Tamiya 1/32 F4U-1 Corsair - Lt Virgil G Ray - VMF-214

[ARay87]

Below is my first attempt at building a model in over 16-17 years. This kite is that of my great-uncle, 2nd Lt Virgil G Ray. Marine pilots in the Solomons did not have assigned planes and I have pictures of Virgil in or around four different Corsairs. However, I have two pictures of Virgil posing around this plane, so I'll assume he flew it at least once. The subject is an F4U-1 Birdcage with the nose art 'Mad Duck' and the number 'White 80'. I believe these pictures to be from Sept 1943 when VMF-214 was flying out of Munda, but I am not 100% positive. Virgil flew three tours with VMF-122, 112 and 214 between May and October 1943, before disappearing on a flight on 13 Oct 1943. More information regarding Virgil can be found at https://missingmarines.com/virgil-g-ray/ or in Bruce Gamble's works on VMF-214.

 

In short, he was an original member of the Blacksheep Squadron, and flew on Boyington's division in Sept 1943 on multiple sorties, including a rather famous dogfight in which Boyington claimed 5 victories. In my research, Virgil was credited with at least one, possibly two, probable 'kills' in June and Sept 1943, although we all know how subjective those claims can be. I'll include some documents and original pictures in the post below. This kit was made as a birthday present for my father, also a former Naval aviator.  

 

The kit was built out of the box with the exception of some HGW Wet Transfers and Eduard masks. Paints were mostly Tamiya, with some Model Master and Vallejo. Weathering was Tamiya panel line wash, and Winsor and Newton artists oils for filtering and blending. I also did some chipping with a XF-16. I attempted a bit of a preshading, as well as Doog's Models style 'sandwich shading' when spraying the base colors, to introduce tonal variety into the paint scheme. All in all, I think this turned out decent for my first kit since I was 15-16 years old or so. Certainly some errors you'll find if you look. Also some things I would do differently. All in all this project was a ton of fun, and I've been bitten by the modeling bug again. I've already purchased the Tamiya P-38, P-47, a Trumpeter SBD and Bf109G10 on deck. I eventually plan to do another 1/32 Birdcage that Virgil flew, in the earlier two tone scheme and some cool squadron art of VMF-122. 

 

[ARay87]

Some original documents regarding Virgil, as well as reference photos. I did not attempt to replicate the white paint and tape around the gun ports; simply didn't have the time to do them the right way before my deadline was up. I do think the fake 4th gun on each wing is interesting though. 

 

[LSP_Kevin]

Welcome aboard, sir!

 

 

Very nicely done tribute to your great uncle.

 

Kev

[Out2gtcha]

Great work! I like the weathering a lot. Any more overall side pics?

[Violator1991]

Looks fantastic!! The weathering is just spot on!

[ARay87]

2 hours ago, Out2gtcha said:

Great work! I like the weathering a lot. Any more overall side pics?

Much appreciated! Was able to find this. Model is on the other side of the country now. Will step up the camera work for the next one. 

[ARay87]

2 hours ago, Violator1991 said:

Looks fantastic!! The weathering is just spot on!

Thanks for the kind words. I think it came out ok for a first try. Hopefully I can improve my building and paint work over the next few builds. I tried not to go too overboard.. employed the 'if you think you need to do more, stop' mindset. 

Edited December 30, 2021 by ARay87

[GreyGhost]

Gorgeous build ... 

With results like this after that long of a hiatus, Bravo ... 

 

~Gregg

[Greif8]

Welcome to the forums!  Your Corsair looks outstanding!  The weathering is perfect and makes for a very realistic looking model.  I also enjoyed reading the information about your great-uncle and think it added to the build's interest.  

 

Ernest

[Martinnfb]

Beauty! 

[dodgem37]

This is a fantastic piece of work.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[100 SQN]

Brilliant build. Well done

[Granger Davis]

This looks great! Very nice birdcage, and thank you very much for showing everyone pictures of your great uncle! Boyington was one of my childhood heroes and I’ve always had a soft spot for VMF-214. 
Incidentally, I see that you are from Colorado.  I am a travel nurse and was doing a contract here in Colorado Springs a couple of months ago, and liked it so much here that I decided to move my daughters here with me. I’ve been to the National Museum of World War II Aviation, and plan on seeing if they would like for me to donate some of my built models, including a 1/32 birdcage Corsair modeled after one Boyington is known to have flown.

[ARay87]

18 hours ago, Granger Davis said:

This looks great! Very nice birdcage, and thank you very much for showing everyone pictures of your great uncle! Boyington was one of my childhood heroes and I’ve always had a soft spot for VMF-214. 
Incidentally, I see that you are from Colorado.  I am a travel nurse and was doing a contract here in Colorado Springs a couple of months ago, and liked it so much here that I decided to move my daughters here with me. I’ve been to the National Museum of World War II Aviation, and plan on seeing if they would like for me to donate some of my built models, including a 1/32 birdcage Corsair modeled after one Boyington is known to have flown.

Appreciate that Granger and welcome to Colorado. I've been in the Parker area for a few years, though originally from North Carolina. I just recently heard about the National WW2 Aviation Museum. I plan to make a trip there soon. Very much enjoy the Springs. Actually headed down there Saturday for a precision rifle match. 

[Granger Davis]

When you go to the museum, there are some artifacts from one of the members of the squadron there. It's actually a really neat museum