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100 Years #3 - Vought F4U-1D Corsair


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Hi All

 

The bandages are off, and it's not as bad as it started out as

DSCF5925.jpg

 

DSCF5926.jpg

 

There's plenty of opportunity to exercise my filling-in practice, especially on the underside, where a huge thumb print has appeared out of nowhere...

DSCF5927.jpg

 

 

Anyhoo, once more unto the filler dear friends, once more.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

Edited by ProfSparks
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Hi All

 

An accidentally productive evening!

 

Was meant to be fitting light switches, but you know how things go.

 

Got thinking about how to tackle the engine cowl vents and had to have a try.

 

So, coffee stirrers, a broken file, a Stanley knife blade, Lego, clamp, etc etc

DSCF5928.jpg

 

The blade was clamped to the top of the file to mark the edge, and the Lego was a guide to not make the groove too deep

 

DSCF5929.jpg

 

DSCF5930.jpg

 

DSCF5931.jpg

 

Success!

 

Sort of, as the cowl is too large initially, and should be the diameter of my rebate (ie the same as the body) all the way to the nose.

 

However, I'm not going to fret over it.

 

The next step is to make a strip of thin plastic look like the vents.

DSCF5932.jpg

 

DSCF5933.jpg

 

There's fifteen of them, alternating wide and narrow.

 

I don't fancy cutting them individually, so will probably scribe somehow.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

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Hi All

 

From photos, the real vents are two sizes, one looks about 50% bigger than the other.

The strip round the cowling measured about fifty-six-and-a-bit mm.

So, bear with me on this, if I make a big flap three Units, and the small flap two Units (with me so far?) then seven small flaps and eight big flaps total thirty-eight Units.

(7x2)+(8x3)=38

 

Dividing 56mm by 38 gives a Unit as nearly 1.5mm, so a big flap is about 4.5 mm and a small one about 3mm

DSCF5934.jpg

 

Accounting for pen nib thickness and parallax, that should be spot on.

 

I made cuts across almost the width of the strip, forming a useful bend

DSCF5935.jpg

 

One end was glued on and left to set, double checking I'd glued the continuous edge on

DSCF5936.jpg

 

Then the other end was brought round to meet it, leaving a gap at the top where there are no vents

DSCF5937.jpg

 

Needs a bit of trimming, but as can be seen, the induced curve splays the cut ends open slightly :penguin:

 

DSCF5938.jpg

 

DSCF5939.jpg

 

DSCF5940.jpg

 

I'm counting on the irregularities being soothed with some patchy dark black on the inside and a lumpy dark blue on the outside.

 

That filler could do with some soothing too.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

Edited by ProfSparks
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Hi All

 

Now then, where were we?

 

Ah yes

DSCF5945.jpg

 

:yahoo:

 

Two replacement rear doors and one replacement ruler.

 

The doors had to be replaced because

DSCF5943.jpg

 

And the ruler had to be replaced because.. :angry:

 

Anyhoo, it's just as well I'm not doing it wheels up as there'd be more trouble

DSCF5942.jpg

 

On the plus side, I did manage to mount the engine cowling lower so the size is less noticeable

DSCF5941.jpg

 

 

Off to paint it now while I still have Chi.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

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Hi All

 

Gave it a quick once over with primer, then, being the suspicious type, I gave it a quick flash of very thin Black 33 to try and give the Midnight Blue 16 something to hold on to.

DSCF5946.jpg

 

Some of it could almost be black bias pre shading? :fraidnot:

 

Anyhoo, the Blue sprayed nice and fine

DSCF5947.jpg

 

DSCF5948.jpg

 

But it's obvious where the black undercoat finished

DSCF5949.jpg

 

DSCF5950.jpg

That Midnight Blue definitely had a touch of Calligraphy Turquoise about it.

 

So, off to give it a couple more blasts on where it's thin, although in some lights it looks like wear and tear :hmmm:

 

Probably won't be that noticeable once the large decals are on.

 

Still, overall it looks ok for what it is so far

DSCF5951.jpg

 

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

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Hi All

 

Shiny!

DSCF5952.jpg

 

I might be half way through the decals, or I might still have loads to do.

 

There are dozens of tiny stencil markings, in tiny black print, that go on dark blue. I've put a couple on, but as I'm having difficulty seeing them with my magnifying eye helpers (and I know where they are!), I might not do the other three score and ten.

 

Also, remember the quality of the decals from way back on the #1 Sopwith Pup?

 

Here's more of the same

DSCF5953.jpg

 

An evening spent keeping them soaked in Micro Sol and we get this

DSCF5954.jpg

Should look ok once they've dried.

 

I think I'll pass on the stencils for this one, however the #5 Harrier looks to have hundreds of them.

 

I'll burn that bridge when I get to it.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

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Hi All

 

I skipped the stencils, and once the Micro Sol had dried, I gave it a thinned coat of that Windsor & Newton Matt Varnish

DSCF5955.jpg

 

DSCF5956.jpg

 

Slightly coloured?

 

Reacting with the Micro Sol or the Pledge?

 

 

Anyhoo, started on the front legs.

 

DSCF5957.jpg

 

They look a bit far back (and I'm ignoring everything else wrong with them for the moment), so I notched out part of the support for where the front flap should go

DSCF5958.jpg

And I'm going to put them in there.

 

Also, to me they look a bit long

DSCF5959.jpg

 

The wheel should be almost touching the front flap, so I cut off about 2mm and it looked slightly better.

DSCF5961.jpg

 

The wheels, struts and doors were all painted the same blue as the airframe, so while they dried I had a look at the canopy.

 

Wish I hadn't...

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DSCF5964.jpg

 

It fits least bad when it's lined up at the front, but it leaves a gap round the back.

 

Any thoughts on blending it in?

 

I don't want to use any after market parts, or a canopy from another kit, I'd like to keep it simple in line with my abilities the rest of the build.

 

A strip of plastic card? A wedge of putty?

 

 

Hey-Ho, at least those decals have conformed well.

 

 

Comments, suggestions, and transparent putty welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

 

 

 

Edited by ProfSparks
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Maybe several horse shoes of thin card laminated onto the back of the canopy. This will enable them to conform to the shape if they thin enough, build up to just a little more than you need & rub back for a neat fit & it shouldn't disturb your paintwork.

Steve

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17 hours ago, stevehnz said:

Maybe several horse shoes of thin card laminated onto the back of the canopy. This will enable them to conform to the shape if they thin enough, build up to just a little more than you need & rub back for a neat fit & it shouldn't disturb your paintwork.

Steve

I agree thats probably your best bet for getting the job done without disturbing paint. 

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Hi All

 

I must admit that I'm struggling with thoughts of fitting the canopy.

 

Shimming horseshoes in behind it has me all prickly, and cutting it open would reveal the kid's bedroom cockpit.

 

Anyhoo, the traditional method for dealing with indecision is to put it to one side.

 

Or is it?

 

In the mean time I got the main wheels and doors on

DSCF5970.jpg

 

And the bombs on those... er... whatever they're meant to be

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DSCF5972.jpg

 

Still trying to avoid the bubble, I started on the tail wheel

DSCF5973.jpg

Not exactly inspiring.

 

However, with a couple of sprue scraps and some guesswork

DSCF5975.jpg

 

Ta-dah!

DSCF5976.jpg

 

:hobbyhorse:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, back to the canopy then...

 

 

Comments, suggestions and other distractions welcome

 

Oh, look, a pink elephant! :elephant:

 

 

Cheers

Steve

 

Edited by ProfSparks
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Here's another vote for sawing it open.

Sure, the cockpit might be far from the real thing, but no one will notice that when it sits on the shelf, whereas the non fitting rear hood will stick out like a sore thumb.

 

Very nice paintfinish too!

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The success of sawing open the canopy depends a lot on how thick the plastic is.  If you cut the canopy from the windscreen, the canopy will still need to fit over the fuaulage in the open position.  The thickness of the canopy material will probably stop this from happening.  

 

Unless you fancy some plung moulding of clear material (I've never really had success at this) I think I would go for an after market canopy which is thin enough when it is cut to spring over the fuselage but there again if it's a good fit you might choose to leave it closed..  

 

As an aside, I have seen a picture somewhere of a pilot on cockpit readiness, reading the paper with an umbrella up over the canopy shading him.  So it you want the canopy open but don't want people to see so much of your cockpit then perhaps a 1/72 umbrella is the thing...

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Hi All

 

Having slept on it, I'm going to throw trepidation to the wind and saw it open!

 

As far as I can tell, it should be wide enough to slip over the back without looking as gnarley as bodging it in closedDSCF5977.jpg

 

So, anyone got a favourite saw, and where do I get one from?

 

I've sometimes thought of getting one previously, but now I have good reason :thumbsup:

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

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Hi All

 

On 1/27/2018 at 7:29 AM, Teuchter said:

Thanks Don, I've had a look, plenty people use them and they seem like the biz, so I've ordered a set. And just to make up the postage I've included one of their PE bender gizmos too.

 

It's inevitable that I'll lurch from cobbling together naff old kits, to cobbling together decent modern kits with PE etc, so best be prepared!

 

 

Anyhoo, the end draws on apace.

 

I fitted the tail wheel

DSCF5978.jpg

Although the auto focus seemed more interested in my paintbrush holder and coffee stirrers.

 

I have some fine mesh that I intended to cover the wing radiator intakes with, but I tried for ages until could feel the Red Mist descending, so made a tactical withdrawal

DSCF5979.jpg

I may try again later when it is less possessed by Mischievous Demons.

 

 

Thso, apart from the engine wash and prop, that's about as far as I'm going. All it needs is the canopy sawing apart and I'm going to wait on the delivery before I tackle that.

 

Would it be bad form to start the next one before this one's finished?

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

 

 

Edited by ProfSparks
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi All

 

Toys in the post...

DSCF6066.jpg

 

They do look so lovely, it's almost a shame to get them out and cover them in grubby fingerprints.

 

I've put the bending machine to one side as to not get ahead of myself. There be plenty fun later!

 

Locked and loaded, supported internally as it's already cracked from out of the bag in post 1

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I put some masking tape over to give a guide line for the cut, and after several minutes of holding my breath

DSCF6068.jpg

 

It worked :yahoo:

 

And it didn't crack any more!

 

So there we have it.

 

The canopy frames were less than distinct (who would have guessed?) so I painted them freehand. Slightly darker, but not a deal breaker.

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I'll get some RFI pics tomorrow if it stops raining, but for now I'm calling it done.

 

Thanks for all your help and support, see you on the next one!

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome (but it's too late now)

 

Cheers

Steve

 

 

Edited by ProfSparks
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