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Big ol' F4U-1A by Revell


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5 minutes ago, rob Lyttle said:

I was right to do that, Dennis, wasn't I?? 

Yes as far as i know they're straight, thats how ive been building them my whole life. 
 

https://drawingdatabase.com/vought-f4u-corsair/

 

This should help if you dont have them yet. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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On 11/27/2019 at 9:13 PM, rob Lyttle said:

Tell me this @spitfire

did you make use of the folding mechanism on the wings?? 

I can't visualise it being a successful outcome for the look of the plane, but I'd like to know if it can be done 

I did not attempt to build them with wings folded, I do not normally build my kits with open panels or folded wings so cannot comment on the ability to do that.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

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Right O. 

I have a change of plan with regards to the wings/fuselage assembly sequence. 

There's no doubt that the joint provision on this kit for the wing roots to the fuselage sides is worse than "vague", as previously stated. 

Considering that this is THE primary joint in an aeroplane model, I mean the Joint of Joints, The Nulli Secunus of kit joints, what you get is wholy inadequate. 

Here's my plan.... 

 

I've already added a fair bit of structure to the inboard wing panels. They are just a hollow box and with the flaps cut off, some internal structure is required. 

IMG_20191128_234717

>

IMG_20191128_234826

So I decided to add a bit more. 

A strip along the wing root edge that will actually protrude into the fuselage and give that arched opening something to glue to. 

IMG_20191130_233909

 

This is now ready to be assembled on to the centre section... 

IMG_20191130_234019

 

IMG_20191130_234111

.... and with only the faintest adjustment to the aperture in the fuselage side, the whole thing goes together like this dry run suggests.... 

IMG_20191201_002550

If you have a little zoom on there you can see the white strip of the extra plastic strip showing.... without the strip that would be a gaping void straight into the fuselage. 

So my plan is to do the other wing, and build the entire wings assembly and then fit it on to the fuselage bottom, making full use of the mating surfaces now provided along the wing roots! 

Hopefully that should be reasonably free of filler, and I can concentrate on sorting the gaps left where the flaps were designed to cover. 

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Hello Rob... Knowing your interest in Foil this might be a good option for you as well. F4U-1A “Sally”. She was a rear area hack normally associated with VMF-122. But my research shows it attached to Marine service squadron 11 or H&SB 11. 

 

https://combatace.com/forums/topic/75843-white-f4u-corsair/

 

Scroll down a little bit. 


Dennis

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An interesting option! And a couple of good pictures from the time. 

The colour picture though, of the plane in flight, has got FlightSim written all over it. 

Prop disc, pilot, wrong canopy, and the front mast.... 

The idea of a bunch of fitters making a flying airframe from parts of wrecks is intriguing to say the least! 

Ultimate 1/1modelling!! 

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Here's the complete wing assembly, 

IMG_20191202_142205

And this is the trailing edges where the flaps will fit. 

IMG_20191202_142113

I've got the outboard flaps made up and ready to go, and these two pieces fitted into the wing with curved ends are what they will be attached to... 

IMG_20191202_141821

There's no point making a perfect concave closure all along the rear of the wing since the flap pieces will cover it all. 

I'm just going to concentrate on similar bracket fittings for the inboard flaps. 

The important thing for the wing top is to get the trailing edges thinned right down where the flaps fit underneath. 

I need to sort some Ali tube exhaust stubs in the bottom of the fuselage while I have access, and then the whole lot is going together 😇

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On 27/11/2019 at 21:13, rob Lyttle said:

Tell me this @spitfire

did you make use of the folding mechanism on the wings?? 

I can't visualise it being a successful outcome for the look of the plane, but I'd like to know if it can be done 

I built one of these earlier in the year and was determined to have the wings folded (mainly due to a lack of display space 😝) and had a bit of a battle with the soft plastic hinge. I ended up cutting the original hinge off and bending a heavy duty paperclip into the right shape and using that. It looked very sparse so I bashed some basic detail, trying to replicate some pictures I found on the web.

 

2019-12-02_02-58-00

 

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Good effort @Gadget2012!

The extra work looks good. 

I was originally thinking about a folded wing for the same reason, but I'll find a space for it somewhere, even if it's in the loft!! 

I think Revell are suggesting that the structure can be done so that the hinges move, and the wings can be folded and opened as required. 

I definitely can't see that ending in a successful way! 

You got the wings attached to the fuselage OK?? 

Well I can see you have.... Just wondering how it went!? 

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Well, it's on, 

Pipes fitted and the whole wing assembly fixed to the fuselage. 

IMG_20191203_164114

The pipes protruding into the engine bay are bent up against the fire wall in the general direction of what I guess is a collecter ring that Revell have modelled for the exhaust system. 

It's not right, but the only view is through the cooling flaps so I'm not going to make an ordeal of the pipe system. 

As long as the engine fits, I'm leaving it! 

IMG_20191203_163839

The BIG join up went well and I'm glad I did a bit of ground work first to expedite the process. 

I'm getting some ppp filler in the fuselage gaps where the flaps have been removed, and a couple of dabs elsewhere, but the main wing root joints are looking great! 

😎

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Wanted to paste this on for convenience. 

It's a bit of a palaver to navigate to and around the walkaround section here. 

I think it's a pity that such a great BM resource is tucked away at the back. 

The really fine sharp trailing edges of the flying surfaces is very evident on the reference pictures, and it's a serious issue with this old kit. 

I've been trying to get them sharper, and I'll get some photos done and describe what I have done 

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11 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

Wanted to paste this on for convenience. 

It's a bit of a palaver to navigate to and around the walkaround section here. 

I think it's a pity that such a great BM resource is tucked away at the back. 

Thx, its no more tucked away at the back than any other section.

 

Section is split along traditional lines and every title lists manufacturer first with designation second. Oh and that the original designer/manufacturer before any mergers and buy outs. Hence the McDonnell F-4 Phantom as they designed it before the company merged with Douglas.

 

There will be no Boeing P-51D etc in the section!

Juien

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1 hour ago, Julien said:

its no more tucked away at the back

The organisation and listing is spot on. I just think it ought to be promoted up a level out of the resources section. 

So that, under Aircraft Modelling, you get the WIPs, the RFIs, and Walkarounds right there.

And then Resources and the rest. 

It's that useful! 

BAe Canberra, anyone?? 😮

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I've used a lot of elbow grease recently trying to get the trailing edges on the elevators, ailerons and rudder thinned down, and all with very little effect. 

The parts are unyielding slabs of styrene. 

Having achieved my best efforts, I starting thinking of a workaround. 

And here's my efforts.... 

IMG_20191205_194654

So this is the rudder, and that is a length of stretched sprue in dark blue. 

I flatted the edge of the rudder a little and preformed the curve on the sprue and glued it on. 

A short while later, a smear of filler - the very handy ppp- to blend it with a surface.... 

IMG_20191205_211243

I've moved the trim tab a little, so I'll sort it out separately, later. 

I've done the same thing with the ailerons.... 

IMG_20191126_234832

The process adds a mm or so to the part, but it does give something to work with for sanding and shaping into a more pointed edge. 

I won't really know how successful it is visually until I get some primer on and then see what it looks like, but I'm hoping it'll be an improvement on the kit parts. 

Check out the edges on the rudder on this.... 

GJ-Corsair-007.JPG

The flap sections are getting the same treatment as they are made ready, and that's basically all the trailing edges accounted for! 

😎

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This is what the rudder looks like at the moment. 

IMG_20191206_000707

 

IMG_20191206_000735

I think a little more abrasion will produce more of an edge. At least I've got some material to work on. 

I've worked on a couple of details. 

The gunsight was awful so that's gone, and I worked up an alternative based on a transparent piece from the spares and some wire. 

IMG_20191206_224412

What I'm seeing in searches looks like an early HUD system complete with a big angled screen (armour??) inside the front canopy and the lens topped sight pointing at it. 

I made a screen on 2 rails of stretched sprue and 2 fine cuts into the edge of the front canopy. 

The sprue runners were bent up as support legs and glued into the cuts to hold the screen off the canopy windscreen.... 

IMG_20191206_224451_BURST001_COVER

Can you make out what I'm talking about? 😅

The extra sprue will be trimmed off later when it's all settled. 

The screen looks like it's armour grade in the refs, and the F4U-1A has the curved front windscreen, which suggests to me that it's perspex. 

Later marks seem to have the flat armoured windscreen. 

So maybe this internal addon screen is the bulletproof part. 

Anyway, I've taken a shot at it! 

I also got the engine and cowling fitted. 

IMG_20191206_224545

 

IMG_20191206_224521

I have done a bit of work on the engine. 

Some of it done a while ago, and I'll do a quick resume of this next. 

Oh yeah, the 2 outer flaps are fitted in position. 

Looking a bit more like a Corsair now! 

👍

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5 minutes ago, rob Lyttle said:

What I'm seeing in searches looks like an early HUD system complete with a big angled screen (armour??) inside the front canopy and the lens topped sight pointing at it. 

Thats a fairly accurate way of describing the reflector gunsights. Yes its armored glass on the inside. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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This is what the outer flaps are looking like... 

IMG_20191207_213550_BURST001_COVER

Some sticky-back Ali foil details added to indicate the structure. 

IMG_20191207_213613

The trailing edge's extra sprue strip can be seen. 

I also did a quick mod on the vertical tail with some holes, as in other builds I've seen... 

IMG_20191207_213730

It was looking a bit weird until I realised it was the thickness of the white plastic insert piece that was messing up the appearance. I painted matt black in the holes to make that disappear, and the look of is much improved. 

The front canopy isn't fixed yet, and I'm having a 2nd go at the armour screen. 

Having looked again at some of the reference material, I thought it could be improved. 

Here's where it's at.... 

IMG_20191207_213643

We'll see how this goes.... 😎

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