ChuckD

Revell has/had the 1:144 scale round bridge Fletcher for years.  The premium edition comes with a full Pontos set of etched and turned brass.  These are my end results of the premium edition kit.
 

 

 
https://postimg.cc/gallery/DLrdR7r
 

Revell has/had the 1:144 scale round bridge Fletcher for years.  The premium edition comes with a full Pontos set of etched and turned brass.  These are my end results of the premium edition kit.
 

 

 
https://postimg.cc/gallery/DLrdR7r
 

Revell has/had the 1:144 scale round bridge Fletcher for years.  The premium edition comes with a full Pontos set of etched and turned brass.  These are my end results of the premium edition kit.
 

 

 
https://postimg.cc/gallery/DLrdR7r
 

Boy howdy, there is nothing like spending an entire day adding miles...


 
...and miles...

 
...and miles...

 
...and miles... 

 
...and miles...

 
... and miles...

 
...of wiring and linkages...

 
just so that you can close up the fuselage and never see any of it ever again.



 
C'est la hobby, I suppose. 
 
Anyway, as you can see, I've made quite a bit of progress on the cockpit.  At this point, it's roughly base coated and the lovely Quinta set has been (mostly) added.  I have obviously not yet done any weathering or anything, so it's pretty underwhelming at this point.  The next step will be to touch up the base coat, paint the newly-added wiring and such, then gloss, wash, weather, etc. 
 
I'm not going to cover much of the actual build process of the kit itself - certainly not as in depth as I went on my A-20G a few months ago - because this kit has had roughly a half a million build threads devoted to its several iterations over the years.  So, I shan't belabor that point, but as I get along and reach milestones, I'll post updates. 
 
I did receive the Black Dog figure kit and the paints I need to achieve the salmon primer, so we're moving forward there.  I can't really start roughing in the figures until I at least get the wings under the fuselage.  To combat my gnat-like attention span, I'm going to shift my focus from the a/c to the figures and groundwork as soon as I get the wings in place.  I'm concerned that if I finish the a/c in entirety, I'll be too tempted to move on to something else and never actually finish the dio idea.  
 
Anyhoo, no more modeling for me today, my brain is fried. 

Boy howdy, there is nothing like spending an entire day adding miles...


 
...and miles...

 
...and miles...

 
...and miles... 

 
...and miles...

 
... and miles...

 
...of wiring and linkages...

 
just so that you can close up the fuselage and never see any of it ever again.



 
C'est la hobby, I suppose. 
 
Anyway, as you can see, I've made quite a bit of progress on the cockpit.  At this point, it's roughly base coated and the lovely Quinta set has been (mostly) added.  I have obviously not yet done any weathering or anything, so it's pretty underwhelming at this point.  The next step will be to touch up the base coat, paint the newly-added wiring and such, then gloss, wash, weather, etc. 
 
I'm not going to cover much of the actual build process of the kit itself - certainly not as in depth as I went on my A-20G a few months ago - because this kit has had roughly a half a million build threads devoted to its several iterations over the years.  So, I shan't belabor that point, but as I get along and reach milestones, I'll post updates. 
 
I did receive the Black Dog figure kit and the paints I need to achieve the salmon primer, so we're moving forward there.  I can't really start roughing in the figures until I at least get the wings under the fuselage.  To combat my gnat-like attention span, I'm going to shift my focus from the a/c to the figures and groundwork as soon as I get the wings in place.  I'm concerned that if I finish the a/c in entirety, I'll be too tempted to move on to something else and never actually finish the dio idea.  
 
Anyhoo, no more modeling for me today, my brain is fried. 

Thanks, Mike!  I do appreciate it.  Anything to provide more and clearer information to the scene is helpful!
 
I spent yesterday getting the engine around.  I added the spark plug wiring and other assorted oil plumbing.  As always, the photographs make the dirt and oil speckling look far more pronounced than it is to the naked eye.  And the data plate is a close approximate from the spares bin.  All in all though, despite how much the ignition wiring fought me, I'm very happy with how it turned out.



 
The forward cowling got a little love too.  

 
And the two dry fit together.

 
The Quinta cockpit set is supposed to arrive today, so I should be able to get moving on the build proper today or tomorrow.  
 
 

Hi, all.  After cleansing my palate and clearing a few lingerers from the shelf of doom, I'm back with another fairly large project... and no, it's not another big twin. 
 
If you've seen many of my posts over the last few years, I like to recreate historical photographs to the best of my ability.  With this project, I'm going to try something a little more ambitious to include some figures and at least some basic groundwork.  Inspired by @Effik's awesome F4U-1 build, I decided to crack open the box and get going on a project that's been simmering for a while.
 
I want to recreate this photo...

 
... from this series of photos taken at Turtle Bay in Espiritu Santo in July 1943.

 

 

 
I wanted to do this one for a couple reasons.  First, I've never done a model with the red surround on the national insignia.  I understand why it had a fairly short service history, but I always thought it was visually very striking.  I've seen some modelers portray this airplane with light blue surrounds, but if this photo series was, in fact, taken in July of 1943 (and that seems to be the consistent theme), it sits smack-dab in the middle of the ~6 week period when red surrounds would have been used.
 
Second, the sand and coral dust blown back along the fuselage is fascinating and should prove challenging to recreate.  There are a few other interesting observations as well: the top cowl flaps are fixed closed and there's an odd patch of discoloration just forward of the cockpit that doesn't look like the usual fuel staining found there.  Wondering what color that might have been.  Also, a film crew is visible to the right in the 3rd photo; I'm not sure what was going on that day, but this a/c and pilot seem to be the subject of some interest.
 
That said, I've got what I have on hand organized and ready to go:

 
I've also got a few things on order that will enhance the build, though I'm not going for all-out perfection and nth degree super detailing.  My goal with this project is to recreate the vibe and the feeling of the photo, not correct an out of place rivet or obsess over the perfect shade of salmon pink primer.
 
In the mail are:
- Barracudacast plain tread wheels
- Anyz canopy frame
- Quinta studio cockpit interior
- Black dog resin figure for the pilot
 
I've also got a set of cockpit placards from Airscale to gussy the interior up a bit if there are places the Quinta set is lacking.  I'm going to have to sculpt the ground crew standing on the wing, so that ought to prove interesting, but that's future me's problem.  As the Quinta set won't be here for a few days, and I don't want to just sit idle, I'm going to get started on the engine and maybe the wing sections first.  
 
More to come!

Great project, I really like it when there is a background story to a build, the wartime photos are amazing and there is some fine modelling on display.
 
Cheers
 
Dennis

Wow, you’re a fast worker ( she said shyly) I’d still be working on the engine!
The additions to the cockpit make it look like you could just climb in and start her up.
 
John

a coral / jungle dio for an F4U would be iconic. of course any palm trees would not be viable as they'd be about a metre high to scale! but getting that dusty, gritty look of the coral is a nice challenge. it might be almost white to the eye in the bright south pacific sun. I have the F4U-1A waiting for something like this too. Even with these great photos from 1942 to 1943 there is still debate on livery and colours - which is part of the fun. THe cockpit and engine look great - nice and clean and crisp and everything in the right spot.  Something i have trouble with! The Quinta decals are great to work with because they have a rubbery thickness and are easy to position - i've used future or canopy  glue to affix (albeit i was disappointed with quinta's wood grain prop decals as they curled and could not be uncurled- it seems the larger 3d decals are at risk of this).  Even then some cockpit bits are really tiny or bendy - but again they can be easily repositioned once placed which i really like as my hands are a bit jiggly. 
Is that Pappy Boyinton talking to Lt. Ray in the photos in the link? 
Anyway if you want a good 1/32 head without a hat or helmet check out Hornet Heads or Jon Smith (I've got some through Ultracast which i'm using for a yet to be finished M-109 ground crew scene...).

Watching with anticipation!

Remind me to buy shares in copper .  Your work looks top notch here, even if most of it is covered up.
 
 
Cheers,
Michael

I think they have a pill for that Chuck
Excellent work in any case.

Lovely work, Chuck!
 
Kev

Excellent work so far. Will be watching closely as this thing is on my to-do list!

Boy howdy, there is nothing like spending an entire day adding miles...


 
...and miles...

 
...and miles...

 
...and miles... 

 
...and miles...

 
... and miles...

 
...of wiring and linkages...

 
just so that you can close up the fuselage and never see any of it ever again.



 
C'est la hobby, I suppose. 
 
Anyway, as you can see, I've made quite a bit of progress on the cockpit.  At this point, it's roughly base coated and the lovely Quinta set has been (mostly) added.  I have obviously not yet done any weathering or anything, so it's pretty underwhelming at this point.  The next step will be to touch up the base coat, paint the newly-added wiring and such, then gloss, wash, weather, etc. 
 
I'm not going to cover much of the actual build process of the kit itself - certainly not as in depth as I went on my A-20G a few months ago - because this kit has had roughly a half a million build threads devoted to its several iterations over the years.  So, I shan't belabor that point, but as I get along and reach milestones, I'll post updates. 
 
I did receive the Black Dog figure kit and the paints I need to achieve the salmon primer, so we're moving forward there.  I can't really start roughing in the figures until I at least get the wings under the fuselage.  To combat my gnat-like attention span, I'm going to shift my focus from the a/c to the figures and groundwork as soon as I get the wings in place.  I'm concerned that if I finish the a/c in entirety, I'll be too tempted to move on to something else and never actually finish the dio idea.  
 
Anyhoo, no more modeling for me today, my brain is fried. 

Boy howdy, there is nothing like spending an entire day adding miles...


 
...and miles...

 
...and miles...

 
...and miles... 

 
...and miles...

 
... and miles...

 
...of wiring and linkages...

 
just so that you can close up the fuselage and never see any of it ever again.



 
C'est la hobby, I suppose. 
 
Anyway, as you can see, I've made quite a bit of progress on the cockpit.  At this point, it's roughly base coated and the lovely Quinta set has been (mostly) added.  I have obviously not yet done any weathering or anything, so it's pretty underwhelming at this point.  The next step will be to touch up the base coat, paint the newly-added wiring and such, then gloss, wash, weather, etc. 
 
I'm not going to cover much of the actual build process of the kit itself - certainly not as in depth as I went on my A-20G a few months ago - because this kit has had roughly a half a million build threads devoted to its several iterations over the years.  So, I shan't belabor that point, but as I get along and reach milestones, I'll post updates. 
 
I did receive the Black Dog figure kit and the paints I need to achieve the salmon primer, so we're moving forward there.  I can't really start roughing in the figures until I at least get the wings under the fuselage.  To combat my gnat-like attention span, I'm going to shift my focus from the a/c to the figures and groundwork as soon as I get the wings in place.  I'm concerned that if I finish the a/c in entirety, I'll be too tempted to move on to something else and never actually finish the dio idea.  
 
Anyhoo, no more modeling for me today, my brain is fried. 

Thanks, Mike!  I do appreciate it.  Anything to provide more and clearer information to the scene is helpful!
 
I spent yesterday getting the engine around.  I added the spark plug wiring and other assorted oil plumbing.  As always, the photographs make the dirt and oil speckling look far more pronounced than it is to the naked eye.  And the data plate is a close approximate from the spares bin.  All in all though, despite how much the ignition wiring fought me, I'm very happy with how it turned out.



 
The forward cowling got a little love too.  

 
And the two dry fit together.

 
The Quinta cockpit set is supposed to arrive today, so I should be able to get moving on the build proper today or tomorrow.  
 
 

Boy howdy, there is nothing like spending an entire day adding miles...


 
...and miles...

 
...and miles...

 
...and miles... 

 
...and miles...

 
... and miles...

 
...of wiring and linkages...

 
just so that you can close up the fuselage and never see any of it ever again.



 
C'est la hobby, I suppose. 
 
Anyway, as you can see, I've made quite a bit of progress on the cockpit.  At this point, it's roughly base coated and the lovely Quinta set has been (mostly) added.  I have obviously not yet done any weathering or anything, so it's pretty underwhelming at this point.  The next step will be to touch up the base coat, paint the newly-added wiring and such, then gloss, wash, weather, etc. 
 
I'm not going to cover much of the actual build process of the kit itself - certainly not as in depth as I went on my A-20G a few months ago - because this kit has had roughly a half a million build threads devoted to its several iterations over the years.  So, I shan't belabor that point, but as I get along and reach milestones, I'll post updates. 
 
I did receive the Black Dog figure kit and the paints I need to achieve the salmon primer, so we're moving forward there.  I can't really start roughing in the figures until I at least get the wings under the fuselage.  To combat my gnat-like attention span, I'm going to shift my focus from the a/c to the figures and groundwork as soon as I get the wings in place.  I'm concerned that if I finish the a/c in entirety, I'll be too tempted to move on to something else and never actually finish the dio idea.  
 
Anyhoo, no more modeling for me today, my brain is fried. 

Boy howdy, there is nothing like spending an entire day adding miles...


 
...and miles...

 
...and miles...

 
...and miles... 

 
...and miles...

 
... and miles...

 
...of wiring and linkages...

 
just so that you can close up the fuselage and never see any of it ever again.



 
C'est la hobby, I suppose. 
 
Anyway, as you can see, I've made quite a bit of progress on the cockpit.  At this point, it's roughly base coated and the lovely Quinta set has been (mostly) added.  I have obviously not yet done any weathering or anything, so it's pretty underwhelming at this point.  The next step will be to touch up the base coat, paint the newly-added wiring and such, then gloss, wash, weather, etc. 
 
I'm not going to cover much of the actual build process of the kit itself - certainly not as in depth as I went on my A-20G a few months ago - because this kit has had roughly a half a million build threads devoted to its several iterations over the years.  So, I shan't belabor that point, but as I get along and reach milestones, I'll post updates. 
 
I did receive the Black Dog figure kit and the paints I need to achieve the salmon primer, so we're moving forward there.  I can't really start roughing in the figures until I at least get the wings under the fuselage.  To combat my gnat-like attention span, I'm going to shift my focus from the a/c to the figures and groundwork as soon as I get the wings in place.  I'm concerned that if I finish the a/c in entirety, I'll be too tempted to move on to something else and never actually finish the dio idea.  
 
Anyhoo, no more modeling for me today, my brain is fried. 

Boy howdy, there is nothing like spending an entire day adding miles...


 
...and miles...

 
...and miles...

 
...and miles... 

 
...and miles...

 
... and miles...

 
...of wiring and linkages...

 
just so that you can close up the fuselage and never see any of it ever again.



 
C'est la hobby, I suppose. 
 
Anyway, as you can see, I've made quite a bit of progress on the cockpit.  At this point, it's roughly base coated and the lovely Quinta set has been (mostly) added.  I have obviously not yet done any weathering or anything, so it's pretty underwhelming at this point.  The next step will be to touch up the base coat, paint the newly-added wiring and such, then gloss, wash, weather, etc. 
 
I'm not going to cover much of the actual build process of the kit itself - certainly not as in depth as I went on my A-20G a few months ago - because this kit has had roughly a half a million build threads devoted to its several iterations over the years.  So, I shan't belabor that point, but as I get along and reach milestones, I'll post updates. 
 
I did receive the Black Dog figure kit and the paints I need to achieve the salmon primer, so we're moving forward there.  I can't really start roughing in the figures until I at least get the wings under the fuselage.  To combat my gnat-like attention span, I'm going to shift my focus from the a/c to the figures and groundwork as soon as I get the wings in place.  I'm concerned that if I finish the a/c in entirety, I'll be too tempted to move on to something else and never actually finish the dio idea.  
 
Anyhoo, no more modeling for me today, my brain is fried. 

Boy howdy, there is nothing like spending an entire day adding miles...


 
...and miles...

 
...and miles...

 
...and miles... 

 
...and miles...

 
... and miles...

 
...of wiring and linkages...

 
just so that you can close up the fuselage and never see any of it ever again.



 
C'est la hobby, I suppose. 
 
Anyway, as you can see, I've made quite a bit of progress on the cockpit.  At this point, it's roughly base coated and the lovely Quinta set has been (mostly) added.  I have obviously not yet done any weathering or anything, so it's pretty underwhelming at this point.  The next step will be to touch up the base coat, paint the newly-added wiring and such, then gloss, wash, weather, etc. 
 
I'm not going to cover much of the actual build process of the kit itself - certainly not as in depth as I went on my A-20G a few months ago - because this kit has had roughly a half a million build threads devoted to its several iterations over the years.  So, I shan't belabor that point, but as I get along and reach milestones, I'll post updates. 
 
I did receive the Black Dog figure kit and the paints I need to achieve the salmon primer, so we're moving forward there.  I can't really start roughing in the figures until I at least get the wings under the fuselage.  To combat my gnat-like attention span, I'm going to shift my focus from the a/c to the figures and groundwork as soon as I get the wings in place.  I'm concerned that if I finish the a/c in entirety, I'll be too tempted to move on to something else and never actually finish the dio idea.  
 
Anyhoo, no more modeling for me today, my brain is fried. 

Boy howdy, there is nothing like spending an entire day adding miles...


 
...and miles...

 
...and miles...

 
...and miles... 

 
...and miles...

 
... and miles...

 
...of wiring and linkages...

 
just so that you can close up the fuselage and never see any of it ever again.



 
C'est la hobby, I suppose. 
 
Anyway, as you can see, I've made quite a bit of progress on the cockpit.  At this point, it's roughly base coated and the lovely Quinta set has been (mostly) added.  I have obviously not yet done any weathering or anything, so it's pretty underwhelming at this point.  The next step will be to touch up the base coat, paint the newly-added wiring and such, then gloss, wash, weather, etc. 
 
I'm not going to cover much of the actual build process of the kit itself - certainly not as in depth as I went on my A-20G a few months ago - because this kit has had roughly a half a million build threads devoted to its several iterations over the years.  So, I shan't belabor that point, but as I get along and reach milestones, I'll post updates. 
 
I did receive the Black Dog figure kit and the paints I need to achieve the salmon primer, so we're moving forward there.  I can't really start roughing in the figures until I at least get the wings under the fuselage.  To combat my gnat-like attention span, I'm going to shift my focus from the a/c to the figures and groundwork as soon as I get the wings in place.  I'm concerned that if I finish the a/c in entirety, I'll be too tempted to move on to something else and never actually finish the dio idea.  
 
Anyhoo, no more modeling for me today, my brain is fried. 

Boy howdy, there is nothing like spending an entire day adding miles...


 
...and miles...

 
...and miles...

 
...and miles... 

 
...and miles...

 
... and miles...

 
...of wiring and linkages...

 
just so that you can close up the fuselage and never see any of it ever again.



 
C'est la hobby, I suppose. 
 
Anyway, as you can see, I've made quite a bit of progress on the cockpit.  At this point, it's roughly base coated and the lovely Quinta set has been (mostly) added.  I have obviously not yet done any weathering or anything, so it's pretty underwhelming at this point.  The next step will be to touch up the base coat, paint the newly-added wiring and such, then gloss, wash, weather, etc. 
 
I'm not going to cover much of the actual build process of the kit itself - certainly not as in depth as I went on my A-20G a few months ago - because this kit has had roughly a half a million build threads devoted to its several iterations over the years.  So, I shan't belabor that point, but as I get along and reach milestones, I'll post updates. 
 
I did receive the Black Dog figure kit and the paints I need to achieve the salmon primer, so we're moving forward there.  I can't really start roughing in the figures until I at least get the wings under the fuselage.  To combat my gnat-like attention span, I'm going to shift my focus from the a/c to the figures and groundwork as soon as I get the wings in place.  I'm concerned that if I finish the a/c in entirety, I'll be too tempted to move on to something else and never actually finish the dio idea.  
 
Anyhoo, no more modeling for me today, my brain is fried. 

Boy howdy, there is nothing like spending an entire day adding miles...


 
...and miles...

 
...and miles...

 
...and miles... 

 
...and miles...

 
... and miles...

 
...of wiring and linkages...

 
just so that you can close up the fuselage and never see any of it ever again.



 
C'est la hobby, I suppose. 
 
Anyway, as you can see, I've made quite a bit of progress on the cockpit.  At this point, it's roughly base coated and the lovely Quinta set has been (mostly) added.  I have obviously not yet done any weathering or anything, so it's pretty underwhelming at this point.  The next step will be to touch up the base coat, paint the newly-added wiring and such, then gloss, wash, weather, etc. 
 
I'm not going to cover much of the actual build process of the kit itself - certainly not as in depth as I went on my A-20G a few months ago - because this kit has had roughly a half a million build threads devoted to its several iterations over the years.  So, I shan't belabor that point, but as I get along and reach milestones, I'll post updates. 
 
I did receive the Black Dog figure kit and the paints I need to achieve the salmon primer, so we're moving forward there.  I can't really start roughing in the figures until I at least get the wings under the fuselage.  To combat my gnat-like attention span, I'm going to shift my focus from the a/c to the figures and groundwork as soon as I get the wings in place.  I'm concerned that if I finish the a/c in entirety, I'll be too tempted to move on to something else and never actually finish the dio idea.  
 
Anyhoo, no more modeling for me today, my brain is fried.