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


Thunnus

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  • 3 weeks later...

My June is still heavily booked with family obligations.  My youngest just graduated from high school and we'll be taking a family trip to the Eastern Sierras this weekend.  And then driving up to NoCal next weekend.  So not much modeling until next month probably.

 

I had some time to glue the wings to the fuselage.  As typical on this kit, the fit is amazingly good.

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Since I'm planning on leaving the wings removable, I'm very close to the painting stage.  So I'm playing around with some pre/post-shading techniques using a Scotch Brite pad and splatter painting templates.

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Hi John!

 

The model looks great . Since i'm working on my 3rd Birdcage, a couple of observations about the landing gear......if you haven't already discovered this yourself.

 

The fit of the main gear is positive. I mean, REALLY positive. As In, once it goes in it doesn't want to come out. I found the tolerances in fit are really affected by paint buildup on the attachment pins and flanges. Also, the structural weak point of the gear is at the bottom of the strut where the lover part/ axle makes the slight outward bend. Just be really careful how many times you put in/ pull out the main gear struts. Those metal reinforcement rods are great and the struts really need them.

 

The so called "Spade Doors" also have a positive fit but i recommend leaving them off until the struts are installed and the proper "Rake" of the struts has been checked. There should be a piece of flexible rubber strip at the top of the spade door that meets with the lower skin, but installing that might be more trouble than its worth. When the spade door is installed, the clearance between the inner wall of the tyre and the edge of the door is just slightly wider than a #2 pencil. VERY close tolerances on that.

 

Finally, over time the post on my short-tail wheel FG-1 has sheared, while bringing it home from Phoenix. If its not too late i suggest replacing the post with an equivalent piece of brass rod, and if its not visible, you might want to extend the rod into the upper part of the tailwheel. The hard rubber tyre distorted a LOT under weight and its hard to put just the right flat spot on it, if it spins on its axle.

 

Hope this helps.

 

-d-

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Thanks guys!

 

5 hours ago, David Hansen said:

Hi John!

 

The model looks great . Since i'm working on my 3rd Birdcage, a couple of observations about the landing gear......if you haven't already discovered this yourself.

 

The fit of the main gear is positive. I mean, REALLY positive. As In, once it goes in it doesn't want to come out. I found the tolerances in fit are really affected by paint buildup on the attachment pins and flanges. Also, the structural weak point of the gear is at the bottom of the strut where the lover part/ axle makes the slight outward bend. Just be really careful how many times you put in/ pull out the main gear struts. Those metal reinforcement rods are great and the struts really need them.

 

The so called "Spade Doors" also have a positive fit but i recommend leaving them off until the struts are installed and the proper "Rake" of the struts has been checked. There should be a piece of flexible rubber strip at the top of the spade door that meets with the lower skin, but installing that might be more trouble than its worth. When the spade door is installed, the clearance between the inner wall of the tyre and the edge of the door is just slightly wider than a #2 pencil. VERY close tolerances on that.

 

Finally, over time the post on my short-tail wheel FG-1 has sheared, while bringing it home from Phoenix. If its not too late i suggest replacing the post with an equivalent piece of brass rod, and if its not visible, you might want to extend the rod into the upper part of the tailwheel. The hard rubber tyre distorted a LOT under weight and its hard to put just the right flat spot on it, if it spins on its axle.

 

Hope this helps.

 

-d-

 

Thanks for additional insights, David!  I noticed the tight fit of the main landing gear legs and had trouble removing one of the legs but luckily I was able to work it loose without damage.  I will most likely avoid any more fitting of the gear legs until it is time to attach them permanently.  I'll take another look at the tail gear... it would probably not be too difficult to replace the plastic post with brass rod since the tail is not yet permanently attached.

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On 6/18/2019 at 1:22 PM, Out2gtcha said:

Very nice!  I love the wells, and the way Tamiya has engineered the windscreen is really nice. The fit is really positive and rewarding  

Agreed. The engineering closely resembles that of the real aircraft. Provided there's no mismatch of the fuselage halves when glued together, the fit of the windscreen and its associated sheet metal is trouble free.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...

In hibernation since June but not forgotten... I'd like to get the Corsair build going again too.  One of the things I was trying to work out was having the top engine cowling removable but I just couldn't get the gap to close to an acceptable level and so I made the decision to glue it shut.  Not a criticism of the Tamiya kit but probably probably some pilot error and also the slight vagueness of the Vector resin cowl flaps that resulted in that gap.

The engine assembly has been attached to fuselage.
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Edited by Thunnus
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Thanks guys!  Just trying to keep the momentum going and keep building!  Hopefully it lasts until a project or two gets completed.

 

As I start to approach the painting stage, a question for the Corsair (or US Naval WW2 aircraft) experts.  The bottom camo color is referred to as Insignia White but it is a noticeably off-white.  Were the actual insignias (white stars) painted in this same color or just plain white?

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