The Official F4U Corsair Group Build 4/01/08 - rolling end date

Thanks Sean.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that she is "perfect" but, I am pretty happy with it. Back to the Dark Side. I need to finish my Panther by the 31st. I'll keep checking in here to see how everyone is coming along.

Regards,

Jeff

Frank,

Glad to here you got the problem fixed. So, How is the weather there? We currently have freezing rain that will turn to snow showers overnight

Regards,

Jeff

I hoped to be able to post some pics of my Corsair, but in my haste they came out very blury.

I have the whole thing put together, it's a matter of filling some minor seams and sanding and paint now.....oh yeah, and there is the small matter of fixing the landing gear struts that I somehow put on backwards....SO glad I used CA glue! Ugh.

Finally!  I have some progress to report here.

Have been busy on the twins this weekend, though they are starting to look a bit different.  You can see the clipped wings on the FAA bird in the foreground.  Fixed all of the offending seams yesterday, and got the wings mounted onto the nightfighter.  A little putty in a couple of spots, then finish sanding and rescribe a couple of details.

Finished the cowl flap details on the second one too.  Man, my eyes are killing me now!

Crankcase noses are done, waiting to be mounted onto the cylinder banks and then wired.

Didn't realize that photo was so dark!  Sorry.  I'll get a better one later.

Cylinder banks ready and waiting for wiring.

Frank -You Have been Busy Nice to see you dusted off the Twins and making Great Progress.  OT - I Have started on the Me 321 GIGANT  what a nice kit. This is the first Testors/Italrei kit I have worked on.

PS I did actually look at my F4U-4 last night , I am thinking after Christmas as I dont want Santa to fill my stocking with Coal !

Wow, Frank, that's some serious detailing you're doing there!  Can't wait to see your twins finished.

I made significant progress toward completion over the last 2 days but have not yet taken any photographs.  Hopefully I will be able to finish my 1A this week, as it is slightly nearer to completion than the 1D.  I have gotten the 1A to the stage of weathering but am not yet satisfied with my attempt to sun fade the upper surfaces.  Will try a bit more of that this week.  I got to try a new attempt for my own experience in using burnt umber/black oils for an underside wash, let it almost dry then wipe it off with turpentine (that stuff is offensive to the nostrils).  I am satisfied with the results but it may be a tad over-done.

Most of what remains on both Corsairs is detail painting/weathering, oil and engine exhaust streaks, attaching detail parts like the antenna masts and antenna wiring, and some decaling (prop identifier logos).  Oh yeah, and masking and painting the canopies and windscreens.

Thanks fellas!  Sean, Glad to hear your Corsair is still in the fight.  Tough ol' birds, aren't they?

Steven- Can't wait to see some pics!  Nice to see another guy crazy enough to do two at once.  Did the flap parts almost drive you nuts too?

Did the flap parts almost drive you nuts too?

A bit, I must admit.  The fit tolerances seemed to be a bit too tight for Tamiya (and then I had one of them fall off a day after I put it on because apparently I didn't get any glue on it

Frank,

If i was doing all of that detailing to just one kit not to mention two, I would be going nuts. Hats off to you for that It looks really good so far

Navypitsnipe, good to have you back. How was the deployment? Look forward to seeing what you have.

Richie and everyone else, thanks for the comments and I also look forward to what you have so far. Remember, we have until April, a few hours a week should get everyone there. Keep plugging away.

Regards,

Jeff

Welcome back Navy!  Looking forward to seeing more of your F2G, gotta be one of my favorite Corsairs.

Jeff- Thank you very much!  Still questioning my own judgement on building two of these at once.   Love those Corsairs, but this kit (while one of my favorites) is a time-consuming build.  Next time, one at a time.

Bioya,

I used Tamiya acrylics for the camo.

Sea Blue: XF-17

Flat White: XF-2

Intermediate Blue: AS-19

The instructions call for Dark Sea Blue I believe but I think Sea Blue looks fine. Thanks for looking.

Regards,

Jeff

Finally took some pics.....

That is a 32nd scale Hasegawa F-16C sitting next to it. Either the Corsair was a pretty decent size aircraft or the F-16 is pretty small

btp2k2 wrote:

That is a 32nd scale Hasegawa F-16C sitting next to it. Either the Corsair was a pretty decent size aircraft or the F-16 is pretty small

Paul- I think you're right on both accounts.  The Corsair was a large aircraft for a WWII era single engine fighter.  Looking good there!

I have completed my builds for this gb, and I also have pictures.  I originally signed up one kit for this gb, the old Monogram F4U, but the plastic was so brittle that, after shattering several pieces, I gave up on that one and entered the -1D from my stash.  When I got to pre-build evaluation of the kit, how I wanted to build it and all, I decided I really wanted to pose the wings folded but I also wanted the wings in extended position.  The solution to this apparent quandary was to acquire another Tamiya kit, so I opted for the -1A to build with the extended wings.  So without further delay, presenting my last two builds for this year, Tamiya's F4U-1A and F4U-1D Corsairs.

F4U-1A

F4U-1D

These Corsairs were my 17th and 18th builds for 2008 (19th when you count the tow tractor as a separate kit).  I must say that as much as I love building models, I am exhausted by this hobby for the time being and will take some time off to pursue other things that I need to do (home improvement projects that need to be finished mostly).  Having said that, I only expect it to be about a month before the modeling itch strikes again ...

  Steven, good job, my friend!! Looks killer. Very well done Weathering is the way I like it, good and used. Thanks for the pics. Mabey you can get a tripod for Xmass

   On a side note I actually LOOKED at my corsair today!............Harv

Nicely done Steven!  I agree, love the weathering.  Especially that -1A, WOW!  Love it.  Hope your break is a gratifying (albeit) short one, I wanna see more of your work!

Sean- Great news!  Glad to hear yours is still in the fight.

Mabey you can get a tripod for Xmass

I actually already have a tripod ... just was too lazy to get it set up tonight.  Not really a photographer, so I guess my last stupid question for the year is ... is the lack of tripod use what caused my pictures to be rather  focus-challenged?

Any way, thanks for the comments.  I really was happy with the weathering on the 1A, and there is some weathering on the 1D, it's just not as obvious.

***BUMP!***

Just couldn't bear having this one on page 2.

How about some new and improved pictures of the F4U-1A for those group members who may have missed them on the Aircraft page?

How did you do the staining on the undersides?  I like the effect, just can't quite figure out how you did it.

Mixed up black and burnt umber to a creamy consistency and spread it all over the underside, let it almost dry then removed with turpentine, generally wiping it off in the air flow direction.  This is not my idea - I got it from a recent issue of FSM featuring a magnificent build of a weather-beaten Helldiver.  The issue wasn't more than 2-3 months back. 

Steve -- Lovely work! Great paintjob and excellent assembly! 've been working on the same kit and until recently I've had no criticism of it. However I just put the wings on and for the first time Tamiya seem to have compromised. The engineering is fabulous but mounting the wings in the extended position is neither strong nor accurate. It took me three goes to mount the port wing, resulting in an acceptable jointline, and two goes for the starboard, with a barely-acceptable result.

Here are the WIP shots, before and after mounting:

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She's a great kit but has a few tricky bits. However did you line up the wings the way you did???

Cheers,

Mike/TB379

PS: Yes, I actually did a bit of modelling on Christmas Day...