Chance Vought F4U-1 Birdcage Corsair

[Hotntot]

Many thanks for the offer A4K. I ended up buying an Eduard photo etch kit when getting some other bits and pieces. I've painted it up and put it in place. Thankfully it went in quite easily and I didn't loose the smaller right hand section down in the fuselage either which I feared might happen.

Here it is (couldn't get in any closer without knocking the tail with the tripod) with the gun sight and rear canopy sections now in place. I struggled to find good references for the gunsight installation so went on what I found so I hope it's correct.

The underside decals didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I used Frisket film and was pleased with the masking and everything looked okay after spraying so I had high hopes for a perfect result but they bled badly which I wasn't banking on. Then came a load of work remasking with Tamiya tape and respraying to tidy up. Not sure where I went wrong with the Frisket film - maybe I didn't burr it down well enough but it's a shame as it seemed such a good option.

Will show the results in the next post...

Next - some shading work on the rudder and elevators to reflect the fabric surfaces better. The elvators are done but I've just run out of paint for the rudder section though, as the Humbrol tin for the other colour dried up (very annoying Humbrol trait), so will finish it off as soon as the new tin arrives.

Next - onto finishing the canopy with some of the photoetched parts that came with the instrument panel.

 

[Catch22]

Excellent.

 

[A4K]

Great work mate!

F4U-1 cockpit pic... source: Squadron/Signal No.145: 'F4U Corsair in action'

 

[Hotntot]

Brilliant - thanks very much A4K. Just what I'd been looking for.

 

[woody]

Looking good.

 

[Wayne Little]

Doin' good job man!

 

[Hotntot]

Here are the results of the spraying for fabric effect on the tail section and it's come out pretty good.
.
.

.
.
.
.
The results of the painted insignia on the undersides after completing some tidying up. Still some touching up work needed here and there.
.
.
Starboard wing
.

.
.
Port wing
.

.
.
.
.
Some Pro Modellers wash was used for the panel lines.
.
.

.

.

.
.
.
.
Unfortunately, the 'kill' decal flew off whilst I was cleaning off the surface of small dust particles with the airbrush.
It looks like I need your aid here A4K if you're able to help. You wouldn't happen to have a spare kill decal in amongst any unused decals?
Any help here would be gratefully appreciated.
.
.

.
.
A bit flew off the serial as well - damn nuisance.
.
.

.
.
.
.
The panel lines look ok though.
.
.

.

.
.
.
.
The wheel wells and undercarraige bar the wheels themselves. Some work left to do on the underside panel lines but
I'm not sure how much more I can do without getting into an unnecessary pickle as more fiddling can sometimes make things worse.
.
.

.
.

.
.
Getting ever closer to finishing...still a few things to finish off before the final matt coat.
It'll feel good when that goes on.
.

 

[woody]

Looking good the insignias came out nice.

 

[Hotntot]

Thanks woody. My first go at spraying them on (on the underside) so plenty of room for improvement. The carrier film on the topside decals shows up a bit (read somewhere of a technique for getting the film edges to blend in more so will have to source that out again). Also, still need to replace the 'kill' decal but don't have a spare.

 

[Airframes]

Very nice work!
I might have some suitable 'kill' decals - what type and approximate size are they? Example plain red sun on white flag, 'rising' sun, etc ?
One thing to remember about 'Frisk' film, or the sheet version 'Friskette' - it was originally designed for graphic arts applications, and larger-scale air brush work, to provide a general mask which could be cut to shape and stuck down lightly. Very often, this means that it may not be suitable for precise line masking, as the low tack can allow 'bleed', as you discovered.
I've got it to work for such applications in the past, but probably more luck than skill, as i've also had the stuff blow right off the surface when the airbrush jet hits and edge!

 

[Hotntot]

Yup - the Frisk film seemed like a nice idea and I'd seen it mentioned in an old modelling book but it's just a little too 'low tack' to allow for enough burring of the edges. Oh well - worth a try and at least I know now. The decals are the rising sun type and obviously in 1/48 scale - as seen in photo 6 in post #11. Size wise they're small at 7mm x 3mm.
The underside hasn't come out as well as I'd hoped and probably looks slightly better in the photo than for real. I don't think I put enough gloss coat on it before doing the panel lines and I was afraid of overdoing it and clogging up the lines. But another coat was probably needed as cleaning up after the wash went on was tricky.

 

[Wayne Little]

must say you're doing a pretty darn good job so far!

 

[Airframes]

I'll see if I have any of those decals - if I have, I think they'll be a bit smaller than that though, and probably off an old Fujimi Corsair sheet.

 

[Hotntot]

Thanks for looking Terry. Sorry for the late reply but I've been a bit busy at the mo.

must say you're doing a pretty darn good job so far!

Thanks WL. Next stage is one or two more decals to go on and a matt coat.

 

[A4K]

It looks like I need your aid here A4K if you're able to help. You wouldn't happen to have a spare kill decal in amongst any unused decals?

Sorry just checking in now, but sure do mate! Drop us your address in a PM!

Lovely work so far too

 

[Hotntot]

Brilliant. Thanks very much A4K. Looks like you're saved a trawl through your stuff Terry.

 

[A4K]

If I know Terry, he will already be on the case! Just glad you'll get the decals you need though, no matter from whom.

 

[Hotntot]

This project has stalled somewhat but not gone away. Thanks to A4K I got some replacement kill decals which went straight on once I got them. Other things then took over in the big wide world and the sunny weather we're getting has taken me outside mostly so I've yet to find time to sort out one or two areas, finish it off and get some pics done. (Plus I've been trying to knock another build project I started some time back on the head as well).

 

[Lucky13]

Excellent work mate!

 

[waterman]

Nice to see this...I have the kit in my pile, but haven't opened it yet.

I love the look of the pilot with the plane. Colors look great. You've done a fine job with the paint!

I had an unfortunate experience w/frisket as well. Instead of using it to paint insignia's, I used it to mask over decals in order to save them...I botched my weathering and decided to repaint the base colors after the decals were already on. The low tackiness of frisket film never popped into my mind. Glad I read these comments.