1/18 F4U Corsair

[EPinniger]

Sorry for the lack of progress, but I have been busy with many other projects lately! I've still managed to do some work on the Corsair.

(I decided to create a new post rather than adding to my previous one, as I wanted a clearer post title similar to the other ones in this forum. Hope this is OK)

 

For anyone who hasn't seen my previous post on this model, it's a 21st Century Toys 1/18 scale ready-made toy/model Corsair which I've dismantled and am rebuilding, bit by bit, with full interior detail. The finished model will have many removable panels so all this detail will actually be visible.

I'm currently focusing on the cockpit and rear fuselage area; once that's complete and painted I'll put the fuselage halves back together and start work on the wings (wheel wells and gun/ammo bays) and engine.

 

 

The left-hand cockpit console is now complete, and I've added the radio compartment floor (no radio yet)

and some of the bulkhead surface patterning.

 

I've now finished and painted the main instrument panel (it's a lot easier to paint it before it's glued in place)

and started work on the foot rests and control rod links (to which the control column/joystick is attached). However the forward cockpit bulkhead is still incomplete, it needs a lot more "plumbing" and other bits.

 

I've also finished the control column, but I forgot to photograph it

 

 

This is what the instrument panel looked before painting:

 

 

Still to be added are the reflector gunsight and the various instruments fitted above the head rest, but I'll wait until the instrument panel is actually fitted in the fuselage first.

 

 

Finished right-hand console, and seat with the first two parts of the mounting framework added.

 

 

 

Fuselage interior shots:

 

This one shows the radio compartment, control rod, bulkhead patterning (presumably actually an embossed pattern to strengthen the metal, but in the model represented by Evergreen styrene strip), the arrestor hook spring, compass mount (no compass yet) and a tubular object attached to the top of the rearmost bulkhead (anyone know what this is? I don't, but it's shown in all the reference photos I have so I thought I'd better add it)! The patches zinc chromate and interior green primer are just for test purposes - I'll paint the interior properly once it's finished.

 

 

A closer view of the tailwheel leg and arrestor hook spring. The hook and tailwheel haven't been added yet, the rear link of the rudder/elevator control rod also needs to be added.

The tail wheel leg uses about half of the original 21st Century part, the rest is scratchbuilt from styrene. The arrestor hook spring is styrene rod with fine copper electrical wire wound around it.

 

Upside-down view showing the structure of the radio compartment floor (this WILL be visible on the finished model, as part of the fuselage will be removable) and a better view of the mystery cylindrical object.

 

[EPinniger]

Here are a few previous pictures, for anyone who didn't see my earlier posts:

 

Fuselage internal structure:

 

Wheel well (very incomplete)

 

The original, unmodified aircraft:

 

Original cockpit (not a very good photo, sorry)

 

 

All future "work in progress" pictures of my 1/18 Corsair will be posted in this thread.

[Jens]

great model!

[mattyfarm]

What a great, innovative idea!

 

I have one of the 1/18 P-47s, and thought about repainting it. Your use of the "toy" as a starting point for super-detailing is excellent. Making good use of available assets to achieve a new level in an unconventional way.

 

I'm glad 21st Century had the cojones to make that line of 1/18 planes. Not museum quality models, but hey... big, and pretty accurate for what they are.

 

Your work on it looks great.

 

You may start a trend...!

 

Matty

[wingman777]

EPinniger, you're making good progress and I think its really going to look good. I just recently received the 1/18 A6M2 limited edition Zero, Pearl Harbor paint scheme. The cockpti detail is unreal and the cockpit comes as a seperate unit from the fuselage so you can add detail and then install it. Keep up the good work.

[wingman777]

......also meant to ask you what you're using to cut the plastic on that Corsair. Its very thick, my guess is a dremel tool or razor saw. Later.

[EPinniger]

Thanks for the replies.

 

Yes, I used a Dremel tool with a circular razor saw attachment to cut the parts. This tool has been absolutely invaluable since I bought it, and I don't know how I managed without it! I also use it for seperating control surfaces on regular 1/48 and 1/32 kits. If you use a low speed setting you can cut very precisely.

 

I really wouldn't advise trying to rebuild one of these 1/18 planes without a Dremel or similar power tool! Apart from cutting out the panels and control surfaces, they have loads of screw fittings and pegs inside the fuselage and wings which need to be cut away - extremely difficult and hard work without a Dremel, although a regular hobby knife heated up in a candle flame can work (this is what I used for cutting thick plastic before I got a Dremel)

 

The Zero definitely looks like an impressive model. I'm really envious of you US and Canada guys as regards model availability and price! The Zero is $52 from www.badcataviation.com. That's close to the amount (£25) I paid for the Corsair, which is the cheapest I've ever seen a 21st Century model in the UK (not counting the Fw190D I bought second-hand on eBay)

 

If you were to try to buy the Zero in this country, the total costs including shipping would certainly be the best part of £100 (close to $200)!

[EPinniger]

A few more photos:

 

Seat with scratchbuilt frame (many thanks to "Anthony in NZ" for the reference photograph), painted with Interior Green

and ready to install (missing only the seatbelts).

The seat itself is a part from the original model, with the moulding seams cleaned up.

 

 

First coat of primer applied to the fuselage + cockpit interior (Tamiya XF4 and XF71 respectively).

This will require at least two coats, since yellow and green don't cover very well on blue plastic

Though there's still some more parts to add to the interior (radio equipment, compass, control wires

etc.), I decided to paint the interior beforehand as it'll be easier to paint an even coat (I always brush-paint)

without all these details getting in the way.

 

Temporarily assembled fuselage halves.

 

Apologies for the poor photo quality! It's dark here in the UK (it was around 6PM when I took these photos) and

my digital camera doesn't cope very well with artificial light even in "macro" mode.

[wingman777]

Its starting to get interesting now huh... Love the progress but highly recommend an airbrush, even if its a basic, single action model. you'll get much better results and its less time consuming, also uses less paint than brush painting. About the Zero, it comes with the cockpit assembled but outside the fuselage. You have the option to "super detail" it with wires or whatever before installing it into the fuselage. The detail straight out of the box is outstanding as it is but the overall kit needs some tweaking....just a little. Its very nice really.

[EPinniger]

you'll get much better results and its less time consuming, also uses less paint than brush painting.

Thanks for the advice, and I definitely don't dispute the first point - I've often envied the perfectly smooth paint finishes of airbrushed models and wished I could get that finish on my own models - but I don't really agree so much with the other two points, which is why I still don't use an airbrush despite nearly 5 years of modelling.

 

It certainly takes less time to actually paint an area with an airbrush, but there's a lot of time involved in setting up the airbrush, thinning the paint, then clearing out the airbrush ready for the next paint colour - plus you need a suitable, well ventilated, space for airbrushing - not really possible for me as every inch of my modelling workshop is crammed with models, books, tools, paints and spare parts boxes, and (particularly this time of year) the weather is often poor which prevents me from airbrushing outside (even if it isn't actually raining, damp/cold air isn't very good for airbrushing)

 

I usually work on several different models at once (anything from 2 to half a dozen!) so normally have a dozen or so paints in use at any one time; setting up the airbrush for all of these would make painting a very tedious and lengthy job.

 

Masking is another issue. With brush painting, you only need to mask when painting straight edges or particularly complex shapes. With airbrushing, nearly everything needs to be masked, and I often read in magazines about people masking things like the roadwheels on tanks, which would be very straightforward to brush-paint!

 

Of course, it's possible to use both airbrush and brush painting, and if I had unlimited work space (and/or lived somewhere with a usually dry and warm climate!), then that's what I'd probably do (airbrush for large areas of one colour, and brush for small parts, fine details and retouching work).

 

Finally, regarding paint economy, I've found this is definitely NOT the case. Whilst you might use less paint to cover a given area, so much is wasted in "overspray" etc. that it seems like you end up using a lot more. As I am on a limited budget I can't afford to use up paint too quickly - using brush painting, a single £1 jar of Tamiya acrylic will last me for several models at least, even larger ones like 1/48 aircraft and 1/35 tanks.

 

The one time I've used an airbrush - to spray the base coat on a tank - I used about two and a half tins of Humbrol enamel paint. Of course this was probably partly be due to my inexperience resulting in me wasting paint, but I was still shocked at how quickly the airbrush used up the paint.

 

Anyway, no criticicism at all intended here for airbrushes or those who use them - as I said, I just don't find them suited to my modelling style and would prefer to stick with brush painting.

[EPinniger]

I'm currently working on the cockpit sidewalls, rudder pedals, control column, lower cockpit area, and cockpit wiring/plumbing.

Trying to decipher reference photos and diagrams to work out what shape and size parts should be, and where exactly they should go, is an absolute nightmare! The instrument panels, side consoles, and (once I got a decent photo of it) seat weren't too bad - but this stage is really, really tricky, one of the most difficult parts of a build I've ever had (second only to trying to put the upper wings on a scratchbuilt 1/24 Bristol Fighter, not an experience I want to repeat!).

 

I think I'm just going to have to make some of the details a "best guess" approximation, based as closely as possible on the photos I have. Since I don't have access to a real Corsair for reference (the nearest one is about 100-150 miles away at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton) this is probably the best I can do. In any case, this part of the cockpit won't be too visible, even in 1/18 scale and with removable side panels, and it'll still be more detailed and accurate than any commercial kit available.

The radio equipment (behind the seat) is also going to have to involve some guesswork in building, as I only have one picture of this particular area.

 

Anyway, I'll post more photos once I've made more progress.

[EPinniger]

I stopped work on this project for a while recently due to lack of reference material for

the fuselage interior.

However I recently discovered www.f4ucorsair.com which has a number of original Corsair blueprints

and technical drawings available for download - including side views of the cockpit and fuselage showing

wiring, control cables, etc. - so have started work again. Will post some more photos once there's enough

to show.

Currently I'm working on small parts like the sidewall controls, oxygen bottles, control column and rudder pedals,

wiring, etc. (I still need some references for the fuselage radio compartment, however!)

 

I've given up on trying to include EVERY single detail in the cockpit area, as trying to decipher the blueprints, plans

and photos I have, to work out what goes where, is an absolute nightmare! It'll be enough for me if what's there is reasonably accurate in shape and placement, and the interior looks "busy" enough.

[EPinniger]

The cockpit area is now 95% complete. I'll take some photos tomorrow (hopefully).

All that's missing now are the seat supporting rods, the middle section of the main control rod (links the control column + rudder pedals to the control surfaces), part of the rudder pedal mechanism, and a few other wires + bits.

(Plus the reflector sight and the various switches which are fitted above the instrument panel, but these need to wait until the fuselage halves are joined up)

 

Once the cockpit is done (and the radio compartment), I can glue the fuselage halves together and start work on the wing details and engine/fuel tank.

[EPinniger]

The cockpit interior is now complete(ish)! Here are some photos.

Note that they are VERY "rough" looking, as some parts are unpainted, others undercoated in black

or interior green, and the overall look is very messy. Hopefully once painted and drybrushed, the cockpit

will look much better.

 

Left side of cockpit. The engine control unit (white bit above the console) was quite a tricky piece

to scratchbuild, it is assembled from around 10-12 tiny bits of styrene!

You can also see the left-hand oxygen cylinder, hydraulic pump handle, electrical generator and wiring. Not

sure what the black (unpainted) perforated plate is, possibly just a structural element. It looks "out of alignment" but this is just due to the angle of the photo.

 

Instrument panel and front bulkhead, with control column, rudder pedals and foot rests.

The rudder pedal control linkage was one of the hardest parts of the cockpit to find references

for, I'm not sure if the finished result is totally accurate but it looks OK to me!

Since I took this photo, I added a few extra details to this part.

 

Right sidewall instrumentation. Still needs a few wires + connectors adding.

 

Temporarily assembled, without the pilot's seat. This shows the console detail quite well (better than the first photo)

 

and with the seat.

 

I'm probably going to make the seat removable. Due to the way the cockpit is constructed, it sits

fairly neatly and doesn't move about if left unglued. This will also allow me to add the seatbelts at a

a later stage of construction, after the fuselage is assembled.

 

Rear fuselage - not much new added here other than the compass. You can see the rear half of the control

rod, the middle section of this will connect up with the control column shown in the second photo.

The radio equipment goes on the black (still unpainted) surface behind the cockpit - reference images for this

are incredibly hard to find, so I'll have to use a lot of guesswork with this area.

 

 

Next stage is painting the cockpit (as you can see the instrument panel is already done). I'll first paint everything

in either black (side consoles) or Interior Green (everything else), give it a light drybrush of metallic paint, then

paint and weather the individual components.

[Jens]

well i must say she looked awesome before but now.. she looks BRILIANT!!!!!!!!!!!!