VMF-512 F4U-ID - Tamiya 1/48 ***FINISHED***

[Ray_W]

Having finished my Spitfires, I thought there is no excuse to not jump over here and build my Tamiya 1/48 F4U-ID.

 

I have wanted to build a glossy blue Corsair and a US subject for some time - my F4U has been sitting in my stash since its release in the late Nineties. These days, I tend to build subjects with an Australian flavour. What to do with a F4U-1D? One possibility is I could go ANZAC and build a RNZAF Corsair. I then saw these Montex masks for VMF-512 Corsair:

 

 

Very interesting white banding and nose art but, best of all,  VMF-512 supported the landings by the Australian 7th Division at Balikpapan, Borneo in July 1945. So decision made. Montex masks ordered. "Brooklyn Butcher" it will be.

 

Now, I will take a little artistic licence on this. The attractive white bands were applied in late July 1945 when VMF-512 was flying CAP's so unlikely to be on an aircraft doing ground support for the Aussies in early-mid July. Also, the ordnance carried by VMF-512 can be very interesting - fuel tank, 500lb bomb and 4 "Holy Moses" HVAR (great info on this site http://www.adamsplanes.com/VMF-512.htm).  So I plan to model "White 21" with the late July bands but with a ground attack load out.  

 

Here's a kit ready to start. I have some Eduard PE and Quickboost gear covers.

 

 

Another one to get into. 

 

Ray 

 

 

[modelling minion]

Sounds like a very interesting project Ray.

No problem with a bit of artistic license here and there, it is your model after all. The load out sounds different too, will be a good one to watch.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Sounds like a good choice Ray looking forward to one of the Geometric patterns being used. And there were a lot of choices. 
I will most likely use one of these when I do my next “1D” build myself. 

[Ray_W]

57 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Sounds like a good choice Ray looking forward to one of the Geometric patterns being used. And there were a lot of choices

Thanks Dennis, a lot of interesting options there. I have not modelled an F4U for eons. Last one was the Revell 1/32 back in the Nineties  This should be fun. Ray

[Ray_W]

Busy time at the moment and not much time at the modelling bench and, if so, not much time on the PC. However, things are underway.

 

I find my principle of one build at a time works really well for productivity when you're busy with other matters. I break the kit build into smaller projects. Makes it easy when you have a spare 30 minutes to jump in and do something and keep the progress happening. Maybe just a drop tank or filling the recessed lines with CA/talc that Tamiya provide for the yellow tip demarcation in the propeller. Removing some cockpit detail for Eduard etch and adding some that will be painted in the base coat. Before you know it you have a stack of gear ready for a serious painting session.

 

 

The cockpit is now ready for some base painting. All going well, I  will post some pictures over the weekend.

 

Most of the time has been spent getting ready in other ways. I intend to show the aircraft in the normal parked "flaps up" mode so removed the mounting lugs and test fitted the outboard flaps into their wing sections. Inboard flaps are prepared with final fitting when the wings and fuselage are together. I am building wings down and locked.

 

I filled the flap step for an early 1945 F4U-1D ready for some Mr Surfacer 500. You'll note outboard wings halves are together and ready.

 

It's an interesting sink mark in the trailing half of the flaps. I only spotted this under the lights for the photo. I think it must disappear under a coat of paint. Let's see.

 

 

 

I decided to add a little extra detail in the wheel wells. Removed the ribbing on the internal sidewalls where the canvas curtain should be. I'll replicate that with some Tamiya tape. The rod representation for the gear door actuation cylinders has been removed and pre-drilled to accept some brass rod later in the build, that is when the gear doors are fitted. There is a lot more you can add and that hosing to the valve is not strictly correct but hey in 1/48 and glossy sea blue paint not much to see. It's now sufficiently busy for my taste. I still might add that dividing piece between the rear well and front well.

 

 

One area in the Tamiya kit that is very visible and can be improved is the seat framing. I cut off the solid representation and fabricated the framing with some round polystyrene stock and stretched sprue. I am no Corsair expert, but I think the Tamiya representation is for the early lap belt only and no shoulder straps harness. Never mind, I think this looks better for a -1D.

 

 

All ready for some painting and the biggest decision on any Corsair build judging by the amount of words written and discussed - colours. What a topic!

 

My choices thus far and any input very welcome:

 

External Surfaces, Main Gear Wells and Doors 

Glossy Sea Blue - ANA 623 late war fading version - Gunze H55 (if too black/grey I might add a touch of H54 to the mix)

 

Cockpit Area, Tail Wheel Fuselage Internals

Interior Green - Gunze H58 - Still deciding whether to do the Tail Wheel Well Yellow Zinc Chromate (Tamiya XF-4). Leaning towards Interior Green.

 

Undercarriage Legs, Tail Wheel and Linkage Mechanism 

Light Gull Grey - Gunze H51 - I am assuming linkage was also Light Gull Grey

 

Cowling Internals 

Light Gull Grey to cylinder heads, Remainder Yellow Zinc Chromate.

 

Other areas Yellow Zinc Chromate as required.

 

Next pics should have some more exciting colours.

 

Ray

 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Nice work on the seat frame, your colors look ok as well. 

[modelling minion]

Some nice extra detailing Ray, the seat frame is a work of art.

[Ray_W]

I have to admit I have not built many Corsairs in my life. Humble apologies for that! Maybe a Fujimi 1/72 around the age of 10 and a 1/32 Revell, what 25 years ago, never finished. So, this Tamiya 1/48 is a treat.

 

I finished the cockpit on the weekend. A little Eduard - PE harness, instrument panel and a couple for other things - although you experienced Tamiya builders know this kit is pretty darn good out to the box.  

 

 

As mentioned before, I think replacing the Tamiya representation for the seat support framing is worthwhile. You will notice I have added an oxygen hose. I intend to add an oxygen mask similar to what you see in the Corsair Pilot's Notes when I join the fuselage halves.

 

 

I do like Eduard Vinyl/PE Instrument Panels. I use Black Tamiya Panel Line Accent Colour between the dials to tone down the vinyl look then pick the dials with Future or AK Gauzy or gloss clear acrylic depending what's at hand.  The Panel is not aligned with the Tamiya backing purposely. I push them down a little to avoid having to file PE edges to make them fit. Experience talking. I will paint the edges black and frankly impossible to see once assembled. 

 

 

 

So I think we're ready to button up the fuselage and, yes, the seams are masked. I spend time making sure the fuselage halves will go together nicely so it is a shame then to paint the edge with overspray. Takes a couple of minutes to do and the result a stronger joint and no unsightly mixed glue/paint oozing out to cover. 

 

 

Ray

 

 

Edited July 6, 2020 by Ray_W
typo

[modelling minion]

That is excellent work Ray, the extras you have added to the cockpit have made a big difference and really enhance the already good Tamiya cockpit.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

11 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

That is excellent work Ray, the extras you have added to the cockpit have made a big difference and really enhance the already good Tamiya cockpit.

What he said Ray. 👍🏻

[Ray_W]

37 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

That is excellent work Ray, the extras you have added to the cockpit have made a big difference and really enhance the already good Tamiya cockpit.

 

26 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

What he said Ray. 👍🏻

Thank you, fun kit. Really don't know why I did not build it sooner. 

[Ray_W]

Now it's really starting to look like a Corsair.

 

You will see that I am squaring that tail plane. I was about to say that this kit is worth getting for the engagement of the tail plane alone.  Having glued it - oh so positive - I thought hold on a minute that's angled. In fact, it was so perfectly angled I thought maybe it was intentionally angled on the F4U-1D. Another design feature like the offset fin to assist in trimming the aircraft under the toque of that big Pratt & Whitney up front or countering that port wing stall at low speeds like the starboard wing leading edge bump.  Anyway I squared it up. Let me know if it should be angled.

 

 

The wing fold joints were reasonably good. I did put some short pieces of 1 mm square polystyrene tabs in the joint to give some further alignment. A light sanding and it should come up nice.  No filler needed. I still need to tidy up the joints on the remainder of the aircraft when that tail plane is fixed. 

 

 

 

Underside is good too. 

 

 

 

 I'll clean up the joints and fit those flaps in the up position.

 

Ray 

 

 

 

 

[modelling minion]

Very nice Ray.

I think you're right about the tailplanes but I stand ready to be corrected.

[Troy Smith]

On 02/07/2020 at 15:46, Ray_W said:

One area in the Tamiya kit that is very visible and can be improved is the seat framing. I cut off the solid representation and fabricated the framing with some round polystyrene stock and stretched sprue. I am no Corsair expert, but I think the Tamiya representation is for the early lap belt only and no shoulder straps harness. Never mind, I think this looks better for a -1D.

Co-incidentally I was reading @Dana Bell  Corsair -1A/D monograph, and you are correct, they added a seat frame to existing structure when they changed from the birdcage canopy,  to allow the seat to be higher and pilot view better.  They did also add some small risers to the footboards, initially wood, and then aluminium. 

On 25/06/2020 at 15:29, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Sounds like a good choice Ray looking forward to one of the Geometric patterns being used. And there were a lot of choices

they are the USN markings, the USMC CVE units use similar, but different system,  

see here

http://www.pmcn.de/English/USN Markings IV/CVE-stripes.htm

 

Note the clearest explanation, the one in the Monogram Official Guide to USN and USMC Colors is better (which I have also been studying) anyway, at the bottom of the page is a 'test' question, which co-incidentally leads to a profile of a VMF-512 Corsair...

http://www.pmcn.de/English/USN Markings IV/Tail markings/Gilbert Islands.htm

 

and then this

http://www.adamsplanes.com

 

as you will see on the side bar,  there are lots of pages....

and after some scrolling of the VMF-512 photo albums....

and in this one

http://www.adamsplanes.com/Reichwald 512 photos.htm

 

 

your in luck...

http://www.adamsplanes.com/Corsair Markings.htm

 

 

 

 

On 02/07/2020 at 15:46, Ray_W said:

External Surfaces, Main Gear Wells and Doors 

Glossy Sea Blue - ANA 623 late war fading version - Gunze H55 (if too black/grey I might add a touch of H54 to the mix)

in the aforementioned Monogram USN Color guide, (and the main reason I bought it) are paint chips. 

 

the USN Sea Blues are odd colors,  much darker and greyer than years of photos and models might have you believe.   A scale match might look dark on a model.  I have been working on mixes,  but if I used enamels I'd get some  Colourcoats as they are the only paint company i know of that makes accurate USN Sea Blues.

 

HTH

cheers

T

[Ray_W]

6 hours ago, modelling minion said:

I think you're right about the tailplanes but I stand ready to be corrected.

The tail plane issue is quite weird. My ability to get adjustment to the tail plane had limited success due to the strength and fit of the Tamiya joint. I'll just leave it. One of those things my eye picks up possibly exacerbated with a wings down configuration.  Really will not be that obvious in a finished model, more an irritation.

 

 

 

[Ray_W]

Thanks @Troy Smith for the comments and great selection of links.

 

With my research and availability to paint, the Gunze H55 appears to be close to the pristine original war time ANA 623 colour. It is certainly not as blue as the colour F4U image on Dana's book with the armourer at work, but does match the monographs and some other discussion that I have picked up on.  I have only sprayed the wheel wells with H55. I think it will be a good starting point as a base and building on it for variation. It has that faint greener/blue colour. Difficult to capture this in a photo.

 

 

 

Challenge is how did it weather? The VMF-512 B/W images look sooty black. Did it fade to blue, grey, just lighten in colour or just lose its shine or some combination? We'll see later what a complete solid colour model looks like then go to work on it.

 

Ray

[Troy Smith]

8 hours ago, Ray_W said:

Challenge is how did it weather? The VMF-512 B/W images look sooty black. Did it fade to blue, grey, just lighten in colour or just lose its shine or some combination? We'll see later what a complete solid colour model looks like then go to work on it.

I suspect it weathered reasonably slowly,  the plane in the pic looks fairly new.

 

In the PM discussion you linked to this

http://www.theworldwars.net/resources/resource.php?r=camo_usn

(as an aside the author seems a little confused on the Sea Blues....)

 

oddly enough this is from the same USMC wing... and I'd suggest this is a good effect to aim for,  perhaps use of some slightly tinted matt varnish(pale grey?)  to simulate some fading and grime,  perhaps go for a a light misting on the uppers where the sun hits most, and a touch more fade on the fabric areas (see below)

 

 

 

for really weathered GSB, this (in the link) and often mis captioned, is take in the Med in 1946 , when the USN was being run down, and thus shows how GSB did weather over time, and thus why it was replaced (for comparison look at GSB Corsairs in Korea on land bases, the post 1947  GSB is a lot tougher it seems) 

 

Note in particular the folded wing top left, behind the star you can see the fabric areas have faded more,  less obvious on '2',  but look closely at the elevators, and just visible on the starboard wing, the difference in sheen/fade between the metal and fabric.

 

It will be an interesting challenge to subtly weather GSB. 

8 hours ago, Ray_W said:

With my research and availability to paint, the Gunze H55 appears to be close to the pristine original war time ANA 623 colour. It is certainly not as blue as the colour F4U image on Dana's book with the armourer at work, but does match the monographs and some other discussion that I have picked up on.  I have only sprayed the wheel wells with H55. I think it will be a good starting point as a base and building on it for variation. It has that faint greener/blue colour. Difficult to capture this in a photo.

the photo look decent,   I have good colour vision, and the Monogram USN chip is very dark, and if I had to describe it its a dark grey blue with a bottle green tint, thinking about it now, it reminds me of Paynes Grey as well. 

 

 

Look forward to seeing how you capture this.

 

Cheers

T

 

[Ray_W]

42 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

and I'd suggest this is a good effect to aim for,  perhaps use of some slightly tinted matt varnish(pale grey?)  to simulate some fading and grime,  perhaps go for a a light misting on the uppers where the sun hits most, and a touch more fade on the fabric areas

I think you're right on this. Most of the effects come from with variation in the level of shine with the faintest colour addition . My first option was heavily thinned Tamiya XF-55 Deck tan in a matt varnish as you suggested.  I will also experiment with a very light grey with a hint of blue.

 

In my case subtle weathering is required rather than a beat up coral islands bird.  I want to achieve something more weathered than the Avenger but not to the level of the 1946 Corsair. The two examples are excellent to choose a level of fading on a scale somewhere between the two. I like that glossy outer upper surface on the folding wing portion and the tailplane.  A lot of variation going on. 

 

My subject has limited paint chipping or wear. Very little aluminium showing through. Where there is wear, I will mostly go for Aluminium as opposed to Yellow Zinc Chromate primer. Seems to me that once you wore through the GSB you wore through the primer undercoat pretty quickly. Maybe a little YZC primer around the edges. 

 

One colour test will be getting the necessary variation between the Insignia Blue and GSB - seems to need to appear as blue on blue/grey. If the Insignia Blue is lost in the GSB some change will be needed. I am masking and painting the insignia and have not, as yet, decided on an Insignia Blue mix (Gunze or Tamiya).

 

A very interesting subject. Challenging paint job coming up.

 

Ray

 

 

[Hewy]

Impressive modelling ray, the cockpit and wheel wells are looking really good

[Ray_W]

Finished the flaps in the "UP" position and now I have that classic F4U wing planform, with apologies to FAA advocates that it's without the clipped wing tips.

 

 

It's a testament to Tamiya that you can take a kit of over 20 years age, cut the flap locating tabs off and find the only real fettling you need to do is on the outboard flaps to allow them to engage properly into the wings. 

 

The port flap assembly. The fit is lovely. I did slightly thin the inside top wing skin. You can see the sanded Mr Surfacer 500 filling those feint sink marks.

 

 

The starboard side with boarding step filled, Mr Surfacer 500 and a sliver of card added to the central flap to close a small gap.

 

 

The port underside. I used some styrene strips cut from 0.010" (0.25 mm) card to represent the slotted flap hinge plates in the up position thereby closing the gap. Chamfered the inside edge so they fit flush. Getting lazy on my fitting job with slightly curved ends on some of the hinge plates. Always see it in the close-up photos. 

 

 

The starboard side showing that sliver added to the middle flap. This is the first side that was done and a much better job on the hinge plate ends.

 

 

 

Now it's time to fix up those hinge positions and anything else that needs a little work before giving this aircraft an R-2800.

 

Ray

 

 

 

[Ray_W]

31 minutes ago, Hewy said:

Impressive modelling ray, the cockpit and wheel wells are looking really good

Thanks Hewy.  Fun project. Looking forward to doing that radial engine. Next up. Ray

[modelling minion]

That really is very neat work Ray, those flap hinge plates really do look very nice indeed and are much neater than if I did them.

[Ray_W]

5 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

That really is very neat work Ray, those flap hinge plates really do look very nice indeed and are much neater than if I did them.

Thanks Craig, The pressure's on. I have to keep it Tamiya'ish. 

[Troy Smith]

4 hours ago, Ray_W said:

One colour test will be getting the necessary variation between the Insignia Blue and GSB - seems to need to appear as blue on blue/grey. If the Insignia Blue is lost in the GSB some change will be needed. I am masking and painting the insignia and have not, as yet, decided on an Insignia Blue mix (Gunze or Tamiya).

Meant to check, but IIRC, the Tamiya decals are a good match to Insignia Blue.  I'll have a look tomorrow.  

It's very similar to RAF dull wartime blue, and mixes for that have been Tamiya XF-8 blue with a bit of black.  Flaps look good.

Cheers

T

 

[Dana Bell]

Hi Ray,

 

Sorry that I wasn't paying attention to your question about the vertical tail.  There was a 2-degree angle to the left designed to counter the engine's torque - it should feature in all those early Corsairs, though most never notice it.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana