Boyington's Bird - 1/72 Tamiya Corsair

[Cookenbacher]

This is a 1/72 Tamiya Corsair I built for my uncle - hopefully it survives the journey to Los Angeles to give it to him intact.

It's supposed to represent an F4U-1A that Greg Boyington flew - he was known for choosing the most beat up airframe available in order for the less experienced pilots to have more reliable rides, and this one appears to fit the bill as the ref pics seem to show that the left wing is a replacement from an old 'birdcage' model painted in light blue grey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for Looking!

[Meatbox8]

Superb.  The weathering is terrific.

[Ngantek]

Astonishing work, especially for the scale. I love the replacement wing and the 'story' of wear and repair that all the layers create.

 

The most impressive thing for me (beyond all the other frankly amazing stuff) are those 'sharper' demarcations of overpainting or wear that I see often in photos but rarely on models, perhaps because of the more gradual nature of airbrush textures. So on the starboard upper wing at half span near the leading edge or under the 4 beneath the starboard side cockpit. Are they achieved by sanding down lots of different colour layers? I've thought about how to achieve this kind of thing but have no idea frankly! 

 

Anyway once again fantastic work.

Andy.

[bigbadbadge]

Wow Cookie wow!!! Looks like a larger scale model with all the amazing weathering.   What a cracking job .  You have created a fantastic model  for your uncle. 

Chris

[Ramtin]

wow I would be impressed if this was 1/48, let stand 1/72 scale. Great job!

[Pantherhawk27263]

That is magnificent!! It's especially amazing because it's 1/72. Amazing job!!!

 

[Winenut]

Simply superb!

[Robert_]

Great stuff, this could easily pass for larger scales. Your uncle will be very pleased, and thanks for sharing with us. 

[Terry1954]

Absolutely amazing work Cookie. Your painting skills are so expertly exectuted to give realism rarely seen in much larger scales, let alone 1/72. The port wing, the general weathering, the tonal variations, all quite simply miniature excellence to my old ( but still keen) eyes!

 

Well done sir!!

 

Terry

[TheBaron]

Congratulations on such a visually impressive example of the craft Cookie. Colour and distress just stunning.

[giemme]

Cookie, this is impressive!  As others have said, it looks to be in a much larger scale, and the finishing and weathering are just outstanding!   

 

Ciao 

[AliGauld]

 

Normal superlatives are wholly redundant. What a stunning piece.

 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[steh2o]

Love it Cookie!! Beautifully done and masterfully weathered

[Johnson]

Excellent weathering Cookie. Looks great. 

[paulsbrown]

That's superb, more Corsairs!

[Fritag]

That’s a work of art Cookie.  Should’ve had it’s own WIP with a tutorial on the Cookie finishing techniques that should!

[noelh]

You wait  for ages and two brilliant Corsairs arrive at once. Yours and shortCummins. 

For a Corsair nut  like  me. It's  heaven.

[2lefthands]

Excellent work! I hope it arrives undamaged!

[Sky Keg]

Cookie………..it`s perfect!!!!  I like it and I like it A LOT!!!!! 

 

Mike

[Maginot]

Smart work.

[Cookenbacher]

Thanks for the kind comments everyone! The Corsair made it to Los Angeles and now resides beside my uncle's desk.

@Fritag Sorry there is no WIP for this one, I only had two weeks between trips to get it done in time to deliver to my uncle!

@Ngantek The variation was achieved with multiple layers of airbrushing, then some drybrushing/stippling on top of that (like you say, it's difficult to get all of the effects shown in photos with airbrushing alone - some folks use mottling templates or shoot through kitchen scrubbers, but I haven't tried that yet.)

The base coat is AK Xtreme Dark Aluminium (the fabric sections were painted a Tamiya tan).

 

That was hairsprayed and then a coat of Tamiya yellow zinc chromate:

 

Blue blobs were then painted where the roundels were to go:

 

I placed the star masks over the blue blobs, and then painted the white portions around them, then added the masks for the side bars (I sort of do masks backwards, but it's fewer steps this way!)

The top coat is Lifecolor, Vallejo and MRP water based acrylics (all three of those can be mixed with each other). You can see that it's entirely too smooth, and that's where the stippling and dry brushing comes in.

 

On the tri-color scheme, there are two dark blues - in addition different paint types were used on the metal and fabric portions and they faded differently and at different rates. I gave the metal portion of the wings a once over with a darker blue. I did the same with the top of the forward fuselage, but to represent fuel/oil spillage - Corsairs leaked from this area and those white strips of tape you often see in pics were there to prevent it. Most South Pacific Corsairs have a much darker looking forward fuselage than rear fuselage and I think it is this constant leaking that causes that appearance.

 

Anyway, sorry for the long winded response!

[Rod bettencourt]

That is OUTSTANDING. Really nice scale effect for 1/72. Thanks for sharing.

 

Rod

[MACALAIN]

On 24/07/2022 at 23:32, Cookenbacher said:

This is a 1/72 Tamiya Corsair I built for my uncle - hopefully it survives the journey to Los Angeles to give it to him intact.

It's supposed to represent an F4U-1A that Greg Boyington flew - he was known for choosing the most beat up airframe available in order for the less experienced pilots to have more reliable rides, and this one appears to fit the bill as the ref pics seem to show that the left wing is a replacement from an old 'birdcage' model painted in light blue grey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for Looking!

Nice very nice.

 

Alain

[Natter]

Oh, so nice.

[Wulfman]

Beautiful build with interesting colour scheme variation, really great work on the weathering !

 

Wulfman