1-32 F4U-1 April 1 Finished

[Bill Bunting]

Here is another one started - this will be strictly OOB as it is for Tamiya Canada.

I think the cockpit is done...

These are the included belts. yes they are very stiff material but they can be manipulated into place. I know the new fabric style would be better but these are good for "standard equipment".

The engine so far...

After an airbrush of X-18 semi-gloss black it was dry brushed heavily with Humbrol flat aluminum. Washes next.

more to come...

Bill B.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Bill Bunting

[brahman104]

Looking good Bill! Can't wait to see more

Craig

[somnas]

Really nice! Will follow this one.

/Erik

[snapper_city]

Really looking good so far.

[mick]

good work on pit

[RNoAF Aerobatic Team]

Really nice pit there!!!

[HOUSTON]

OUTSTANDING work so far.

[PlaStix]

Stunning work! Fantastic looking cockpit. Will watch this build with interest.

Kind regards,

Stix

[jckspratt1]

That really is amazing work. I know they have a very good reputation, but I've never done a Tamiya kit (I prefer WWI subjects), but whenever I see work like this I am very tempted to stray from my self-appointed path - particularly when the 'standard' parts are so good.

[Shalako]

Impressive cockpit though, I think the seatbelts do need some weathering.

[Live_bait]

Nice cockpit, excellent work, I agree with you on the Tamiya seat belts, they are stiff but can be worked out.

[Bill Bunting]

That really is amazing work. I know they have a very good reputation, but I've never done a Tamiya kit (I prefer WWI subjects), but whenever I see work like this I am very tempted to stray from my self-appointed path - particularly when the 'standard' parts are so good.

Thanks. I can highly recommend Tamiya kits as you can get these type of results right out of the box. It allows you to concentrate on paint, finishing and new techniques without worrying about trimming for fit etc. They are very well engineered too and sometimes the fit still amazes me. Of course WNW are just as good for WW1 subjects, I am building a DVII (slowly) between commissions and it is a treat too. BB.

[Bill Bunting]

Impressive cockpit though, I think the seatbelts do need some weathering.

Thanks, I did weather them but you're right, it doesn't show very well. I think I will go back and dust them up with some pastels. Cheers!

[shark 64]

I like that. Looking so real

Oliver

[Bill Bunting]

Fuselage sides are done. The green is Tamiya's mix of 2 parts XF-5 (park green) + 1 part XF-8 (flat blue) AND I added a little X-8 yellow because I thought the original is too dark for good effect and it always darkens with clear coats & washes. For the pink interior primer,Tamiya suggests 5 parts X-17 (pink) + 2 parts X-21 (flat base) +1 part XF-9 (hull red). I used 5 parts X-17 to 2 parts XF-9. I did not add the flat base since I gloss coat it for washes. Here's a thought... Why is Tamiya's "Flat Base" numbered "X" and not "XF"? These are the things that keep me awake at night...

Right / starboard side. The ejection pin marks are not noticeable when the cockpit is installed.

Right side rear

Left side

I also have initial paint on the exhausts. They will get more washes (brown, clear blue and clear yellow) plus a flat coat and some more dry brushing before they're done.

More to come...

[redcap]

Tremendous work so far and very nice clear pics - thank you.

Gary

[jckspratt1]

Still can't get over the 'stock' detail on this. Will definitely now be grabbing something from Tamiya when the opportunity arises.

As an aside, I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed Tamiya's idiosyncratic labelling of their paints. I've only recently started using them - previously, I used only Vallejo, but WNW colour call-outs are for Tamiya, and some of the Val alternatives don't look quite right. As it happens, I've been very happily surprised at how easy to use Tamiya paints are.

[Bill Bunting]

Here is the engine about 75% complete. Remember this is strictly OOB. It looks good but an ignition harness would be sweet. It is easy to see where to add it between the coils on the ring near the centre and the plugs on the cylinders.

I still need to add the shrouds and some cowling rings.

I must say that the engineering on this is very very good. The exhausts fit perfectly and only one way. The intake runners are the same. You can see how the air flows into the cylinders and then is exhausted. Fun and educational!

NOTE that in these pics the exhaust is only dry-fitted. You need to add a rear cowling ring before attaching them and then they will be glued using the firewall as a jig.

In the bottom view you can see how the pipes will exit the fuselage.

Thanks for looking.

More to come.

BB.

Edited February 25, 2014 by Bill Bunting

[somnas]

Still looking very good and nice detailed photos.

Good to hear your comments about the kit since I've got it on the shelf.

/Erik

[Vally G]

Lovely work so far!

Kind regards,

Adam

[Spikelhund]

Excellent work so far, a pleasure to see.

Cheers...

[Bill Bunting]

A small update today. I have more to share but my Internet connection has been practically useless for the last week and I cannot upload pictures in under a couple of hours!

In the boxing I have "For Export" (export = not Japan?) there are an extra set of cowling parts done in clear plastic. They are not your normal clear parts as you would get for canopies etc. The molds are not as polished as for canopies but are unchanged from the grey parts. This means the clear parts appear cloudy and are not that clear at all as they have a very very fine surface texture. I read somewhere this is to make it easier for the parts to release from the molds but I don't know that for sure. Normally, I would not use these clear parts since you can build the kit to have the top and bottom centre cowls removable and even the front cowl ring can be pushed into place although the instructions indicate it should be glued in place. The instructions tell you to give the clear parts a few coats of clear lacquer to improve their transparency, so I did. Three thin and two heavier coats later they are better but certainly not "crystal". I will end up painting the entire cowl ring and cowl flaps and leaving the centre and front portions clear but also paint the regular grey parts to allow the client to exchange as they wish.

Note that all parts are only dry-fitted at this time and it is important to install the rear ring before the exhausts are glued into place.

These are the parts that need to be glued into place and will not be removable later and in my case, these will all be painted. Cowl flaps are not installed yet. This is set up for closed cowl flaps and a different rear ring is used for open flaps. You must decide one or the other unless you are OK to not glue the engine into place and rely on a friction fit (not me!)

The front cowl ring is supposed to be glued but it is an OK press-fit. I will have one clear and one painted.

All panels on place except the rear cowl flaps. You can see how the clear parts are not really so clear...

Looks OK upfront but I wish "T" had supplied an ignition harness...

I will post more pics of the centre wing and closed up fuselage as soon as I get a decent Internet connection.

Thanks for looking!

Edited March 2, 2014 by Bill Bunting

[David H]

The engine looks nice, Bill.

I too am a little puzzled by Tamiya's decision. Its almost as if they want to copy Trumpeter, which strikes me as being rather thick.

What i wish Tamiya rather do is offer a closed cowling option made up from fewer parts. The assembled, removable parts fit together OK but are a bit "Gappy".

When you set the firewall into the fuselage make sure its all the way back, otherwise the curved boot cowl down stream of the cowl flaps that gets installed afterwards won't fit so well on the top side.

david

[Bill Bunting]

The engine looks nice, Bill.

I too am a little puzzled by Tamiya's decision. Its almost as if they want to copy Trumpeter, which strikes me as being rather thick.

What i wish Tamiya rather do is offer a closed cowling option made up from fewer parts. The assembled, removable parts fit together OK but are a bit "Gappy".

When you set the firewall into the fuselage make sure its all the way back, otherwise the curved boot cowl down stream of the cowl flaps that gets installed afterwards won't fit so well on the top side.

david

Yes thanks David - I have done a few dry-fits and you're right the engine to firewall and the curved boot panel as you call it need careful alignment before going to glue.

Thanks again.

BB.

Edited March 2, 2014 by Bill Bunting

[Bill Bunting]

OK here's some shots of the fuselage joined up. No problems here and thanks to Tamiya providing panels for the front and turtle neck there are hardly any joints to clean up. About 4 cm total on the top and about 6 cm on the bottom. Less than 1/2 of the seam on one F-15 drop tank!!

A close up of the side. Things to observe here are the fantastic fit of the quarter window insert (pre-shaded in black) and the turtle neck piece behind it. All joints are on the panel lines. Just be careful to not squeeze the glue into the joints. I brushed the liquid glue from the underside/inside in order to protect the outside surface. Same story for the fuel tank cover in front of the cockpit, a perfect fit and no clean up needed. The white rectangle below the quarter window is a bit of plastic card glued into a small slot that needs to be filled (both sides). That slot must be for another version of the F4U.(?) It will be filled & touched as needed up after the primer coat.

The wing centre section has been assembled. Obviously I am going for folded wings. The kit's instructions have two separate sections to cover extended or folded options. This makes it a lot clearer to use the right parts as needed. Note that the instructions would have you paint the entire area in cockpit green or salmon primer or underside colour. That would use more paint and I think some people might even do a lot of complicated masking. Only the areas you see painted here, the green area below the cockpit and the primer area on the front of the spar, need to be done before adding the upper wing parts. . The insides of the wing root air intakes (oil coolers) do need painting but the tops and bottoms are not to be seen again. The unpainted areas are not visible later on. The wing fold, wheel wells and flap areas will be painted later as they can still be easily done after assembly.

The insides of the upper wing panels need some paint as these are barely visible later on.

Looking through the oil cooler openings you can see some of the interior structure that needs to be painted, The opening will be even smaller once the surrounding panels are added later on.

You can see that the vanes don't reach all the way top to bottom in some places, it has now been fixed with a little liquid glue and clamping over night.

A dry fitting of the wing tops and the engine shows that all is going very well and Corsair-like...

The wing to fuselage joint can only described as perfect. This means that I will be able to paint the fuselage, the wing centre section and outer wing panels separately easing the paint and ensuring a good finish. I already confirmed the tailplanes are an equally good fit.

Just a show of how I deal with the instructions. There are so many parts to keep track of, I check them off as installed. I also make notes of paint or parts that have not been installed but need to be later on. (I just noticed that I haven't installed the photo etched frames (b-9) on the oil cooler intakes - see it works!!)

Step 82 is the area where "T" would have you doing some complicated painting that isn't really necessary.

Even though there are separate instructions for folded / extended wings. there are still areas where you have different parts for flaps or colour scheme. Again a red marker helps me to stay on track- Flaps are to be down not up!. (SWMBO uses a frying pan to keep me on her track!).

That's it for now. I need to do the chores and other stuff so maybe no news for a few days. Back soon.

BB

Edited March 3, 2014 by Bill Bunting