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Vought Corsair F4U


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I'm going to start with this, despite all my previous thoughts. It's an old kit, early 60's I think. The plastic doesn't look too bad but apart from a basic seat and pilot there's no interior. The wings need trimmed but the instructions do show this. The airframe is well riveted in vintage Airfix style, but I  believe that the outer wing panels should be fabric, so I'll attend to that and put some basics in the cockpit but apart from that it will be straight from the box.

 

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more later.

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That is bound to be good ! I like that kit, as it brings back nice memories from days when I did not have to comb my hair forward to hide my intelligent forehead!

Built a few of them, despite the donut-style wheels, etc.

I have the Heller remake of this very kit, and I went as far as purchasing some vac form canopies to replace the kit transparancy, after I decided one day to stand upon it...

Waste of good money, I hear from the back benchers...

 

Anyway, have fun!

JR

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11 hours ago, Grey Beema said:

I'm in, and I see the front row is empty...  Any idea on what markings you're going with?

 

It's going to be in the Temperate Sea Scheme with 1842 Squadron markings as for Operation Goodwood, one of the Tirpiz raids. The other option in the box is Hammy Gray's aircraft in Dark Sea Blue but the TSS will go beside my current Barracuda build. I believe the     Corsairs were in US colours Olive Drab and Sea Gray over Non Specular Light Gray rather than the standard TSS. But a little research is needed, including interior colours. I have the excellent FAA Museum book on the 'time capsule' Corsair and that will help. 

 

3 hours ago, Rob Naylor said:

I'm doing a 1:48 of these at the moment. I have pics of one in the British livery that I'll be posting if you're interested. I look forward to seeing how this turns out.

 

Thanks Rob, be good to see.

7 hours ago, jean said:

That is bound to be good ! I like that kit, as it brings back nice memories from days when I did not have to comb my hair forward to hide my intelligent forehead!

Built a few of them, despite the donut-style wheels, etc.

I have the Heller remake of this very kit, and I went as far as purchasing some vac form canopies to replace the kit transparancy, after I decided one day to stand upon it...

Waste of good money, I hear from the back benchers...

 

Anyway, have fun!

JR

 

Thanks Jean. It is a fairly basic kit and my plans are for a reasonably basic build. The kit canopy is fairly chunky and it looks a bit on the cloudy side, but then again I've left it in its little (actually. It so little, sealed plastic bag for the moment.  I hope a dip in Kleer will sort it out. I'm never good with vac formed canopies.

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First the plastic parts. There are less than 30 parts in total. I won't be using the bombs for my version. The Corsairs were used as bomber escorts on the Goodwood and Tungsten raids, so I suspect they would have been clean airframes. Relatively clean and free from flash considering the age. Details not brilliant, and apart from that mentioned above, cockpit and outer wings, I can live with that. 

 

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Transfer sheet and the two versions. 

 

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1841 Squadron in Sea Blue

 

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1842 Squadron in Temperate Sea Scheme

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Instructions show the basic nature of the kit. 

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Closer look reveals a bit of flash, but not much, some ejection pins, a couple of tiny depressions in the lower fuselage. The sprue gates are massive and I think the prop is bent, and the blades may be the wrong shape. But I think I have a spare Hamilton Standard prop in white metal somewhere. And Rosie the riveter has had a field day. I'm hopeful a light sand and some coats of paint will soften them down a tad. 

 

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I've started with removing the bomb carriers which were moulded on.

 

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Have tidied up the flash and sanded down the rivers, as well as tidying up a few other bits, and thinking the undercarriage doors. Having a think about the cockpit and how to fill it. Also need some plans to check out the fabric covered parts of the wings. For this removing the rivets is easy but some thought is needed to replicate the fabric effect, but in keeping with the kit.  

 

 

 

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Hi 825 and a belated welcome to the GB :welcome:

Superb photos of the rivets.  I'm thinking that some of these old Airfix parts could make great sanding tools ;)

Cliff

 

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Some work with plastic strip to give a resemblance of an interior. The big strips under the seat are to support the floor, not on the sides. I'll finish the floor, add a control column from the copper wire you can see and furnish up an instrument panel. I think Vought built Corsairs had Bronze Green cockpit interiors and Zinc Chromate elsewhere on the inside. Any colour advice warmly welcomed. 

 

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Control column installed, floor added, bulkhead behind pilots seat added (this was a sealed bulkhead to prevent ingress of accumulated carbon monoxide in the rear fuselage) and an instrument panel constructed. IP made from a base of plastic card with slices of Slaters rod to make the instrument dials and switches. It's not terribly prototypical but a little better than a plain black panel. And a whole lot better then the hole as originally left by Airfix. 

 

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I'll leave everything to dry and solidify up before attacking it with my hairy brush.

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Fabric panels masked off. 

 

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And sanded smooth

 

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Now to think about what to do with them. I'm not too sure of this Hobbyboss Corsair's detail, it seems a bit overdone.

 

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The pictures in my book on the FAAM Corsair KD431 all suggest that this section is fairly smooth kd431 pictures. As are the ones here

 

https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/model/Vought FG-1D Corsair IV

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Cockpit painted and a layer of matt varnish put on.

 

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And now with some Tamiya tape seat belts, the boxes and some parts in black. You can also see the scratch built IP. it has had a dry brushing with some matt white to lift the detail, crude as it may be.

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And finally the fuselage is closed up. A bit of sanding and filling to do tomorrow. 

 

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Seams sanded and filled.

 

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Wings, engine and tailplane on. Looks like a Corsair now. 

 

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Fit not too bad,especially a kit that is 50 plus years old but one side does need a bit of work. A bit of a gap between the wing and fuselage, and some short casting on the rear upper wing. 

 

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Abit more tidying up and it will be ready fir some paint. 

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On reflection I thought that the fabric parts of the wings look too bare and have fabricated some rib tapes from plastic strip. The Tamiya tape is marked out at 5mm intervals and used also to give a straight edge along the wing spar. To keep consistent spacing I re-used the same piece of tape for all four sections

 

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And here we are after some sanding down, both to smooth off and reduce the thickness. 

 

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So much much for my quick build out of the box!

 

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The undersides are painted with light gray, then masked and multiple thin coats of Olive Drab on the upper surfaces. Xtracrylix thinned with Flow Improver and brushed on with a broad brush lightly loaded. Took about five coats but the finish is nice. IMHO

 

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Some Gunship Gray, the EDSG equivalent on. Again very thin Xtracrylix brushed on. This is the second coat so it's still streaky and there's a couple of bits where I got it wrong which will need filled in with Olive Drab at some point. Coming along. 

 

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Camouflage done and masking tape off

 

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A little bit of touching up and gentle scraping required but not much. And here we are with most of the markings on. These Airfix transfers behave beautifully. There is an advantage of the rows of rivets as it makes lining up the transfers easy. The only issue is that the serial cam hardly be seen against the background paint finish. That sugggests the 101 tiny black stencils might not be worth putting. If you can't see them, well what's the point?

 

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The canopy isn't brilliant but it's relatively clear and it seems to fit.

 

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Just now, CliffB said:

Those rivets must present a serious problem for the decals.  Did you use any decal solutions to help?

 

Cliff

The Airfix transfers went on OK and were starting to settle down over the rivets fine. I did give them all wash over with Micro Sol which is my usual practice anyway and they have settled well. The main issue is the small black lettering for the serial and stencils have become almost invisible on the paint scheme. The photograph probably emphasises the rivets somewhat, I have sanded them down a bit. But they are definitely still there vintage Airfix style. 

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Thinking back to how I used to build these kits when I was a lad, they must have looked horrendous - decals on to bare plastic, glue on the transparencies etc. etc.  Loved them nevertheless!

 

Cliff

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Getting there. Lots of things done this week in small steps. Undercarriage finished, all transfers on and a couple of coats of matt varnish. 

 

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Just the canopy and some sticky out sticky out bits and touching up to go. Canopy has been masked and a first coat on. Hopefully be finished later this morning. 

 

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Canopy on. Took a little time to get straight and although it fits fine at the front there is a space at the back. I'm also quite pleased that the gentle sanding and layers of paint have softened the vintage Airfix rivets somewhat. 

 

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But it does need a wee bit of filling around it. But I'll leave a little time to harden up. I used Krystal Klear PVA and in my experience it takes a while to solidify up. 

 

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Almost there. Canopy faired in with some filler, and then painted and varnished. Ariel, pitot, arrestor hook and remaining undercarriage doors added. Along with previously painted prop. Most if the touching up done where necessary. A few little things to finish off, and obviously remove the canopy masking when everything is dry, and it will be time to put into the gallery. 

 

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