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WIP - Tamiya 1:32 Vought F4U-1 Corsair "Birdcage" #60324 - FINISHED


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Dear All,

So I have made a start on my latest model. I do this for fun/relaxation, not so good at it.....but getting better. Here is the pit/office all done..........................and yes, before anyone says anything, the interior green isn't correct.....but its what I had and is good enough for my humble needs.

 

Enjoy........comments / suggestions (good or bad) welcome as they will only make my skills improve.

 

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Edited by Starspell
Changed to finished
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Håkan is correct the Corsair is a Kool plane ! I agree the green isnt correct. However who’s to say someone didnt mix up a batch of green at a maintenance depot. The cockpit needed a redo during a maintenance cycle, and the green wasn't quite right ? 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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I have a great interest in the Corsair as with all piston aircraft. Just don't forget that sound when it zips by.  Cockpit looking good and the weathering. I'll take a seat and add my 2 cents if needed.

 

Ron VanDerwarker

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So, have had a fruitful weekend, Fathers Day at a classic car show with some mighty fine examples on show :)  In amongst all this I also got to get the fuse buttoned up and made a fair start on the engine.

One thing I must say is that the fit on this model has continued to amaze.....it all just lines up perfect and haven't need any filler....so far (keeping fingers firmly crossed)

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Edited by Starspell
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So, the last couple of days has been a lot of World Cup Football so not so much on the modelling front. Bench is a bit of a mess, maybe I'll have a little sort out tomorrow 

Fuselage is buttoned up, rear stabs on and started on all the bits and pieces inside (don't know what they're called.....bits inside suits me!). Decided to go with wings down, thought about 1 up and 1 down but figure I'll probably end up confusing myself....gonna keep it simple.........good old KISS!

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So, have got a little more progress today.....which has now ground to a halt subject to a run to the local HS to grab some more Insignia White and primer.

Have got the "wing sub assembly" finished and mated to the fuselage. All went together amazingly well and only required a tiny bit of perfect plastic putty on the wing roots. Got the left side of the undercarriage done but not fitted.

To those that have gone before me on this model....question....am I better of spraying up the top coat colours on what I have so far and then attach the rest of the wing assys when done....or get it all together and do it when all assy is done?

Looks to be lots of little gaps (intakes etc) that will need temporarily filling prior to spraying.

Colours I am using are Tamiya rattle can but I don't think I will get much in the way of good demarcation. Is it easy to decant rattle can paint to then be able to spray with airbrush where I feel I will have a lot more control?

 

Anyways, this is where I am now:

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Just found this, and I have to say that you're making good ( and rapid ) progress. I have a Trumpeter -1D which I'm hoping to backdate to a ' Birdcage ' with the help of a couple of Tamiya sprues and a Blackbox cockpit set.

I started mine a couple of years ago but it took so long to build the engine that I lost interest ( having a somewhat low boredom threshold ), but arter seeing this I might pick it up again in the near future.

 

Looking forward to more.

 

John

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So, a bit more progress over the last couple of days, but seem to have run into an issue. Atttached flaps to wing roots and built up the rest of the wing assemblies. Test fitted the wings to the root via the long sticky out rods before putting the top and bottom of the wings together and all was good. Trouble is, now I've joined the two halves together the wings only go part way up the 'rod' and then bind up solid! Anyone else encountered this? If so, how did you overcome without detrimental effect to the integrity/strength to the whole joint?..........I have seem many people comment that this is already a weak point on the model.

Plan tomorrow is to either sand the 'rods' down until they go in......or cut a couple of inches off of the 'rods'...........which way would you go?? 

Maybe a little graphite to help it slip in....or maybe washing up liquid?

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Edited by Starspell
Added graphite comment
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Not common for Tamiya to have fit issues. Carefully sanding is what I would try.

 

Håkan

 

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After careful sanding/fitting...sanding/fitting... of the 'spars' finally got the wings attached. Took multiple goes and had to reduce the height and width of the spars...but got there in the end.

Quick shot of primer and doesn't look half bad to me 😉

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Undercarriage is all done and weathered

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Next step is to mask up the canopy..........the kit came with these masks.....never used masks before so this will be an adventure......just wish they had been pre-cut as I've seen mentioned elsewhere that many masks come that way.......

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Edited by Starspell
Added mask photo
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On 6/28/2018 at 3:26 PM, Starspell said:

So, a bit more progress over the last couple of days, but seem to have run into an issue. Atttached flaps to wing roots and built up the rest of the wing assemblies. Test fitted the wings to the root via the long sticky out rods before putting the top and bottom of the wings together and all was good. Trouble is, now I've joined the two halves together the wings only go part way up the 'rod' and then bind up solid! Anyone else encountered this? If so, how did you overcome without detrimental effect to the integrity/strength to the whole joint?..........I have seem many people comment that this is already a weak point on the model.

Plan tomorrow is to either sand the 'rods' down until they go in......or cut a couple of inches off of the 'rods'...........which way would you go?? 

Maybe a little graphite to help it slip in....or maybe washing up liquid?

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Hi Starspell,

I hate to be blunt but the issue with the wing spars is a mistake many builders have made, and its not a fault of the kit; it's operator error. If you look closely at the kit instructions they indicate to NOT glue the sleeves into the outboard wing that the spars nest into; merely set them into position. I've built 2 Birdcage Corsairs so far and had no problems at all. But it's really important that you study the instructions and a lot of model builders have failed to do this.

 

david

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On 6/29/2018 at 3:03 PM, Starspell said:

After careful sanding/fitting...sanding/fitting... of the 'spars' finally got the wings attached. Took multiple goes and had to reduce the height and width of the spars...but got there in the end.

Quick shot of primer and doesn't look half bad to me 😉

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Undercarriage is all done and weathered

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Next step is to mask up the canopy..........the kit came with these masks.....never used masks before so this will be an adventure......just wish they had been pre-cut as I've seen mentioned elsewhere that many masks come that way.......

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Hi Steve,

If you have some .020 plastic card and sanding sticks handy, using these masks is a doddle. Rough cut one of the masks from the sheet and stick it to a piece of card. Nibble away up to but not too close to the black outline with a sprue cutters, and then sand down to the black line using dry sanding sticks. Its a little slow, but if you go right up to the line you will find that these masks work very very well.

 

Just a thought....

 

david

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Looks really good with the wings on :) I found that leaving off the inboard flaps as long as possible made it easier to spray the separation between colours at the wing root.

 

-d-

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1 hour ago, David H said:

Looks really good with the wings on :) I found that leaving off the inboard flaps as long as possible made it easier to spray the separation between colours at the wing root.

 

-d-

Thanks for the tip David. I guess the inboard flaps are these.....and if so it is too late for me but certainly something I will bear in mind for the future.

 

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Regarding my little 'issue' with the spars not fitting..........I figured it was of my own doing as the dry fit was good (before glue was done). I am away from home on business to Houston for a few weeks but will certainly have to look and see how I missed the instructions "NOT glue the sleeves into the outboard wing". going to have to look much closer in the future 😳

 

Still very much a novice at this so still learning all the time.

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