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1/32 Tamiya F4U-1a Corsair - Boyington's 17740


Thunnus

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Some help please!  Looking at the last engine photo, can someone help me with the name of the components?  I think the rounded cone-shaped thing in the front is the gear reduction housing?  We've got the wiring harness around the base of the gear reduction housing and the pushrods behind the harness.  What are the two things between the magneto on top of the gear reduction housing?  Is one of them a prop governor?  And what's that little thing on the bottom  of the gear reduction housing under the spot where the Pratt & Whitney logo will go?  I'd like to refer to them by name in the future!

 

Also... does anyone know what interior color of the canopy frames?  I'm thinking black but maybe interior green.

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2 hours ago, Thunnus said:

Some help please!  Looking at the last engine photo, can someone help me with the name of the components?  I think the rounded cone-shaped thing in the front is the gear reduction housing?  We've got the wiring harness around the base of the gear reduction housing and the pushrods behind the harness.  What are the two things between the magneto on top of the gear reduction housing?  Is one of them a prop governor?  And what's that little thing on the bottom  of the gear reduction housing under the spot where the Pratt & Whitney logo will go?  I'd like to refer to them by name in the future!

 

Also... does anyone know what interior color of the canopy frames?  I'm thinking black but maybe interior green.

Ok... Gonna do my best to be clear here. Here goes...

 

Looking at the engine head on...

 

1- Is the "bell" shaped gear reduction housing.

2- Located on the GRH @ the 11:00 and 1:00 position are the 2 distributors. In this case tear dropped as she's an early bird. Later came the "rounded" type with the "arrow" looking ignition connect on top. People wrongly call these magnetos and it makes me wanna barf! Lol

3- The magneto is located @12:00 between the 2 distributors.

4- Forward of the magneto also @ 12:00 is the prop governor.

5- Underneath at the 12:00 position under the PW logo is the oil scavange pump which has a line that leads back and attaches to the oil sump underneath.

6- The collector ring with the attachment points for the spark plug leads, 2 per cylinder, 1 fore/1 aft. "Tubular" type for the 2 "tear drop" shaped distributors and "flat" for the "round" shape. 

 

Just rough descriptions without giving manufacturers names for these items as that would be a bit much, eg: Bendix or Kelvinator magneto...etc...lol

 

Hope this is clear. Just useless mental data from the top of the dome. The type of $..t you can't talk to people about! Lol

 

 

BTW-GEORGEOUS WORK!!

 

I wish I had my Corsair stash in front of me to pic and send your way. I'm sure their must be loads of pics online on PW R 2800, I forget the subtype numbers. For wiring just emulate what you see an an actual but match the distributer and GRH and Ignition ring. I mean they need to match, the written word is not my friend, LOL

 

Alfonso

Edited by Kaeone57
Forgot to add something, I'm an idiot
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Thank you so much Alfonso!  My engine component assumptions were based on other modeler's references so it will be good to get the misconceptions corrected.  I believe the engine in the F4U-1a is the R2800-8W.

 

Now that I have the terminology correct, I can present this option.  The Vector cowling resin set came with a gear reduction case, magneto, prop regulator and a pair of distributors.  The case is a solid chunk of resin which I did not want to futz with.  But I thought I might use the Vector magneto on the Tamiya gear reduction case since there is a bit more detail on it.
IMG-5015.jpg

 

They look a bit different and I don't know enough about the F4U to know if one or the other is more accurate or appropriate for Bu No 17740, which was an early series F4U-1a and probably used a Pratt & Whitney R-2800-8W.  Here's what it looks like on the engine...
IMG-5014.jpg

 

The prop has been cleaned up and given a coat of primer.
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The delivery of the Dana Bell book has been delayed so I've been taking it easy on this build.

 

Tinkering with the engine assembly, I've drilled out most of the wiring holes in the engine. The curved oil lines on each cylinder head were pieces from a coil of wire that I had wrapped around a paint brush handle earlier. And I've already made up the oil salvage pipe at the bottom of the engine.  I'll separate all of the components before painting.
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Just to show the relative size of the engine assembly... it a nice chunk of plastic in my hand!
IMG-5031.jpg

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That engine is looking great!   Can’t wait to see it painted up and weathered.  

 

If there is a certain section of Dana’s book that you currently need and can’t wait until it finally arrives, let me know and I’ll pm a pic of the page(s) you need.  

Edited by John1
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On 3/31/2019 at 11:08 AM, John1 said:

That engine is looking great!   Can’t wait to see it painted up and weathered.  

 

If there is a certain section of Dana’s book that you currently need and can’t wait until it finally arrives, let me know and I’ll pm a pic of the page(s) you need.  

 

Thanks John!  The book came today so that was nice.  I didn't see anything in there that is going to change my interior so I'll be buttoning it up soon.  In the meantime, I've been putting paint on the prop. No hairspray was used... just rubbing the black off with Micromesh.
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And here's the prop after salt fading.
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The back was also salt faded but not as much as the front.
IMG-5041.jpg

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Thanks everyone!  Just a small step forward but at least this build is moving!

 

1 hour ago, John1 said:

That is one nice looking prop!!   Don’t see too many guys replicate that severe weathering on the aft side of the blades.   What exactly is “salt fading”?

 

Thank you!  Salt fading is using salt crystals to form a random mask.  Some people use this for chipping effects but I think it is a great way to portray subtle surface wear/stains.  I usually use this on my prop blades and the exterior of my builds after camo painting.

 

You start by putting a layer of water on the surface of the model.  While it's still wet, you sprinkle salt crystals randomly on the surface.  When the water dries, the salt crystals will be temporarily affixed to the surface, forming a random masking pattern.

IMG_0874.jpg

 

After the water has completely dried, you mist a highly thinned contrasting color over the salt.  This is the tricky part... you want a subtle effect but too light and you won't be able to see it.  For dark camo colors and prop blades, I usually do a couple of iterations of lighter colors to build up some depth to the effect.

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Here is another example of salt fading to weather the prop blades...

IMG_0070.jpg

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