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1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sat May 14, 2022 9:07 pm
by KungFuDrew
Hey folks, welcome to my build thread for this GB :welcome:

I've been waiting on this GB. TBH I was hoping that this would be the first GB this year because I've been dying to build this kit.
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Lots of lovely plastic. I can't add anything that hasn't been said about this kit, the moulds look great.
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What I want to know is how the hell they managed to cast the canopy without a seam line???
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To add to the kit, I've got some fabric belts and decals. I've also got some resin wheels on the way to replace the vinyl ones supplied with the kit.
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On with the build! Surprise surprise, we start with the cockpit. Construction didn't take long here, the only thing I altered was the headrest. I textured it slightly with a Dremel, as this was leather and wouldn't be as smooth as the kit part. Nothing extreme, just enough to give it a bit of lumpiness
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Then it could get a lick of paint. I recently started using MRP paints and can't sing their praises high enough.
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And that's where I'll leave it now. I've actually made much more progress but I don't want this to become a monster of a post. I started this as soon as I was able, and the Tamiya fit has let me fly through this in the last couple of weeks. See you soon!

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sat May 14, 2022 11:02 pm
by aur0ra145
That's a really detailed cockpit, looks like it's coming together well!

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sun May 15, 2022 1:17 am
by digger303
Wow nice gear.
:th: :th: :th:
:cheers2:

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sun May 15, 2022 7:05 am
by Stokesy44
I saw a review of the kit where the guy described it as the best engineered kit he had EVER seen.

That paint has gone down beautifully

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Mon May 16, 2022 4:31 am
by Twokidsnosleep
Oh great choice of kits!!!
:banana: :banana: :banana:
Really looking forward to seeing this build progress
:pop:

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Mon May 16, 2022 10:18 am
by Gary30
Lovely start! I have the 1/48 scale version of this in my stash, it's the only flying thing in my entire stash, so that tells you how much I love this aircraft.

Keep the updates coming :pop:

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Wed May 18, 2022 3:05 pm
by Tomcat64
Same as Gary I have the 1/48 version in the stash and really interested to see how the 1/32 version comes together :pop:

The cockpit looks great so far :th:

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Thu May 19, 2022 7:01 pm
by Garion77
That's really a nice start ! Really awesome details ! Is it a recent kit ? But tamiya is always the best !

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sat May 21, 2022 9:58 am
by KungFuDrew
Stokesy44 wrote: Sun May 15, 2022 7:05 am I saw a review of the kit where the guy described it as the best engineered kit he had EVER seen.

That paint has gone down beautifully
Gary30 wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 10:18 am Lovely start! I have the 1/48 scale version of this in my stash, it's the only flying thing in my entire stash, so that tells you how much I love this aircraft.

Keep the updates coming :pop:
Tomcat64 wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 3:05 pm Same as Gary I have the 1/48 version in the stash and really interested to see how the 1/32 version comes together :pop:

The cockpit looks great so far :th:
Well the 1/32 kit is literally falling together. Everything so far just fits properly and feels right if you know what I mean.
Garion77 wrote: Thu May 19, 2022 7:01 pm That's really a nice start ! Really awesome details ! Is it a recent kit ? But tamiya is always the best !
The kit is 2013 vintage, with some 2017 sprues to make this a -1D. TBH you could have told me the kit was released yesterday and I'd have believed you.

With the pit painted, I wanted to give it some wear and tear, and added some chipping with a sponge to give it some life.

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I then applied a dark brown wash to the details. I've painted the headrest as well, this was my first attempt at a worn leather look. I'm 50/50 on it, not bad for a first try, but could do better!
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Then onto the front panel. This is usual for the 1/32 Tamiya kits, the dials are a clear part with a decal applied behind it.
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I could then add the fabric belts to the seat, and then assemble the pit.
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The good thing about this being a 1/32 kit is that this work won't all disappear once the fuselage halves are joined up. Speaking of which, they were next. The halves got all the same steps as the pit.
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Then it was a big milestone, the fuselage could get joined together! I'll need to use as tiny bit of filler, just to smoothen out the join, but apart from that it's been perfect so far.
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That's where I'm at now. I've started work on the engine, which, surprise surprise is going together great, but it'll take a lot of painting and masking to make it pop. See you guys soon!

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sat May 21, 2022 10:21 am
by digger303
Marvelous crafting
:clap: :clap: :clap:
:cheers2:

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sat May 21, 2022 12:58 pm
by Stokesy44
The pit looks beautiful. That's real art, right there

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2022 12:42 pm
by KungFuDrew
digger303 wrote: Sat May 21, 2022 10:21 am Marvelous crafting
:clap: :clap: :clap:
:cheers2:
Stokesy44 wrote: Sat May 21, 2022 12:58 pm The pit looks beautiful. That's real art, right there
Too kind!

Time for an update methinks. The next stage is the engine. Here it's a toss up between detail/what you can actually see. I'm going to be covering up the engine anyway, so I didn't want to spend time on something that was never going to be seen. However, you can still see decent portions of the engine from the front. I'm happy with how it turned out. First was constructing the individual parts, no dramas here.
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Then on with paint. I didn't have the exact match for the housing, I've mixed my own and from reference photos it looks pretty accurate.
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Then it could get some grime and then assembled. I didn't do too much here, just a wash and drybrush. The first photo is a before/after wash.
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Then it could be mounted to the fuselage, the fit here was a bit iffy to my surprise. Nothing a bit of careful gluing couldn't solve though, and I deviated from the instructions here. I constructed the entire engine housing and mounted it to the fuselage, instead of installing the covers later. This helped ensure a tight fit and kept the gaps to a minimum. I've installed the cowl flaps in the open position to maximise what can be seen, and painted part of the fuselage just to make painting easier later on.
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And that's it for now! Up next is those iconic inverted gull wings.

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2022 1:29 pm
by digger303
The wing fit is always a pinnacle moment in my mind. Will it fit nice or not, but hey it's Tamiya it's going to be fine.
:cheers2:

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2022 4:29 pm
by aur0ra145
That motor looks good!

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2022 10:20 pm
by Stokesy44
digger303 wrote: Fri Jun 03, 2022 1:29 pm The wing fit is always a pinnacle moment in my mind. Will it fit nice or not, but hey it's Tamiya it's going to be fine.
:cheers2:
My money's on them fitting.

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 6:39 pm
by WordenB
Beautiful work Andrew,, very impressive!

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 3:54 am
by BigWall
Very nice! The blue and silver of the engines looks great together.

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 4:02 am
by Twokidsnosleep
Show to cover that with the cowling
Excellent :thumb2:

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 1:36 pm
by Garion77
Nice progress ! And because of you it's now a kit on my wish list ! Excellent paint job on the interior ! Really smooth. Still have to learn that.

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 11:37 am
by Tomcat64
Absolutely stunning work on the engine :clap: :clap: :clap:

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2022 12:15 pm
by KungFuDrew
Thanks folks! Time for a much overdue update. I took a break from the kit for a few weeks, to build something with tracks and mud. But now we're back to full progress on the Corsair.

So the wings come in two main parts, the inner wing with the underside of the fuselage, and two outer wings. This allows you to build the kit wings out or wings stowed. I'll be building mine with the wings out. First up is to paint the interior green parts
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And then it could be stuck together, the green bits got the same treatment as the cockpit, although I still have to do some work on the wheel wells, but this can wait until I'm at the painting stage.
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Then came time to stick the wings to the fuselage. The fit along the wing roots was great, and there was a minor gap at the bottom of the fuselage. 5 minutes with some superglue and some sanding sticks and that was sorted!
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Then on to the outer wings. These were very simple to assemble, and gave me no problems.
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However, when the time came to add them to the plane they threw up my first problem with the kit. When mounting them the fit wasn't the best, and I basically had a choice between a large step or a gap where they met the wing root. I think I assembled everything correctly, but given how well the rest of the kit is engineered I'm assuming builders error. Anyway, I busted out the sprue goo and set to work filling, sanding, re-scribing and riveting the join.
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A pretty good repair job if I do say so myself! (I wish I'd taken better pictures) After that it was back to business as usual, and the kit pretty much fell together. The landing gear was assembled, and I've left it off for easy painting. I replaced the vinyl tyres with resin ones, the kit tyres have a seam round the diamond pattern that was impossible to remove.
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Then the glazed parts could be added. The fabric seat belts I ordered came with masks as well, I used these instead of the kit ones as these were pre cut.
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As you can see I've got the engine masked off as well, as that's construction finished! Up next it's time for paint! See you soon!

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2022 12:55 pm
by digger303
Hmm the outer wing.....damn I don't like the sound of that. I haven't mastered re riveting or a lot of other things.. :lol:
You seam to have it in hand though, taking it in your stride.
:th: :th: :th:
:cheers2:

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2022 6:22 pm
by aur0ra145
Good to see you're still making progress!

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2022 7:36 pm
by Stokesy44
Looks beautiful and ready for her make up!

Re: 1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2022 8:05 am
by Tomcat64
Awesome progress & great work on sorting out that wing join :th: