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‘Daphne C’ 1/32 “Birdcage” Corsair - completed


Dansk

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wow as well as a great build to follow, we are getting a great class in WWII primers on US aircraft.....which is always an interesting and often confusing! (went down the same rabbit hole with an Avenger I built!!).

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1 hour ago, Dansk said:

hence my confusion. the shots seem to go against what’s being written.

In the long run unless somebody can dig up a line worker from Vought. I seriously doubt anyone can truly be wrong. As you’ve seen things go against what is written. In the desperate times of war if production were slow its entirely likely a line chief in the factory cut a corner on some steps to catch up. The base idea being the aircraft would probably be damaged/destroyed long before it would rust/corrode to pieces. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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5 hours ago, Dansk said:

Ok so as see it, if im understanding all the above correctly 

then Ideally i should redo the cockpit dark dull green.

 

 @Dana Bell when you say “salmon ‘over’ untinted yellow zc”

do you mean it was painted over the top of untinted yellow zc or it was used alone on top of metal as a priority ‘over’ yellow zc (know what i mean?)

if it was over the top of untinted yellow zc why two coats? that seems odd.

 

(actually when i read some of those thread links above i get confused some say zc over salmon some say under..) argh…

 

so if i understand correctly (and i might not)

tail wheel bay and doors = salmon chipped to yellow zc and metal?

main wheel doors and bays underside colour chippped to salmon and yellow zc and metal?

exterior chipped to salmon and yellow zc and metal?

what about engine cowlings?

 

 

Hi again Paul,

 

Sorry if I confused things for you.  The following notes apply to Birdcage Corsairs only - there were additional variations on later models.

 

The aircraft was expected to have two coats of primer over most assemblies.  The first coat was untinted (yellow) zinc chromate; the second coat was to be tinted to ensure that there were no "holiday" areas that received only one coat.  As such, there should be "salmon" nearly everywhere.

 

The cockpit also needed a coat of darker paint to reduce reflections on instrument faces and windows.  Early on this was Dull Dark Green.

 

The inside of the engine cowl also needed an additional finish coat to reduce the posibilities of flash fires.  This was usually the same Light Gray camouflage lacquer used on Corsair undersurfaces.

 

When BuAer decided to step away from "Salmon" and Dull Dark Green, Vought got a special waiver on the two coats of primer.  The first coat was still untinted (yellow) zinc chromate.  If the underlying metal was Alclad (aluminum alloy coated with pure aluminum) no second coat was needed.  If the underlying metal was aluminum alloy, the first coat of untinted zinc chromate was stamped "1st COAT" in black ink; a second coat of untinted zinch chromate was then applied.  Since the primer was transluscent, the black stamped notice would appear green under the second coat.

 

With the Navy dropping Dull Dark Green, the cockpit still needed to be darker.  BuAer recommended Interior Green, but another waiver allowed Vought to used that bright aluminized zinc chromate.  Note that some subassemblies were delivered in Dull Dark Green before being introduced to the bright green cockpit.

 

Instrument panels and side consoles were Instrument Black, a satin finish.

 

Wheel wells were nearly always painted in the underside camouflage color, thought there were a handful of exceptions.

 

There was still plenty of Light Gray in stock, so that paint was still used inside cowlings into production of the -1As.

 

Remember that US Corsairs used dope on fabric (all the way to the wing tip edges on wings) and lacquer on aluminum.  The two paints were spec'd to the same color charts, but the paints rarely matched when fresh, and certainly never matched as they weathered.

 

A final note on wear over the wing roots - the Birdcage Corsair leading edges were smoothed, just like we expect on P-51 Mustangs.  This was then overpainted with two coats of primer (see above) and two coats of camouflage lacquer.  As boots wore though the camouflage, the primer came off too - you would see the white putty rather than the primer of unpainted aluminum.

 

Ta ta for now - keep up the great work!

 

 

 

Dana

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On 2/4/2022 at 1:38 AM, Dana Bell said:

A final note on wear over the wing roots - the Birdcage Corsair leading edges were smoothed, just like we expect on P-51 Mustangs.  This was then overpainted with two coats of primer (see above) and two coats of camouflage lacquer.  As boots wore though the camouflage, the primer came off too - you would see the white putty rather than the primer of unpainted aluminum.

Hey Dana can I probe you on this?

Were the edges smoothed with white putty only in an area likened to a deicing boot throughout the

whole leading edge from root to tip? (but they didnt have de icing boots right?)

sorry I’m learning as I’m going here 

 

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Hi Paul,

 

Photos show the entire metal leading edge on the outerwing panels with the same depth from the leading edge on the center section.  This includes all the areas that the ground crew stood while working in the engine accessory compartment.  The smoothing or fairing was dropped from production in late 1944.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana

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I pulled out my Trumpeter Corsair yesterday and found that I had written on the instructions to use XF26 ( Deep Green )to represent Dull Dark Green. XF26 is slightly darker than XF13 but I wouldn't like to guess which is the more accurate. 

Looking forward to more.

 

John

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Thanks Dana and John.

Well, an update on the 1/32 corsair here chaps:

first up the side consoles have developed since last time, now wearing their early corsair dark green (or my attempt at it anyway).

 

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in fact all the cockpit areas had dark green applied since last time, and i chipped and weathered it all too. Looks really heavy but a most of it gets covered up.

 

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went a bit far with the seat too but it is what it is now.

 

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the cockpit came together relatively speedily with the quinta set utilised and the AM belts.

Then everything got a wash and weather. The belts i didn’t screw up surprisingly. But threading those buckles is fiddly work.

 

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lots of sand on the pedals and lower areas…

the extra plumbing on the bulkhead works ok i think it adds a nice suggestive level of detail.

 

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i must remember to add some clear gloss to the dials so they look glass like next before i close the fuse completely. if i can still access them. 

The flare gun i didnt install as you can’t see it and some moron los the mounting piece :whistle:

must remove the fingerprint on the headrest.

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the extra wiring harnesses came out quite nicely, i think it adds a good touch.

some inner panels got the metal, then hairpsray, then salmon (then chipped), then hairspray, then yellow zc chipped to reveal each other and metal. the cowl flaps will also be coated in further underside exterior colour paint and chipped again. (4 layers of chipping will a personal record :)

 

 

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the rear gear well got some love too. lots of sand filters and powders in there just like the cockpit.

 

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think that’s it to date, hope you all like it so far (because i’m not repainting it again 😄)

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  • Dansk changed the title to ‘Daphne C’ 1/32 “Birdcage” Corsair - cockpit done
1 hour ago, Dansk said:

hope you all like it

Like it? I love it Paul!

That is one of the best looking cockpits I have ever seen, the Quinta set is really good but its your added details and excellent painting and weathering that makes the difference mate. The same goes for the cowling and rear fuselage interior, just superb.

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39 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

Like it? I love it Paul!

That is one of the best looking cockpits I have ever seen, the Quinta set is really good but its your added details and excellent painting and weathering that makes the difference mate. The same goes for the cowling and rear fuselage interior, just superb.

Thank you craig mate, that’s super kind of you 🙏🙏

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On 2/14/2022 at 5:29 PM, Dana Bell said:

Hey Paul,

 

Don't worry about the missing pistol - it wasn't installed until the 2,505th Vought Corsair (F4U-1A BuNo 50040).  If anyone ever notices, you can take credit for having one up on Tamiya!

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana

haha I’m gonna quote you on that when someone challenges me.

by the way i dug out another f4u-1d i have in the stash and i forgot that i bought this book ages ago that was in the box. Wish I’d discovered it earlier. I need to get vol. 1 too.

This has to be by you then Dana? (It’s awesome by the way.)

 

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Since the last update I’ve focused primarily on the powerplant

 

drilled and added some plug-like dooberies

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when painted I was to use the braided plug wire from anyz but it seems way too overscale so I dropped the idea nd used copper instead.

 

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i added some weathering too

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i forgot to add weathering powder gunk to one exhaust unit, what a difference that stuff makes. 

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it’s fixed now 

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here with the aftermarket cowl flaps too

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which fit beautifully with the kit cowlings, but not the aftermarket, so i cant use the aftermarket ones,

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however neither the aftermarket nor the kit cowlings fit with the aftermarket front portion?!

It’s a completely different size, see here…

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so all that work and i can use any of this…

so I have to start the paint process again with the kit piece

 

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vertical and horizontal stabs are on now too.

her little sister sits here in progress too.

the 1/32 in-progress wingspar and lower fuse can be seen bottom left also. I’ll show more of that next time when it’s progressed.

51893352296_a80c9d8443_b.jpg

 

 

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Exceptional work on the engine Paul, looks fantastic.

That is a pain about the nose ring not matching the cowling dimensions, you would think that aftermarket producers would actually check this kind of thing when making these parts, obviously not Aries as they only guess size by eye anyway and I think that must be half closed. 

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Hi Paul,

 

Glad you liked the book - it's still one of my all-time favorite research/writing projects.

 

Your beautiful work continues.  It seems you're enjoying your project too.  I'll enjoy following your progress!

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana

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  • Dansk changed the title to ‘Daphne C’ 1/32 “Birdcage” Corsair - radial done
1 hour ago, Dana Bell said:

Hi Paul,

 

Glad you liked the book - it's still one of my all-time favorite research/writing projects.

 

Your beautiful work continues.  It seems you're enjoying your project too.  I'll enjoy following your progress!

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana

Thanks Dana, the book’s a gem 

 

8 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Exceptional work on the engine Paul, looks fantastic.

That is a pain about the nose ring not matching the cowling dimensions, you would think that aftermarket producers would actually check this kind of thing when making these parts, obviously not Aries as they only guess size by eye anyway and I think that must be half closed. 

cheers mate 👍 I’m more often than not sadly let down with aftermarket fitting. such a waste of money

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I dug out my Trumpeter Corsair again yesterday to look at the cowling parts fit, to find that my bits are by Vector and designed for the Trumpeter kit which they fit beautifully. One slight problem is that the instructions are not in the box, and although most of them are self explanatory there are a couple of small pieces that are not so obvious. 

 

john

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7 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

I dug out my Trumpeter Corsair again yesterday to look at the cowling parts fit, to find that my bits are by Vector and designed for the Trumpeter kit which they fit beautifully. One slight problem is that the instructions are not in the box, and although most of them are self explanatory there are a couple of small pieces that are not so obvious. 

 

john

maybe scalemates or somewhere have the instructions online john?

 

more progress on ‘daphne c’ today and yesterday “working from home”

 

rear gear leg is pretty sorted now…

 

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main gear bays and doors have been worked on a lot too…

 

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the front cowls are all sorted now and i’ve detailed up the underside of the open cowl flaps with some 0.2mm lead wire.

 

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and some flap sub assemblies have been worked on…

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loving this kit its so nice 🤗

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • Dansk changed the title to ‘Daphne C’ 1/32 “Birdcage” Corsair - gear bay progress
12 hours ago, modelling minion said:

That looks great Paul, really nice work.

The weathering on the wheel wells and tail wheel is fantastic, subtle and effective.

Thanks Craig 🙏

I added the tyre and hub to it today.

 

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and built the main legs, man they are a work of art those tamiya legs.

 

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I love liquid chrome pens they simply make the lights look really good i think.

 

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I completed the wings today too, its really a great looking craft the corsair.

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really getting somewhere now.

This has been a real mojo restorer. I loved every minute of this kit, (save for the bad fitting AM.)

Most comstruction is done now and we’re on to clean up and paint. yay 🤗

 

 

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  • Dansk changed the title to ‘Daphne C’ 1/32 “Birdcage” Corsair - clean up and paint next

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