Tamiya 1/48 Chance Vought F4U-1/2 Birdcage Corsair

Post by **Willem** » Mon May 02, 2016 9:16 pm

Another GB that I've been looking forward to.

One of the first kits I built when I got back into the hobby. First attempt was clumsily built and brush painted.

The Kit:

Nice work from Photobucket. Rotate photo left not working then.

Decals look ok but, hopefully, I won't have to use them.

The scheme I want to do and the aftermarket set.

Set of canopy masks.

I love the history around the US Marines on Guadalcanal and I've always wanted to build a Corsair based there.

Post by **Joesdad** » Mon May 02, 2016 9:39 pm

attention grabbed

Post by **Richp1969** » Mon May 02, 2016 9:41 pm

Ok this is my all time favorite plane. I just finished this same model. I am excited to watch someone else do it.

Sincerely,

Richard

Post by **Lysus** » Tue May 03, 2016 12:28 am

Post by **Vleugelmoer** » Tue May 03, 2016 10:36 pm

Post by **RoscoRSA** » Wed May 04, 2016 4:51 pm

I'm planning on building another one of these for this GB. Will be keeping my eyes on this build.

Have fun and good luck

Post by **Willem** » Wed May 04, 2016 11:18 pm

Cheers lads.

I got bored with the prospect of more filling, sanding, polishing and re-scribing a P-38 I'm working on so I thought I'd start this.

It's a Tamiya kit so there are no real problems apart from some ejector pin marks. Hoping to get through the build reasonably quickly so that I can get to the painting stage. If I get it done in time there is a nice Hasegawa Zero in the stash.

Cockpit built up pretty fast. Nice detail in the molding.

Engine built too. I'm not going to add wiring, perhaps on another future build.

The only real problem with the kit, pin marks in the wheel wells and the cockpit walls.

Main components primed with Alclad black. Engine sprayed Alclad airframe aluminium, Cockpit and sidewalls are Mr Hobby interior green, Wheel wells and doors (still on the sprue) are Tamiya XF4 yellow green and the tail well is a mix of Vallejo sand brown and white.

Fancy a change from pe seat harnesses this build hence this chap-

More of that later.

Thanks for looking.

Post by **mincemeat** » Thu May 05, 2016 12:31 am

I'm attempting to build the exact same kit! I"m getting close to priming. Although your pictures aren't working...I"m sure it's awesome though. Definitely the first WWII aircraft I ever knew about and one of my favorites.

Post by **Always48** » Thu May 05, 2016 10:32 pm

got to love the F4U

Post by **Willem** » Tue May 10, 2016 11:35 pm

Got the cockpit painted now.

Used the decal for the instrument panel. Not totally convinced but I'm pushing through this build to get to the painting stage.

Got the fuselage together.

Bit of a gap here. Operator error.

I've used Mr Hobby paint for the cockpit and I love the stuff. Going to have to invest in more.

This is where the main airframe is up to.

MMmmm. There's that decal again. Going to haunt me.

Not something I usually do. Primed the Lt and painted the flesh tones then spent a very happy few hours or so painting. Still needs an oil wash.

Read somewhere that the flap step cutout wasn't on early Corsairs so I broke out an ancient packet of Miliput and filled it in.

Finally, for now, painted the engine with Alclad airframe aluminium and gave it an oil wash.

More soon.

Post by **Always48** » Wed May 11, 2016 7:00 am

wow mate that is looking really nice. The pilot is looking absolutely stunning so far.

Post by **Richp1969** » Thu May 12, 2016 5:38 pm

Coming along fantastically. Keep up the great work.

Sincerely,

Richard

Post by **demarcation** » Thu May 12, 2016 8:03 pm

Outstanding work so far mate. The pilot looks ace!!

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Sun May 15, 2016 10:25 am

Nice progress so far, makes me want to take my Corsair from the shelf of doom again...
Keep it up, I like what your doing

Post by **Willem** » Sun May 15, 2016 5:52 pm

demarcation wrote:Outstanding work so far mate. The pilot looks ace!!

Thanks mate. He was indeed an ace. More of that in another update.

Didn't take long to get the airframe together but I had a good look the morning after gluing the nose cowling on and decided that she looked a bit too snub nosed. The pilot is just a dry fit for now.

Underside looks ok though.

Not sure what I did wrong but decided to carefully prise off the nose and pack the resulting cowling gap with evergreen strip. Takes a special kind of bumbling to mess up a Tamiya Corsair but I'm happy to hold my hands up.

While I was in the mood I went back to the gap between the rear cockpit and the turtle-deck. Still needs to be tidied up in the pic.

Spent a happy few hours re-scribing and re-riveting whilst listening to Eurovision on the radio. Apparently Australia is in Europe, I didn't know that.

Decided that the Lt looked a bit peaky so gave him a darker oil wash.

And here he is trying out his seat again. I think he looks better.

Hoping to get the rest of the glazing done tomorrow and, hopefully, in primer by Tuesday latest.

Thanks for all the kind comments and encouragement. I always enjoy building along with you awesome people and catching up with everyone's progress.

PS This time last week I'd just got home from an airshow at Shuttleworth. Next one is on June 5th and I've looked it up to find that there will be a Corsair on show. Can't wait. Tickets booked.

Post by **Always48** » Mon May 16, 2016 8:48 pm

good spot on that nose, ill have to keep a eye out for that to see if its common fault with the tamiya kit. Amazing work on cleaning up all the joints and the pilot. Im really enjoying watching this come together.

Post by **Smiffy** » Mon May 16, 2016 9:30 pm

Great work so far. Nice spot on the nose, looks a lot better now. As for the pilot, amazing painting

Post by **Richp1969** » Wed May 18, 2016 1:01 am

Looking great!

Sincerely,

Richard

Post by **Willem** » Wed May 18, 2016 7:58 pm

Always48 wrote:good spot on that nose, ill have to keep a eye out for that to see if its common fault with the tamiya kit. Amazing work on cleaning up all the joints and the pilot. Im really enjoying watching this come together.

Thanks mate. If I'm honest, I regard myself as a bit of a bumbling modeller so the mistake is probably all my own making and the result of carelessness earlier on.

Post by **Willem** » Wed May 18, 2016 9:28 pm

Smiffy wrote:Great work so far. Nice spot on the nose, looks a lot better now. As for the pilot, amazing painting

Richp1969 wrote:Looking great!

Sincerely,

Richard

Many thanks lads.

Right. Third attempt at an update (wifi playing up).

Glazing done. All glued in using PVA thinned with water. I like the capillary action and clean-up, the draw back is drying time.

The sliding hood is a push fit for the moment. I will have the canopy posed open. Yes, I managed to crack the corner of the windscreen. Fingers and toes crossed that I get away with it.

Masking commences.

I find this stuff very useful for masking.

Masking the canopy: Sprayed with interior colour then black to add depth before the top colours.

Priming underway. Alclad used.

Bit of a sink mark that I missed.

Yikes. I didn't put the cover on the colour cup. Primer spillage on the port wing that began to soften the plastic.

I cleaned up the spill then left overnight before going back in to tidy up and restore some detail. Partial success.

I've lost a little bit of surface detail.

Flaps were primed up this morning.

A few spots of surfacer applied to cover gaps and scuffs and I've noticed that I need to tidy up the scruffy canopy masking edge.

Nearly ready for her warpaint.

Thanks for looking in.

Post by **mincemeat** » Wed May 18, 2016 10:03 pm

Looking really good! Looks like we've filled some of the same sink marks. I'm almost at the same stage, just need to post up some pics but I started long before the GB kicked off. That's a great idea on the foam, just need to figure out where I can get some. Sorry to see about the primer mishap, there's always something, isn't there?

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Wed May 18, 2016 10:15 pm

What pics I can see look great
Looks like some trouble in your photo hosting site though bud

Post by **Willem** » Thu May 19, 2016 8:59 am

Twokidsnosleep wrote:What pics I can see look great
Looks like some trouble in your photo hosting site though bud

Cheers Scott. I can see them so not sure whats happening. Maybe Photobucket on a go slow.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Thu May 19, 2016 3:56 pm

Yep all good now, looks great

Post by **Willem** » Sun May 22, 2016 11:12 pm

mincemeat wrote:Looking really good! Looks like we've filled some of the same sink marks. I'm almost at the same stage, just need to post up some pics but I started long before the GB kicked off. That's a great idea on the foam, just need to figure out where I can get some. Sorry to see about the primer mishap, there's always something, isn't there?

Thanks mincemeat. Yeah, there is always something. I tend to get the foam from old aftermarket sets (I'm pathologically opposed to throwing anything away). Sadly, I didn't catch all the sink marks but never mind.

At the painting stage now. The undersides were given a mix of Tamiya x2 and xf19, roughly 2 to 1 ratio.

Then I post shaded with very thin xf19 around panel lines etc.

Next up was thinned x2 white. About 80-90 per cent thinner sprayed into the middle of panels.

I'd forgotten, of course, that the outer sections of the wings would be painted in the upper surface blue.

On to the upper surfaces and for this I am using Mr Color WWII U.S. NAVAL AIRCRAFT set. This set gives you three upper shades. I've used 367 FS35189 described as blue gray on the box.

Looks a bit washed out in the pic but it is a nice colour.

Sorted out my muppet mistake and painted the lower wings the same shade.

I used the same post shading idea. Here I've applied gloss sea blue from the same set into the panel lines.

I lightened the centre of the panels next with the base colour with some Tamiya white added. I'm using Mr surfacing thinner throughout.

Again, I've used a thin mix of the base colour in an attempt to blend the stark post shading.

I think I may have been heavy handed with the blending coat but I'll leave it overnight to see if it comes through.

Thanks for looking. More soon.

Post by **OliveDrab** » Mon May 23, 2016 1:47 am

She's growing up to be one big beautiful Corsair

Post by **pourquoi61** » Wed May 25, 2016 12:36 am

I do love the paint job Willem,watching with interest for ideas for my catfish.

Post by **Sturm** » Wed May 25, 2016 7:22 pm

Painted up nicely mate! Really love the two tone painting on Corsairs.

Post by **Icemannique** » Wed May 25, 2016 7:46 pm

Nice painting in that corsair ! Looks good so far !

Post by **demarcation** » Wed May 25, 2016 10:13 pm

Great work mate!!

Post by **Richp1969** » Sat May 28, 2016 12:51 am

Looks great so far mate.

Post by **Willem** » Sat May 28, 2016 1:20 am

Many thanks for the comments lads.

Bit of a mixed week on the Corsair so I'll get straight into it.

Airframe was given a couple of coats of aqua gloss.

The tooth picks are there to protect the lower surfaces while coating the topside.

Made a start on the decaling.

But I had real problems. Apart from the stars bubbling I was less than keen on the blue shade that looked, to me, a bit too light.

There was an awful lot of silvering on the stencils too. I used quite a lot of sol and even tried the x-20a trick but nothing was working on the stars. The next morning I decided to strip the lot off and start again. Bit of a shame as I really wanted to depict 'white 10' of VMF-213's Lt Wilbur Thomas. There is another VMF-213 machine on the same decal sheet but I didn't trust them. This led me to doing something totally out of character...........

I decided to use the kit decals

One of the options in the kit is 'white 20' of the same unit flown by Lt Foy "Poncho" Garison. More of Poncho in another update.

Surprisingly the Tamiya decals behaved very well.

I did use the nose art from the after market set as I thought the kit decal looked a bit too cartoonish.

Yes, I've managed to take a chunk out of the cooling flaps.

Decals settled down nicely with a dash of micro sol.

The airframe was given another gloss to seal in the decals.

The undercarriage parts were made up, primed, painted using Alclads and given an oil wash.

The model received clay washes, dark dirt on the upper surfaces and mud on the lower.

So I've learned a lesson this week; Aftermarket decals aren't always the best and Tamiya decals aren't always the worst. Quite handy to know as there is a Tamiya OOB build upcoming. In fact, apart from the masks, this is nearly OOB.

One last thing- the tail number decals wouldn't come off so they don't match.

I'm hoping I can live with that.

Thanks for looking in. One more update should see her done. Will have to be next week as I'm off for a long weekend and a few beers to help take my mind off those mis-matching tail numbers.

Post by **Lysus** » Sat May 28, 2016 1:36 am

Bummer about the decals, but the kit ones look great--you did a splendid job laying those down. It's stunning, man.

YouTube · Post by **NorthernModeller** » Sat May 28, 2016 1:37 am

Loving the progress on this soo far

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Sat May 28, 2016 2:17 am

Gheeze, she IS a big beautiful bird.
Have always loved the shape of the Corsair
You may not be happy with the decals, but your paint work is spot on
She is darn nice mate

Post by **mincemeat** » Sat May 28, 2016 3:15 am

Great paint work! I don't know if this will work now that you've sealed the decals in, but adding some microsol to soften them and tamiya tape will pick them right up. I'll be trying my hand at spraying the stars on....we'll see how that goes.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sat May 28, 2016 11:08 am

Beautiful paint job mate. The post shading looks really good and I love the way the washes have brought out the detail. I've got a birdcage in the stash and that's the colour scheme I'll be using. I'll be well chuffed if its anywhere near as good as your efforts.

Post by **Richp1969** » Sat May 28, 2016 11:21 am

Looks fantastic bud.

I really love the coloring.
Great work.

Sincerely,

Richard

Post by **Willem** » Thu Jun 02, 2016 3:01 am

Many thanks guys.

Getting close to wrapping this up, so a good time for a little bit of background.

"We landed on Guadalcanal 1 April and were to operate from 'Fighter Strip No 1', which was to one side of Henderson Field. When we relieved VMF-124 we took over their aeroplanes, and although they were now old, their men were well acquainted with them and could keep them in a dependable condition for us. We had 14 of these veteran F4U-1s to use, and if we got eight of them off the ground at once, we were extremely lucky."

"VMF-213 had trained as one unit longer than the other fighter squadrons operating in the Solomons, and because of this we enjoyed the reputable distinction of sticking together in combat. The fact that we all got along so well added a great deal to our value as a squadron. The wingman, flying blind on his leader, must trust him implicitly when they fly a tight formation or when they are coming home at night through stormy weather. The leader is the only one flying on instruments, the only one that knows just where the next mountain is and just when the field will pop into view. The wingman must trust his leader more than he trusts himself. If he waivers in his decision to follow his leader into what seems to him to be a hopeless situation and goes off on his own, he will be lost sooner or later. At the very least he would be of no use to the squadron as a whole. By the same token, the leader must know what he is doing at all times, without exception."

Capt James N Cupp, VMF-213.

The subject of this build is 'white 20' flown by 1st Lt Foy "Poncho" Garison.

Garison on the wing of F4U-1 'No 20'. He shot down two Zeroes on 30th June 1943. "On 17th July Greg Weissenburger's division started back from a raid on Kahili. "Poncho was flying the No 4 position. A formation of Zeroes started tagging along out of range, but he could not resist the temptation. He peeled off and attacked them. Before anyone in the division knew he was gone, he was on his back in flames." James Cupp describes "Poncho's" demise.

"Poncho" is 7th from the left in the front row of this squadron photograph taken at the beginning of VMF-213's 2nd tour on Guadalcanal.

On with the build. After all the trouble that I'd had with the decals, I thought it perfectly sensible to attack them with a worn sanding stick to add a weather-beaten look.

First time I've done this. Partially successful. I really wanted to put in some exhaust stains so I masked up and sprayed some Tamiya smoke followed by Tamiya dark yellow well thinned.

I also painted the wheels and prop.

Decided to further weather the airframe with an oil dot filter.

I started on the underside of the wings first as I've never been happy with this technique. I think I got away with it this time.

I carried this through to the topside and added the prop and R/T mast.

The moment of truth; unmasking the canopy. Not too bad, a bit of cleaning up to do.

Really enjoyed this kit. Still need to do a little chipping and add the pitot and rig the R/T. Will post the reveal in the next few days.

Many thanks to all who have read my thread and to those of you that have taken the time to leave a comment. Much appreciated.

Post by **Lysus** » Thu Jun 02, 2016 3:18 am

Top notch, sir. Your weathering all looks awesome.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Thu Jun 02, 2016 4:24 am

Wow

Really pops to life when you get the canopy opened up and the pilot in view.
I would display this proudly as it is a top notch job

Great background story on the pilot......bit of a selfish dope to peel off and take on a formation all on his own, and paid for it with his life.