gingerbob

Wow!

Not to mention the designation!

I use Imgur, though on a laptop. I don't know what it looks like on the phone, but when I'm on the page for the image I wish to post, down on the lower right are a series of choices such as "Tiny Thumbnail", "Medium Thumbnail", "Huge Thumbnail", "My God Look at the Size of That Thumbnail"... you get the idea. On my F4U-4 thread the "out of the box" shot was (I think) Medium thumbnail, and the cowling shot (which was cropped from the original photo) was "Huge Thumbnail". They look fine on my screen, but Mike will probably tell me that there's something wrong with them (just kidding- I hope). Edit: forgot an important point: When I click on the size, it doesn't do anything that I've noticed to acknowledge my desire. But then when I copy the direct link it seems to have it at the right (or requested) size. I have a soft spot for the Otaki kit- once upon a time I decided that I had to have a Corsair on my shelf to admire, I bought the kit, and in about 2 1/2 weeks it was done. Uncharacteristic of me even then. As I recall, I stole an engine from something, probably Monogram, and wheels (or just tires?) from something else- I think a Testors P-47. Used some heat-shrink tubing to make better exhausts, and left it at that. While I haven't given it the ol' micrometer inspection, I still think it looks like a Corsair!

Well that's a relief! Brunswick, eh? A couple hours down the road, and in fact the last place I saw a Corsair flying!

Wow, a genuine pirate of Penzance!

While we're on the subject of smiles: Tamiya -1 / Hobby Boss -4 / Hasegawa -7 (Hasegawa: "Does this cowl make my cheeks look fat?") (They're all round- the photo makes them look a little funny.) I had thought of using a chunk of Hobbycraft cowl to replace the "upper lip", in order to get a deeper duct. But when I pulled out the piece, Hobbycraft's ring is very thick and blunt. At this point I'm tempted to shrug and hope that I can just do some kind of trompe l'oeil effect. I don't think the corners of the mouth are quite as vertical as should be, but it looks more sincere than the slightly forced grin of the Hasegawa. I want a happy Corsair! I may be wrong, but it seems as if the wing is molded for flaps down (the gap-fillers on the underside are "tucked up") while the flaps (or instructions) are intended to be retracted. When I get to it, I'll experiment with ways to have 'em down (possibly substituting another kit's flaps?), since I think I'd prefer that pose. I was intending to start with some of the sandwich parts anyway- rudder, flaps, ailerons, etc. I like to get some of those mundane "assemblies" out of the way- and it feels as if you're actually accomplishing something when you glue 'em together!

I expect to handle it roughly!

A good summary of HMS Tracker's life. And another shot obviously taken at the same time (but not showing your subject, alas).

She WAS in England, though. Or maybe he had a thing for Clare Boothe Luce?

Hi all, Don't expect much from me, but here's my victim: You may notice someone encroaching the social distancing- it is possible more will be heard from that party. My general idea here is to see how I can "tweak" the kit a little bit without much pain and suffering to fix some less appealing aspects (gear leg cover shape, starvation victim fabric effect, etc). I had another fairly good stare at the infamous -4 grin, and I think they have it about right in outline, but I didn't like the very shallow "insides", so I'm already thinking about that, too.

And "Luce" could have a double-meaning.

I chose the term intentionally. The Mk.I/early Mk.V DH prop was Ham Standard technology, but the Hydromatic was a new style (I don't remember the details without reviewing). The key is how the mechanism worked, but I think the blade shape might have been a bit more muscular, too, though it is subtle. Likewise the spinner might be slightly bigger (longer) but looks very much like the early DH spinner. This is one of the many things on my "eventually get to the bottom of this" list. So, when splitting hairs (not that we ever do that with Spitfires...) "DH" for me usually means the early prop, while Hydromatic means the later (DH manufacture) one (I think late '41 intro, maybe even early '42). There are two generations of Rotols [3-blade] too!

Yes, and I think (though likely to be corrected) that all Australian Vs had Hydromatic props. (Vs sent to Australia, that is, not RAAF squadrons in North Africa) Personally I'd rather substitute 'c' upper (at least) wing surfaces than do all that filling and scribing and de-bumping and re-bumping. But then again, I've got quite a good supply of Spitfire spares, so I wouldn't be worried about ending up with half a kit. Mind you, that's hypothetical, and I freely admit that the "simple" solution would reveal some complications when it came time to make it happen. It would only be considerate of Airfix to tool a Vc...

And funnily enough, among my horde of Corsairs, I was thinking I might try to tackle the Hobby Boss -4. Of course, it's hard to limit yourself to just one, innit Enzo?

The gills are cut away around it.