Dark Blue Killer - Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

[John1]

Plugging away, with the cockpit mostly done, it was time to seal up the fuselage.   All I can say is dry fit carefully before breaking out the glue.   The tolerances are tight.  I had a couple of issues with the fuselage halves not fitting together, no reflection on Tamiya, it turns out that I had the upper portion of the aft bulkhead just a bit out of alignment.  Fortunately I was able to correct it.   Took a couple of small dabs of putty to address a couple of minor gaps.  BTW - I just started using Tamiya putty and have to say that this stuff is great.   Easy to apply, dries quickly and sands easily. Much better than the Squadron green putty I've been using for years.   

 

 

 

Quite amazing how well things fit.  Tamiya opted to use a universal fuselage for both the birdcage and later versions with the taller spine.  They give you a large section of upper fuselage as a separate piece.  With a lesser outfit, you would have fit issues and have to putty and sand extensively.   With this kit, the piece simply snaps into place and once there, you can't even tell it was separate.  Absolutely amazing engineering here. 

 

I also completed the horizontal stabs.   Tamiya gives you the option of having the elevators in the neutral position or pointing downwards as they would when the plane is unmanned on the ground.  Thought that was a nice touch.  They also made sure the trim tab was offset in the opposite direction.  Good attention to detail here!  Only other thing I did on these parts was to lightly sand down the elevators.   Tamiya went a bit heavy trying to replicate some details on the cloth-covered elevators.   I just wanted to smooth things down a bit.  Took all of 5 minutes and I think it made a noticeable difference (hard to tell in the pics below, you'll have to trust me on this). 

 

 

 

 

That's pretty much all I've got done.   I decided to bite the bullet and order the Vector resin cowl flap set.  I've seen it used on a couple of builds here and it looks like it will really enhance the interior of the cowling and cowl flaps.   Should be in shortly, that will be the next order of business.   Thanks for looking. 

[John1]

Doing some exhausting work.   Get it?

 

 

Didn't sweat the paintwork on the exhausts, the only bit you'll be able to see will be through the cowl flaps.  I'll undoubtedly get some GSB on the lower stacks so they will also be repainted (and I'll be cleaning up the interiors a bit).   I painted the fire wall overall aluminum and than spackled on some Model Master Burnt Metal to represent an oily heat-stained firewall.   And then I remembered that none of this will be visible once the cowling is together.  Oh well...

 

I also received the Vector resin cowl flap set.  To me, it's $20 well spent (although I'm old enough to remember when $20 bought you a pretty decent model kit).   Here is what you get:

The resin is first rate.  Great details and it's real easy detaching the fragile cowl flap and wiring ring from their bases.   Just score with a sharp x-acto knife and the pour stub pops right off.   I need to do some research on the engine magnetos, etc.  Not sure if they are for this version or the early engine on the birdcage Corsair.  

 

Here's the Tamiya cowling and cowl flap.   

 

At least Tamiya replicated the interior structure of the cowling but they left out the prominent lightning holes on the ribs and the cowl flaps are devoid of interior detail.   Since most F4U's seemed to be parked with the flaps open, I really want to show a bit extra.   Here's the interior of the Vector cowl flaps.  Still need to add the actuator and their cables.  Once done, it should be pretty sharp looking.

 

[LSP_Kevin]

That Vector set is stunning!

 

Kev

[rjones726]

John

 I don't have references in front of me but I'm thinking the magnetos and round ignition wire ring are for the earlier non water-injected engine.

v/r,

Rob

[Uncarina]

Great work, and the Vector set WILL make a noticeable difference!

 

Cheers,  Tom

[John1]

Mini update.   I added the Vector ribs to the interior of the cowling.  Hardest part was removing the Tamiya ribs.   I used a chisel blade for my X-acto knife.   It was the smallest size they had but still too wide (due to the curve of the cowling, the edges of the blade were scraping the cowl interior).  I solved that by taking a pair of small pliers and snapping the outer edges off of the chisel blade.  This narrowed the blade down to about 1 cm, which worked fine.   Removing the cast in ribs took about 10 minutes.  After that, a quick pass with some sand paper and we were good to go (note - there are a few scratches still present but once painted and with the engine installed, they won't be visible).   

 

Took another 10 minutes to install the Vector ribs.  I have no idea how they manage to cast these things with those microscopic holes but they are truly first rate.  Vector thoughtfully gives you 4-5 extras.  My locking needle-nose tweezers did the trick for super-gluing them in place.  I just bought these prior to this project and have to admit, they are one of the most useful modeling tools I own.  I can't believe I waited so long to buy them.  Between using them for the cockpit decals and small bits and now for these parts, they are well worth it.  Nothing lost to the carpet monster again!

 

Here's the completed cowl. As mentioned given the viewing angle and when the engine is installed, you won't see everything but I still think they are a definite improvement over the stock cowling.   Compare to the picture of the unmodified kit part in the post above.

 

 

 

As always, any questions, critiques, comments, etc are much appreciated.   Thanks for looking.

[Out2gtcha]

Looks great!  I like the Vector stuff a lot

[John1]

Back with an update.   I was dreading building up the engine due to the wiring harness.   I really dislike this aspect of modeling, it's too much like "work" but I got through it.   I used .020 copper wire, painted a diluted tan with some of the copper showing through and then fabricated silver foil wire clips.  The engine itself is a real gem, incredible details and I can't believe all the parts fit together so well (especially the heat shields over the cylinder heads).   I still need to add some final details including oil lines (and the Pratt & Whitney logo that Tamiya thoughtfully provides) and then I can get back to "fun" modeling.   I'm not sure if I'm going to leave one of the cowlings off or not, so there is a good chance most of my hard work won't be visible.   We'll see. 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking!

Edited October 2, 2018 by John1

[Out2gtcha]

Im just in the process of building two R2800s, and you are right, its quite tedious!   That looks tremendous however. The wiring and ignition ring look especially great

[John1]

I think I'm done with the engine.   I added the forward oil pipes between the cylinders (forward only, the rear will be invisible) and an oil drain line on the bottom of the crankcase.   Lastly added the P&W logo and that's it!   I typically don't display the engines on my models but in this case, I'm on the fence.   I may actually leave one of the cowling panels off to showcase a bit of the work.  Otherwise, the vast majority of what I've built will be invisible.  We'll see.....

 

 

 

 

Lastly, I finished the Vector cowl flaps.   Definitely an improvement on the kit part.   I've got some reservations on how well these will fit though.  Wish me luck on this because if they don't fit properly, neither will the rest of the cowling.    

Tried to make the interior look oily and grimy.  Still need to paint that single lower panel though.   That's it.  Thanks for looking. 

Edited October 4, 2018 by John1

[Out2gtcha]

Looks excellent, and those flaps look great..................hopefully they fit as well as they look.

[rjones726]

Looking good John.

An observation-not a criticism. There is another oil line on each cylinder that runs between the valves/rockers that is pretty prominent. Something to consider...

I'm really enjoying your build !!

Thanks,

Rob

[John1]

4 hours ago, rjones726 said:

Looking good John.

An observation-not a criticism. There is another oil line on each cylinder that runs between the valves/rockers that is pretty prominent. Something to consider...

I'm really enjoying your build !!

Thanks,

Rob

Hi Rob,

 

Please - never worry about any comments or criticisms! As you can see, I'm nowhere near the talent level of the expertens who post on this site so everything (including - hey John, that paint job looks like crap!) is welcome.  

 

WRT your suggestion, I'm not following.   I added the oil lines (I assume that is what they are) on the top of cylinders that ran from one to the adjacent cylinder.  Is that what you had in mind?   I didn't add the ones to the rear cylinder bank because at the time, I was going to button up the cowling and they wouldn't be visible.    Since I'm now probably going to leave at least the lower cowling off, I'll go back and add those lines.  If that wasn't want you were referring to, please let me know.  

 

Thanks again for taking the time to comment!

 

[rjones726]

The oil lines I am talking about go from one side of the cylinder to the other from the flat round spots  just inboard of the rocker covers.

v/r,

Rob

 

[rjones726]

   A picture might help. There is a curved silver oil line on each cylinder just above and inboard of the rocker covers. This is what I was trying to describe.