Birdcage Corsair the Hard Way!

[Sparzanza]

Brilliant modifying right there!

[LSP_Kevin]

Brilliant modifying right there!

 

Thanks Sparz - good to have you aboard!

 

Kev

[Kahunaminor]

NIce thinking on the window mounting. Personally I don't think much will be seen once you get the rest in there and paint on it.

 

Great work mate, keep it up!

 

Regards.

[LSP_Kevin]

Great progress Kev, I'm enjoying following along with your build.

 

I must commend you on your photography.  

Outstanding!

Your pics lately have jumped off the monitor.

 

Keep on trucking'

 

Dan

 

Thanks Dan. I'm just an old dog trying to learn new tricks. Shooting in RAW has made a big difference of late, even though it mucks up my workflow a bit. I'm hoping to be able to trade up my camera later this year. If all goes well, I'm planning to submit this one to AIR Modeller when it's done, so I'm shooting all my photos with that in mind. Even if it doesn't come to pass, it's a great approach to take with model photography, as it makes you strive to take the best photos you can. And hopefully build the best model you can, too!

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

NIce thinking on the window mounting. Personally I don't think much will be seen once you get the rest in there and paint on it.

 

Great work mate, keep it up!

 

Regards.

 

Thanks Kent! I'm just sizing up the visibility now, but it's hard to tell without all the necessary bits in place. I'm actually toying with the idea of fabricating a styrene 'tub' or 'shell' that will form the inside bottom of the fuselage, but it may well be more difficult that its worth.

 

Kev

[don f]

The next stage is to start building up the detail around the new open panel, but I'm having trouble determining exactly what was happening in the cavity formed by the upper and lower wing pieces:

 

 

Was this covered with a panel or frame of some sort? Or just left open?

 

Kev

 

Kev,

 

Nice job adding the window.  The only skinning that you may want to add, or perhaps the resin parts take care of it, is up to the bulkhead at the front of the cockpit.  This image of the cockpit of the Lake F4U was originally posted at HS.

 

 

And here's a view looking down into the F4U-1A cockpit.  You can see the window.  Seems to me that you can conceal your styrene strips with some additional bits to simulate the structures framing the window.  And the Dark Green paint will help as well.  As I was once told: "A good coat of paint hides a multitude of sins." Don't forget the "V" brace that is visible through the window. One of them is visible in the image below.

 

 

A better image, courtesy of Dana Bell:

 

 

There's a lot of piping and other stuff in the bottom of that cockpit. If you can, use the Tamiya kit as a go by.

 

Don

 

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks heaps once again for your info and images Don! Being relatively ignorant about all things Corsair, this is really helpful. I'm finding that the real challenge at the moment is working out placement and dimensions in the cockpit, in order to work out how to use what elements of the Verlinden set. Trying to work out where the forward bulkhead/firewall actually sits in the lower wing section is not as easy as it sounds! I'm also trying to work out if I can somehow hide the internal fuselage seam on the bottom - or if it even matters. Lots to consider, lots to measure.

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

So, work has now begun on fleshing out the bottom of the fuselage, and I'm mulling over a few ideas on how best to achieve this. Per Don's post above, I decided to figure out where the Verlinden forward firewall should sit in the lower wing section, and this is what I came up with:

 

 

This was a most enlightening exercise, as it showed me that, with a little bit of reshaping on the bottom, the Verlinden part will sit nicely into Trumpeter's lower fuselage. After fitting the fuselage over it, I could also see that the egg-shaped top part will pretty much not be seen at all, so it doesn't matter that the shape won't fit at all. In fact, it's not even tall enough to reach to the top of the fuselage, and will be hidden by the instrument panel anyway.

 

Here's what it looks like through the cockpit opening:

 

 

The upshot of all this is that I can make the Verlinden part work for the firewall, and I now have a datum point to work back from for detailing the rest of the cockpit.

 

I plan to work slowly and post often, just so that you guys can make suggestions and flag potential problems or mistakes. It will also prevent me from getting too far ahead of myself and really screwing it up - well, that's the theory, anyway! Hopefully it won't be too boring for you guys however.

 

Kev

[Loic]

:popcorn:

[dennismcc]

This is looking great, lots of useful info and really clear photos.

 

Cheers

 

Den

[LSP_Kevin]

This is looking great, lots of useful info and really clear photos.

 

Cheers

 

Den

 

Thanks Den. Another update coming shortly...

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

I decided to plough on and test what I thought was the best method for achieving a fairly seamless cockpit floor, which was to cover the entire bottom of the fuselage in styrene sheet. I started by making a template using kabuki tape. I took 2 sections of 40mm tape and laid them across the bottom of the fuselage underneath the cockpit, and drew a basic outline in pencil, including marking the window cut-out. I then transferred the tape to a piece of paper card stock, and cut out the basic shape for testing:

 

 

By lining up the window cut-outs, I was able to refine the shape so that it fit quite nicely into the lower fuselage:

 

 

Once I was satisfied that the general shape was close, I transferred it this time to styrene sheet (which in this case was .010 thou I think), and began further refining the fit:

 

 

The tail-end part that's hanging out past the rear end will slide into the rest of the fuselage, and extends back as far as the rear bulkhead, hopefully providing a seamless cockpit bottom all the way back. It will also help anchor the rear wing-to-fuselage join, but the shape still needs some more work.

 

I braced the firewall at its rear (forward facing, actually) so that it will have as secure a footing as possible once it's glued in:

 

 

So, a bit more work on the shape at the rear, and it'll be ready to be fixed in place, after which I can start adding some details to it. Before I get too far with that, though, I probably need to attend to the replacement exhaust outlet panel, as it will be quite awkward to perform the required surgery with the firewall glued in place.

 

Back when there's more!

 

Kev

[Sparzanza]

Nice solution to achieve seamlessness. I have a feeling this bird will turn out to be a peach.

[LSP_Kevin]

Nice solution to achieve seamlessness. I have a feeling this bird will turn out to be a peach.

 

Thanks Spraz, but all is not as it seems (seams?). I was so pleased with my progress so far, that late last night I decided it would be OK to glue the new fuselage bottom in place:

 

 

Can anybody see the problem here? Yes, the upper forward sections of the new floor are glued to the top of the wings...which are only held in place by tape for the purposes of test fitting...

 

I realised my mistake with fresh eyes this morning, so out came the photo-etched razor saw:

 

 

It looks like the rest of the floor will hold its shape OK, and the two parts should mate up nicely later on. Or not.

 

One thing I noticed during test fitting, though, was that the rear extension to the floor seems to be fouling the fit of the wing-to-fuselage join:

 

 

So I may have to remove it after all, and come up with a different solution. It's all part of the challenge!

 

At least the clear view window is looking OK, though the ledge may need some further trimming:

 

 

The question is, will my next step be forward or backward?

 

Kev

[Sparzanza]

Well with all these setbacks there's bound to be some progress... my Jedi senses tells me so!