Fleet Air Arm Group Build

lewbud

Frank,

Did the FAA Corsairs use  good ol' US Interior Green for the cockpit, landing gear bays and inside the cowling, or were they painted another color?

Buddy- Good question!  A have the book "KD431- The Time Capsule Fighter" which is an excellent reference to FAA Corsairs.  Basically, the Corsair at the FAA Museum was reverted back to it's original wartime finish, by carefully undoing all of the post war restorations.  In the book, there are loads of great reference shots showing the aircraft as it looked at the end of WWII.  On this particular aircraft, the interior was interior green up to the canopy sills, and black above that.  The gear bays are the same color as the surrounding airframe, in this case Sea Blue.  The inside of the cowling is an undetermined shade of light gray.  As far as Corsairs are concerned, getting these areas the proper color can be a fairly difficult thing to determine.  If you have never read this article from IPMS Stockholm, I highly recommend it!

Frank,

Did the FAA Corsairs use  good ol' US Interior Green for the cockpit, landing gear bays and inside the cowling, or were they painted another color?

XO back on deck!



It's been a crazy few weeks here, but things should begin to slow down in the next few days.  I have been able to get a little bit of work done on the Corsair, focusing on getting the landing gear bays and main gear sorted out, as well as finishing up the engine.  I used the kit supplied engine, and spruced it up with some plug wires and details on the nose of the crankcase.  A few missing details such as drain plugs and data plates were added.



On the main gear, I added some stretched sprue to represent the springs in the upper linkage, some more stretched sprue for the gear retraction bar, a styrene block and formed wire for the tiedowns, and copper wire for the brake lines.



The fuselage is done, waiting for the wings to be added. 



A lot of period photos of Corsairs show some extreme wear on the wing root area, so to accentuate the scuffing I plan to incorporate, I used a riveting tool to add some detail in this area, as well as the inner flap sections.  I didn't feel like riveting the entire model, so I concentrated on the areas which will show the most wear.



And finally, the wheels.  Tamiya has molded the kit wheels based on the FAA Corsair in the UK.  Unfortunately, these tires are way too large, as until recently that aircraft was fitted with tires from an F-4 Phantom.  Although not the greatest photo, this shows KD431 in the FAA Museum with the F-4 Phantom wheels:



And how the Corsair's tires should look:



I had always considered replacing Tamiya's wheels/tires in the past due to their almost invisible tread pattern, but all of the AM replacements looked so thin compared to the kit parts, and now I know why!  So, on this build I am replacing the kit parts with some new wheels from CMK.



Beautiful detail on these, especially the wheels themselves.  And, finally a comparison shot of the kit tires vs. the replacements:



Quite a difference!

Glad to be back on deck, thanks for checking out my progress pics.  I shall be in my cabin for the rest of the day (or longer) catching up on some much needed, um, paperwork.



Cheers!

Happy Easter Chaps!

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, have a great Easter! Eat, Drink and be Merry!! 

That is all.

CAG.

Thanks Buddy, I think she'll put a smile on my face!

Nurse did not give you permission to get out of bed you scallawag!

Back where you belong!  Hope you're feeling better soon Darren.

Thanks for your kind wishes chaps!  I am on the mend but its a slow process, and quite boring as I am not very active at the moment.  I don't know how long I'll be away from the bench, hopefully not too much longer.

I'll be popping in now and then to see how things are going.  

Spike190

Hope to see you back soon Frank.

Darren hope that shoulder gets sorted asap.

Cheers...

chaps....

Well it's going to be at least another 2 weeks before i get the Aires cockpit set for the Seafire so i'll finish my Verlinden Biber first and then make a start on the little bits, i can still make the prop, undercarriage, wingfolds ect while waiting... 

I often used to post via my phone but that was back before the forum change, bit of a these days.

Hope to see you back soon Frank.

Darren hope that shoulder gets sorted asap.

Cheers...

Yes, FSM has no mobile app. I can read but not post off my Ipod touch ...

Thanks guys!

I hope to able to pop in occaisonally, but my phone is my main source of Internet right now and unfortunately FSM does not support posting via smart phones. I will do my best to keep up here.

Thank you for understanding!

CAG and XO both gone...    There'll be trouble I tell ya's, real trouble aboard! 

Darren, Frank, hope you both get back on your feet and working at your bench soon.

Hahaha that cracked me uplol....

Seafire mk47 will hit the deck in 7 days, WIP's to follow shortly thereafter

Spike190

 

Surely must be time for more WIP pics from the CAG and XO?

 

Attention Chaps!

CAG is currently in the sick bay with a shoulder injury so he is not on active service at this time. The pain plus happy pills have rendered him quite unable to build at the bench with any degree of logic.

X/O  will be on shore leave for a while due to work and family issues. He need's some time to himself so let's respect our friends wishes.

So be patient chaps and normal service will resume in due course. 

That is all.

Glad you guys like the Graf. I have a WIP thread over in the ships forum on her if you care to pop in to take a look there. I do have the perfect ship kit for this GB that I picked up mid winter when it was on sale. The new Airfix 1/350 HMS Illustrious. But I want to get a few more ships under my belt before I attempt to tackle that beauty! My Harrier will do for now for an FAA subject...

Nice work Stikpusher, I nearly ordered a ship myself but bottled out, some bits are just to smallllllllll.

Gonna miss Admiral Rick, never built with him although I've seen some of his great work, even got myself an AZ Firefly after seeing his Grand Pheonix one.

Surely must be time for more WIP pics from the CAG and XO?

Cheers....

Julez72

 

Ummm request permission for shore leave sir, i missed my last medical

Very well Lt. Just be careful what you wish for!!!

TANGO 1

"Admiral? Regulation 22/15 states that no Flag officer shall disembark without a full debrief!"

"This way Sir!"

Ummm request permission for shore leave sir, i missed my last medical

Rick

Stik, Graff Spee looks great, keep us posted

stikpusher

 

TANGO 1:

 

Good to see you are still around Stikpusher, I'll look out for your Graf Spee.

 

 

Here ya go.. this thing is becoming an obsession  for me to complete...

oh the shipbuilding bug bit me good on this one now...

Looking good Stikpusher! I've never built a ship before, I have the Invincible and the Victory in my stash........if they turn half as good as that I'll be a happy man! 

"Admiral? Regulation 22/15 states that no Flag officer shall disembark without a full debrief!"

"This way Sir!"

Thanks Frank!

I'm sorry to hear that The Admiral will not be aboard on this cruise, I know that I speak for the entire crew when I say that he will be missed. So, let's raise our glasses to Rick and wish him our very best!

Gentlemen, The Admiral!

CHEERS!

TANGO 1

Good to see you are still around Stikpusher, I'll look out for your Graf Spee.

Here ya go.. this thing is becoming an obsession  for me to complete...

oh the shipbuilding bug bit me good on this one now...

Frank, I checked squadron out and found a Falcon set of canopys for most of the Spitfire Mks for around $25, including the low hood for the Mk1 with the 2 bladed prop which i;ve always wanted to do...Hopefully the falcon sets include the windsheild because i seem to have lost mine....I may give Falcon a call they're only across the Tasman in NZ....

It's a shame Rick is missing this cruise, was looking forward to building with him again.....

Julez- Yes, I would go for the vacuform hood.  Squadron makes one, and it is what I used on mine.  Also, mine had a short-shot on the windscreen, and it had to be replaced.  Luckily, I was building the Mk.46 and Darren was building the Mk.47 so he gave me his windscreen as the two are different.  Hope that helps!

Darren- Excellent work there mate!  She really looking the part now, well done!

I received a signal yesterday from Admiral Rick, and unfortunately he will not be able to join us on this cruise as he has been given a desk job on the mainland.  I will certainly miss you here Rick!

Thanks for your feedback lads!

Mike,

the kit is pretty good so far. The assembly is well thought out and the kit gives one lots of build options. The fit is good, the surface detail is well done and there are some nice weapons and decals in the box. When you consider how much Airfix are asking for this kit, its great value.

razordws

Julez, welcome back mate.  I told you resistance is futile did I not? 

Yes Dave you did, somehow you knew but it's good to be back

Darren, looking very nice, Airfix seems to be everywhere these days...Good to see them back with some new toolings....

Well i'm afraid i went and done it, an Aires office is on it's way....

Julez, welcome back mate.  I told you resistance is futile did I not? 

Darren, that Vixen is looking awesome!

Wow! that looks awesome! I love the lines on that bird!

Looking very nice Darren, how are you finding the kit?

Cheers....