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Tamiya 1/48 F4U-1D Corsair


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The builds keep on rolling during quarantine. After building two modern day aircraft I'm switching it up to a WWII era bird.

 

I've heard great things about Tamiya kits and, embarrassingly enough, this is my first Tamiya build!

 

This one was tooled in the early 90's so it may not have the modern day engineering I hear so many good things about but we will see.

 

Initial impression:

 

The kit is extremely detailed. Lots of rivets and sunken panel lines. Everything is crisp too. The plastic is solid and not the soft plastic you find in modern Airfix kits. For 1/48 it's a pretty simple kit as it only has three sprues plus one clear part sprue. There was some minor damage to one sprue which caused the engine cowling to be ripped from its attachment point. Not a huge deal as there doesn't seem to be any major damage to it.

 

Decals look nice even including seat belts. I think I'll make my own from tamiya tape or milliput. 

 

Can't wait to build it!

 

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Looking up some references now part of me wants to do a "modern day" paint job.

 

Everyone builds up the corsair in the blue scheme but I have never seen this:

 

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Would be really cool to paint it up like this...but...after doing several modern day builds im kind of tired of all the gray! I do have some spare 1/48 modern roundals too....

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Fox Two, the above Corsair appears to be an AU-1, a ground attack derivative of the F4U-7 (if I remember correctly).  It has a four-bladed prop, a different cowling, wheels, extended nose, etc.  Short version is you can't build one of those from the Tamiya F4U-1D, but I think Hasegawa offers one if you must have the gull grey over white.

 

I look forward to watching your build-- Tamiya Corsairs are excellent and fun to build.

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8 minutes ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

appears to be an AU-1, a ground attack derivative of the F4U-7 (if I remember correctly)

other way round, the French, who had the AU-1, liked it enough that they got the F4U-7 made for them,   which is an AU-1 with the same engine as the F4U-4. 

Marine AU-1's , as shown above, did last long enough to get the grey/white scheme.

some even ended up as bitsas with replacement GSB bits...

 

I think the plane above is a F4U-7, as it has the lower cowl scoop, and is painted as an AU-1. 

see here

http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-last-propeller-pulled-corsairs-f4u.html

 

there is still confusion on these late Corsair versions.

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That grey scheme is unusual, and coupled with a prop-driven aircraft might look rather different from what we would normally see modelled.

 

As for the Tamiya kit, I suspect it will be very nice indeed. I'm currently douing a kit made in 2000 and it is simply stunning from an engineering point of view!

Looking forward to watching your progress on this kit.

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1 hour ago, Troy Smith said:

I think the plane above is a F4U-7, as it has the lower cowl scoop, and is painted as an AU-1

Yes, it is an F4U-7- good eye! Here is an accident report for it from last year. Hopefully, it can be rebuilt and airworthy again.

Mike

 

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/225095

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Ah, I didn't notice the 4 prop blade. Anyway it wouldn't have been a "realistic" build. Just an F4U-1D with an interesting color scheme. But I think I'm going to go with the traditional blue.

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Gear bays need some work. A few seams to fill and some bad ejector pin marks. I dont have the right tools to get rid of them since they are in some tight spots so I might have to just leave them.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here's the wheel well painted up and glued. I don't think the wiring looks too bad (although probably not real to the aircraft).

 

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Cockpit shot. Nothing special but I've come to the realization that unless it's a show build no one is ever going to see it. So I wont spend too much time detailing it.

 

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Here's the engine and cowling all put together and painted.

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8 minutes ago, Chris Bryant said:

Looks good! I'm thinking about getting myself a tamiya corsair, so will be following this thread! 

They're nice I've built a few of them over the years. Just an FYI there is a Corsair Single type group build coming up in a month (shameless plug), says the man running it. 

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1 minute ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

They're nice I've built a few of them over the years. Just an FYI there is a Corsair Single type group build coming up in a month (shameless plug), says the man running it. 

I'm not sure I'm talented to enough to join! But I shall enjoy your finished articles! 

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54 minutes ago, Chris Bryant said:

I'm not sure I'm talented to enough to join! But I shall enjoy your finished articles! 

Talent doesn't matter, always build for you not us. Any corsair would be welcome but its all up to you. It starts May 29th the 80th anniversary of its first flight, and will run for 90 days. If you change your mind you or anyone can join in. 

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1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

They're nice I've built a few of them over the years. Just an FYI there is a Corsair Single type group build coming up in a month (shameless plug), says the man running it. 

Corsairfoxfouruncle Shameless? perish the thought. it must be that other person that looks like him you're thinking off.

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Been doing some work here and there. The fit is great so there really isn't to write much about.

 

The worst fit was attaching the outer wings. They didn't want to fit snug and even. Just needed some sanding and rescribing. No filler needed. All other seams just needed some minor sanding as well.

 

In fact I think I only used filler on one area of the fuselage and it was a very small spot probably due to my error. Otherwise the fit is fan-freaking-tastic.

 

I'm going with Model Master Sea Blue for the main color since it can be chipped easily. As test of the color, chipping, and overall weathering I went ahead and completed the drop tanks. There isn't much mud or paint fading since this is a late '45 plane and it will be Carrier based (USS Bunker Hill). 

 

Here's a before/after weathering (with oils) shot. Top is weathered, bottom hasn't been touched.

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Final product. Like I said lots of water splooshes and salt.

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Wings attached, Flaps attached, seams spot primed and checked.

 

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39 minutes ago, Fox_Two said:

I'm going with Model Master Sea Blue for the main color since it can be chipped easily. As test of the color, chipping, and overall weathering I went ahead and completed the drop tanks. There isn't much mud or paint fading since this is a late '45 plane and it will be Carrier based (USS Bunker Hill).

Then it won't be chipped.   US Navy Gloss Sea Blue wasn't prone to chipping, and if you at at photos of USN carrier based aircraft,  you do not see chipped paint, as for corrosion control it was touched up. Aluminium and sea water are not a good mix.   PLus so many planes were available,  most were pretty new.  

 

This is a great color image of a wartime Corsair

stains, and some scuffs.   Not chipped. Some wear on inner wing where mechanics stand.

b4c29348caa76eb947c12e45066e69d2.jpg

 

you may see this quoted

Goodyear-FG-1D-Corsair-VBF-82-White-2-pr

 

But this is 1946 in the Med, and the Navy was being run down,  this plane is at least a year old,  and shows the problem with ANA 623 GSB, it faded.  This is why there was a change in GSB in 1947, and it then became FS 15042,  which was harder wearing.

There is some wear at the inner wing,  as this is where mechanics stood.  Note the primer is just about visible.  Note also the fabric covered parts fade more.

 

If you want to go heavy duty weathering, do a USMC Corsair operating from a island strip made of crushed coral, they really did get weathered and tatty.

 

HTH

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3 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

Then it won't be chipped.   US Navy Gloss Sea Blue wasn't prone to chipping, and if you at at photos of USN carrier based aircraft,  you do not see chipped paint, as for corrosion control it was touched up. Aluminium and sea water are not a good mix.   PLus so many planes were available,  most were pretty new.  

 

This is a great color image of a wartime Corsair

stains, and some scuffs.   Not chipped. Some wear on inner wing where mechanics stand.

b4c29348caa76eb947c12e45066e69d2.jpg

 

you may see this quoted

Goodyear-FG-1D-Corsair-VBF-82-White-2-pr

 

But this is 1946 in the Med, and the Navy was being run down,  this plane is at least a year old,  and shows the problem with ANA 623 GSB, it faded.  This is why there was a change in GSB in 1947, and it then became FS 15042,  which was harder wearing.

There is some wear at the inner wing,  as this is where mechanics stood.  Note the primer is just about visible.  Note also the fabric covered parts fade more.

 

If you want to go heavy duty weathering, do a USMC Corsair operating from a island strip made of crushed coral, they really did get weathered and tatty.

 

HTH

Thanks for the post. I disagree a bit though. From what I understand the glossy sea blue did not fade much (if at all) when they switched paint from the tri color scheme. The new formula used was much tougher - but it still did in fact chip around the heavy traffic areas.

 

Fading and chipping are two completely different reactions to the environment. Chipping is due to force. Wind, dirt, debris, etc hitting the aircraft and chipping or forcefully removing paint. No matter what paint they used this happened - no matter the station. Just flying through debris of a shot up Zero could chip the plane.

 

Fading can happen when an aircraft doesn't move at all. Just sitting in the sun. The new formula was much tougher and would not fade - even on fabric surfaces.

 

As for the fuel tanks I took some liberties since there isn't much reference I could find. They were the lowest hanging painted surface on the aircraft and were prone to all the crap kicked up on takeoff landing. I'm sure there were instances too of the tanks hitting the deck on landing. Not to mention the transfer on an off the plane onto the deck or onto loaders. I'm sure those weren't lined with packing peanuts 😆

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Some examples.

 

Bunker Hill 1945 - chipping in expected areas - virtually no fading at all.

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Another carrier based one. Lost of chipping in leading edge/walkways. No fading.

 

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Painted, chipped, and now applying insignias.

 

Who even needs decals, I'm painting those suckers on!

 

Stencil printed on oramask 810 using a Cricut. Exacto blade for scale.

 

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Painted up. A little bit of lifting on the arrow but I'll leave it as it looks weathered.

 

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Squadron insignias on the wings and tail. Also applied the tape decal to front fuselage (not pictured) that late corsairs are famous for.

 

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Takes longer than decals but definitely worth it. Next up is to apply US insignia and the remaining smaller decals that can't be stenciled out.

 

Tamiya decals are pretty thick but seem to respond well to mark fit strong.

Edited by Fox_Two
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