ChuckD Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Hello, all. If you've been following the build thread, you know that this project was nearing completion. Tonight, after taking the afternoon off, I finally crossed the finish line. As has been my modus operandi of late, I wanted to more or less recreate an historical photograph. For this project, I chose this photo: It's from a fairly well-circulated set of photos and film that were taken either for training purposes, propaganda, or the news reels. In some of the other shots from this series, there's a movie camera crew just out of frame to the right. So, there was something big going on. Also probably explains why the pilot's exiting the wrong side of the aircraft. Anyway, this photo was taken in July of 1943 on Espiritu Santo. The pilot here is one Lt. Virgil Ray, great uncle to our own @ARay87. He did a pretty great write up on Lt. Ray at the WW2 Aircraft forums, so I'll point you there for a great in depth look into the man. Sadly, Lt. Ray was lost in a storm on 13 October, 1943, just a few months after this photo set was taken. Rest in peace, Virgil. I wanted to do this particular aircraft because it had red insignia surrounds (and I've never done those before) some pretty (ahem) unusual weathering. It wasn't until a few weeks into the build that I really realized what I'd gotten myself into. A couple highlights: I sculpted the crew chief from the waist up, using only premade hands and head. I also had to modify his ankles so he would stand up straight on the wing. The base figure was the standing pilot figure included with the Corsair kit. I had to resculpt the pilot's lower legs because the Black Dog Resin figure was in ETO heavy gear. It's still not perfect, but it's a lot better than it was. I also had to resculpt the pilot's hands as the stock figure's hands were nowhere near where they needed to be. I had to build 2 palm trees from scratch. I used Luke Towan's method, but also wrapped the trunks in masking tape to give them a little more texture. Each tree has 38 fronds. I could fit 12 fronds on a sheet of paper in my cutter. Each sheet took 65 minutes. You do the math. I added a ton of wiring detail to the cockpit, engine, and landing gear bay So, in all it was a pretty challenging project and a lot of fun (except the palm fronds) that really pushed my limits, especially the sculpting parts. See the build thread for full details on the sculpting adventures. Aftermarket parts used were: Barracudacast plain tread wheels Anyz canopy frame Quinta studio cockpit interior and harnesses Black Dog Resin pilot figure Though my dio is not a perfect 1:1 recreation of the source image, I feel it captures the essence of the scene. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Tomorrow, I have to build new floating display shelves in the model cave as I have officially run out of display room. Sorry, no under belly shots. The plane is not attached to the base, but there's no good way to set or hold the a/c upside down with the figures in place. It looks nice, you'll just have to trust me. Michael931080, David Hansen, MikeMaben and 45 others 43 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hansen Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Wowww, that looks flippin Brilliant!! Martinnfb and ChuckD 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Excellent finish Chuck ChuckD and Martinnfb 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christa Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 You've caught the story neatly. Great diorama. ChuckD, phasephantomphixer, Martinnfb and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomg Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 You did well by the Ray's! ChuckD, Martinnfb and ARay87 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncarina Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 This ia a magnificent tribute! The work, time, commitment, and creativity you put into this along with your serious modeling skills really takes this to the next level. Very inspiring! Cheers, Tom Martinnfb and ChuckD 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Bang on, probably the best rendition is this plane to date. Bravo! Cheers Martin ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Tremendous effort. Well done. Martinnfb and ChuckD 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 A superb model and dio Chuck, really atmospheric and evocative. I see your Black Dog figure suffered from “sausage fingers” as did mine, so I substituted some hands from Hornet models. ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARay87 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 (edited) @ChuckD Phenomenal work Chuck! You really captured the scene. Weathering is perfect and figures look great. Canopy and cockpit are stellar! Maybe I'll break out my extra 1/32 F4U kit here in the future. Built one for my old man a couple years back, and haven't devoted much time to modeling other than occasionally lurking the forums here. Edited February 24 by ARay87 ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckD Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 3 hours ago, mozart said: A superb model and dio Chuck, really atmospheric and evocative. I see your Black Dog figure suffered from “sausage fingers” as did mine, so I substituted some hands from Hornet models. I actually sculpted those hands myself as the stock fingers didn't fit the pose at all. 46 minutes ago, ARay87 said: @ChuckD Phenomenal work Chuck! You really captured the scene. Weathering is perfect and figures look great. Canopy and cockpit are stellar! Maybe I'll break out my extra 1/32 F4U kit here in the future. Built one for my old man a couple years back, and haven't devoted much time to modeling other than occasionally lurking the forums here. Thank you, sir. Glad to have had you along during the build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granger Davis Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Gorgeous Birdcage! I built a 1/48 Tamiya Birdcage in the markings YEARS ago, but this is truly art..... ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos07 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Impressive build and diorama! The attention to detail is superb. The dirt and weathering is exceptionally executed and establish a ton of character for the scene you created. Well done. ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 8 hours ago, ChuckD said: I actually sculpted those hands myself as the stock fingers didn't fit the pose at all. Oooops! Sorry!! ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceofClubs Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 superlative Ciao Filippo ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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