1/18 Scale Blue Box F4U-1A Corsair Modification

[Hans]

You are a wizard, Jay.

[Shawn M]

outstanding

[wingman777]

  man this is just phenomenal!!!  WAY too good for all this incredible detail to be hidden under the panels!!  I agree that it should be displayed in a prominent museum.

[Oldbaldguy]

Not that I’m trying to get in your business, but one wonders if you are going to build up the control surfaces from card stock and then cover them with tape or something like you did with the fabric panels in the gear bays.  After all this work, I can’t imagine slapping heavy plastic ones on it and have it look right.

[JayW]

40 minutes ago, wingman777 said:

WAY too good for all this incredible detail to be hidden under the panels!!  I agree that it should be displayed in a prominent museum.

 

Well, the intent is to have removable panels, fixed with magnets.  After thinking on this many times, and for many hours, I am worried about it.  So many challenges to make cowl panels that have good edge matches, and good contour (nice and flush).  If it doesn't work out, this compartment will indeed be open for all to see, at all times! 

 

As for a museum - great complement!  But honestly - it will reside in my abode for a very long time, so I can look on it.  The challenge of course is to finish it with high quality - many challenges remain.     

[JayW]

3 hours ago, Oldbaldguy said:

Not that I’m trying to get in your business, but one wonders if you are going to build up the control surfaces from card stock and then cover them with tape or something like you did with the fabric panels in the gear bays.  After all this work, I can’t imagine slapping heavy plastic ones on it and have it look right.

 

All that I can promise you is that the control surfaces will be worthy.  I don't know what I will do yet, and I have not studied up on them enough to know the configuration.  You know that's not all, most of the skin paneling on the outboard wings is fabric.  Been a long time since I doped tissue onto wing ribs (like when i was a teenage building WW1 balsa wood planes).

 

The center wing is also a problem.  A big problem.  Had I known I was going to skin this beast back when I began the center wing work, I think it would have been successful.  But now that it is complete with gear, gear doors, flaps already there, plus those complicated leading edge intakes, I just don't see how I can do it.....  

[Oldbaldguy]

1 hour ago, JayW said:

 

All that I can promise you is that the control surfaces will be worthy.  I don't know what I will do yet, and I have not studied up on them enough to know the configuration.  You know that's not all, most of the skin paneling on the outboard wings is fabric.  Been a long time since I doped tissue onto wing ribs (like when i was a teenage building WW1 balsa wood planes).

 

The center wing is also a problem.  A big problem.  Had I known I was going to skin this beast back when I began the center wing work, I think it would have been successful.  But now that it is complete with gear, gear doors, flaps already there, plus those complicated leading edge intakes, I just don't see how I can do it.....  

And now we know why common hackers like me stick to regular kits.  Given the way things have advanced in just the last couple of years, I’m certain there is a solution to the center section issue, but I have no idea what it will be other than to skin it.  I know what I think I’d try, but I also think I could improve the Mona Lisa, so….

[JayW]

2 hours ago, Oldbaldguy said:

I know what I think I’d try,

What would that be?  Skinning it is fraught with problems.  I could list them if you like. 

 

[Oldbaldguy]

58 minutes ago, JayW said:

What would that be?  Skinning it is fraught with problems.  I could list them if you like. 

 

Truthfully?  No idea.  My wit was lost even on me.

[Thunnus]

Incredible.  Really no other words to say except... incredible.

[patricksparks]

AWESOME PROGRESS !!!

Pat

 

[JayW]

Question - a fairly big one.  What color is the oil tank?  Is it ZC yellow, or is it bare metal aluminum?  

 

The only color pics I have found are in the KD431 book, which has no pictures that feature the tank, has a couple of color pics where the tank comes into view.  And it looks silver to me.  I have seen a couple of builds, where the modeler painted it ZC.

 

Surely there are a couple Corsair enthusiasts out there who have this one!!!  Quick!  I want to install that sucker so badly, and move on!

[Oldbaldguy]

Not sure you will get a definitive answer on the oil tank color what with the fog of war, replacement parts, field conditions and all.  The parts associated with engine oil on most of my 1:1 airplanes were painted yellow but the paint didn’t stick well because of heavy handling/use and exposure to heat, cleaners, etc., so the paint could get pretty spotty and unkempt.  This might not apply to something like an F4U because the oil tank is not collocated with the hot, leaky motor and I wouldn’t think it was handled much except for the filler cap.  A couple of pix I just googled up also show the tank painted yellow or at least something yellower than the rest of the stuff around it which seems reasonable based on my experience.  I think a suitably subdued and maybe a little grimy yellow oil tank would look great.

 

[JayW]

1 hour ago, Oldbaldguy said:

 I think a suitably subdued and maybe a little grimy yellow oil tank would look great.

And that was my plan.  But, on a whim I checked the color photos of the time capsule Corsair (KD431), and found the tank in a couple of them; it looks silver (grimy of course).  Should have never looked!  So now I am wringing my hands over something not worth wringing hands over.  I messaged a Corsair expert on LSP, he said he was going to check some sources tonight and report back.  I owe it to him to wait for his response.

 

The top assembly of the tank (at least the "preferred" part number - it was interchangeable with another part number built by Alcoa) has a Vought part number, and all its components have Vought part numbers even though the tank detail itself (minus the fittings and filler neck parts) is supplied by "Aluminum Goods" out of Manitowoc Wisc.  I suspect that in-house parts were more likely to be painted the interior paint scheme used at the time, whereas a supplied part might come finished already, perhaps with a different finish than an in-house part.  But that is conjecture.  I almost never find any finish codes or other finish info on Vought drawings at the part or assembly level, and even if I did, I would have to have a list of the codes and what they meant.  

[Oldbaldguy]

If you haven’t already, google Connecticut Corsair Restoration.  It’s a Connecticut state gov site aimed at kids that outlines a restoration that someone there is doing.  One of the photos shows a bunch of unrestored parts hanging from the ceiling, including a ratty drop tank and TWO unrestored oil tanks neither of which is yellow or silver although one still seems to be sporting a couple of stencils.  That’s the best I can do; you must work your magic for the rest.