Birdcage Corsair the Hard Way!

[dodgem37]

That is one fantastic-looking model.  Great show!

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Iain]

As others have said Kev - absolutely fantastic work!

 

Iain

[Kahunaminor]

It's going to look great under my Xmas tree!

 

Regards,

Edited November 26, 2017 by Kahunaminor

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks, fellas. It's very pleasing to finally be at this end of the build, and very gratifying to read all you kind words.

 

Definitely bottom colour, in your case light grey. Very good colour photos in Dana Bell's Birdcage book confirm this.

 

Allan

 

Thanks, Allan - always coming to my rescue!

 

Kev

[TorbenD]

Cracked it! Well done Kev, fantastic finish.

 

Torben

[LSP_Kevin]

I once feared that this build might not ever get to this stage, but I'm pleased to say the Corsair is finally on its legs:

 

 

G-Factor legs and (I think) Obscureco wheels. The wheels are wrong for Marines Dream, but that's a small thing compared to the feeling of relief over getting this far! At least I now know that, unless I really screw the engine up (again), this thing will finally be finished soon.

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

Oh, here's a couple of photos I forgot to post in my excitement. The first one shows the viewing window in the bottom of the fuselage unmasked:

 

 

The muck you can see on it is mostly adhesive residue from the Bare Metal Foil I used to mask it, plus some sanding dust trapped on the inside. Some WD40 on a cotton bud soon took care of the adhesive residue, and a squirt into the cockpit from a can of compressed air dislodged most of the dust:

 

 

Since taking these photos, I've also bitten the bullet and repaired most of the damaged or incomplete panel lines, and it looks much better for it, so I'm glad I did!

 

Now, where did I put that engine?

 

Kev

[ClumsyDude]

Kev! Kev! Kev! Kev!

 

Cheering for you mate, all downhill from here.

 

Cheers

Jim

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks, Jim (happy 3000th post, by the way). Truth be told, the port landing gear leg is ever so slightly canted inwards when viewed from the front, but I honestly don't care. This build is lucky to have made it this far, and has no right to look even as good as it does, and I'll take every shortcut in the book just to get it finished and off the bench. And then I can finally feel liked I've fulfilled my obligations to Tim.

 

Kev

[Guest Maxim]

Kev, that looks great! Love the paint and markings.

[Whitey]

I really like your weathering Kev, must get a lesson one day.

[LSP_Kevin]

I really like your weathering Kev, must get a lesson one day.

 

Thanks, Peter. It's my best weathering job yet, but I'm no expert to be honest. My one guiding principle is to avoid anything that looks deliberate, as I want to obtain as organic an effect as possible. So if something makes you think more about the technique used than the effect achieved, then I know I've failed. So I try to avoid anything that looks like a brush stroke, or tide marks with washes, etc. Easier said than done, but practise does make perfect(ish). The one area on this model that I don't like is the over-prominent post-shading on the fuselage, but I've seen worse!

 

Kev

[tucohoward]

Looks great, Kev! Really nice painting and weathering.

 

Jay

[Out2gtcha]

Yes, this looks excellent K1!  Any overall shots of the underside weathering? 

[LSP_Kevin]

Yes, this looks excellent K1!  Any overall shots of the underside weathering? 

 

No recent ones, but it hasn't changed much from the photos I've posted earlier. The underside is not as heavily weathered as the upper surfaces; I spent more time making it grungy and dirty, rather than beaten up. I could have taken it further, but I didn't want to spend too much time on an area that not only wouldn't have weathered as much on the real aircraft, but will likely never be seen again on the model!

 

I'll get some new photos posted in the next day or so.

 

Kev