Dark Blue Killer - Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

[John1]

I'm calling the canopy complete.   I added some hardware behind the red "push to release" button and at the base of the canopy to replicate locking hardware.  I then added the final set of cables.  I also moved those red canopy locks up a hair, as my original mounting points were too low.  As noted, I couldn't get things 100% accurate but to me at least, it looks better than the just the bare canopy bow that Tamiya left for me.    Maybe some kind soul would be interested in casting a bow interior in resin? 

 

I never noticed all this hardware before but now that I saw those pics, it'd be pretty hard to just use the kit parts.  Final parts count (not including the canopy and kit mirrors) is 23.  Add another 5-6 for parts I built and then launched into a different time zone with my tweezers.  Wow... such fun!    

 

Here are some pictures of the finished canopy.  Better to take them with the canopy off the aircraft, with the wings folded, they block the view.  I also added some paint scratches to the interior of the bow.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking!  Next up is will be my feeble attempt at the wire antennas.   I'll be honest, I've never done these before and am not sure how it's going to work out.   In retrospect, I should have done this before I installed the wings because my access to the forward antenna post is now somewhat limited.   Any tips are much appreciated, especially since the Corsair's antenna configuration is somewhat involved.   

[Dana Bell]

Beautiful job, John!

 

Wish I had your skills!

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana

[MikeMaben]

 

Groovy ! 

 

 

[Fvdm]

Great job! The canopy is looking real great.

[John1]

18 hours ago, Dana Bell said:

Beautiful job, John!

 

Wish I had your skills!

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana

Thanks very much Dana, that means a great deal.  Honestly, compared to the masters here on LSP, I consider myself a mediocre modeler.    I just enjoy spending hours on minor details like that canopy.   Just call me crazy.....

 

Wanted to thank you again - without your two awesome books (and Jennings equally awesome decals), I never would have started this project. 

 

Regards,

 

John

[chuck540z3]

Attaboy John.  Good enough is rarely good enough and your extra work on the canopy cables has paid off immensely.  Super Duper work.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

[Jeff T]

Superb work John!...that looks brilliant.

 

Cheer's,

Jeff.

[John1]

Thanks very much guys, appreciate the compliments!

 

I've got the weathering 95% done.  As mentioned, these aircraft stayed in relatively good shape compared to their land based brothers but that being said, a close look at a couple of the color pics in Dana Bell's book shows that they still managed to get pretty grungy during sustained operations.   Aside from the wing roots which seemed to always show pretty heavy chipping due to the high foot traffic, most other chipping was pretty limited.  However, they did get pretty filthy from engine / gun soot and scuffing from maintenance crews.  Here are a couple of good reference pics I posted earlier, both from Dana's book.  As a coincidence, both aircraft are on the USS Block Island at the same time as My Nell III so I think they are very representative of my model.   Note the worn off the rivets on the wing leading edge. 

 

 

 

This pic does a good job of illustrating how dirty these aircraft got.  Note that this Corsair has an aluminum sheet metal panel double riveted to the fuselage directly above the wing root.  This was a late modification to reinforce the fuselage in this area.  During heavy landings, this area often was distorted.   Tamiya didn't include this on their model and I missed it on mine.   Sorry guys!!  Note the greyish exhaust and the scuffing on the wing root and bottom of the aircraft number from boots.    Also note the general filth on the upper fuselage in the fuel tank area. 

 

Here are some pics of my progress.  I used a black wash on the wheel hubs to pop out some of the awesome detail Barracuda included.   Used a mix of black, dark brown and grey pastels for the grunge and used my trusty silver artist's pencil to pick out some rivets and scratches.   Need to go easy in this area.  I limited them to the front cowling, wing leading edges (a few on the vertical / horizontal stabs), around the canopy / cockpit and the wing root.  

 

Here are some shots of my progress.   I also added the fuselage navigation light and the pitot tube.  Still messing with the decal on the fuselage fuel tank filler.  I'll get it squared away before I'm done. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for now.  At this point,  I just have some paint / weathering touch-ups and I need to figure out how to add the antenna wires (including the lower fuselage IFF antenna) and this baby will finally be done after 10 months of mostly enjoyable work.    Thanks for looking. 

Edited February 21, 2019 by John1

[Thunnus]

What a beautiful Corsair!  Indeed a Dark Blue Killer!

[LSP_Kevin]

This is just getting better and better, John!

 

Kev

[David Hansen]

John, FWIW you can make the lower fuselage IFF antenna with a broken #80 drill bit with a blob of epoxy on the end for the "Ball".

 

If you look around in here you might find pics of the antenna installation i did on my FG-1 and F4U-2. If you can't find em let me know.

 

-d-

[alaninaustria]

Outstanding work John!

Damn nice!

Cheers

Alan

[John1]

5 hours ago, David Hansen said:

John, FWIW you can make the lower fuselage IFF antenna with a broken #80 drill bit with a blob of epoxy on the end for the "Ball".

 

If you look around in here you might find pics of the antenna installation i did on my FG-1 and F4U-2. If you can't find em let me know.

 

-d-

Hi David,

 

I checked out your F4U-2 build (awesome job BTW) and didn't see anything, maybe I missed it.  All the pics on your FG-1 build are gone.   I thought this antenna was just a simple wire whip, sounds like it's a bit more involved.   If you have any details, I'd love to learn more.

 

Regards,

 

John

[LSP_Ray]

That looks great, John! Love the weathering!

[John1]

Ok lads, I think I'm calling this one done.   I added the antennas (probably the hardest part of this entire build).   It's not really up to my standards (such that they are) but it's all I could manage.  My hat is off to all the modelers who do such a good job in this area!   A couple of notes - I thought about painting the sprue black but in looking at my references, it seems like the antenna is a natural metal with whiteish insulators.   Not sure I like the current color, I may go back and try to gently apply a dark wash to the antennas.    Also, the lower antenna is a bit loose.  In some pictures, it does appear to have some sag.  I plan on going back and CAREFULLY apply some heat to try to tighten it up. Given that the last time I did this, the entire assembly collapsed, I figured I'd better my pictures in her current state.   If I can improve this area, I'll repost a couple of shots.     

 

This build kept me happily employed for nearly 3/4 of a year.  It's the most fun I've had modeling in ages.  I just want to thank every one who contributed all their feedback and more importantly their advice.  Two people I want to personally thank - Jennings, first off for his awesome decals, without which I never would have been interested in building this aircraft and secondly for his generous contribution of the Brassin resin 500 lb bomb.   I also want to thank "One to One Scale".  He generously bailed me out twice.  First with a replacement landing gear leg and second with some extra decals.    Thank you guys so much.  Here are some final pictures, I'll also post some shots in the Ready for Inspection forum later.   I'll also pull together a summary of all the modifications I did to this kit, in case anyone is interested.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note that the reflection of the GSB adds a weird tone to some of these pictures, trust me - it's the camera, not the paint job!