Kiwi Corsair - Finished

[Ayovan]

LOL, I read this thread and thought, I have the 1970 release I could do an out of the box build. Might be fun. Then I started looking at all the AM upgrades that thing could use....

Think I'll leave it as a "Still in it's box" build for now. Maybe just save this one for....I dunno? Another Jurasic kit build?

Edited March 14, 2021 by Ayovan

[mgbooyv8]

Hi Ayovan,

Another Jurassic kit build would suit this kit very well!

 

In the mean time, I painted and assembled the cockpit...all four parts!

Here they are with painting completed:

 

Black and white waterproof markers are very convenient to make instrument faces, topped off with drops of Klear.

Here is the cockpit completed:

 

 

Ah, the good old days!

 

While assembling the cockpit, the horizontal tailplanes were also assembled, each consisting of two parts:

 

I also made a forward bulkhead for the cockpit by tracing the outer edge of the instrument panel on paper,

which, after checking the fit, was traced on plastic card.

The bulkhead will prevent a peek into the empty fuselage and was painted interior green.

 

I also made a bulkhead to close off the forward side of the tail wheel well.

Yes, the real Corsair has bulky open frames there, but in the kit there is nothing to see, so its better to close it off.

This is the fuselage interior completed:

 

The forward part of the tailwheel well is painted already, because it will be hard to reach when the tail wheel stut is in.

 

Speaking of which: provided is the early short tail wheel strut which apparently was only used in early versions of the F4U-1A:

 

So it was cut off, to be replaced with a lengthened part later in the build:

 

A hole was drilled as well to accept a piece of rod to strengthen the join.

Oh, and ofcourse, heavy mould lines were removed.

 

This is what you get for the main wheel bays:

 

That's not much, they will be boxed in with additional pieces of card, but not detailed further.

The ribs provided will get a hinge piece each to attach the outer wing panels to.

I want to see how feasible these hinges really are, so I carefully glued the ribs in with clamps to hold them in position while the glue hardened:

 

No, the inner wing halves are not joined togeter yet.

 

To be continued.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

 

 

[mgbooyv8]

Hi guys,

 

The main wheel wells were boxed in with plastic card and look like this:

 

As explained earlier, I didn't go for  accuracy, but just closing off to avoid see-through effects.

(for example the main spar between well and main gear legs looks much different in reality! )

 

The forward part of the well at the main gear leg locators got a coat of Interior green.

It is hard to reach when the wing roots are closed.

 

The outer wing panels were taped to their respective inner panels,

to ensure correct position when the folding hinge pivot point was glued to the rib on the inner panel:

 

I let the glue harden overnight to obtain a strong bond of the pivot point to the wing rib.

 

In the mean time, I closed the fuselage, not forgetting to insert the pre-pained tail wheel strut:

 

Via the tail wheel well you look straight into the fin.

I closed this area off wit a piece of paper I prepared earlier:

 

It was glued in place and subsequently soaked in superglue to make it rigid and easy to paint.

 

To be continued.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[MikeMaben]

[mgbooyv8]

Hi guys,

 

The wing root halves were glued together:

 

After that is was time to test the folding mechanism:

 

Well, as Andy also found out, it is weak and wobbly. The hinge will surely break sometime in the future.

However, the killer was this:

 

It's a bit hard to photograph, but with the rib mounted in the outer wing panels, it is very hard to align top and bottom wing surfaces.

So, the wings will be glued solid then.

 

I think the best way to do it is to delete the rib in the outer wing and add little tabs of plastic strip:

 

Interestingly, during the production of the moulds, rocket stubs had been considered:

 

There are center marks for holes on the inside surface of the outer wing.

Similar marks are present on the wing roots at the location of the pylons of later Corsair versions.

Both are not present in the kit, possibly to avoid rising cost?

 

Anyway, to be continued...

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

Edited March 28, 2021 by mgbooyv8
Typo corrected

[Ayovan]

I thought the wing fold would have made things a little more interesting on the finished product, but the way the was done  on the kit, was not going to give an acceptable result. Frankly, I just didnt have the desire nor the modeling skills to try and redesign it and make it work right.

 

Andy

Edited March 31, 2021 by Ayovan

[mgbooyv8]

Hi Andy, 

 

You're absolutely right. 

The only reason that I checked the wing folding hinges was curiosity, to see for myself whether it would work OOB.

The answer was clearly a no.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

 

 

[mgbooyv8]

Hi guys,

 

The engine parts got some paint:

 

According to their paint instructions, Revell makes you think that the spider part on the right resemble the exhaust pipes.

Well, they are not. They are inlet pipes and were painted accordingly.

There is no outlet manifold in the kit, nor will I make one!

 

After that, both wing outer panels were glued solid to the wing roots:

 

They needed a bit of persuation at the leading edges to ensure a smooth transition.

And the engine parts needed a bit of clamping also.

 

The tailplanes were added and the engine cowl was dryfitted:

 

Its starting to look like a Corsair!

 

The kit lived up to its reputation. It goes together well and needed suprisingly little filler.

Last weekend, I shot a coat of primer, my usual mix of Revell 75 enamel, thinned with laquer thinner, turpentine and white spirit:

 

Initial impression is rather good. I do not need to give extra attention to seams.

I can start rebuilding the lost detailing at the sanded seams with stretched sprue and rivet decals to match the rest of the model.

 

To be continued.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

 

[MikeMaben]

Lookin' good Pete , hey that 'does' look like a Corsair 

[Panzerwomble]

[mgbooyv8]

Thanks guys!

 

What raised surface detail there was, was sanded away and restored with stretched sprue and Micro Mark rivet decals:

 

And another example:

 

The surface was glossed first with Klear, before the rivet decals were applied with DACO Strong (red label).

 

After a new shot of Revell 75 over the restored detail, the whole model was wet sanded with worn sandpaper to smooth the surface.

Then the first coat of white was sprayed:

 

Which is drying now.

 

In the mean time the engine was finished:

 

Well, the pushrods are going nowhere in the cylinder head and seem to come out of the ingnition wiring ring. 

I think it will not be that obvious after the cowling and the propeller will be installed.

 

To be continued.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

 

[mydesign]

Looking nice Peter!  The raised added rivets at the most visible spots are not a lot of work and are worthwhile.

 

Do you plan to add a few razor saw cuts at the movable surfaces like ailerons? That is what I often see at your models 

.... or do the lower and upper inscribed kit lines not match?

[mgbooyv8]

Thanks Meindert!

 

I have to see if the upper and lower kit lines of the control surfaces do match tu put a razor saw through it .

Thanks for the reminder!

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[Ayovan]

Looking very nice Peter. This is going to be a good looking F-4U1 when done.

 

Andy

[Troy Molitor]

Looking good Peter.  Great to see a Classic Revell build going on.