1/72 F4U-1D1 VF-84, of the USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) Feb 1945

[dirkpitt289]

F4U - 1D VF-84, USS Bunker Hill [CV-17]

History

During the remaining months of World War II Bunker Hill participated in the Iwo Jima operation and the 5th Fleet raids against Honshū and the Nansei Shoto (15 February–4 March); and the 5th and 3rd Fleet raids in support of the Okinawa operation. On 7 April 1945 Bunker Hill's planes took part in a Fast Carrier Task Force attack on a Japanese naval force in the East China Sea. The enemy battleship Yamato, one cruiser, and four destroyers were sunk during Operation Ten-Go.

At the head of this historic period was the Chance Vought F4U Corsair

The distinctive inverted gull wing was selected to minimize landing gear length while still providing proper clearance for the enormous propeller. The XF4U-1 first flew on May 29th, 1940 and immediately displayed exceptional performance. The Corsair became the first US fighter plane to exceed 400 MPH in level flight. When the Corsair was first introduced to combat in February 1943, it soon established an ascendancy over the Japanese planes then opposing it.

The Corsair served well through World War II and Korea. It served as a day fighter, night fighter and ground attack plane. The Corsair served with the French Aeronavale and other foreign Air Forces well into the 1960's.

The Model

I usually like to pick specific aircraft as my subjects such as the "Red 02" Mig 3 or Lt Stanley W Swede Vejtasa and his SBD Dauntless. In this case the image on the box just grabbed my attention.

Once I got home and opened the box I was sorely disappointed and pissed off. Then again what can you expect with an El-Cheap-O $7 model. I will be doing this as an OOB. I don't foresee any need for scratch building anything to drastic. Except for some excessive flash this kit is nicely detailed. Besides its just not worth the effort but I will be trying out some new weathering techniques.

 

[dirkpitt289]

Well I was able to get it all together, puttied, sanded and a fresh coat of Dark Sea Blue paint applied. It looks dark almost black in the photos but I think it looks great. I love the color

 

[109ROAMING]

looking real good! 8)

 

[dirkpitt289]

Now is the time for the fun stuff, the decals and weathering. This is where it all starts to come together.

I started by making some streaks across the fuselage and wings.

Then came the decals.

See ya soon

 

[109ROAMING]

Sweet!

 

[vikingBerserker]

Beautiful!

 

[Airframes]

Looking good.

 

[Heinz]

Doing well given the kit itself!

 

[A4K]

With Terry and Alex! (Let me know if you need an accurate prop!)

 

[Wayne Little]

8) ...coming along nicely!

 

[dirkpitt289]

Hi everyone,

Well its time to return to the 'El-Cheep-O" F4F Corsair. Last we left her she was freshly painted, decal-ed and looking kinda like an airplane. After the decals were applied I applied another coat of Future to seal them in and let it dry for 24 hours.

The next step s to start the weathering process and this will be done in stages. That glossy Deep Sea Blue finish was tough and resisted fading and chipping, but a carrier at sea durring war time was no showroom. In other words they got DIRTY.

To simulate dust, grime, and salt I mixed some white and yellow oil paints and thinned them down to the thinnest of thin mixtures.

I then applied the mixture to the panel lines. As you can see the first batch was still too thick. I had to thin it down even more. Once it was at the right consistency (almost transparent) it virtually wound wick down the panel lines with little effort.

I would suggest working in quadrants at a time. Wait for the paint to set and then wipe off the excess using a cotton swab and rubbing in the direction of airflow. Be careful though if the paint isn't dry enough you'll end up removing it all. Because some spots got messier then others I then went over the panels using a paper towel with a touch of thinner to clean up the mess and even things out.

Due to the oil paints needing more time to dry this took a lot longer to dry then I expected. I will do the underside tonight. This is the first time I've tried this technique and so far I like the look.

We went from plain...

to pretty kewl...

I'll be adding more affects once the paint is fully cured.

 

[Airframes]

I like it! Nice work Dirk.

 

[B-17engineer]

Awesome! Nice one!

 

[109ROAMING]

Nice work!

 

[dirkpitt289]

Ok, guys I did the underside of my "'El-Cheap-O" F4 Corsair. I applied the wash and let it sit for almost 2 hours before wiping it down. I got most of it but I'm going to let it dry some more before I go and polish the smears up. If I do it now it will wipe the panel lines clean too and that kind of defeats the purpose of the wash.

Again I'll let this cure real well and then we'll bring her back for the next round of wash and weathering.

Thanks for looking

 

[Wayne Little]

Not too shabby at all!

 

[lesofprimus]

Looks good Dirk, just remember not to get too heavy/carried away with it....

One thing I learned was that the paint faded pretty quickly over time due to the environment and sea water... I accomplished this fading by lighteneing up the blue somewhat and sparying it into the center of the panels and feathering it out to the panel lines.....

I know ur not using an airbrush, so what I would recommend is trying ur hand at some chalk pastel work, using a light blue stick perhaps and lightly brushing it on the center of the panels and fading it out to the panel line....

The reason I say this is that unless the Corsair was sittin on a dirt/coral runway, ur not really gonna get the kind of color in ur panel lines that u got right now... Some dirt and filth yea, but the majority is gonna be dark/oilish in apprearance, not light..

Also, the areas on the wings under the star and bars was fabric and I think the wash u have there is gonna be too heavy, not much build up there as opposed to the metal panel lines...

 

[dirkpitt289]

Looks good Dirk, just remember not to get too heavy/carried away with it....

One thing I learned was that the paint faded pretty quickly over time due to the environment and sea water... I accomplished this fading by lighteneing up the blue somewhat and sparying it into the center of the panels and feathering it out to the panel lines.....

I know ur not using an airbrush, so what I would recommend is trying ur hand at some chalk pastel work, using a light blue stick perhaps and lightly brushing it on the center of the panels and fading it out to the panel line....

The reason I say this is that unless the Corsair was sittin on a dirt/coral runway, ur not really gonna get the kind of color in ur panel lines that u got right now... Some dirt and filth yea, but the majority is gonna be dark/oilish in apprearance, not light..

Also, the areas on the wings under the star and bars was fabric and I think the wash u have there is gonna be too heavy, not much build up there as opposed to the metal panel lines...

I hear what you're saying. This is my first attempt at weathering a model and that's why I choose this 'el-cheap-o model. If it works it works, if not no big deal. I got the technique from someone who built a Carrier based Helldiver with the same paint scheme. I'm just going to play it out and see what happens.

Thanks for the input.

 

[DBII]

nice looking bird Dirk.

DBII

 

[dirkpitt289]

nice looking bird Dirk.

DBII

Thanks DB

Have you posted any photos of your latest build yet or you still teasing us?