't be seen, when the doors and the canopy are on, except for the damage on the IP, which will be covered by a folded map. I just have to print one out and add a nice little 1/48th scale coffe ring to it...

The cockpit is painted with Gunze Interior Green, then washed with some Burnt Umber oil paint and drybrushed with Vallejo Oily Steel. All black areas are painted in Vallejo Air Black.

What do you think? 

Your Corsair looks awesome btw, Ghostrider!

I didn't even notice the different colors you pointed out..

And thank you for all the information on this bird. Do you think Gunze's "Midnight Blue", "Intermediate Blue" and "Off White" will work on the 3-tone scheme too? I can't get Model Master paints here in Austia...

Only Gunze, Tamiya, Vallejo and Revell (last one is crap imo)

Cheers, Clemens

Lovely "Hose Nose." You've got that soft camo scheme down very nicely. Corsair is a striking plane. The US built very unique planes: P-38, P-39, P-51, P-47, P-40,  Hellcat and Corsair all look like they have no ancestors - would have made aircraft recognition easy. I didn't realize how small the F4U is (in American terms that is: all of our planes were robust compared to German aircraft) until I saw it sitting next to a Hellcat. Huge engine, huge prop, and the smallest possible fuselage. Lovely anyway. It does look lethal.

Attaching an antenna is a humble task but it has caused me trouble and I still think it's one of the trickiest bits of rigging.

Here's a place where stretched sprue would work pretty well. Over at Model Warship one of their moderators and top ship modelling gurus is a Brit named Jim Baumann (amazing models that you can check best at  www.modelshipgallery.com/.../jb-index.html ) and he uses stretched sprue for all rigging. Even has a terrific tip for stopping rigging sag. (Light a stick of incense, watch where the smoke is going and bring the smoke toward your rigging. Before it's an inch away or so you'll see the rigging tighten. Works on sprue, monofilament line and coated fly tying line.) Don't really know how to make it? Baumann gives instructions for by far the easiest method I've seen. This is one of the great modelling forums and worth knowing. This should take you to the tips section and making sprue: www.shipmodels.info/.../viewforum.php .

Monofilament line is perfectly adequate, but you'd want nothing over 2lb test - 1lb fly fishing tippet line is even better. I don't use thread for any modeling because of the fuzzies that make it hard to tie a very fine knot, you may have better luck. If there's a good fishing supply place you can get mono but also probably also coated fly-tying line. That's not mono, but the coating makes it much easier to deal with. I've rigged ships and biplanes with it. The stuff that's perfecto for aircraft use is EZ line available at Bob's Hobby's (and I think eBay). www.bobeshobbyhouse.com/ezl.html . There are stretching or "invisible" lines available at sewing and crafts stores but EZ is much finer. It's very light and stretches very easily so it won't bend the antenna and knots easily and mates with CA perfectly. Brett Green thinks this stuff is essential if you are picky and are doing something like a FW190 that has a wire that droops a little.  A definite buy for the future.

How to attach? I'm a great fan of knots or even just turning line around something and then applying CA in the smallest possible quantity. If you trim it really well and there's a little blob of CA or white glue it actually looks fine. Your kit has two attachment points, so it would be ideal for stretched sprue which you'd melt on with any modelling cement. A lot of kits won't allow that because the wire enters the fuselage or the tail itself. I've taken to drilling a small hole at the appropriate end and setting line in with CA.  

Looking forward to seeing the complete bird.

Eric

nice tips Eric, I'll have to keep that in mind.  I'm not too familiar with Gunze's selection, the white and intermediate blue sound fine, but midnight might be too dark, it's closer to navy blue.  I'm in a bit of a pickle for weathering, UPS lost my mig pigment order.  But I should be able to get some more.

Thank you.

Ghostrider, that is one awesome looking bird. Pacific aircraft ain't really my thing, but the Corsair is a sweet looking aircraft and you have certainly done it proud.

Clemens, that's looking nice. Is that the same one you had the problem with the PE parts with?

Thank you, Bish!

Yes, it's the same one.

I only have two problems left with the snake:

As the fuselage is now slightly wider than it should be (around 1/3th of a millimeter) the spinner is a little bit too small and also slightly off to the left.

The canopy is too narrow for the same reasons.

Do you have any tipps on these problems?

I guess i could just try to thicken the frame of the canopy with some Evergreen plastic strips and sand it down so it doesn't look that awkward, but I am afraid of ruining the canopy while doing so.

As for the spinner, I really have no clue on how to solve this...

I hope someone can help me.

Cheers, Clemens

There was some question about Insignia White which appears on almost all USN or Marine planes until the 44 switch to overall gloss Sea Blue. The TBM I built for this list was painted Atlantic colors which were Neutral Gray and Insignia White. I thought that meant white, but found out it that wasn't true and so looked into the matter.  I checked the IPMS charts, the Squadron on USN Colors and a lot of board commentary. Also had a paint sample in the Robert Archer book on USAAF colors because the Navy and Army used a common list after the war started. (The trouble is that Insignia White postwar is whiter and there have been more than one type.) What it boils down to is that no model paint company makes a perfect match for it, although Vallejo Model Color 820 would be very close. (I used a combination of Golden Titanium White and Buff: matched Archer well.) The gurus at IPMS and other places maintain WWII Insignia White was very close to FS:37880. You can google the color and see several examples. It's also not far from RLM 21. It's a kind of light cream color. Tamiya's spray lacquer IW looks pretty close too, but is probably more jet age. In the real world any white would do if you weather.  

You really saved that P-39 nicely, Clemens! The good news is, slight problems with canopies are easy to solve as long as you have clear glue (the kind from a hobby store.) The stuff dries clear, forms a nice, natural shape wherever you put it, and can hold paint just fine. I have used it to make lights and small windows (often easier than fiddling with a clear part that size) as well as filling gaps where I didn't feel like using filler putty. So if you have some, try that. If not, get some!

-Budd

Nice looking Corsair Ghostrider. Nice catch on the proper tailhook stripes. I noticed that on my old Devastator build and used a decal for it instead of trying to paint those narrow stripes.

Clemens, She turned out to be a nice looking model. For the wing root I'd suggest just alittle putty to blend things together a bit, but there should be a natural panel line there where the wing root fairing ends. As far as the spinner, are you saying the prop shaft is misaligned? If so, just cut it off and glue the spinner directly to the nose and center it best you can. As far as the canopy being too narrow, are you referring to the windscreen? you can try to spread it wider with a piece of sprue wedged inside it while using a little superglue to glue it down, then after the glue dries remove the spreader bar. Of course, if you spread it apart too far it will crack, so...good luck! And I like the look of the cockpit. Nice color and nice seatbelts.

For those who asked, Gunze's colors for the tri-color navy scheme are H54 Navy blue, H56 Intermediate blue, and H21 off white. H55 midnight blue is a good match for Gloss sea blue.

Damn, ghostrider, that's one nice Corsair. Almost a shame to weather it  . . . (almost). If you don't yet know what you're using for radio wire, I'm rather fond of necklace beading wire. Got mine in the crafty dept of WallyWorld. Looks very realistic (for 1/32 scale anyway) and takes paint perfectly. Had to pretreat the ends with super glue and let them dry before attempting to glue the wire to the plastic.

Thank you very much, guys!

Yes the spinner is misaligned. It's because there was a gap at th nose of the plane. I filled and sanded it, but as the pin for the spinner is molded onto one half it's now off to one side.

Clemens

I used a bit of Monofilament fishing line, that's working pretty good, except I managed to break the mast in half putting it on.  I got the mast glued back together, but the wire is a little loose because the joint is a bit flexible.  Hopefully that will fix itself when the glue sets.

Get some incense and use the smoke or heat up a screw-driver and slowly bring it up near the line: the line will tighten immediately.

I got some of the details on on my cobra and I hope I'll be able to paint it this weekend.

Clemens

Corsair and Cobra are looking great !

Thank you, Trey!

I got the last detail parts on now as well as the canopy and I'll try to prime it tomorrow (Alclad grey primer)

Clemens

Ok, tightening the "wire" introduced a slight bend in the mast at the glue joint, I went just a hair too tight.  I guess there's nothing much I can do about it now.

Otherwise, it's done, I've got fairly light weathering, just some smoke around the exhausts and concrete dust on the tires.  Thanks to everyone for the help.  This GB has been so interesting I am definitely going to keep following the rest of your builds, I might even throw in another entry, if I can pick one.  There are so  many subjects to choose from.

here's my finished hog.

Looks very sharp, Ghost.  You did a great job on the camouflage scheme.  Very attractive.

thanks, that was my first attempt at a soft paint line, and despite the corners here and there I think it was an excellent job, it looks even better in person then it does on camera.  Definitely a technique I will practice on future projects.

Wow Ghostrider. I don't know what it is, but that bird looks awesome!! Even without weathering, you managed to make a plane that looks incredibly real. I'll get you updated on the front page in just a sec here...

-Budd

That Corsair looks pretty sweet on the shelf. Good job.

I made made little progress on my Cobra lately, but everything is now glued in place and she's ready for some primer. The right door (the other one will be displayed open) was a pig to glue in, but after I cut the hinges off it went into place and fits good enough. I just have to sand the rear edge of it down a little.

I'll post some pics when she's primed (should get there untill this weekend)

Clemens

Ghostrider, that bird is a real beauty. Nice build.

Very nice job on that Corsair. I don't usually care for that aircraft in terms of aesthetics but seeing builds like yours do seriously tempt me into building one. Looks like an enjoyable build and you made it look really nice. I like your shelf!

I am still going to build an A6M5 but I have a one of the newer Tamiya A6M3s sitting in the box and after browsing through the contents realized that the decal sheet has a set of 1943 markings. I'll probably build this kit first since I don't have the M5 yet and it's not exactly a cheap kit.

I'm still in the market for a nice B6N1, I just have to get one of those in before the gb is over. Plenty of time (I hope, lol) First thing's first.. I have to finish the Bf109 I'm working on before opening yet another box!

Great work and great reading so far on this thread :)