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F4U-1A Corsair Blue Baron


BloorwestSiR

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Well it's been a while since I've worked on a plane kit, much less a GB. I burned out on planes after some spectacular recent fails and switched to other subjects. Mostly armour and cars but it was time for a plane again. So I picked my favourite prop- the Corsair. 

 

A few years ago Fundekals released a set called Whistling Death. One of the planes is a USMC F4U-1A called Blue Baron that has an unusual camo scheme possibly  due to weathering and touch-ups. In either case, that's my subject. 

 I'll be using the Tamiya kit with some AM besides the decals but nothing to crazy as that's what did me in last time. 

 

 

 

Edited by BloorwestSiR
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Here's the kit:

 

PXL_20210228_031201754-600x450.jpg

 

A pic of the contents. There quite the mess as it seems I dumped the leftovers from my previous Corsair builds in here. 

 

PXL_20210228_031242242-600x450.jpg

 

Here's the plane I plan to do:

 

Screenshot_20210228-183337-225x450.png

 

For AM, I have Barracuda resin wheels, HGW belts and cockpit stencils, masks for the insignias and that's about it. 

 

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Starting with the cockpit, I cleaned up the fuselage halves and lower centre wing section. There's a couple ejector pin marks and that's about it.

 

PXL_20210228_195911027-600x450.jpg

 

Then I shot some interior green on those parts as well as the other cockpit parts. 

 

PXL_20210228_220932512-600x450.jpg

 

PXL_20210228_220935853-600x450.jpg

 

I've done some post shading as well. The tailwheel bay framing is also together. So far so good.

 

PXL_20210301_044357210-600x450.jpg

 

I then started on the black for the panels. 

 

PXL_20210301_051032671-600x450.jpg

 

Edited by BloorwestSiR
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Time for an update. The cockpit really gave me a hard time, probably as a reminder for not having worked on planes for a bit. 

 

PXL_20210307_013246179-600x450.jpg

 

Mostly I had problems doing the detail painting until I realized I had finer brushes and remembered the magnifier in the corner of my bench. 

 

The HGW decals are thin but will fold on you if you look at them funny. With a drop of Tamiya Mark Fit Strong, they confirmed over the various switches and panels on the consoles and IP.

 

PXL_20210307_013300094-600x450.jpg

 

PXL_20210307_023023713-600x450.jpg

 

I used a Prismacolor pencil to add some wear and chipping to the rudder pedals and the pedal troughs. 

 

Another struggle was the various tanks in the cockpit. Masking them off so I could paint their retaining straps was tougher than I remember. 

 

PXL_20210307_023041618-600x450.jpg

 

PXL_20210307_023050838-600x450.jpg

 

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Using the HGW belts, I ran into an issue. The buckles for the shoulder straps (parts 6 & 7) are too small for the belts to thread through. 

 

 

PXL_20210309_022005929-600x450.jpg

 

PXL_20210309_022650464-600x450.jpg

 

Notching the belts helps but they look odd being narrower than the belt. 

 

PXL_20210309_022702931-600x450.jpg

 

With the way I'm planning to mount them in the cockpit it won't be too obvious.

 

PXL_20210309_030555240-600x450.jpg

 

 

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1 hour ago, Landrotten Highlander said:

A bit late now, but are you sure you put the belts in the right slot?  I would have thought that putting the min the biggest slot would work just fine.

But the nagain, I could be wrong as in what these buckles look like in the real thing meaning you needed the long slot free...

 

I double checked that but the buckle is etched to fold a certain way. I just checked their Skyraider belt set and the buckles there are correctly made. So a minor goof up. 

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I started on the changes to the fuselage that the plane had as it was built as a land based fighter. The tail hook was removed and the opening was covered over. In addition, the rear half of the tail wheel doors were fixed shut.

 

Tamiya include the multipart doors so I used the closed option for the rear part. 

 

PXL_20210313_031919537-600x450.jpg

 

On the inside, it's even marked where to cut it. 

 

PXL_20210313_031928111-600x450.jpg

 

After cutting it apart, I glued it into place along with the rear fairing. 

 

PXL_20210313_032623959-600x450.jpg

 

After looking at some pics of what the cover for the hook opening looked like, I cut one from thin sheet styrene and glued it into place. 

 

PXL_20210313_033607053-600x450.jpg

 

PXL_20210313_034702135-600x450.jpg

 

I then added some rivets to it and that part was done. 

 

PXL_20210313_035245645-600x450.jpg

 

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On 3/10/2021 at 9:32 PM, BloorwestSiR said:

Using the HGW belts, I ran into an issue. The buckles for the shoulder straps (parts 6 & 7) are too small for the belts to thread through. 

 

 

PXL_20210309_022005929-600x450.jpg

 

PXL_20210309_022650464-600x450.jpg

 

Notching the belts helps but they look odd being narrower than the belt. 

 

PXL_20210309_022702931-600x450.jpg

 

With the way I'm planning to mount them in the cockpit it won't be too obvious.

 

PXL_20210309_030555240-600x450.jpg

 

 

 

you should contact HGW about that

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