LSP_Kevin Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 Superb stuff, John! Your work is fast becoming some of my favourite on here. Kev Martinnfb and Thunnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 41 minutes ago, LSP_Kevin said: Superb stuff, John! Your work is fast becoming some of my favourite on here. Kev Thanks Kev! I appreciate that! Just learning and sharing! Some more thinning of trailing edges... The horizontal stabilizers have been assembled. The tab actuators are separate parts so need to scratchbuild. The stabs are not mirror imgs of each other but are actually identical to each other. The main gear struts have been painted. Still figuring out how to weather these white legs. The tail leg was kind of test of different things to see how they would look and I've started to consolidate some ideas on the main legs. Primarily, after painting and a dark wash, I've added some grey chipping using a sponge. Some areas were then dabbed with AK Fresh Engine Oil, which is a new one for me. It is a translucent enamel wash, I believe. Anthony in NZ, zaxos345, F-4Phanwell and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 Previously, I had shown the wheel hubs painted white. I just did this automatically, without really thinking or looking at any references. But looking at some photos, I started to form a different opinion. Below are some photos of the aircraft that I am modeling, Bu No 17740. The outside hubs appear dark in color with the center cap in a lighter in color. Are these silver or white hubs that got dirty? Perhaps. But interestingly the inner hubs appear to be a lighter color corresponding to the landing gear legs. If the outer hubs were dirty, it would stand to reason that the inner hubs would be similarly affected, if not more so. Here are some other photos of VMF-214 Corsairs from the book Swashbucklers and Black Sheep . These are not of 17740 but since they are serving in the same unit at the same time as the subject aircraft, I consider these photos to be a relevant reference. These photos tell me that the coloration of the hubs could have varied from aircraft to aircraft. One has obviously light-colored hubs, either silver or white. The other two show a darker hub. Again, there is a possibility that these were lighter hubs that had gotten dirty but my eyes tell me otherwise. They are too uniform to be stains. They look to be painted in a darker color. What that darker color could be, I do not know. It could possibly be one of the two blues for the upper camo since those colors would've been available. Here is a photo of another F4U-1a that served with VMF-214, #883. Not to be considered a reference, I found this profile of 883 that showed blue-colored hubs, which is an interpretation that I am leaning towards based on my thoughts above. Greg W, AlbertD, Wolf Buddee and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted April 23, 2019 Author Share Posted April 23, 2019 Nothing interesting to comment on? I've attached the inner wheel hubs to the main landing gear legs. The legs are far from being done though. The parts in grey need to be painted. It's a testament to Tamiya that the bits and pieces, which include the hydraulic brake lines, can hold together like this without glue. AlbertD, GMK, Durangokid and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.B. Andrus Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 (edited) John It's interesting the landing gear oleos are very compressed. Must be carrying a max loadout. Surprised Tamiya slipped up on this point. Cheers, D.B Edited April 23, 2019 by D.B. Andrus Clarification TenSeven, Thunnus and Martinnfb 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ray Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 Very nice work, John, with good research. Martinnfb and Thunnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Vincent Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 I have a similar issue with the Fargo Express hubs. On color pictures, the US spitfires seems to have dark hubs. My theory is that they were red and got extremly dirty but it seems that painting hubs was more widespread than we think (?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fvdm Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 I can't help you with the real colors of the wheelhubs. According the pictures you are showing I think the dark blue of the camo looks close. As D.B.Andrus mentioned the oleos are at maximum compression. This can not be possible (even under full load) because the suspension will buttom out at the start wich is not a good thing because the plane can become uncontroleble. Just a minor thing. I think your paintwork looks real great, especially the tires. Thunnus and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Bettencourt Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 That's fantastic research!! Rod Martinnfb and Thunnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jep1210 Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 Looking great. Thunnus and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted April 23, 2019 Author Share Posted April 23, 2019 Thanks guys! That IS interesting about the oleo compression. Unfortunately, I'm too far into the build to do anything about it. The way the legs are engineered, I guess there is an opportunity to strengthen the legs and extend the legs by plastic surgery and the use of a longer metal insert? The oleos themselves are molded as two pieces but are split vertically (right and left) so opening them up would be difficult. Martinnfb, MikeMaben, F-4Phanwell and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted April 24, 2019 Author Share Posted April 24, 2019 Alright... the legs have been painted and fully assembled. The gear doors have been painted but not yet weathered on the outward side. TAG, PROPELLER, Greg W and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 great work on the gear! the oleo compression is correct from what I can recall of my previous research Thunnus and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunnus Posted April 24, 2019 Author Share Posted April 24, 2019 Thank you! Dry-fitting the wheels onto the painted legs. Need to weather the wheel hubs to match the rest of the landing gear. I'd also like to weather the tires a little more as well. GMK, TAG, F-4Phanwell and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.B. Andrus Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 After looking at many Corsair photos, I'm not sure Tamiya was completely mistaken after all. About 50% of the shots with visible landing gear showing the pertinent area had almost fully compressed oleos and the other half didn't. Maybe it has to do with how smooth the runway surface is. Maybe Dana Bell could answer this. D.B. Martinnfb and Thunnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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