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French Vought F4U-7 question...


Artie

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Good evening. I'd like to build a french Aeronavale F4U-7 in 1/48 scale, and wonder wich option would be the best....

First option, the Hasegawa kit (reboxed by Revell at some point), but seems to be an "evasive" kit whenever I try to look for one online.

The second option would be the Heller kit, easily available, but not exent of issues. I don't mind the raised panel lines or lack of cockpit detail. In fact, I really enjoy those "old school" models.

Third option, the Hobby Boss kit. Completely wrong wing, I'm afraid. But for that price, I'd expect a most accurate kit.

 

Now, what I've got in my stash so far: An Hasegawa F4U-5 and an Academy F4U-4B. None of them are useful for my purpose, I'm afraid...

 

What dou you think about it..???

 

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Hello @Artie ... Having built the heller -7 let me say this, get the Hasegawa. Then again if you're a masochist go for the heller. I gave up about 2/3rds of the way on my build as it was more filler than plastic. I wasn't even trying to do anything special like rescribe.

     No if i could find a Hasegawa -7 I’d be happy. Definitely on my list of stuff to look for at the swap meet im going to next month. That and an Au-1. Those are my two of my 3 elusives, the last being an F2G. 

 

Dennis

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Hello

There was a debate about the same question (I think the OP was boom boom) here on BM about a year or so ago. I could not find it now but, in short, the recommendation would be to stick with the Hasegawa kit. F4U-5, AU-1 and F4U-7 were all of the same length and also shared the same basic cowling shape with different carburetor air intakes or, in the case of AU-1, without it. So in order to convert F4U-5 cowling into the F4U-7 version, one would have to blank off side intakes and scratch-build chin intake. I would advise you against Heller kit. I have their AU-1 and while raised panels do not bother me either, the shape of its nose in front view is just plain circular like on early Corsair versions. To remedy this, one would have to modify not only cowling, but also fuselage just aft of it. I have no idea what to do with that kit, but I am certainly not going to build it as AU-1. Cheers

Jure

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Agree with Dennis. I've built the Hobbyboss version and while it needs some work it turns into a nice model. The "fabric" on the wings was filled in with putty and sanded to make a "metal wing. The cockpit interior need a bit of work and the actuators on the tail surfaces need to be removed. I've read that the cowling is wrong but it looks OK by me. I've never built the Heller version so can't offer any opinion

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Hi Artie, Revell issued Hasegawa`s 48th F4U-7, maybe easier to find than the Has` boxing ?

Don`t bother with the Heller kit, it`s awful.

Happy hunting

Russ

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Thanks, Sirs......I'll wait for a Revell kit to be found at a reasonable price....I've seen some kits for sale online, but the shipping from the States is an armed robbery, to say the least.....

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9 hours ago, Jure Miljevic said:

F4U-5, AU-1 and F4U-7 were all of the same length

According to the Vought Aircraft Heritage website, the F4U-7 and AU-1 were the same length, at 34.1' but the F4U-5 was shorter, at 33.5' A little puzzling, since the F4U-7 and AU-1 were both based on the F4U-5 airframe, according to most sources, I would think the overall length would be the same for all three. I have attached a link to the Vought Heritage website which has specs, photos, and descriptions of all Vought aircraft- it is an excellent modeling resource, and I hope many of you will find it useful for any Vought modeling projects. This one's for you, Dennis! @Corsairfoxfouruncle

Mike

 

https://www.vought.org/index.html

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6 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Thanks i bookmarked the site and will enjoy perusing this later today. Im going to need something to read at the Doctors. 

CCFFU- nothing serious, I trust?

Mike

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Hello Mike @72modeler ... No today was SWMBO’s Therapy & Tomorrow is my standard check-up. Just normal Doctor type stuff. I see a Doctor quite regularly my Foot surgeon once a month my G/P about every 2/3 months. And the occasional specialist as needed. Trying to stay two footed as long as possible. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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9 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Hello Mike @72modeler ... No today was SWMBO’s Therapy & Tomorrow is my standard check-up. Just normal Doctor type stuff. I see a Doctor quite regularly my Foot surgeon once a month my G/P about every 2/3 months. And the occasional specialist as needed. Trying to stay two footed as long as possible. 

Thanks for the update, Dennis! Now I can worry about something else!

Mike

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It is probably the usual trouble with picking up dimensions from sketches, overloaded with measurements. In French publication about AU-1 and F4U-7 from Les ailes de glorie Vought sketch of AU-1 is included. However, on drawings and tables authors mistakenly used the length of the aircraft, standing on the ground, instead of the one in flying attitude. The length given is thus about six and a half inches too short. Cheers

Jure

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The Vought Heritage site has two of the three lengths correct although as Jure points out, from a measurement standpoint they are not consistent. The F4U-5 length given is clearly wrong, since it is less than the F4U-4's. In summary, all three were the same length when measured the same way. For more, see my updated https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-last-propeller-pulled-corsairs-f4u.html

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12 hours ago, Tailspin Turtle said:

The Vought Heritage site has two of the three lengths correct although as Jure points out, from a measurement standpoint they are not consistent. The F4U-5 length given is clearly wrong, since it is less than the F4U-4's. In summary, all three were the same length when measured the same way. For more, see my updated https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-last-propeller-pulled-corsairs-f4u.html

Thank you so much, Tommy- I knew you would be able to set the record straight...I was very confused when I read the overall lengths listed on the Vought Heritage site. Too bad Italeri didn't do decent research when they released their 1/72 Corsairs, all of which have very significant issues.

Mike

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Hello Mike

About 1/72 late Corsair kits ... I bought new Revell F4U-4 kit (black box) and expected to find repacked old Italeri kit. Actually, it is a new one and the kit is an unusual mix of early six machine guns F4U-1 wings, four cannon F4U-4B barrels, pear shaped engine cowling and chin intake of F4U-7, low canopy F4U-4 fuselage and F4U-4B decals. The kit's fuselage is too short, yes, but with some scratch-building (extending front fuselage just aft of cowl flaps) and kit bashing (exchanging fabric covered wings for all-metal Italeri kit wings) could be transformed into a presentable late Corsair. Cheers

Jure

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OK then - how do the drawings on the Vought Heritage site compare to reality? I had been looking in various sources for the precise gun access panel layout of the-4B, but I am not sure if the drawings are specific in this respect. At least one source, possibly Aero Detail, annotated the layout as „provisional“.

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On ‎10‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 10:49 AM, Jure Miljevic said:

Hello Mike

About 1/72 late Corsair kits ... I bought new Revell F4U-4 kit (black box) and expected to find repacked old Italeri kit. Actually, it is a new one and the kit is an unusual mix of early six machine guns F4U-1 wings, four cannon F4U-4B barrels, pear shaped engine cowling and chin intake of F4U-7, low canopy F4U-4 fuselage and F4U-4B decals. The kit's fuselage is too short, yes, but with some scratch-building (extending front fuselage just aft of cowl flaps) and kit bashing (exchanging fabric covered wings for all-metal Italeri kit wings) could be transformed into a presentable late Corsair. Cheers

Jure

Jure,

 

I got the kit when it was released, with high expectations, but promptly got rid of it- it was a big disappointment, especially considering there are preserved examples on both sides of the pond to examine and the current CAD  technology. (It was almost like Revell couldn't make up its mind which version it wanted to do.) I have the Hobbyboss and Italeri F4U-4 kits, and they are a mixed bag as well. Italeri tried to get too many variants out of one basic set of sprues, but in doing so, they got none of the four versions they released right- if they had done better research and had engineered the sprues better, they could have done so with two sets of wings and two sets of fuselages with inserts/sections to get the various exhaust/cowling variations needed as well as inserts to cater to the three different canopies/windscreens fitted.

 

Barring release of a state of the art dash Four through AU-1 Corsair in 1/72, I have an OOP IPMS France Transkit No. 1 conversion set that has scale drawings, text, detail photos, vacform, and resin parts that will let you build any of those versions. I've been doing research for several years collecting references, modeling articles, scale drawings, and parts to do the late Corsairs, always hoping that somebody (C'mon, Tamiya or Special Hobby!) will do state of the art kits.

 

If I were going to start a 1/72 scale F4U-4 right now, I would use either a Tamiya or Hasegawa F4U-1D as the foundation, and then use the best parts from the Hobbyboss or Italeri kits, as needed. it's been a while since I had all my kits and drawings out, but off the top of my head was thinking about:

 

Use the nose ring and center section of the HB F4U-4 cowling and drill out the engine, substituting a correct C-series R-2800 and making new cowl flaps to replace the HB 'fish gills'

Use a HS 4-blade prop, with reshaped blade profile, from the JoHan, Tamiya, or Revell P-47D (Quickboost?)

Use the belly fairing from the Italeri F4U-4, as it has the correct shape and the lower exhaust recesses; need to make the recesses for the catapault hooks and open the outlet door for the ventral accessory section slightly

Cut the fuselage halves at the wing root leading edge and use the corresponding part from the Italeri kit to get the side exhaust recesses; could also grind them out of the Tamiya fuselage halves; make exhaust stacks for the upper and lower exhaust recesses.

As I want to do an F4U-4B, remove the wing panel containing the case chutes and replace with the panel from the Italeri kit; could also fill and cut new chute openings on the Tamiya wings. If doing an F4U-4 with the six .50cal guns, you won't have to modify the Tamiya wings

If the model subject is an early production Dash-4, ( BuNo 80764-758, 81779-828) you can use the windscreen and canopy from the Tamiya -1D; if you are doing a late production Dash-4 with the flat windscreen and wider canopy ( BuNo 81759-778, 81829-on) you will need to substitute a suitable vacform canopy or make your own. The Hobbyboss kit does come with both styles and the late version is  pretty close

Make a suitable seat, as the Dash-4's and subsequent used a bucket attached to the armored bulkhead, not a seat like on the F4U-1's; also the Dash-4's and subsequent had a floor to the cockpit; might need to find or make a suitable K-14 or equivalent gunsight, and of course the side consoles are different than those in the Tamiya -1D kit

Obviously, you will need to use whichever cannon barrels, pylons, extended tailwheel strut and doors look best as well as deciding what stores/tanks to hang under it- remember the offset rocket stub pylon that is attached under one of the cannon plugs.

 

Sounds like a modeler's rant, right? I just love Corsairs so much that I guess I am pretty critical of some of the newer releases, and a modeler who wants any version badly enough will be able to take what's out there to make an accurate model, but my personal opinion, and it's mine only most likely, is you shouldn't have to do a conversion to make a kit release into what it's advertised on the box to be! I have most likely left out some other details, but that's what I recall- had to look up the BuNo's for the canopies, though- the old Mk 1a memory banks ain't what they used to be!

Mike

 

BTW, Jure- I always appreciate the information and posts you share here on BM- I  save them for future use! 👍

Edited by 72modeler
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Hello Mike

Many thanks for your study on late F4U kit bashing which, too, was duly saved for future use. My collection of 1/72 Corsairs is not even nearly as large as yours as I only bought four Italeri kits some time ago and three new Revell kits more recently. One part that would help to improve kit's look substantially would be suitable Revell's P-47 D crankcase, although I suspect the HS kit's part is probably of comparable if not superior quality.

Otherwise, I share your frustrations about inadequate kits and even more so about insufficient or inaccurate information about even most basic questions concerning models and full-scale originals. This lack of information is difficult to digest with all those Corsairs available in museums around the world. One can always try and force a new, accurate kit into a market by heavy commitment into conversion or a total kit-bashing of one or several of the existing kits. Of course, for this purpose only a maximum effort with indecent amount of money and work hours sunk into it will do: no half-hearted attempt will pass many variations of Murphy's Law so it is probably not worth it. By the way, I read somewhere Murphy was an aircraft engineer. If so, this would explain a lot. Cheers

Jure

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