1/32nd Tamiya `Birdcage' Corsair as a Fleet Air Arm Mk.I.-FINISHED!

[pacificmustang]

lovely work Tony

[85sqn]

That is looking a bit excellent Tony. Even though its well out of scale for me, I love these sorts of build as reference for my wee ones. I've the Hasegawa kit for the Bird Cage Corsair in FAA marking, specifically 1835 sqn. Reading Norman Hanson's "Carrier Pilot" they operated Mk Is up till when they arrived in Ceylon (iirc) on the way to the far east where they swapped them for later versions with the bubble canopy etc. Although the early bird cage Corsairs had the original short tail wheel leg, I'm guessing by the time 1835 sqn embarked for the UK with theirs, they would have been modified to the extended ones??? I've bought a Tamiya kit to use the Hasegawa markings on as I think its a nicer kit. One of these days.

Steve.

Oops, just realised that Hanson was 1833 sqn, was the 1835 history similar?

Although in the book it says they operated the MkIs till Ceylon, they brought MkII's over the Atlantic with them and embarked with MkII's when they joined HMS Ilustrious in Dec 1943. There are a range of photos on the IWM site showing 1833 Sqn MkIIs out of Macrihanish with one of the COs aircraft and also flown by Hanson- JT228.

1835 was a bit different as they were formed at Quonset point in the States with MkIs but ended becoming a training squadron by disbanding (MkI and MkIIs) and becoming 732 Sqn. Later on in 1944 the Sqn reformed with MkIVs.

As a training squadron the aircraft may have been fitted with longer tailwheels later on in 1944? Certainly the MkIVs would've been.

Certainly making speedy progress Tony, looks such a lovely kit!

[stevehnz]

Thanks for that, pity though in a way, I always thought this was why they had clipped wings on the 1833 sqn machines, I'm wondering why this was though.

Sorry Tony for butting in on your thread, I though I was talking the same sqn. Oh well, I'll just shut up & watch & learn from your build.

Steve/

[tonyot]

Thanks fella`s,

And Steve,....your input is always mch appreciated so please don`t sit on the sidelines mate!

I`ve done a bit more today, here is the wing centre section under assembly;

 

The fuselage has also been sanded to remove the seam lines and the propeller has been painted black. Here it is being test fitted to the wing centre section;

Since photographing this the centre section has been buttoned up and hopefully I`ll attach the fuselage tonight,.....you`ve probably realised that I`m doing my usual one wing folded and one wing spread,........best of both worlds and it helps it fit inside the cabinet!

Cheers for now,

Tony

Edited July 22, 2020 by tonyot

[Bill Bunting]

Looking very nice Tony. It's moving along at quite a pace.

[tonyot]

Looking very nice Tony. It's moving along at quite a pace.

You know me mate,......I don`t muck about once I get going! I`ve got a Hurricane and a SEAC Beaufighter on the go at the same time too!

Cheers

Tony

[tonyot]

Here is what the Corsair looks like this morning with the upper sections added to the wing centre section and test fitted to the fuselage;

I should be attaching the wings to the fuselage today and hopefully getting onto the outer wing sections and maybe the elevators.

Hopefully I`ll get to the model shop tommorow to get some paint,......probably using US Gunship Grey to represent Sea Grey but I`m unsure of which Olive Drab shade to go for,.......looks like I`ll be spending some time comparing tins and bottles. I`d prefer acrylics but the colour is the most important thing.

Cheers

Tony

Edited September 11, 2015 by tonyot

[85sqn]

Are you fan of Xtracrylix? They do a nice ANA olive drab, can't say I've brush painted much with Xtracrylix though.

[airjiml2]

Good choice to go with sky for the intakes.

Jim

[tonyot]

Cheers fella`s,

I`m not a great fan of Xtracrylics for brush painting, especially on such a large model but I have used them in the past and will definitely have a look at the Xtracrylics tomorrow, especially as I have some thinners so that might make them easier to apply. My first choice has been Aeromaster and Polly Scale for the past few years but I`m running out of them now.

If I can successfully cut the codes down from the 3BH option on the Eagle Strike decals so that they have a thin white outline then I`ll be going for the Lake Sabego aircraft JT160 in respect of the pilot, 19 year old Sub. Lt. Raymond Knott who stil remains inside the cockpit.

Cheers

Tony

[HOUSTON]

Wonderful work...

[Gremlin56]

I missed the start of this build. Very nice work Tony, looking great,

Julian

[tonyot]

Thanks Fella`s,

,.....glad you are onboard!!

I`ve spent all day experimenting with paints for the upper surfaces to replicate the American ANA equivalant colours for the Temperate Sea Scheme and it has proved to be harder than I thought!

I think that I`ve settled on Tamiya Gunship Grey 2 for the Sea Grey colour but the Olive Drab is a lot harder! I tried Xtracrylic ANA 613 Olive Drab but it was much too dark however their Faded O/D was a bit better. I tried 9 colours in total ranging from Tamiya XF62 O/D, Aeromaster Faded O/D, Model Color Medium Olive, Aeromaster Medium Green and even Polly Scale Dark Slate Grey! If anybody has an opinion I`d love to hear from you,.....here is my test card with various shades of O/D applied to a box of Tamiya Gunship Grey 2;

and here is a photo of the real thing from Wikipedia;

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated,

Cheers

Tony

Edit;

Another couple from the History Link site;

Plus I built this Trumpeter Corsair years ago but I cannot remember which colours I used!!;

Edited July 22, 2020 by tonyot

[Homerlovesbeer]

Great start! I've got one of these kits I want to do justice to so I'll get some tips from you

[airjiml2]

Tony,

I did a similar experiment before I painted the P-40 and found most ODs to be too dark. Xtracrylics Faded Olive Drab might be in the ballpark...at least in my jar, but what about Humbrol 155? (Sadly, I don't have most of the other colours on your chart.)

Jim

[85sqn]

Perhaps it's because I airbrushed Xtracrylics ANA olive drab over a light grey undercoat but I'm pretty happy with the look of it compared to some of those photos. Perhaps a touch of white may bring it closer. On your colour chart, bottom, second from the end looks fairly similar. Model Colour is it?

Btw on the photo of the MkII's with the chap walking in front, notice the fuel vent near the roundel protruding out and painted red.

[moaning dolphin]

Looking very nice Tony, can't offer any advice on the colour schemes though, I think it all in the eye of the beholder, I normally use Model Master RLM paints which look OK to me!

I love the way they have neatly identified each aircraft on the cowling. Must of taken ages to get it right.......... or was it a ' your not chopping until you've identified those aircraft' type Friday afternoon!

[tonyot]

Thanks Fella`s,

 

Jim- cheers for shooting some off the shelf modelling colours at me,...looks like I might have to try some mixing or check through the paint drawer for some more Olive Drab colours, I think that I might have Humbrol 55 somewhere! Xtracrylics ANA 613 still looks too dark to me and I`m currently leaning towards Tamiya Olive Drab,.....oh my! Maybe I`ll apply a second coat of paint to my `tester' and see what happens?

 

 

 

 

 

85Sqn- I hadn`t noticed the fuel vent before,....cheers. Yes the colour you mention is Model Color Yellow Olive.

 

 

 

 

 

I`ll be going for a pale Sky colour for the undersides,......they just don`t look like grey to me.

 

 

 

 

 

I might just build my F4U-1A model as a Mk.III and use good old British TSS colours for my next Corsair!

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

 

 

Tony

 

 

 

 

 

Edit-

 

 

Here is my updated paint `tester; with another coat added and a few extra colours too,.....I`m still unsure!;

 

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2020 by tonyot

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,

Having been sidetracked a bit on other things and driving myself mad with various shades of Olive Drab and photos of various Corsairs I`ve come to the conclusion that at least some Corsair Mk.I`s appear to have been finished in British style Temperate Sea Scheme colours rather than the Sea Grey and Olive Drab US substitute colours. Have a look at these photos;

In the last photo depicting the two Corsairs,.....I reckon that the right hand one `199' is Mk.I JT199 while the left hand one `235' is a Mk.II, JT235, BUT look at the difference in camouflage between them and how`199' is much darker and more like the FAA TSS it is while `235' is lighter and the Olive Drab really stands out as a lighter colour. What do you think?

Cheers

Tony

[moaning dolphin]

I can see your point of view with regards to the last photo, but IMHO it is more to do with the photograph rather than aircraft colour. The sky on the folded wings, in the direct sunlight looks to be a slightly different shade between the two. Could have been due to the particularities of the film? 199's demarcation line between the OD and DSG certainly is less well defined, less focused (?), I think 235's is more stark due to the sharp demarcation line. Not much help I am afraid but do love these colour FAA pictures. They hold so much detail, even if they do add more confusion!

Just noticed that 199 also has a chalked in/ white paint serial as well, shoddy workmanship indeed!

Bob

[85sqn]

JT199 is a MKII though. I used to take photos with slide film and the colour saturation used to be very high giving really quite colourful photos and I think the photos above show similar properties. Therefore, they are more saturated than what the eye would see. I also think that the paint looks abit 'chalky' and lighter than the TSS paints woud be.

The underside colour of these aircraft is what led me to paint my MkI in a light gray underside rather than sky. I can see there is a similarity to sky but if you took out some of the saturation it would be more gray.

I believe in the Dana Bell book it says that British aircraft were painted in enamels which meant that the paint shade holds true no matter what the surface it is. When compared to the US corsairs (which were painted in lacquer) there is a difference in shade between metal and fabric surfaces. Similar to what is seen on some hurricanes in photos on the site. Now take a look at the wings of JT235 and where the fabric part meets the metal pane line. There is definitely a difference in shade on what is a brand new paint job. Could this mean the paints suggested by Dana are not enamels but something different? I don't know...

Another item I've noticed in these photos is the sealant around the forward fuel tank. Apparently applied to prevent fuel vapours arising and causing the aircraft to combust. Looks like some sort of intermediate blue and what actually is it? A doped strip??

[tonyot]

Thanks Bob and Nick for getting back to me with your highly relevant points,.....much appreciated.

-Sorry Nick you are of course right about JT199,....the last Mk.I in this series was JT194,.......Dohh!

I`ve been scratching my head about the blue sealant stripe too,.....it is normally shown as being white! Wasn`t it applied to stop carbon monoxide getting into the cockpit before the British introduced the vents in the rear fuselage?

In the photo depicting both JT199 and JT235,...., JT199 at least appears to have the full unmodified wing tip, both have the earlier fully wrapped around engine cooling gills and I`ve always thought that it was taken on the factory flight line, especially as the two blokes in the background appear to be civilians. The pilot wears a British Mae West so is probably a ferry pilot? Maybe they were en route to be modified prior to entering RN service? JT199 went to 1831 NAS at Stretton where it was hit by a 3 ton truck on 15/11/43 and JT235 also went to 1831 NAS but didn`t leave the USA. It had a barrier crash aboard USS Charger in the hands of Lt. Cdr. Allingham on 29.9.43, moved to 1835 NAS next month until November when it joined 732 NAS at Brunswick. It swung on landing on 2.4.44 and following repairs it moved on again to 738 NAS at Lewison where it served between 7.44-1.45.

Thanks again fella`s,

Tony

Edited September 19, 2015 by tonyot

[David H]

Hey for what its worth David Rapasi did a very nice 48th scale Tamiya Corsair Mk I a few years back in Aircraft Resource Center. He's not the last word when it comes to paint schemes, but he has done many paint schemes of weathered US Navy subjects, and its certainly worth looking at his models if for no other reason than as a data point and some serious eye candy.

david

[stevehnz]

Hi Tony. A couple of years ago, I did a build of the Airfix Mustang Mk IV in 1/72, very much inspired by your build in AMW. In researching the firewall scheme I came upon the info that these were camo'd by a MU in Italy using US supplied ANA colours. Having a copy of the Monogram colour chips I tried matching these & was pretty happy with Hu155 as ANA 613 OD & Hu27 as ANA 603 Sea grey. See what you think.

Maybe not perfect but not bad to my eye.

Steve.

[tonyot]

Thanks Fella`s,

Dave- I`ll have a look t see if I can find the model that you mean.

Steve,...that is a big help and I see what you mean, the colours are a great match. I will be using Humbrol 27 and I was already drifting towards Humbrol 155 an my best option for Olive Drab too but I think you`ve helped nail it for me,.....cheers mate.

I did a bit more on the model yesterday and here is the progress with the wings assembled and the cowlings in place. The folded wing is only loosely fitted for the moment;

It will soon be time to start masking off the transparencies and get on with the paint job! I still have a nagging doubt that some Mk.I`s had colours matching the British Extra Dark Sea Grey and Dark Slate Grey as seen on Hellcats and Avengers at around the same time but I`d better bite the bullet soon and get on with it!

Cheers

Tony