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


JayW

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Something that was bugging me for quite a while now is the cockpit.  Last I posted something on the cockpit was late February - this:

 

f60OihFl.jpg

 

That was when the center wing and fuselage were joined, and a bunch of stuff was finished in the cockpit that required that join to occur - control cables, foot troughs, a few unterminated hydraulic lines.  What remained, it was stated, were the control stick, the last two fluorescent lamps that shine on the instrument panel, and of course the seat.  

 

Finally, I got around to revisiting (a way of stalling - I am apprehensive of the cowl flap work....  :rolleyes:).  A while back, part of a 3D print order I received were the control stick handle, and the relief tube funnel:

 

aH26szZl.jpg

 

Relief tube funnel.  Ha!!  In the spirit of full reporting, here is the engineering drawing of the relief tube installation:

 

v44dWZXh.jpg

 

Note it is fixed to the control stick with a clamp and a cup-shaped bracket.

 

One of the very first parts I made for this Corsair, after the engine was completed - it's been a couple years now - was the control stick, for some reason.  It was now revisited:

 

 B9w2t6Sl.jpg

 

The handle and relief tube are installed - it's ready for installation into the cockpit.

 

And here you go, plus the last two (of four) fluorescent lamps:

 

SFUlvGMl.jpg

 

tsybDEYl.jpg

 

VhoziQfl.jpg

 

That's a pretty complete cockpit - indeed 100% complete except the pilot seat, which must wait until the aft fuselage is done I believe.  I am pleased to show it.  

 

Well there is nowhere else to hide.  The cowl flaps are waiting.  Take care.

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Glad I got those two little cockpit items finished, and the wing skinning.  Opens up a plethora of potential next steps, and I am all over the place trying to decide which to concentrate my energies on.  Or, take a break - I've been doing at least something on this monster practically every day now for quite a while.  

 

Application of self etching primer, and perhaps more coats (ZC yellow, hairspray?, insignia white),  is definitely a next step.  So I have begun the thankless task of masking all the areas that must not be painted (cockpit, wheel wells, etc).  And I look at the canopy and think it is a great mask for the cockpit, long as I mask it as well.  One thing then leads to another...

 

The canopy - it is a rather sad part:

 

nVxm6f9l.jpg

 

The engineering drawing:

 

cED5kFll.jpg

 

A whole host of issues with that part, but I feel I might be stuck with using it.  Not without modifications though.  Mostly it's the framing.  It's too thin, the fastener marks are atrocious, but worst of all - note that the upper horizontal frame (that separates the top from the sides) looks like a halo on the toy part.  Look at the drawing and you see that frame is shaped completely differently.  It's a very obvious large error.  And BTW, the -1D canopies don't even have that frame - the -1D canopy has a one-piece blown plexiglass part instead of three pieces.  This 3-piece config is largely a -1A feature (the -1's have the birdcage).

 

So I took a detour and tried sanding it off, meaning to replace it with a correctly shaped strip:

 

nMjC3ITl.jpg

 

So far so good.  But I have a question that I'd put to experts on LSP:  What can I polish it with to completely remove the smudgy cloudy finish in the region I sanded, pretty clearly seen in the photo?  So far I have progressed to "ultra-fine" 8000 - 12000 grit sand paper (hardly sand paper at all).  Cannot seem to get it better than that.

 

There are polishing products out there for car headlights, but I am not sure they aren't too strong for this application.  Toothpaste on a dry cloth seems to come up too.  Anyway, before I go further, I wanted to consult with LSP!  What should I do next?

 

And BTW - some of you might suggest abandoning this part and vac-forming a new part.  Probably the same group of modelers who have twisted my arm to do a bunch of other stuff I am uncomfortable with (skinning, scratch building a windshield, air-brushing, etc).  All of which have worked out btw - so I thank you for that!  The vac-formed canopy scares me though.  I have generally been quite unimpressed with vac-formed parts (I had a P-47 1/32 vac-formed part that was a joke - tossed it in the can).  I don't have a vacuform but could make one easily enough.  Or I could have it done.  But I have to have explained to me in detail just how it would all work (like, how to get a good buck).  Keep in mind I have been designing parts in Rhino and having them 3D printed.  Could a good buck be made that way....  

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Hi Jay,

 

I use Tamiya Polishing Compounds, starting with Coarse, then Fine, then Finish, using small rags and Q-tips.  90% of what you want, will be accomplished with the Coarse "grit", with Fine and Finish cleaning things up further.  The last thing I use is Plexus, which is made for real aircraft clear plastic.

 

Make sure you don't bend/flex the clear plastic too much, or it could result in a shattered canopy.  Don't ask me how I know!  :BANGHEAD2:

 

Cheers,

Chuck

Edited by chuck540z3
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Well Jay, you continue to amaze - this is all looking so real :)

 

Going back to some of your questions about priming & weathering, I have a little experience that may be helpful

 

from your note, you clearly know more about etch priming than I, but two things to watch for when I did my P51 wings were 1. the etch primer ages and becomes ineffective after 12 months - I guess its the active ingredients that start to wane, but make sure you get fresh stock (see Phoenix Paints in the UK for details), and 2. the etch paint needs time to etch, so apply it and move onto something else - I left the P51 wings for 4 weeks, which may be too much but what I am saying is don't prime and then topcoat immediately after

 

As for weathering, again two recommendations 1. put some chipping fluid (or hairspray) where you want to see YZC after applying it - eg leading edges, around access doors etc - I would keep this quite restrained though and then after top coat gently wire wool ('0000' grade) the entire surface. What this does is give a lovely realistic sheen and takes paint off high spots like some panel edges, rivet tops or surrounds and where you have put a 'breakaway' layer like chipping fluid or hairspray, will leave just the YZC rather than the bare metal. trust me it is very effective. The second tip is flory dark model wash - this is a water based pigment that you just brush on, let dry and wipe off. Great depth can be found by wiping it off with a wet tissue or rag and by varying how much you wipe off you can control how weathered the surface is. On my P51 I virtually removed it, but it had already settlied in all the rivet heads and panel lines so looked very realistic

 

Anyways, I would get back to the mule and test out these methods or any others until you are happy with what you see - I am sure the results will be stunning

 

One question I have is how the rear fuselage will mount to the centre section? The panelling is so complete up to that point does it fit so well you don't need to do any filling or adjustment?

 

TTFN
Peter

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4 hours ago, airscale said:

As for weathering, again two recommendations 1. put some chipping fluid (or hairspray) where you want to see YZC after applying it - eg leading edges, around access doors etc - I would keep this quite restrained though and then after top coat gently wire wool ('0000' grade) the entire surface. What this does is give a lovely realistic sheen and takes paint off high spots like some panel edges, rivet tops or surrounds and where you have put a 'breakaway' layer like chipping fluid or hairspray, will leave just the YZC rather than the bare metal. trust me it is very effective. The second tip is flory dark model wash - this is a water based pigment that you just brush on, let dry and wipe off. Great depth can be found by wiping it off with a wet tissue or rag and by varying how much you wipe off you can control how weathered the surface is. On my P51 I virtually removed it, but it had already settlied in all the rivet heads and panel lines so looked very realistic

 

Roger that Peter.  You know, I would like for some bare metal to show up here and there.  That in addition to YZC.  Like the walkways for instance.  My dilemma, if it is one, is the self-etching primer.  The two cans I have (one from the local hardware store, one from an aircraft resto website) - neither are YZC colored.  Both are rather shades of olive drab, call it.  If I am to reach the bare metal with weathering efforts, be it through sanding or scrubbing with wire wool or chipping with an x-acto knife, or whatever, I have to go through the top coat(s), the YZC, and then the self-etching primer level to get to the aluminum.  So it's going to show up.  Not sure what if anything to do about that...

 

Flory dark metal wash.  Ah, another product from across the pond!  I'll see how attainable that is over here, or if I can use an alternate. 

 

Thanks much for the recommendations - I can only dream of having a surface quality that can compete with Lope's Hope, or some of the more severely weathered surfaces I see on many LSP subjects (Thunnus' 1/32 Tamiya Corsair for instance).  This helps.

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Hi Jay

 

We can buy Flory Model Products here in the States at High Altitude Hobbies. 

 

https://www.highaltitudehobbies.com/flory-models-products

 

Top tips for using Flory washes: 

 

These washes are easily compromised by contamination, which can cause the ingredients to split and or clump.     

 

• Dedicate some brand new brushes for use only with your Flory Washes

 

• Never dip a brush directly in the FW bottle. Shake it up, pour some into another container and go from there. Don't double dip in the original container... ever!

 

Its good stuff, get some and watch Phill Florys YouTube video. You will be up and running quickly.

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8 hours ago, airscale said:

One question I have is how the rear fuselage will mount to the centre section? The panelling is so complete up to that point does it fit so well you don't need to do any filling or adjustment?

 

Well - good question.  I trimmed the paneling very closely to the aft edge of the forward/fuselage.  And I could do same with the forward edge of the mid/aft fuselage.  But the gap, at best, would be larger than anywhere else.  Partly because that is the station where I sawed the fuselage in half a couple years ago.  I suppose what needs to be done is to join the fuselage back together first, and then skin the panels immediately aft of the joint (the other mid/aft fuselage panels being already skinned).  I don't think that would be too difficult. 

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6 hours ago, JayW said:

 

Roger that Peter.  You know, I would like for some bare metal to show up here and there.  That in addition to YZC.  Like the walkways for instance.  My dilemma, if it is one, is the self-etching primer.  The two cans I have (one from the local hardware store, one from an aircraft resto website) - neither are YZC colored.  Both are rather shades of olive drab, call it.  If I am to reach the bare metal with weathering efforts, be it through sanding or scrubbing with wire wool or chipping with an x-acto knife, or whatever, I have to go through the top coat(s), the YZC, and then the self-etching primer level to get to the aluminum.  So it's going to show up.  Not sure what if anything to do about that...

 

 

 

Going back to a question I posed earlier, is etch primer really necessary on a static model? 

Enamel paint and some lacquers are pretty tough. 

Can you skip the etch primer stage and go straight to an enamel or lacquer YZC?

Do Tamiya make anything close to the correct shade in their whizz cans? That stuff is very strong and sprays straight onto metal with no issues in my experience :hmmm:

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2 hours ago, geedubelyer said:

Going back to a question I posed earlier, is etch primer really necessary on a static model? 

Enamel paint and some lacquers are pretty tough. 

Can you skip the etch primer stage and go straight to an enamel or lacquer YZC?

Do Tamiya make anything close to the correct shade in their whizz cans? That stuff is very strong and sprays straight onto metal with no issues in my experience :hmmm:

 

When you replied last, I didn't recognize that you were suggesting to not use the self-etching primer at all.  Didn't catch that.

 

When I began to skin this model a few months ago, I started out first on a 1/24 FW190 "mule".  In addition to practicing the skinning technique, I tried out some painting on the bare aluminum surfaces i bonded to it.  I found that Tamiya gray or white primer, from a rattle can, was subject to lifting from masking tape.  I did not test Tamiya topcoat colors of any kind, but I suspect the same would happen (although your experience seems to indicate no problems).  Was scary - the last thing I need is to do an excellent paint job only to have paint peel off while masking for the insignias.  When I reported this result on my build thread, several of my cohorts stated that it was absolutely imperative to use a self-etching primer to prevent paint lifting.  I believe it, so I am going with the self-etching primer.  I'd rather do that than risk paint lifting.

 

Tamiya does not have a YZC spray can.  They have a "chrome yellow" which seems to come the closest, and I have some, but I don't like it.  Now, Tamiya XF-4 "yellow green" in a bottle is just about perfect.  And I have thinned it and applied with an airbrush with good results.  There are great YZC's out there from the various airbrush-only paint makes, as well.  I intend to make that thinned XF-4 the next coat over the self-etching primer.  I am going to practice on the mule, or a piece of aluminum sheet, and see if I can get a convincing looking wear area where both YZC and bare alum get exposed.  I am hoping that it can be done in such a way where the greenish self-etch primer doesn't show up much.  Fingers crossed.

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