Tamiya 1/48 F4U Corsair

[Stokesy44]

Been on a bit of a Sci-Fi and armour trip for the last few months but I finally emerged from the dark side with this little beaut from Tamiya.



First up look is good. Individually wrapped sprues and the parts look clean and crisp - typical Tamiya




Added a resin seat from Ultracast (love their 1/48 seats with moulded straps - gorgeous) and some Montex masks for the cockpit glass and insignia. I fancy having a go at spraying the markings as I hope they will trump the kit decals for realism. Anyway, I dived in and this is what I managed to get done today.







Painted with Tamiya and Vallejo acrylics then glossed with Alclad 2 Aqua Gloss ready for washing and weathering. It looks like it just came out of the factory at the moment but that wont last!

[Avgas]

Pit looks tremendous. Did you hand paint all of that because it could easily be etch it looks that good.

[Stokesy44]

Pit looks tremendous. Did you hand paint all of that because it could easily be etch it looks that good.

Thanks Avgas. Its all painted. The instrument panel is a decal, the cockpit green was sprayed then over sprayed with yellow. Everything else was hand painted with acrylics. Seat was resin with a moulded harness. I love the seats Ultracast do for 1/48, so much nicer to work with than PE.

Applied a wash this evening and a little drybrushing to finish. Test fitted into the fuselage, should be nice and visible given the Corsair's 'generous' size.








Enjoyable build so far. Hope to put her together tomorrow.

[HIghAltitudeScale]

You're right about the seat it looks great. I'm going to have to try one of those myself. Good work mate.

[Smiffy]

That cockpit is superb

[Stokesy44]

You're right about the seat it looks great. I'm going to have to try one of those myself. Good work mate.

Thanks mate, if I ever got a job as a salesman it would be for Ultracast! People say you can only sell a product if you believe in it, well those seats are just ace. First thing I do when I buy a 1/48 kit is hit their site. The seats come in twos which is great when you're building up a collection.

That cockpit is superb

Cheers Smiffy. Its a real shake and bake kit, goes together beautifully.

[Stokesy44]

Got the fuselage and inboard wing sections buttoned up today. Small amount if sanding and filling but nothing dramatic.




The wing section sits UNDER the fuselage side at the join so there's no flat to flat join to worry about - beautiful. You get a perfect join for zero effort.



Tail on and engine test fitted



Wings will go on tomorrow then its priming time. Come on Ultimate delivery, don't let me down. I want my primer!!

[ollie]

what I have seen it sure looks great. Best wishes and have fun building the rest of it.

[aboynamedred]

Looks great so far! Good luck!

[Stokesy44]

Looks great so far! Good luck!

what I have seen it sure looks great. Best wishes and have fun building the rest of it.

Thanks Fellahs. My new primer arrived on Saturday (yeah baby) so things are moving forward. Before the primer though, I got the engine done. Vallejo Metal Colour gunmetal and a lightish wash to bring out the highlights.




Put the wings on so now she looks like an aeroplane and not a jigsaw puzzle



I think I got a good join, especially on the upper surfaces. Priming will show how good or bad it is. So, on with the canopy masks courtesy of Montex then it was time to fire up the compressor and off we go.






Ultimate's new primer is a real beauty, super smooth and good coverage. Well done Paul and Lee. Another nice bit of gear from the boys.

I was at the model show at Cosford this morning and I went hunting for Corsairs to study the paint schemes. The thing that comes across the most is whatever you do, DONT make the blue on the upper surfaces too dark! I saw some absolute beauties and the one thing they had in common was a subtlety to the upper surfaces paint work.

Pre-shade done this evening to help me get over the disappointment of the cricket





The real fun starts now. First on will be the underside white, then the blue - Lord help me there!!!!

[Stokesy44]

The flaps are now on. I had been undecided about whether to attach them prior to painting. I thought they would get in the way of the camo colours where the trailing edge meets the fuselage. Decided to attach them and work around the problem in the end.

Primed and pre-shaded



Had a bit of a mare when I tried to mask off the upper side of the flap where it meets the wing so I could spray the white colour without getting it on the flap. The masking tape pulled some of the primer off so I had to leave it off. Not impressed but that's what you get if you mask too soon after priming!

Following on from my earlier post I was desperate not to apply the paint too dark so I did some experimenting in my little paint pallet to get the intermediate and dark blue right. Ended up with mixes as follows:

For the intermediate blue - 2 parts Vallejo Pru Blue 71.109 to 1 part white
Dark blue - 2 parts Vallejo 71.087 Steel Blue to 1 part Vallejo 71.111 Mediterranean Blue







Just need a little clean up of the middle flap on both sides where the blue misted over from the outer flap



Happy with the result as I can still see the pre-shade coming through. That was what I was most afraid of - a horrible flat dark surface that I couldn't do anything with.


Next up glossing and decals.

[mincemeat]

I'm working on the Tamiya Birdcage Corsair (1/48), I've been contemplating the flap situation myself. I"ll be beating mine up a bit and will give a shot to painting the star insignias, a little more control over weathering in that case. Yours is looking real nice! Great job on the airbrushing! If you had to do over again, would you leave all the flaps off, or just the ones next to the fuselage, or do the same again?

[Stokesy44]

I'm working on the Tamiya Birdcage Corsair (1/48), I've been contemplating the flap situation myself. I"ll be beating mine up a bit and will give a shot to painting the star insignias, a little more control over weathering in that case. Yours is looking real nice! Great job on the airbrushing! If you had to do over again, would you leave all the flaps off, or just the ones next to the fuselage, or do the same again?

I think I would probably do the same again. Not just to say my decision was right in the first place, but for the following! Aligning the flaps was a PITA, particularly the middle one on each side so it was easier to do all 3 pieces on each wing. Secondly, because I was using a colour mix as opposed to straight out of the bottle, I didn't want to be painting bits separately. I was trying to lay down just enough colour to show the pre-shade and get a uniform level of opacity. I didn't trust myself to paint the flaps while they were off because I could almost guarantee they wouldn't match the wings!

I plan to do a lot of weathering myself and will be toning down the blue with various mists and washes. I just wanted it all to match before I went to town on it.

Good luck with the stars. I have a set of masks for them myself but I think I may chicken out. I'm now paranoid about pulling the paint off

[Stokesy44]

Another small update. Applied the decals today after glossing last night. They went down ok (mostly!) with a bit of micro set and sol.

After glossing again I applied a light mist to wash out the paint work a little. Using Middlestone (tan, I guess), mixed with while and lots of thinner, I sprayed the whole kit, applying more to the upper wing and tail surfaces and along the top of the engine. I was trying to bleach the surfaces a little and wash out the decals a bit too.

You can't really see it in the pictures but it is there. Next up is more glossing, then a Ultimate wash followed by chipping and more washing out of the colours.







This is new process for me, so its a case of learning as I go. I've never used the airbrush to spray layers onto the main coat for tone and bleaching so its a bit of an odyssey!

[AdamLuscombe]

Looks fantastic!! The pre shading shows through perfectly. Great Job!!

[Icemannique]

Looking great ! Nice painting !

[Stokesy44]

Thanks Guys

First time using Ultimate washes today. Went a bit crazy a few weeks back and bought their uber load of washes so I've been itching to use them since they arrived.

I applied the Dark Dirt then pottered around working on the under carriage for a bit before coming back and doing the wipe down. Gotta say its a fantastic product. it really sucks down into the panel lines while the surface stuff comes away as easily as you could want depending on how wet your cloth is. I wanted a fairly clean wipe as I have been trying to keep the overall colour scheme as light as possible.

Once the wash was done it was time for the chipping. I used Vallejo's metal Colours Dark Aluminium and Steel for the chipping. Using a tiny brush I went at the panel lines first then the upper wing surface for scuffing from where the mechanics and pilot would have been. I went as slow as I could and tried not to load the brush too much. Pretty much done now.










Prop, wheels and aerial then I'm done

[P51dplt]

Looks great! The weathering and chipping is spot on. Very nice work.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Oh dude, she is beautiful....well she WAS beautiful that is a gorgeous blue; spotless and perfect before the weathering of time and use.
I really like what you are doing here, gonna follow along

[AdamLuscombe]

The Ultimate washes have come out fantastic!

[Kevthemodeller]

Looking really good is that

[Stokesy44]

Thanks for all the kind comments Guys

I think I'm finished now. I could go for some more tonal work on the upper surfaces but like a racing driver who's about to have a crash, its not a case of running out of road, more like running out of talent!

If I do any more I could have a real mess on my hands!

Really enjoyed the kit, no vices, just a good 1/48 subject. Its my first try with tonal changes and paint mixes so its all been a good test of learning to use my airbrush.

So here she is, now with wheels and a whirly thing on the front!

Arty (farty?) closeups








Upside down




All done and dusted






Thanks for looking in. Next up is another Tamiya 1/48 job. Got a nice P51B for the Shiny Thing SIG, first go at a natural metal finish, should be a giggle.

Stokesy

[AdamLuscombe]

Fanatastic!! That looks great and you have succeeded in making me buy one!!

[JacobGarvelink]

Nice job, great inspiration. I wonder what would happen if you would have used Ultimate Sand of maybe even Sand mixed with Concrete to give the panel lines a light wash. I think I saw that somewhere recently - can't remember where - but it looked really nice. And since they were active a lot in the Pacific and when judging from the boxart there was quite some sand around... I am building this kit soon and I think I will give the light wash a go.

[Stokesy44]

Nice job, great inspiration. I wonder what would happen if you would have used Ultimate Sand of maybe even Sand mixed with Concrete to give the panel lines a light wash. I think I saw that somewhere recently - can't remember where - but it looked really nice. And since they were active a lot in the Pacific and when judging from the boxart there was quite some sand around... I am building this kit soon and I think I will give the light wash a go.

Thanks man, it certainly is a lovely kit to make. Its also a big SOB for 1/48. I stood it next to a 109 yesterday and man that thing is big!

As for the Ultimate wash, its an interesting point. Given I had used a dark pre-shade on the panel lines I think a sand / concrete mix in the lines and surface recesses might have looked a bit too 'on the nose' as they say. Too obvious possibly. I could have used it selectively, say underneath around the undercarriage but hey, who knows.

Its good to experiment and try stuff out though so good luck with your build. Hopefully you'll post a WIP when the time comes. I find it a challenge as I go to make sure I take pics and make regular postings. All part of the fun, onwards and upwards as they say.

[PrivateMansoor]

Great build Stokesy! Love the chipping effects, and that finish is as close to perfect as you can get. Really liked the underside as well. Very nicely done mate.

[Stokesy44]

Great build Stokesy! Love the chipping effects, and that finish is as close to perfect as you can get. Really liked the underside as well. Very nicely done mate.

Thanks mate, much appreciated!

[demarcation]

Superb work mate, chipping looks very realistic!!

[Willem]

Looks great, Stokesy. Really like the wear and tear you've added.

[jgaudon34]

Beautiful weathering job! I really like this one...

[Stokesy44]

Looks great, Stokesy. Really like the wear and tear you've added.

Superb work mate, chipping looks very realistic!!

Beautiful weathering job! I really like this one...

Thanks guys, much appreciated.