Dark Blue Killer - Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

[John1]

I just received a replacement landing gear part to replace the one that I broke.  Thanks again 1To1Scale,  your generosity is greatly appreciated.   Completed the landing gear.   The main landing gear in this kit are pretty much models themselves.   Each one is approx 12 pieces and for such a complex assembly, they all just click into place.  All parts are wonderfully detailed. 

 

The Tamiya instructions specify painting the LG overall silver.  In reality, per Dana Bell's book, the LG on the -1D was actually an unknown spec light grey lacquer.   Later in life, the landing gear was painted GSB when these planes went through overhauls.   Some pics below.  Just note that I still need to do some detail painting and touchup work. 

 

Note the maintenance placard on the upper LG strut.  Nice attention to detail Tamiya!

 

Only modifications I did was to hollow out the mounting bracket for the retraction cylinder (you can kinda see this, it's right above the maintenance placard) and open up the lightening holes on the oleo scissor fittings (can't really see it in these pics but trust me on it). 

 

 The inner wheel hubs are typically pretty grimy.  I used a dilute brownish black wash and then topped with ground up dark grey pastels to replicate brake dust.   

 

 

Tail gear

 

Again, note that I've got some touch-up to do and will probably hit these parts with a dilute wash to bring out some of the details.    

 

Next up are the wheels.   One failing of the kit is that Tamiya provides vinyl tires.  No idea why manufacturers do this. It's next to impossible to remove the seam down the middle of the tire and you really can't paint vinyl very well.   I opted for Barracuda's wonderful resin wheels.  Even if Tamiya offered the tires in plastic, I would still do this.  Barracuda's wheels are amazing.  Even the minuscule casting numbers on the wheel hubs are fully replicated. In addition, the provide full interior details of the wheel hub.  All this and a very reasonable price. Check 'em out here:  http://barracudacals.com/proddetail.php?prod=BR32119   They also offer early and late version wheels as well.

 

From the Barracuda website:

 

My wheels are still a work in progress.  Need to finish painting / weathering.  I left off the outer hub cover in this pic just so you can see the interior detail.  It will (barely) be visible when the wheels are fully assembled and in place. 

 

That's it folks, thanks for looking. 

[John1]

And she's on her legs!  Landing gear is installed.  A bit fiddly trying to get things to fit but once in, all was well.    I am a bit concerned about the ability of the landing gear to support the weight of this beast.  Tamiya provides a thin metal rod to go inside the main strut but the weak area seems to be right at the base of the LG, above the wheel axle.   Haven't seen anyone else complain about this, so I've got my fingers crossed. 

 

 

After LG installation, I added the landing gear doors.  These come with the retraction cylinders.   I drilled out a small whole at the cylinder's base and added soft copper wire to replicate the hydraulic lines.   I'm calling the wheel wells complete.  I didn't replicate every single electrical / hydraulic line but I caught most of them and I think it's a decent improvement over the kit parts.  I still will be going back for final touchups and will add a few YZC scratches to the inner gear doors and hinges.   I'll then hit the landing gear with a dark wash to highlight some of the hinges, etc.   Probably throw some dark grey pastels on the outer wheel hubs to replicate brake dust.   If you folks haven't tried pastels, I highly recommend it.  A box of 30 colors purchased from Michael's will set you back $10 and provide a lifetime supply.  Easy to apply and if you don't like the look, you can simply wipe them off.  

 

On the subject of landing gear, I really like comparing the ruggedness of the gear on Corsairs and Hellcats to those on other WW2 carrier aircraft, such as the Zero, Seafire, etc.  You can see why US carrier planes developed a reputation for being much better suited for the rigors of life on a carrier than those of other nations (especially the British Spitfire variants which really had no business being on a carrier deck).   Truly some heavy duty metalwork here! 

 

Anyway, I digress.  Here are a few more pics. 

 

 

Definately need to add a wash to tone down those pristine MLG's.  That being said, the color pic I've seen seem to show the landing gear on carrier-deployed Corsairs looking pretty clean so I won't be going that heavy in this area.

 

Still need to add the tailhook and I'll go back and add some major wear to the tie-down rings on the tail and main landing gears.  They will be mostly bare steel when i'm done. 

That's it for now, I'm off to start building some HVAR's.   Thanks for looking.

[Out2gtcha]

Looks great! I know some have had issues with breakage on the MLG, but that's usually while installing them. I've not seen any break afte the fact after the gear had been installed and setting on the shelf.

[John1]

BTW - if anyone is looking for a nice source of WW2 Corsair pictures, head over here:

 

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/aircrafts-2-3/f4u-corsair/f4u-4-corsairs-vmf-224-on-okinawa/

 

Close to 200 good quality pictures,  many of which I haven't seen before.  More than a few of -4 Corsairs, which were pretty uncommon.   

 

For some reason, this one really jumped out at me.   Would be a great subject for a diorama!

 

 

[TenSeven]

As a long time F4U Corsair fan, I'm always glad to see and follow these Tamiya build threads. I'm really enjoying yours, spent the last 90 minutes or so reading most of it.

 

I didn't read if had already been addressed (or I well may be wrong and it may be too late anyway)  but I noticed that you may want to check the orientation of the magnetos on the R2800 engine. Something may have gone awry during their installation as they appear to be backward. 

 

 

Looking forward to the next step in the paint job, looks like it going to be great!

Edited November 24, 2018 by TenSeven
Added Image

[John1]

10-4 - thanks for the info.  I'll need to consult the instructions and references, can't believe I missed that.   If so, I think I can get into the cowl and pop these off and reset them.   

 

Just as  break from the main build, I started work on the ordinance.   My probable load-out is one external tank (more on this later), a 500 lb bomb (the kit supplies 2 x 1,000 lb bombs but these weren't very common on carrier deployed Corsairs, Jennings has graciously provided a Brassin resin 500 pounder) and 8 x HVAR's.  

 

The rockets ended up being a bit of work.   While Tamiya nicely supplies the bodies in a single piece (to avoid a lot of tedious sanding of seams), they do have a couple of pin marks on the rocket body and two on every fin.   Took a good amount of time to sand these away.  Other than that, these rockets are superb.  Tamiya even provides a PE exhaust cover.  I wish Tamiya would market these separately, I'll need them for my upcoming F-51 Mustang project.   They even provide full stenciling for the warhead and motor body (haven't gotten to applying these decals yet).   Whilst on the subject of warheads, pictures provided by Fundekals of the version I'm building on the USS Block Island show the warheads to be a creamy, off-white color. I thought that made a nice contrast to the regular OD ones; so far I've yet to see any documentation on why they were colored like this.   Best I can come up with is that they were white phosphorous (WP) warheads.  

 

Anyway, I painted the motor bodies in a dull aluminum (later versions used in Korea were a light grey), painted the fins a slightly lighter color and painted the two bands supporting the mounting lugs in silver.  The rockets were capped off with steel colored fuzes.  Seems to replicate the ones I've seen in pictures.  The actual HVAR's came in separate pieces.   The motor bodies, warheads, fuzes, fins and mounting lugs were all assembled on deck, just prior to loading.   Aside from the decals, the only other thing I'll be adding are the "pigtail" ignition wiring that runs from the socket on the aft pylon to the igniter which was inserted in the motor (I've already drilled out the opening in the motor exhaust).   See below (and thanks to Finn for finding this picture).

 

 

Here are few pics of my rockets so far.  I tried to add a few scratches here and there to the warheads.  A few seams will be re-puttied and sanded prior to mounting. 

 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2021 by John1

[John1]

More rocket work.  I applied the decals to the motor and warhead.  Made a point to position them at different angles since, in reality, the rockets and warheads were installed randomly.   Not going to see any real Corsairs with the stenciling uniformly lined up on all 8 assembled rockets.  

 

Also started installing the "pigtail" ignitor leads.  As in the drawing above, they run from a plug receptacle at the base of the rear pylon and are inserted into one of the exhaust ports.   

 

One down, 7 to go.   

 

Yes, I will still be dealing with that seam line on the aft motor body!

 

Next up will be clear coating the Corsair.   As mentioned, the Colourcoats Gloss Sea Blue paint has a rather dull finish to it.  Even some pretty weathered F4U's still exhibited a bit of shine so I'm going to have to gloss this thing up a bit.  I need to do this so I can add the decals, secondly to replicate the real thing. 

 

In the past, I've been using Future.  However, to be honest, I've never been able to get satisfactory results.   I always end up with some of it pooling or drying in a pebbly finish. Also, despite multiple coats, it really doesn't dry that shiny.  I saw a post over on ARC where a guy mentioned he had the same problem and ended up using Tamiya X-22 gloss.  Said it's better than anything he's ever used in the past, including Future.  I'm going to give Tamiya's product a try.  Wish me luck guys, this is a step that will make or break the project.  If anyone has experience using this stuff, please let me know how you like it.

 

 

[John1]

So I got my order of Tamiya X-22 and sprayed the first coat on my Corsair.  This stuff is da bomb!!   Goes on nice and smoothly and provides a MUCH shinier finish than anything I've been able to accomplish with Future.   Still have a second coat to apply but here's how we are looking currently.  Note that this finish definitely looks more like what I've seen in period color pics, the Colorcoat finish looked fine from a tonal standpoint but appeared to be much too flat.   One note on X-22 - you need to apply it wet.  This took my a bit of getting used to, I typically apply multiple light coats.  Another note on this stuff - it stinks.   Lots of fumes from using it, I highly recommend you either use a good paint booth or get a respirator. 

 

 

 

Also completed all 8 HVAR's.   This was a significant amount of work but they'll be highly visible since the wings will be folded (and yes, I still plan on filling those seams that are visible on a few of the rockets).   

Thanks for looking. 

[John1]

I've started the decal process.   I typically apply "generic" decal first, national markings all the various service markings. Despite somewhat of a bad wrap, I was pretty pleased with the Tamiya decals.   They went on fine, reacted ok to Microset, reacted much better to Microsol.  Tamiya did a good job of providing all the servicing / warning markings.  If you look close enough, ever decal is legible.  One thing that is somewhat unique about the Corsair is that the vast majority of it's servicing instructions were applied as decals, not stenciled on.   I figured this is just anther example of the USN's push to produce these aircraft as quickly as possible.   Much quicker to just slap a decal on an aircraft instead of having to apply the stencil, shoot the paint, remove stencil, go on to next marking.   You also don't have to be a trained painter to do this.   A side benefit is that these markings can look a bit "decal-ish" because in real life, that's what they are. 

 

Got the two outer wings completed.  For some weird reason, carrier based Corsairs later in the war often had ammo covers painted in either earlier camo paint (in this case blue-grey) or applied in the wrong position (ie - GSB cover present within the white star of the national marking.  I added a couple of blue grey ammo covers, may add another 1-2.  We'll see how it goes.   I'm a bit nervous about masking on the national insignia decal.  

 

Sorry for the crappy pics, I can only get decent pics outside and today, the glossy paint reflected the clouds.  The wings really are a nice uniform GSB, gotta trust me on this.  Note that in real life, the service markings were printed on a silver/grey background so that's not carrier film you see below, the decal is a solid color. 

 

 

Underside of wings.  That smudge on the right wingtip was just pastel dust.  It's been cleaned off.   Speaking of pastels, I used some ground up black pastels to replicate the soot from the .50 cal MG's and HVARs.   Most pics of the underside of the wing show them to be pretty filthy in this area.    I'm not done with the weathering.  More to come.   Note that Tamiya even gives you warning placards that go inside the wing.  Good attention to detail here. 

 

That's it for now.  Thanks for looking and for all the great feedback!

Edited December 3, 2018 by John1

[Out2gtcha]

Neat!  Good progress on the decals.  It will turn into a whole different model once the decals start going on the main airframe!

[ShotMagnet]

Interesting use of the pastels for the gunpowder stains. In my experience the powder comes off if you look at it funny, but you seem to have convinced it to stay put.

 

 

Shot

[John1]

15 hours ago, ShotMagnet said:

Interesting use of the pastels for the gunpowder stains. In my experience the powder comes off if you look at it funny, but you seem to have convinced it to stay put.

 

 

Shot

Hi Shot,

 

All depends on how you apply them.  They seem to adhere nicely to flat painted surfaces.  I used a different color pastel to replicate some engine soot (see my next update). The area just behind the cowl flaps was purposely left in a semi-flat sheen.  The pastels should hold up pretty well based on past experience.  Worst case, once applied, hit them with a touch of dullcote and it seals them in.  

 

For the underwing rocket/mg soot, I had to use something different since pastels don't adhere at all to gloss paint. I used a brush to apply a light coat of laquer thinner to the general area.  I let it get just to the point of drying and then applied the pastel.  Seems to work ok and as mentioned, I'll probably hit it with a light spray of dullcote to seal everything in.    Just note - if you seal them with a clear finish, they typically loose some of their intensity.   I recommend going with a heavier than normal application. 

 

I really like using these.  They don't replace paint for all weathering applications but they are definitely becoming more and more useful.   Plus, if you screw things up, you just wipe them off and start over. 

[John1]

Got a bit of progress on the decals.   I've been burning off some "use it or lose it" vacation time and having a house empty except for me, a Labrador retriever and couple of old cats, it's a good time to get some modeling done.  

 

I've completed one side of the fuselage.   Now she's in her generic colors as she would have looked when received by her squadron straight from the Vought factory.   Again, I just used the standard kit decals.  No issues at all, just applied a bit of Micro Sol to get them to set down nice snug. 

While I was at it, I also started a bit of weathering.   Dana Bell's book has a couple of outstanding color pics of Corsairs from the USS Block Island.   One pic in particular (on the back cover) shows a very heavily weathered F4U being re-armed.   This aircraft had pretty pronounced grey staining aft of the cowl flaps.  Not sure what it is, it shouldn't be exhaust.  I'm assuming it's just some discoloration of the paint from the engine heat.  When I gloss coated the fuselage, I left this area alone since the pics seem to show a pretty flat finish in this area.   The other plus to this is that I was able to use some grey pastels in this area (pastels really need to be applied to flat paint, don't work very well on gloss).   Still a work in progress but I'm pretty happy with the results. I''ll be going back in to touch up this area and add a few oil streaks, etc. Keep in mind as well, when I seal this area with dullcote, it will tone done the grey a bit.  Also, much more weathering to be done on the wing root, etc. 

 

Anyway - some pics:

  

Note that the upper engine cowling is only loosely fitted.   I haven't decided if I'm going to glue it in place or leave it off to display the entire motor.   Right now I'm leaning towards only having the lower cowling removed. 

 

 

i'll also address that bit of silvering on the fuel tank instructions directly in front of the windscreen.   Small prick with a needle, some Micro Sol and all will be well. 

As always, thanks for looking!

[Out2gtcha]

Nice!

[John1]

On 12/3/2018 at 2:11 PM, John1 said:

 

 

 

Folks, 

 

Hoping for some advice - as noted previously,  later war Corsairs often had multicolored ammo bay covers.  They could be in mismatched in white, GSB or early war camo colors.   I really like the look, especially for ones under the national insignia.   I'm thinking about doing 1-2 more on the national insignia but am very hesitant because if I destroy this decal accidentally, it's pretty much "game over".   This could be a classic case of "A bridge too far". 

 

Any thoughts on an approach?  I've pondered doing what I did for that first door.  Taking a sharp X-acto knife, cutting the outline and then removing the decal.  Only issue is the decal didn't pull up evenly and I had to chase the remnants with a tooth pick, knife blade, etc.   A couple of times, I came close to tearing the rest of the decal.  In retrospect, maybe after cutting using a small bit of masking tape to try to life the decal up cleaner?  

 

I've also thought about maybe trying to just mask it off and shoot the new color directly onto the national insignia but have concerns about the masking material (even low tack stuff) damaging the surrounding decal.  Plus I'm not sure how the paint work look.

 

Any suggestions are appreciated.