Jump to content

Mike's Matchbox Corsair F4U-4


Recommended Posts

"It's "O" 600. What's the "O" stand for? Oh my god it's early."

 

And with those words from Mister Adrian Cronauer, it's on with the Corsair Blitzbuild. Here's the kit, with my phone date/time stamp.

 

spacer.png

I'm going for an 8 hour build which will include breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea breaks. ETA finishing line: 14:00.

 

Music supplied by Steely Dan.

Edited by Mike Dean
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

An hour and a half gone, and building this has really got me "Reelin' In The Years". I must have been 13 the last time I made this.

 

Internals (pah! pilots armchair) installed and painted.

spacer.png

 

Engine painted black and dry brushed with aluminium for a bit of detail.

spacer.png

 

Fuselage zipped up and coat of white primer on the engine. The coverage isn't great so I'm going to have to "Do It Again". Wings glued together and held with "Peg"s.

spacer.png

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eight hours - that’s a big ask. My Matchbox Boeing P12E that I did as a self imposed Blitzbuild for ‘models I built as a kid’ took 12hrs 20 so you are asking a lot of yourself.

 

As well as your Mick Burroughs inspired music you could also play Pere Ubu’s ‘Thirty seconds over Tokyo’ 😊

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recall you doing some rigging on your P-12E Adrian - no such problem here! We'll see. Things are moving fast, but the time flies by!

 

Three hours in and we get to here. Out of shot is the painted undercarriage legs and doors still on the sprue. The wings are drying having just been glued. Time for a bit brekkie...........

 

spacer.png

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You got the wing inserts in - those bits in the leading edge. I'm impressed, I built this <mumble> years ago and to this day I've never worked out exactly how they were supposed to sit. 

 

Think I've still got those green stripes in the spare decal pile too :) 

 

Andy

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours! The mans insane.

Mind you, eight hours would be enough for most of us to build a squadron or two when we were eight years old. How did eight month builds become our future?

 

Two Fat Ladies, all the eights, 88....

 

BINGO!

 

I'm following this one closely Mike, no pressure there then.

 

 

Tony.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Andy: I wasted a full 20 minutes working out how those stupid wing radiators go in the wings. The diagram on the instructions is useless and the location tabs inside the wing are so obscure that they just don't make sense. I glued them in how I thought they should look, and they look OK! For some reason there's a machine gun in there too, which is not in the picture on the front of the box. And the instructions show a three bladed prop and the one in the kit has four.

 

Tony: If you keep asking, I won't post anymore pictures. Sit down, eat your breakfast and be patient.

 

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Breakfast was had at 09:15. Was it really three hours ago?

spacer.png

 

Since then, "Deacon Blue" has been added and the whole lot sprayed with satin varnish. Still a bit tacky, but the undercarriage doors are dry so decals were applied to them. "Kid Charlemagne" the pilot is done and sunbathing outside to dry off. Ditto the canopy and prop.

 

spacer.png

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, it's up on paint tin chocs as the undercarriage is very flimsy and the undercarriage supports float in midair, but it's all there! Decals went on like a dream. 37 years old (kit was from 1983).

 

7 hours, 52 minutes! Phew.................... 

 

A late lunch is in the offing.

 

As an aside SWMBO came into my study and asked "what are you doing"?

 

Reply: "I'm trying to make a kit in under 8 hours".

 

Brief pause "How long does it usually take".

 

Stunned silence resulted in SWMBO making a quiet withdrawal............. 

 

 

spacer.png

  • Like 2
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...