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

[TheBaron]

That plastic skin technique looks highly effective for surface relief Jay: kudos to you.

[Kaeone57]

NICE Jay, NICE!!! Well more than NICE but hopefully you get the praise as intended!?

 

Only thing I would not pick on is the vent in the center rear fuselage, at the "bar" on the "star and bar" US marking. That's a later thing and not present on VF-17 birds!? Also the lack of the "hook on the sliding canopy rail" at rear bulkhead end, and the proper definition of the the recess at same junction to alow the sliding hood to sit properly in place! Not trying to be a D..k, just Corsair s..t. I'm sure you have your reasons, but you've gone so far and just wondering if all!

 

GORGEOUS CORSAIR WORK IN ALL IT'S GLORY!! YOU ROCKED THIS!!!

 

Alfonso, the Corsair sicko!  

[JayW]

10 hours ago, Kaeone57 said:

Only thing I would not pick on is the vent in the center rear fuselage, at the "bar" on the "star and bar" US marking. That's a later thing and not present on VF-17 birds!? Also the lack of the "hook on the sliding canopy rail" at rear bulkhead end, and the proper definition of the the recess at same junction to alow the sliding hood to sit properly in place! Not trying to be a D..k, just Corsair s..t. I'm sure you have your reasons, but you've gone so far and just wondering if all!

 

The vent - I know, I know!  A screw-up.  You look at the drawing, and there it is, but with an effectivity note where the cut-off is left blank.  So I didn't know on what line number that detail was incorporated.  I have the book on VF-17, and you are right - I didn't see that vent in any of the pictures.  And if I am not mistaken, Dana Bell may have made mention of it in his Corsair books.  So my bad.  I think Tamiya includes the vent on its -1A (don't know about the -1), leaving the modeler to fill it in.  For me - it's too late.  The fix would be worse than the error. 

 

Lack of the "hook on the sliding canopy rail" - are you talking about the downward turn on the forward extremity of the aft canopy track?  Yes - I am aware of that and could not figure out a good way to add that in and integrate well with the existing track slot.  So I didn't.  I wish it was there too.

 

"Proper definition of the recess at the same junction" - also aware of that, painfully so.  Vought called it "Skin Install - Fuselage Turtledeck Cabin Well Sta 186".  Rather than a clear step (which I have) the skin dips down inside contour locally.  I wanted to do that also, and could have.  But I convinced myself the sliding canopy would not fit in the closed position due to its thickness at its aft end.  I could not have thinned it down enough, I thought, for it to do so.  So I decided to live with the inaccuracy.          

[airscale]

just biblical on every level

 

looking forward to the wings and so glad you are building it without folding them

 

Peter

[brahman104]

Looks incredible to me Jay!

 

Craig

[JayW]

I spent almost all day today on the new improved rudder.  And I can report it is indeed improved.  The surface texture is far better, any wrinkles are gone, the tab is alot better, the round access door is alot better.  The fit onto the fin is the same (which was excellent before) - something I was a bit concerned about.  A couple of progress pics:

 

 

 

 

Unlike any of the other tabs I have built, this one sports an aluminum skin.  

 

Next post it will be done and weathered I hope.  Til then.....

 

 

[Jim Barry]

“I spent all day….”. Isn’t retirement awesome? Love the new rudder Jay! 

[JayW]

OK, rudder number two is finished.  See if you can tell the difference:

 

 

 

The new one is on the left in both pics.  The only meaningful difference is the new rudder has .005 inch thick plastic skins, and the old rudder has doped tissue skins.  

 

Was it worth it?  Just over two weeks of work on and off again.  The new rudder is quality-wise at the same level as the elevators.  And I am very happy with the elevators, so by definition, I should be very happy with the rudder.  I guess I am; certainly I was not that happy with the original rudder, because of the rough tissue surface.  Yet they look about the same from a few feet away.  Accepting comments.

 

A few more pics:

 

   

 

 

 

 

I will fiddle around a bit more with the dirt and grime I suppose.  Then it is on to the outboard wings!  

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by JayW

[Oldbaldguy]

I think the new rudder is more in keeping with the rest of the model.  I’d go easy on the additional grime and grease on the tail, were it me, however.  It’s not like the stab and rudder are downstream of leaking POL sources, guns, brake dust, dirt from the wheels, etc.  You can’t walk on them and these surfaces typically are not handled a lot, so where would it come from?

[BiggTim]

So damn cool!

[CShanne]

I really like the new one as it is, but obvious you will do it Justice even if you were to add more grime.

[JayW]

On 5/5/2023 at 11:45 AM, Oldbaldguy said:

I’d go easy on the additional grime and grease on the tail, were it me, however.  It’s not like the stab and rudder are downstream of leaking POL sources, guns, brake dust, dirt from the wheels, etc.  You can’t walk on them and these surfaces typically are not handled a lot, so where would it come from?

 

Yup - I get it.  Yet, I see pictures of wartime Corsairs in the South Pacific where it seems no surface is spared from some sort of ick save the canopy and windshield glass which is normally meticulously cleaned.  Including the empennage - be it severe bleaching, or continuous soaking from tropical rain, or prop wash sand blasting from other aircraft or grimy hands of mechanics lubing the hinges or whatever.   I promise to go on the easy side OBG.

Edited May 7, 2023 by JayW

[JayW]

Calling all Corsair experts - The birdcage Corsairs have a large round retractable/extendable landing light on the lower surface of the LH outboard wing.  But somewhere along the line this light was discontinued.  The electrical installation drawing for the wing shows what appears to have replaced it - an "approach light" located on the leading edge just outboard of the split at the wing fold, which shines through a rectangular window.  It is in the same place as the gun camera on the RH wing.  Anybody know which light the -1A airplanes have?   

Edited May 8, 2023 by JayW

[MikeMaben]

This help ? ...

 

[TAG]

Hi, Jay

 

As Mike showed in his post, approach lights were added into the port wing leading edge from BuNo. 17930 onwards, so pretty much all -1A's had an approach light located just inboard of the machine gun blast tubes, butted up against the wing fold joint. Here's what it looked like:

 

Let's pull back, note the approach light in its receptacle behind the clear window on the leading edge, and the cable trailing out the back connecting it to a power source.

 

Here's a period photo of a VF-17 bird and a close look at the approach light on the wing's leading edge.

 

And a tiny (and practically useless) image of the original plans, I'm sure you can find a better version of this if you dig around the internet long enough, or perhaps you might even already have it?

 

Here's an excerpt about the Corsair's approach light and how it works, copied from this article.

 

"The 'Approach Light' is a regular-type light bulb situated behind a multi-colored filter. The filter has horizontal bands—top to bottom it’s green, a thinner line of amber, and then red. The pilot can’t see light as the plane lines up for landing on the carrier deck, but it is very visible to the LSO (Landing Signal Officer) below. The light gives the LSO information on the attitude of the plane, even when it’s a pitch black night.

 

If the plane is nose-high, he sees red. It means the Corsair is approaching too slow. If the plane is nose-down, coming in fast, he sees green. If the plane is 'right on the money' to intersect with the deck right in front of the arresting wires, the LSO sees a soothing, satisfying amber shimmering from the left wing of the fighter."

 

Also, don't forget the gun camera on the starboard wing, in a very similar receptacle as the approach light. I have refs for that as well, so let me know if you need them.

 

Voilà, hope that helps!

 

- Thomaz