Tamiya 1/48 Vought F-4U-1A Corsair "Build Update #4"

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 12:25 am

Hello Guys,

Here is my next build; the Tamiya 1/48 Vought F4U-1A Corsair Kit #61070-2500.

The Box and artwork on the lid:

Shown on the two longest side panels are the two options of finishes that can be modelled;

Within the box are two large bags, each containing a single grey sprue, a smaller bag containing two grey sprues, another small bag containing the clear sprue and a tiny bag containing two rubber bushing for locating the propeller shaft into. There is a 12 page Instruction booklet that comes in black and white and contains 13 stages of assembly, the paint and decal guides and the Tamiya paint call outs. The assembly instructions are very clear and easy to understand and this kit offers the option to model the plane with the wings down, or, folded up. It also included the option to use either one single bomb or two different versions of drop/fuel tanks. The flaps are modelled in the downward position, the cockpit is very nicely detailed, including front and rear bulkheads, seat, instrument panel, foot pedals, joy-stick, side consoles, fire extinguisher, throttle levers, gun sight, other small details and a decal for seat belts is included. There are two Pilot figures included, one sitting and one standing on the wing leaning against the fuselage and a nicely detailed radial engine, too. There is also a sheet of Tamiya decals dated 2000, as is the date on the lid of the box. The parts are very cleanly molded with nice fine recessed panel lines and rivet details:

Sprue "A":

Sprue "B":

Sprue "C":

Sprue "E":

Clear Sprue "F":

Small Bag of Rubber Bushings:

Decals Sheet:

Instruction Booklet Page 1:

Pages 2 + 3:

Pages 4 + 5:

Page 6:

Pages 7 + 8:

Pages 9 + 10:

Pages 11 + 12:

So, now the introduction to this kit is out of the way, it's time to start the build!

Thanks in advance for taking a look, commenting and following this build thread along, should you choose to do so!

Cheers,

Martin

Post by **Nige201980** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 8:45 am

Looking forward to this one mate

Post by **Homerlovesbeer** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 12:42 pm

Awesome. I love the Corsair so I will be watching with interest

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 5:22 pm

Nige201980 wrote:Looking forward to this one mate

Thanks Nige....build Update #1 will be coming shortly

Have a great weekend!

Cheers,

Martin

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 5:23 pm

Homerlovesbeer wrote:Awesome. I love the Corsair so I will be watching with interest

Thanks Homer! I hope what I produce is pleasing to your eyes!

Have a great weekend!

Cheers,

Martin

Post by **rodrant** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 7:12 pm

Martin , seems a nice kit ! Good luck with it !

Like the standing figure on the wing ,now I must go and find one of this to my stash

, like the look of this kit !

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 11:21 pm

rodrant wrote:Martin , seems a nice kit ! Good luck with it !

Like the standing figure on the wing ,now I must go and find one of this to my stash , like the look of this kit !

Hello Antonio,

Thanks for your comment

Yes, go out and buy it, it's another cool Tamiya kit!!

Cheers,

Martin

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sun Feb 22, 2015 3:01 am

Hello Guys,

This is my "Build Update #1" report for the Tamiya 1/48 Vought F4U-1A Corsair:

As always, I started off by washing the sprues:

Next, it was time to prepare the parts for a Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black base coat:

After the flat black base coat had dried, I then airbrushed a US Interior Green by Model Master onto the parts that required that color:

I then applied a misting of "Yellow Zinc Chromate" over the Interior Green on all the parts except the cockpit area:

I then started on detailing the cockpit area, including the inside walls of the fuselage halves:

Next, I assembled the front and rear halves of the cockpit tub:

I then applied silver to emulate wear and tear and paint chipping:

Next, it was time to assemble the central fuselage wing sections together:

Next, I inserted the air intakes into the leading edges of the wings:

I then detailed the radial engine and assembled it together:

Now, it was time to assemble the outer wing upper and lower sections, along with the 6 sets of upper and lower flap halves:

I then painted the wheels, the axle struts etc:

The progress so far:

Well, that's it for now, and unfortunately, we have family from Asheville, North Carolina, staying with us so I will not be able to get back onto her until during next week.

If you'd like to see my YouTube Channel "Build Update #1" video, here is the link:

[youtube]J2qb2gHB30g[/youtube]

Thanks in advance for watching and commenting, much appreciated!

Cheers,

Martin

Post by **planemaker** » Sun Feb 22, 2015 5:42 pm

Great work, Martin.

The cockpit is superbly painted. Looks like a really nice kit, so enjoy building it!

Post by **shortCummins** » Sun Feb 22, 2015 6:56 pm

Hi Martin

did you use the decals for the IP or did you dry brush them?, looks really good mate

Post by **Nige201980** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 5:25 pm

Looks great so far martin I have the academy one that I'll be building for an ISM GB so looking forward to the next update.

Post by **Goose** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 7:14 pm

Love it mate!

you re a source of inspiration!

Looking forward for the rest of it.

see u

Goose

Post by **kikque** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 7:28 pm

Well done for doing such a great job on the cockpit Martin

I liked seeing how you airbrushed the various layers of paint to the sprues (I don't have an airbrush yet), it really looks great. I'll look forward to seeing how it all comes together

Regards, Kikque.

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 2:19 am

planemaker wrote:Great work, Martin. The cockpit is superbly painted. Looks like a really nice kit, so enjoy building it!

Thanks, Sebastien!

It is a great kid, and so far, I have really enjoyed it. I haven't done anything on it for 9 days, my wife and I both got the Flu and just started feeing better this weekend, Hoping to get back onto her this coming week!

Cheers

Martin

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 2:21 am

shortCummins wrote:Hi Martin

did you use the decals for the IP or did you dry brush them?, looks really good mate

Thanks mate....I dry brushed the Instrument Panel...no decals.

Cheers

Martin

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 2:23 am

Nige201980 wrote:Looks great so far martin I have the academy one that I'll be building for an ISM GB so looking forward to the next update.

Thanks Nige

I'll look out for your Academy version when you start her!

Cheers

Martin

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 2:24 am

Goose wrote:Love it mate!

you re a source of inspiration!

Looking forward for the rest of it.

see u

Goose

Thanks for your kind compliment, Goose, greatly appreciated mate!

Cheers,

Martin

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 2:25 am

kikque wrote:Well done for doing such a great job on the cockpit Martin I liked seeing how you airbrushed the various layers of paint to the sprues (I don't have an airbrush yet), it really looks great. I'll look forward to seeing how it all comes together

Regards, Kikque.

Thanks for your comment Kikque, much appreciated!

Cheers,

Martin

Post by **chief5437** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 10:12 pm

Looks like a great kit! Your work so far is outstanding, cockpit looks great

Post by **AndreFerro** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 12:24 pm

As a newbie here in that forum, I´d like to congratulate you for this excelent building so far.
Following it with particular interest, since I have two Corsair Academy kits, but the F4-U4 version (with four-blade prop) and intend to build one American (Navy) and other Argentinean (waiting for decals to arrive)!

Cheers!
Andre

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Wed Mar 04, 2015 4:56 am

chief5437 wrote:Looks like a great kit! Your work so far is outstanding, cockpit looks great

Thanks, Chief!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Wed Mar 04, 2015 4:57 am

rubegoldberg wrote:i'm glad you're feeling better. i was wondering where you disappeared to.

Cheers mate! Yes, feeling much better today (Tuesday) than I did last Monday morning!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Wed Mar 04, 2015 4:58 am

AndreFerro wrote:As a newbie here in that forum, I´d like to congratulate you for this excelent building so far.
Following it with particular interest, since I have two Corsair Academy kits, but the F4-U4 version (with four-blade prop) and intend to build one American (Navy) and other Argentinean (waiting for decals to arrive)!

Cheers!
Andre

Thanks Andre

I look forward to seeing your builds of this magnificent bird, the Corsair!

Cheers,

Martin

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Wed Mar 04, 2015 2:03 pm

Tamiya 1/48 Vought F-4U-1A Corsair "Build Update #2"

Hello Guys,

Here is my "Build Update #2" for the Tamiya 1/48 Vought F4U-1A Corsair that I am presently building;

First, I glued the front and rear cockpit tub halves together;

I then glued the assembled cockpit tub into the starboard fuselage half;

I then glued the two fuselage halves together and taped them until the glue had set;

It was now time to glue the fuselage assembly to the central wing assembly;

I then glued the engine assembly and cowling to the front of the plane and glued the horizontal stabilizers into their location;

Next was to glue the rear cockpit fuselage halves into their locations:

After completing that, it was time to assemble the outer wings. I started by fitting the inner wing frame and extending brace into the end of the Portside central wing section:

I then glued the Portside wing end onto the center wing section:

I then repeated this process for the Starboard side:

Everything fitted together well and not one bit of filler was required during any of the assembly processes! Next, I lightly smoothed all the joints down with a fine sanding stick and then cleaned the plane with alcohol. I then masked the engine, wheel wells, air vents and cockpit in readiness for airbrushing primer onto the plane and the sub-assemblies;

I then airbrushed Model Masters Grey Primer onto the prepared plane and sub-assemblies;

When the primer was dry, everywhere looked good and no seam lines were visible. So, it was onto the next step, which was to airbrush silver all over the plane and sub-assemblies. I used Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver:

When the silver was dry, everything looked good to move on to the next step; to randomly airbrush a mix of Zinc Chromate Yellow with a small drop of Zinc Chromate Green onto the air-frame and sub-assemblies. I wanted to do this, because this build is an experiment for me to try out the hairspray chipping method. These planes were primed using a yellow zinc chromate paint before the top coat camouflage colors were painted onto them, and therefore, photos of used and worn aircraft will show both the yellow and the natural metal showing through, which is the effect I'm trying to achieve with this exercise;

When the yellow was dry, I then pre-shaded the panel lines using a very thinned down solution of Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black with 70% Isopropyl Alcohol;

After the pre-shading was dry, I then sealed everything with a Model Masters gloss clear coat;

Well, that's as far as I have gotten with this build; it could have gotten further, because my last update #1 was over a week ago, but unfortunately, my wife and I became victims to this years Flu virus and we just started feeling better a couple of days ago.

My next step will be to airbrush a coat of Hairspray over these painted and sealed parts and then airbrush the three camouflage colors onto the plane. I will then attempt to reactivate the hairspray beneath the paint using water applied by a brush so that it causes the paint above it to peal and expose the silver and yellow paint beneath.

If you'd like to see my "Build Update #2" YouTube video for this update, here is the link;

[youtube]SrGL7Lkya0Y[/youtube]

Until my next build update, thanks for taking a look, following this build thread and commenting, it's greatly appreciated!

Cheers

Martin

Post by **shortCummins** » Wed Mar 04, 2015 3:44 pm

I'm really interested to see how this turns out

looking good so far

rgds
John (shortCummins)

Post by **patrickroos** » Wed Mar 04, 2015 8:05 pm

Looking really good so far, love the cockpit!!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:39 pm

shortCummins wrote:I'm really interested to see how this turns out

looking good so far

rgds
John (shortCummins)

Thanks, John

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:39 pm

patrickroos wrote:Looking really good so far, love the cockpit!!

Thanks, Patrick

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:26 am

Tamiya 1/48 Vought F-4U-1A Corsair "Build Update #3"

Hello Guys,

Here is my "Build Update #3" for the Tamiya 1/48 Vought F4U-1A Corsair that I am presently building;

Previously the plane was painted silver all over, then Yellow Zinc Chromate was randomly airbrushed over the exterior surfaces, followed by pre-shading the panel lines black. Everything was given a gloss clear coat to seal it all in. The next thing to do was to apply a few thin coats of Hairspray. I therefore decanted some into my airbrush cup and applied a few thin coats to all the exterior surfaces. The idea behind doing this, is that when the camouflage colors have been airbrushed on top, the application of water will reactivate the hairspray beneath the paint causing it to peel/chip;

When the hairspray had dried, it was time to begin painting the outer camo colors, starting with the underside "Intermediate White". For this, I used Tamiya XF-2 Flat White with a few drops of XF-55 Deck Tan to tone down the stark bright white;

When the white was dry, I masked over it in readiness to airbrush the "Intermediate Blue". For this, I used Tamiya XF-18 Medium Blue toned down with a few drops of XF-2 Flat White;

I then removed the masking tape to see how it turned out:

When the "Intermediate Blue" was dry, it was time to airbrush the final color- the "Sea Blue". For this, I mixed Tamiya XF-50 Field Blue with XF-18 Medium Blue at a 50/50 ratio and toned it down with a few drops of XF-2 Flat White;

While that was drying, I airbrushed the Propeller using Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black toned down with XF-66 Light Grey;

I then removed the masking tape from the plane to check out how the plane was looking with all 3 colors now applied, and, I temporarily located the propeller for effect;

Next, I masked the upper wings to airbrush the Anti-Slip black walkways. Again, I used Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black toned down with XF-66 Light Grey;

The wheel bay doors and drop tank were also airbrushed with the "Intermediate White" on the outer surfaces, the bomb was airbrushed XF-58 Olive Green and both the seated Pilot and standing Pilot were painted with their base colors;

Well, that's as far as I have got with this project, the next step will be to attempt the paint chipping by the application of water to reactivate the hairspray beneath the paint. I'm a little anxious about this, as it is my first time attempting this technique. But, if you don't try, you'll never know! After the paint chipping is done, I will seal everything with another gloss clear coat, then apply the decals and do another build update.

In the meantime, if you'd like to watch my YouTube "Build Update #3" video, here is the link:

[youtube]ctKetuC8rOo[/youtube]

Thanks in advance for following this thread, watching the video and for commenting, always appreciated!

Cheers

Martin

Post by **heel** » Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:38 am

Following this one, Martin. It's looking super.

Post by **shortCummins** » Sat Mar 07, 2015 4:56 am

looking really good, the fading on the blue(s) really works

rgds
John (shortCummins)

Post by **Nige201980** » Sat Mar 07, 2015 11:28 am

Beautiful work Martin.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Sat Mar 07, 2015 4:01 pm

Your painting skills are shining brightly on this build....from interior detail to pilots and especially the fuselage.
Really top notch work IMHO

Post by **Hillbilly** » Sat Mar 07, 2015 4:29 pm

Stunning paint-work Martin

The pre-shading and your color coats are beautiful

Post by **elscorpio** » Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:31 am

Beautiful paint job !

Great work. I have a Corsair on my stash, and this is going to be one of my references to build it.

Post by **patrickroos** » Mon Mar 09, 2015 7:07 pm

Great paintwork!
I Think You hit the level of "bleaching" spot on.

Post by **Puj** » Mon Mar 09, 2015 8:41 pm

Stunning stuff

Post by **AndreFerro** » Wed Mar 11, 2015 5:53 am

WOW!! Quite a progress in just one week!! It look so Nice!!
Also anxious here for the chipping, after the hairspray technique!!

Post by **Jamesday1998** » Wed Mar 11, 2015 7:21 pm

amazing work on the painting mate!

i know that on your past builds some of the pre shading has not shown through but this is spot on!
i will be eagerly anticipating this reveal!

kutgw

**Felis Barcinonensis YouTube Channel** · Post by **felisbarcinonensis** » Wed Mar 11, 2015 10:31 pm

That's pure art mate! Such wonderful colours and subtle hues!

Post by **chief5437** » Wed Mar 11, 2015 11:46 pm

Great progress mate, love the paint work. Looking forward to the chipping. I've only used the hairspray technique once before, looks great. I did mine quite quickly after spraying though, I hope it hasn't dried too much!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:46 am

heel wrote:Following this one, Martin. It's looking super.

Thanks, mate!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:47 am

shortCummins wrote:looking really good, the fading on the blue(s) really works

rgds
John (shortCummins)

Thanks, John

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:47 am

Nige201980 wrote:Beautiful work Martin.

Thanks, Nige!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:48 am

Twokidsnosleep wrote:Your painting skills are shining brightly on this build....from interior detail to pilots and especially the fuselage.
Really top notch work IMHO

Thanks Scott, much appreciated!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:48 am

Hillbilly wrote:Stunning paint-work Martin The pre-shading and your color coats are beautiful

Thanks Steve, greatly appreciated!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:49 am

elscorpio wrote:Beautiful paint job !

Great work. I have a Corsair on my stash, and this is going to be one of my references to build it.

Thanks for the kind compliment, much appreciated!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:50 am

patrickroos wrote:Great paintwork!
I Think You hit the level of "bleaching" spot on.

Thanks, mate!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:50 am

Puj wrote:Stunning stuff

Thanks Puj, much appreciated!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:51 am

AndreFerro wrote:WOW!! Quite a progress in just one week!! It look so Nice!!
Also anxious here for the chipping, after the hairspray technique!!

Thanks Andre, much appreciated!