Eenyweeny

This looks amazing! You're making this look easy! I'm embarking on the same build, but don't have any kind of instructions for the carbon decals. The sheets I have look like yours, any chance you could share a copy of yours?

This time sprayed a closer colour. This is slightly darker than the Tamiya colour AS8, however, it looks fine to me and much better than the previous attempt. Annoyingly the cockpit has a scratch running down the front pane. It was like that when I removed it from the protective bag and despite dipping it in Johnson's floor gloss (future), no improvement. Starting to look like a corsair now, sat on it's own wheels! Nearly there! Just need to decide on the decals and weapons load out now. HVAR's will definitely be going on her, but I can't decide between drop tanks or bombs!

I'll add some more photos when this current coat of the correct blue has dried. As it turns out, Model Masters do a colour called Dark Sea Blue, which is exactly the right colour and saves making a mess mixing paints. I am discovering the drawback of air brushing. My surface preparation isn't good enough. I can see tiny scratches from sanding, which means that 320 grit is too coarse? Which grade of sand paper should I be finishing with? 1000 grit? Also dust... I cleaned the model down with a paper towel moistened with thinner, but I can't do that once the first coats gone on, so what should I use after that? I'm sure I'm being too over critical! but any tips would be greatly received! Thanks for looking

So... mixed results with my first time spraying something large with my airbrush! 1. The colour isn't right... I mixed 3 tamiya acrylics as researched somewhere, but I'm not happy with the colour, it's too green and not dark enough... that I can fix! 2. the line running along the top of the fuselage from the cockpit to the engine, I thought was a panel line... clearly not! I can fix that too! 3. I forgot to glue on the front of the windscreen... again, I can fix it... Positives were the paint finish! I guess that called learning!

Thanks guys for the kind comments! I would like to offer a few observation about the Trumpeter kit: The fit of the parts is excellent, I've had to do very little filling and sanding! Trumpeter have offered a nice detailed kit at half the price of Tamiya, but they've spent the money and effort in the wrong places, in my opinion. Instead of the convoluted hinges for the control surfaces, which are not scale and very hard to build, why not include PE seatbelts and details etc. The quality of parts is inconsistent (to be expected at this price, but inexplicable). One of the wheel wells had no sink marks while the other had more the half a dozen, in plain view... Someone with more skills and spare materials than me, could probably rectify most of these issues and end up with a very nice model!

I need a better camera... the Iphone doesn't work in my lighting conditions! Middle wing is complete, oil coolers fitted and an attempt made to use cunning painting to make them look a little more real. I painted both coolers black, then highlighted the fins with silver, to make them appear slimmer. The rest of the oil cooler assemble was painted the main navy blue colour, then the detail picked out in matt black. Looks better in real life and far closer to reality than trumpeters suggestion of painting them matt white!. I then filled around them with Tamiya putty, watered down. Then fixed the middle wing to the fuselage. Very pleasantly surprised at how little filling and sanding required at the joints. Question... How on earth do I mask the cockpit, oil coolers, wheel wells... I can't figure out how to mask something that opens into the structure, any help hugely appreciated!

I gave the wheel wells a coat of interior yellow and will be giving them a heavy wash to highlight the minor detail. Disappointingly I have noticed the worlds supply of tooling marks in one of the wells... none at all in the other! I'm not planning to fix these as they will be underneath the plane and not likely seen. Just need to fit the oil coolers, then I can mate the wing with the fuselage. Thanks for looking!

Further progress on the main wing and folding mechanism... Finally achieved a decent fit, with the unbelievably fiddly PE hinges... That's as good as it's going to get and I have no further patience to try to improve them! The instructions called for all of the end of the wing to be painted the main colour... however, that didn't appear to completely reflect reality and looked a bit boring and fake, this is my attempt to liven things up!

A little more progress to report... Guns painted and fitted to wing. I painted the guns satin black and then gave them a wash with highly thinned flat aluminium. They look better in the flesh than they do in the photos. The finished wing. The metallic colours catch the light badly in the photo. I painted the gun belts with bright brass and then gave them a treatment of black wash to bring out some of the fine detail. not sure what else to do in there... I'm only leaving this side open and have glued in the covers on the other completed wing. I'm having photobucket issues, so couldn't get any more photos to upload. Is there any other way of adding pictures to a post instead of using the torturous photobucket? Thanks for looking!

An incredible build, such an amazing demonstration of modelling skill!

Made a start on the control surfaces, I suddenly had flash backs to these parts on the other Corsair I built... These tiny hinges that must be made and inserted into each control surface. Unfortunately, having made a cracking job of this one and another the same, as instructed, I realised that it isn't possible to insert them into the flaps already assembled. It was at this point that I invented a whole raft of swear words as I spent about an hour trying to disassemble them! A few more swear words later... Time to start assembling the wings, not sure whether to bother with massive detail in the gun bays or to button them up.

Fuselage buttoned up... incredibly impressed with the fit, no gaps, and a tiny amount of sanding required. Nearly forgot to fit the rudder, but remembered in the nick of time!

Some more progress... Didn't realise how heavy handed I'd been with the panel line wash!! It isn't really visible with the fuselage closed up and I quite like the dirty effect it gives... Do I respray or just leave??

Biggles, the engine was a solid 2 days work... I was on leave from work and was able to paint a good number of the smaller parts prior to assembly... it was rather fiddly for my big hands. I did make a couple of modifications, as the distance between the two banks of cylinders was too big and was causing fit issues with the intake pipes. also when the engine is fitted, it protrudes too far out of the cowl, so it loos a bit more scale now. I don't have the stock of odds and ends to be able to add ignition cables... nor do I have the will at this point!

That would make an interesting diorama! Thanks for the link!

Noelh, I completely agree with the prop decals... I do have a second prop from the other same corsair I ruined! I might refurbish it and use it on here, if I can find some more scale decals. Corsairs are my absolute favourite as well! I have left in the loft of my UK home a 6" wingspan flying one of there, with retracts and flaps... not so scale looking up close, but once she's in the air, she looks perfect!

Those are more fantastic pictures! Thanks so much. Here is the progress so far

Hi guys, I'm currently building a F4u-1D by trumpeter in 1/32 scale and would appreciate any brutally honest criticism (I can take it... honest!). This is my second kit since returning to the hobby after a 30 year break... I'm learning as I go! This is where I'm up to so far... I realise that the colours are probably wrong! Main gear Not sure how much to whether this, or how! Also gutted that I managed to get a couple of tiny bubbles under the decal... too late, I only noticed after I had satin clearcoated it! Not sure if I overdid the weathering of the seat! couldn't think of what else to do with the interior colour wise! Happy with the gauges though! That's all

Wow you guys are amazing!!! I've never once thought to check that the model I'm building was actually real, however I was only about 12 the last time I built anything this small!! I've decided just to build this one as a representation of a corsair that could have been... and just enjoy the build and the processing of gaining new skills. I'll probably invest in the Tamiya kit when I'm more proficient. I'd like to create a build log of this model and ask for constructive criticism from you guys, if that's appropriate?

That sounds a little ambitious for a second model in 30 years!!! There are alternative decals in the box, but I'm struggling to find any info on that corsair... it has the number FF59 on the side...

A bit of research shows that N9964Z was built by Goodyear and never saw action! D'oh... ah well, I like the simple colour scheme and check board pattern on the cowl and tail! A closer look at the available images shows that the gun ports have been covered over, the wheel wells are painted white and I'm guessing that the aircraft depicted in the instructions shouldn't be carrying bombs and rockets!!! So what do I do now?

Thanks guys for your speedy replies... the green shown in those fantastic photos is not far off what I've actually used... so I may stick with that! As to my intended subject, I haven't really thought about it!!! sorry, I know that's the wrong answer, but I was just building straight out of the box... It appears to be N9964Z confederate air force... I'm guessing that's probably post war.

I'm currently building a trumpeter F4U 1D corsair in 1:32 scale. This is my second model kit in about 30 years! when I was younger I was happy to follow the call-out colours from the instructions, however I now realise that these are fairly innacurate! My question is, what colour should the green be in the cockpit and wheel wells. Is it all the same or did they use different colours... everywhere I've looked I find a different colour!!! I've used vallejo light green chrome, but it doesn't look right... Help!

Hi guys, a quick introduction! I'm a brit currently working and living in Canada. I have only just returned to plastic models since moving to Canada. My other hobby is flying models... and I left behind in my loft, a large collection of scale and sport radio controlled models. I recently completed a Trumpeter 1:32 corsair... however it was a rush job and it's fair to say that I made a right pig'r ear of it... so I decided to learn from my mistakes, purchased another kit and this time am researching as much as I can. I also purchased an airbrush and am getting to grips with that! I'm looking forward to some constructive criticism and advice from you talented lot! Cheers, Ian