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F4U-1 Birdcage Tamiya 1/48


Crowbar

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I still remember one of the early models my mother bought for me, at a time I was very young to go to the centre of Athens and buy kits myself. It was an Academy F4U. I even bought my first reference book for a model back then. That was some 25ish years go.


Ever since I always felt that the F4U was the most striking WW2 airplane along with the Spitfire. When Tamiya introduced their 1/32 gem I began contemplating building one. However, for reasons of space and (at the time) money, I decided to try the 1/48 first - kind of like a rehearsal. Tamiya's 1/48 is a good kit. A very good kit. But when its big brother came out, I felt it was kinda felt left behind - even after one considers the scale difference. In my eyes it got left behind big way. Especially when it comes to the cockpit, lots of details (granted, not easily visible in 1/48) are omitted.


So, I set out to add some detail, not with expensive after-market kits - which would increase my budget for his kit but with a bit of scratch-building here and there. Along with Tamiya's kit I will use photo-etched parts from Eduard, including the placards and resin wheels and control surfaces just to add a bit of character there. In the process some more after-market kits where added, so the original plan was somewhat... extended.



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My first modifications were to rebuilt the mounting mechanism for the pilots seat (Tamiya has a hideous solid slope-y mount there), add the front plates of the feet-rest, add wiring here and there and replace some of the clunky controls. Below are pictures of the cockpit parts and the sides which detail reworked and added where missing. I also added the air-hose and the map pouch.I removed the headrest as well - seems that many early Corsairs did not have those so I thought I'd do mine that way too.


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The instrument panel and harness from Eduard. The latter was modified with some brass foil to add a bit of depth and 'randomness' (sec photo).


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Prior to painting, everything was primed with AK Interactive grey primer. I have to admit I quite liked this primer, easy to spray and my wife did not complain about the smell! Awesome!


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The cockpit was then pre-shaded, especially on the head-rest and seat-mount mechanism. I mixed my own shade of Dark Green and washed everything with Light Earth oil. I have to admit working with a dark-coloured cockpit was something I have not done before in my 'second modelling life' and I was afraid I was going to mess it up. But I am happy with how things turned out.I had do omit the bob lever by the pilot seat - I need to think how to rebuilt it and fit it in the space I got there.


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'Till next time, thnx for watching :)

Edited by Crowbar
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Thank you for the kind comments.

Erik, I have use the Tamiya one from a can. I do not like spraying from cans for sure. I am a novice when it comes to spraying and i definitely feel much more comfortable with my airbrush, low pressure and thinned paint. I thought about decanting the Tamiya primer but sounds like a mess - plus my wife complains about the smell, even when I spray outside. Sure is strong though. The Tamiya primer, not my wife I mean. :fight:

I have not tried Gunze primer. I got a jar somewhere stashed though and I will try it, as I am trying to get to grips with modern materials. I did not prime things 20years ago.

On that note, the AK primer is just like acrylic paint. I sprayed it without thinning it but I felt after a while it clogged my Iwata CR. No smell, spreads nicely, maybe a bit drippy if you are not careful, sprayed at low pressure. i am not sure it is a strong as the Tamiya one but most reports say it is stronger than the Valejo one. There is also another (new) option from Ammo Mig Jimenez., possibly too similar to AK.

i was reluctant to prime the cockpit but with me wanting to try some pre-shading and all the different materials there, I though a uniform colour would do best. Unfortunately, the detail was a bit to much for my pre-shading skills :P.

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I know what you mean, I don't like the cans either. Sounds promising what you tell me, especially about the smell, but I wonder if the AK primer "shrinks" together as well as the Tamiya spray (actually I think Gunze shrinks even better but you haven't tried that one yet)?

You know, it looks all wet and ruined at first but then when it dries it dries very tight over all the detail, is it the same with this one?

Thanks for a very otherwise fulfilling answer!

/Erik

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Looking very good, the cockpit and seatbelts are great.

Another primer worth having a go with is Alcad Grey primer micro filler, so far I have no problems with it what so ever.

It also sticks like .... to the proverbial blanket.

Simon.

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Thank you for the comments.

Erik, it's more like an acrylic paint and less than a primer in terms of shrinking. I have only used this for this job so it is not very much tested from me. There is a video of it being used in the eModels YouTube for a f4u build. Personally, not being to experienced with the materials I do not like the looking-awful-but-will-shrink variety, makes me feel uncomfortable to use.

Simon, thank you for the tip, will add it in my try-outs list.

Still swamped with work but I hope to continue the kit, this weekend.

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  • 6 months later...

Thank you for the kind words! After a long break, or more like a period of very very slow progress...

I had an accident with the rear landing wheel - which btw has poor detail anyway. I had to re-do most of it, but this time with some extra detail

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I also decided to update the rear-wheel bay with some detail. This is only visible from the bottom anyway so I was interested in an approximate look - just wanted to make the bay look busier. The construction is done in two 'halves' which come together. Most detail is not visible anyway. Ignore the pre-shading, it was an experiment destined to fail...

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And a few pictures with the wheel assembly in place

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More updates soon, with the main wheels, bays and engine!

Edited by Crowbar
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Next bit of work as to add some detail in the front wheel bays, using reference pictures from the Michigan Lake F4U.

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I decided to fill some gaps that Tamiya's design allows with some putty (visible at the bottom of the front section in the photo).

The interior was painted with a shade of salmon red/brown I mixed myself, according to the reference pics. Unfortunately, some the photos from my ipad do not do the shade much justice.

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While I was at it I added some detail to the front-wheel struts.

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I worked a bit on the wheels from True Details -- I am not sure if I will use them as the tyre-flattening looks a bit exaggerated (but does add some drama :P). I will weather those in due time. They only got an oil-wash at the moment.

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Thank you somnas!

More updates - I have started working on the engine, considering (initially) using a resin kit for it. However, as most of it wont be visible I decided to update the kit's relatively good one and use the money for some resin details for the cowling (more of that later)

I used a bit of styrene and some copper wire...

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A couple of days later...

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Some of the wires have been 'tweaked' in place since I took the photos.

Edited by Crowbar
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  • 3 months later...

Slow progress on this, work, babies, work, etc.... so back working on it, almost a year since it started... and continuing from where I left, working on the landing-gear bays.

I used Valejo's chipping medium, to replicate the worn paint, often found on early F4Us. An oil wash added some.. muck.

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The main landing struts where changed a bit from the last incarnation - mainly with the addition of the springs on the sides.

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The landing gear was painted white and received the same wash with oils.

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Next step, put the wings and fuselage together.

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Thank you for your kind words!

Manu, I mixed it myself, a variation of the mix instructions from Tamiya's 1/32 version. I used various photos to get to something that looked good to me. It may need a hint of yellow.

On with the fuselage and wings assembly.

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  • 2 months later...

Slow progress as always, work and my newborn daughter make finishing this built a challenge :doh:

I decided to use some after-market products, despite my initial plan not to do so. I decided to replace the rudders's moving surfaces with resin ones from Aires and the internal detail of the front side of the engine compartment from Vector. Self-explanatory images below

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One simple way to align the internal detail framing-thingies (scientific vernacular...) is to print a radial guide, shown below

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Most of the detail will not be visible, so I could probably get away with some scratch-building but this was quicker.

Some small gap-filling was needed at the front as well, the assembly does seem to be rather... irrational at that point

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I also did the aforementioned `chipping' technique for the landing-gear covers

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If things go as planned, next bit is to finish the engine's rear-cowl detail (from Vector's resin kit)... then to put the winds and fuselage together, prime the model and get on with the painting.

Speak soon (I hope!) :mario:

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