Dark Blue Killer - Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

[John1]

Working on the wheel wells.  Nice detail out of the box but I want to add some of the prominent hydraulic lines that were present on the real thing.  Used .2mm copper wire.  It's soft enough to bend easily and holds it's shape.   I added most of the lines, still have to add some additional ones but they will be after the LG door actuating pistons are in place.   Aside from that, I added a small bit of YZC primer to replicate some light scratches.  Again - keep in mind that carrier based Corsairs in late '45 were pretty much brand new and weren't wracking up the high number of flying hours that their island based predecessors did.  I'll probably add a few oil stains here and there.   

 

 

 

 

 

[John1]

19 minutes ago, Jennings Heilig said:

That's looking really nice!  What scheme will she be in?

That’s a tough one!    Leaning towards a Block Island aircraft, still a chance I might opt for a Wasp or Shangri-La Corsair.    

 

You didn’t make it easy Jennings.   

[SapperSix]

John,

 

I am incredibly impressed with this build.  I don't think I have ever seen such a fantastic cockpit or Corsair for that matter.  When I do my Tamiya Corsair build I am going to open this WIP and follow your build as a reference.  Thank you so very much for sharing this.  This is going to help my build beyond measure.  Its a real joy to see your work.

 

Sapper

[John1]

Thanks for the compliments Jennings & SapperSix.   Sapper- I appreciate the compliments but this isn't close to what some of the experts here on LSP can build.   Those guys are true artists.  All that being said, I'm glad you find this build useful!  

 

Mini update:  I completed the other wheel well and repaired the missing linkage pulleys on the cowl flaps.  Seems these flaps were pretty basic.  They were spring loaded and in their natural state, forced open by the springs.   A single wire looped around the flaps and fed into a small slot at the top of the fuselage on each side.  Move cockpit control lever to tighten wire, cowl flaps close.  Move lever to loosen wire, cowl flaps spring open.   Simple and most importantly, easy to build so it didn't impact production.  

 

Since Tamiya faithfully replicated the slot, I added a short bit of sprue from the edge of the cowl flap into the slot.  

In looking a the pic, I'm not altogether happy with the way this came out and will replace them.  But anyway, you get the idea of how they look,  

 

The full fuselage.  Starting to finally make some tangible progress!

 

The wheel wells.  They will look much "busier" when I mount the door retraction cylinders and add some additional hydraulic lines. 

 

 

That's it for this week.  Thanks for looking!

[John1]

So, as mentioned above, I'm going to be using Fundekals F4U Corsair sheet.   They've got some really interesting options, many of which I've never seen before.   For anyone remotely interested in the Corsair, you should head over to the Fundekals website and check out the 40+ page PDF.  It's so much more than just a boring set of instructions.   Lots of really good info on the aircraft and the units.  Here are the options you get on this sheet (note - there are actually a few other versions which aren't shown here):

 

 

 

Also as mentioned above, I've got a hard time deciding which option to go with.   It's a race between VMF-511 and VF-85, with the nod currently going to "My Nel III", of VMF-511 flying off the USS Block Island.   I like this one because it's some nose-art (most late war USMC/Navy aircraft were extremely generic), it's a pretty rare scheme (I like obscure subjects) and it's got the rocket launchers installed (some of the subjects above had the rocket launchers removed as a weight-saving measure).   The Tamiya HVAR's are truly exquisite and I really want to be able to add them to my Corsair, especially since she'll have her wing's folded and the rockets will be very prominent.  One other interesting fact - from the color pics of this aircraft on the Block Island, they were using HVAR's with a white / creamish-colored warhead, as opposed to the normal OD ones seen everywhere else.  Very unusual, I like oddball stuff like this.  Good attention to details Fundekals, I probably wouldn't have caught that myself.   For armament, I'm thinking of going with one external tank, a 1000-lb bomb on the other pylon and the 8 HVAR's.   So anyway, that's my plan.  We'll see if I stick to it or not. 

[rjones726]

As we used to say in the Sub force "You can't deviate from a plan unless you've got one".  I've studied the photos on the Fundekals instruction "novel" as well. There is a lot more wear and tear on those 511 Corsairs than I would have expected considering they probably don't have too many hours. 

[ShotMagnet]

     Just bought the Tamiya -1D, so naturally I'm following this one closely.

 

     I don't expect I'll do half the job you're doing, but I'm following it just the same.

 

     Anyone who has this kit, can you tell me if the Lone Star Models resin upgrade for the Revell F4U plays nicely with the Tamiya kit? I test fit a couple of items; it looks like everything should more or less slot into place for the 'pit. The LSM upgrade also comes with dropped (I think) flaps, and resin wheels which are so beautiful all by themselves it seems a shame to paint them.

 

 

    Shot

[John1]

On 10/28/2018 at 4:20 PM, ShotMagnet said:

     Just bought the Tamiya -1D, so naturally I'm following this one closely.

 

     I don't expect I'll do half the job you're doing, but I'm following it just the same.

 

     Anyone who has this kit, can you tell me if the Lone Star Models resin upgrade for the Revell F4U plays nicely with the Tamiya kit? I test fit a couple of items; it looks like everything should more or less slot into place for the 'pit. The LSM upgrade also comes with dropped (I think) flaps, and resin wheels which are so beautiful all by themselves it seems a shame to paint them.

    Shot

Thanks for the compliments Shot!  I'm sure you will do fine, keep in mind - my work isn't even close to what I've seen others do on LSP.   I use their stuff as inspiration for my build.  At one point, I actually lost interest in doing this build because I realized I'd never come close to the quality of their work.   Then I decided to just do my best and enjoy the process.   Was a big weight lifted off my shoulders.  Build it and post some pics of your progress!

 

With regard to the LSM stuff, I can't help.  I just don't see the Tamiya pit needing a full replacement.  Maybe a few small bits but nothing more.    The wheels on the kit suck (I hate vinyl), I opted to go with the ones from Barracuda.   They are very reasonably priced and are truly incredible.   If the LSM wheels don't work, go here:  http://barracudacals.com/proddetail.php?prod=BR32119

 

I've got a small update - I wrapped up the center wing section.  I was a bit nervous about how well it would mate with the fuselage but it just clicked into place with no fuss.  Typical Tamiya engineering, they made most of the joints in strategic locations to minimize the visibility of the joints. 

 

She's staring to look like a Corsair!  

In order to (hopefully) replicate the wear and tear on the wing root (this area was heavily traveled by the maintenance crews), I put down a coating of matt aluminum, followed by some hairspray, followed by YZC and topped it off with more hairspray.   Once I do the final coating of Gloss Sea Blue, I'll try to replicate the chipping.  This is my first time using this method, wish me luck!  

 

 

I repainted the exhausts but they are still a work in progress (both outside and internally). 

 

The wing interior is a mini-kit in itself and this is another reason why I opted to go for the wings folded.   All the fittings and flap actuating rods are present.   I'll be adding hydraulic and electrical lines once I get the upper wings in place, along with a bit of discrete weathering.  Tamiya also provides servicing placards for the interior of these sections.   Just another indication of how focused these guys are on the small details!

 

Lastly, I started work on the landing gear.    Got the left main landing gear glued together and then noted that one half of the right one was snapped in half.  No idea if I did it or it was damaged during production.  Regardless, I was dead in the water until a kind gent on this forum offered to send me his unused parts (he built his Corsair wheels-up).   It's most gratefully appreciated.   Here is where I was at.   I hollowed out the area where the retraction strut mates to the MLG.   This was molded solid in the kit (see the one on the right).  Only downside to all this is that Tamiya made the landing gear in two pieces so there will be some sanding required to remove the joint line.   Don't mind the seam on the right landing gear, it's getting tossed.  All LG work is on hold until the replacement parts arrive.  Thank you again 1to1 Scale!!  Your help is gratefully appreciated.

 

Anyway, that's it for now.  Thanks for looking.

Edited October 30, 2018 by John1

[SCRATCH BUILDER]

Nice detail work so far, 

[John1]

13 hours ago, Jennings Heilig said:

It makes me indescribably happy that you’re enjoying the decals so much!  That’s why we do them!

 

One note - in our research it’s actually pretty rare to see an F4U operating off a carrier with a 1000 lb bomb under the center section.  They seem to have used 500 pounders quite extensively.  I bought a set of two Eduard 500 pounders, of which I’ll only use one (if that).  If anyone’s interested, let me know and I’ll send it to you.

 

J

Hi Jennings, if no one has claimed it, I’d love that 500 lb bomb.    You are correct on 1,000 pounders being pretty uncommon, not sure where I got that idea.    PM me if you have one still and what the costs are.    Thank you!   

 

[Hawkwrench]

Great looking Corsair John. I'd like to do a Black Sheep Corsair someday, but something tells me the Tamiya one is a weeeee bit pricey!

 

Tim

[LSP_Ray]

Your Corsair is coming along great, John! Nice detail work!

[John1]

13 hours ago, Hawkwrench said:

Great looking Corsair John. I'd like to do a Black Sheep Corsair someday, but something tells me the Tamiya one is a weeeee bit pricey!

 

Tim

Thanks Tim.   It’s definitely a pricey kit but the way I look at it is this - I bought this mid summer and the way I build, I’ll probably wrap her up by end of year.   That’s close to 6 months of really enjoyable modeling.    If you break it down over this time period, you are looking at approximately $30/month.    To me, that’s a really good return on investment, considering I probably spend more each month at Starbucks.   Take the plunge Tim, you won’t be sorry!    

[John1]

Just doing some small stuff while I get my landing gear issue sorted out.   Including starting work on the flaps.   Somewhat enjoyable, in typical Tamiya fashion, they are highly detailed.  Each inner flap assembly consists ~ 13 parts including a few PE bits.  Only thing I did was to open out the lightening holes on the end pieces.   I also shot the interior YZC since a small bit will now be visible through the openings.   That's it for now.

 

 Still need to do some sanding and apply a bit of putty

 

 

 

[John1]

Very small update, been a busy week.   I completed (mostly) the outer wings.   No fit problems, just need to carefully read the instructions and make sure you open up a few holes.   The flaps went together fine, this time no extra work was required opening up the interior frames.  I've opted to install the flaps in the down position, so I went ahead and glued them into the place.   They really look nice.  Tamiya did a great job of having them pretty much click into place, you can also see through them, as per the real thing.  They also provided full interiors for the flap bays within the wings.    I still need to add some small bits such as the rocket launcher stubs (a couple of these will need to go on once the national insignia is applied to the lower wing), pitot tube, etc.  One thing I did do was to lightly sand down the fabric detail.  The F4U had the rear sections of the wings mostly covered in fabric and in most people's opinion, the Tamiya surface detail is a bit heavy.   Nothing 5 minutes with some sanding film can't fix.  

 

The wings...

 

Flap details.  Also note that Tamiya included the aileron control linkage as a separate part.   Fun Corsair fact -  when they introduced the -1D, they switched from fabric covered flaps to sheet metal ones, the originals would have disintegrated under the rocket exhaust.  Good factoid to throw out at your next cocktail party!  

 

Upper wing surface.  Please ignore the hideous opening for the formation light.   I haven't gotten around to fairing it into the wing.   I show this picture just to illustrate how obsessed with detail Tamiya is.  They included the access cutout for the aileron hinge linkage.   When I first started building the Corsair, I assumed it was a rather boring aircraft, from a structural standpoint.  In reality, it's got some really interesting, smaller features that I never noticed until I started building this kit.   Kudo's to Tamiya.   Keep in mind, I haven't done any final cleanup of the wing surface.  Still need to hit it with some ultra fine sanding film and give it a wash to get all the dust out of the panel lines and rivet depressions.   

 

Anyways, that's it for now.   Thanks for looking. 

Edited November 10, 2018 by John1