Tamiya 1/48 Corsair F4U-1A

[Jimbobtheflimbob]

Well it's been a while since my last post here but the lock down has been the perfect opportunity to do some more modelling. It had been about a year since I made my last model, but recently I've gone on a bit of a spree making an Airfix Buccaneer and Phantom (for which i'm planning to do ready for inspections soon), all building up to this tamiya corsair. It's been in the stash for ages and I've been waiting to source the right paints and develop my weathering skills a little before starting. The corsair is a personal favourite of mine after seeing the fighter collection example at airshows a number of times I finally got around to buying the Hataka USN paint set so now it's time to start! I began with my first attempt at making my own belts. I've previously used eduard photo-etch belts but making my own from tape and copper wire was a whole different beast, although it was fairly enjoyable despite losing several belt buckles when they went flying across the desk! I haven't built a tamiya kit in years so i'm looking forward to a "glue in the box and shake it" build. 

 

handmade belts. I'm pretty chuffed with them for a first attempt

 

I'm still undecided whether to use the stock engine or buy a resin aftermarket engine, but i have a feeling i'll go with stock since im planning to have the cowls shut anyway.

Will

Edited April 17, 2020 by Jimbobtheflimbob

[Crane]

pictures are not working for me

 

I'm working on the 1/72 version, so I will check in frequently!

[Kitchen Modeller]

No images for me either - what image website are you using? I have this kit in the stash so looking forward to seeing how you get on😊

[Grey Beema]

I can’t see your photos either.

 

I would go with the stock engine, I did for both of mine.  I did add the ignition leads to the cylinders from the ignition harness but You can’t see that much anyway..

 

This is how they came out.

 

 

Hope it helps..

 

 

 

 

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Likewise the Tamiya engine paints up ok

 

 

[Jimbobtheflimbob]

They look very nice. I'll go with stock then. I've tried putting the photos on a different hosting site so hopefully they should be visible now.

[Kitchen Modeller]

49 minutes ago, Jimbobtheflimbob said:

They look very nice. I'll go with stock then. I've tried putting the photos on a different hosting site so hopefully they should be visible now.

Yep can see them now...! Nice work on the cockpit - looking good. Scratched seat belts look pretty good also - maybe dirty them up a little? 

[Jimbobtheflimbob]

I've made a fair bit of progress with the corsair. First i assembled the engine. this included my first attempt at a wiring harness and second ever attempt at scratch building. Also painted the fuselage insides and put the fuselage and wing centre section together. I'm trying to decide whether to install and paint the gear before or after painting, but first i'm trying to get the main airframe completed before painting. So far this kit has been very enjoyable. Much easier to assemble than the last few airfix kits i've made. After dry fitting the outer wing sections don't quite seem to fit straight but i think it should go together fine regardless.

[Jackson Duvalier]

Looking good, Jimbob.  I'm also of the mind that Tamiya's stock engine is quite good enough for most purposes short of an all-out contest build.  It looks good without wiring and great with it.

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Regarding the undercarriage, I leave that off wherever I can to ease painting, masking etc. My record of photos of the one above confirms that I did that here too - you can easily plug them in later

 

 

The lazy cheating git's way of masking the undercarriage bays though, if airbrushing, is not to worry about it and just mask over the flat exterior later to airbrush in the zinc chromate. Much easier than masking off the bays themselves!

 

[Grey Beema]

I stuff the undercarriage bay with damp kitchen roll.  If it’s damp it’s easier to manipulate..

[The Spadgent]

7 minutes ago, Grey Beema said:

I stuff the undercarriage bay with damp kitchen roll.  If it’s damp it’s easier to manipulate..

I was going to say little bits of sponge but damp kitchen roll🤔 that’s a good idea. 💡

Looking great by the way. I love this aeroplane so I’ll tag along if that’s ok?

 

Johnny. 

[Jimbobtheflimbob]

I've made a fair bit of progress since the last update. Wings are on and everything is masked up for painting. Masking the canopy was a complete nightmare as the tape kept moving around but its done now at least. Unfortunately I broke a bit off the windscreen, although it is part of the frame where it meets the fuselage so i've filled it and im just waiting for it to dry. the flaps were a little tricky to align but all good so far. 

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Looking good. FWIW you'll end up repainting those wheel wells anyway - tissue never really adequately protects the edges in my experience and you'll get undersurface paint to varying degrees all round the opening.

[Jackson Duvalier]

Not to be a wet blanket, but I'm pretty sure Corsair wheel wells were painted the overall underside colour (i.e., white for an F4U-1A).  You could save yourself some effort with the masking.

 

 

[Jimbobtheflimbob]

Normally I put masking tape around the weel well edges or just repaint it with a brush. I did see that the wheel wells are often white but I thought the green would add a bit of interest to the underside, and besides the instructions have the wheels wells as the same colour as the cockpit

[Marklo]

I’d normally Bluetac the gear doors in place, Airfix for example usually supply a closed and an open set, the former are usually perfect as masks.

[Jimbobtheflimbob]

Painting is almost finished. For this project i've been using a home made airbrus spray booth made from foamboard and a delta 120mm fan. It has sort of been a WIP with the plane as it seems to evolve every time i get it out but now im pretty happy with it. Originally it had a standard computer fan but it did nothing to remove the fumes so i now have a 150CFM fan instead. It is terribly loud when you have your head anywhere near the booth but it does a good job at removing the paint fumes at least. I used the Hataka USN late war set and had very mixed results. Preshading was done with humbrol 33 and was a bit of a mess as the combination of a lack of experience and skill, the large 0.5mm nozzle on my airbrush and numerous different consistencies of paint made it a bit splotchy and uneven.

Painting the white on the underside of the aircraft was without a doubt the most unpleasant experience i've ever had with painting a model. The hataka insignia white would not mix with any thinner I tried and it was a constant cycle of the airbrush jamming and then spraying pure thinner with a slight tinge of white. It took an entire afternoon to paint the bottom of the fuselage and the wing centre section.

The intermediate blue and sea blue on the top of the aircraft went on much easier. strangely the white on the bottom was very thick but refused to be thinned, whereas the blue paints could be sprayed without thinning. It was a bit of a pain trying to  get even remotely crisp demarcations between the colours with the 0.5mm nozzle but i dont fancy splashing out £50ish for a 0.2mm nozzle for my iwata revolution that i'll probably clog up immediately. I had to do a bit of touching up with a brush but im pretty happy with it now. 

I didn't notice until i'd already packed all the airbrush stuff away that i'd painted the tail sides for the wrong decal option - the intermediate blue (for 'big hog' which i'm modelling) should go to the end of the tail, so i had to patch that up with a brush. it looks better than in the photos as i did a bit more work on it after but the difference in finish is still a little apparent even after the clear coat. 

I did realize a few hours ago that the white on the bottom of the nose should go all the way to the front of the cowl for 'big hog' but id there's nothing i fancy less than spraying the insignia white again and besides i like the look of it as it is so i'll probably leave it as is - brush painting thw hataka white paint takes a seemingly infinite number of layers to get it to be opaque. At the moment i'm debating whether to leave it in display condition or weather it. I've not much weathering experience so I feel it might be worth trying out techniques on a project i'm less invested.  On the other hand the idea with this aircraft was to really go beyond my comfort zone, as evidence by the first attempts at seatbelts and the engine ignition harness (which I somehow need to paint black with the cowl on as i forgot to do it before). Progress might slow a bit now due to work but I recently got an eduard dual combo 1/48 spitfire mkxvi set so i'm quite eager to finish the corsair within the coming weeks so i can have a go at that.

 

 

Will

Edited April 24, 2020 by Jimbobtheflimbob