DONE: F4U-1A of Lt. Bill Case of VMF-214, Group Build...

[Sweb]

Engine looks great. Yea, those cowl flaps are all wrong. They also had slipper plates between them (like the inboard and mid wing flaps) that eliminated the gaps when opened if I recall correctly.


http://www.aviation-history.com/vought/f4u-9b.jpg

 

[Airframes]

I think you've identified the problem Dan, when you mentioned the cowl flaps would overlap the fuselage if closed. I think perhaps the cowling is too short at the rear end. See if you can measure the cowling length, from the forward joint of the cowl flaps to the front of the cowling, and check against your scale plans. It only looks to be a couple of millimetres, but enough to be noticeable. If you can add an internal ring at the rear, under the cowl flaps, that should bring the flaps into line, and stop the cranckcase protruding. If this is not possible, then I'd suggest you leave it and accept it. Should be possible though. I'll include a piece of thin aluminium sheet (litho plate) which you can use to cut and form a narrow ring. If the cowling is extended, it won't affect the engine or exhausts, and would look right.

 

[lesofprimus]

Dan you have a clear piece means you have a solid piece?

No Kev, only the clear cowl came with the kit....

I'm no expert by any means, but they might not only articulate to a 45 degree angle, but also extend perhaps?

Im pretty sure they only toggled open and closed Matt, they did not articulate outwards upon opening....

They also had slipper plates between them

Yea I got that covered, this was just the dry fitting... I still have to spray the pieces and also work on the cowl flaps ring some, scratchbuild this, trim down that....

Terry, by looking at the pics I took and comparing it to scale drawings off the measurements I took, the cowl is the correct length, and the crankcase is protruding only about 1/2" scalewise, which I can deal with.... The damn cowl flaps scale out at 2" too long, so they definatly need to be trimmed down....

 

[Wayne Little]

Great work so far Dan....

 

[Airframes]

Gottcha Dan. Might be easier to make a whole new set of cowl flaps?

 

[lesofprimus]

I dunno Terry, Ill have to see what I can do with what I have first and go from there.... I believe I can alter the existing set to the acceptable level....

 

[Njaco]

Glad to see we finally nailed down the bullet colors after 5 pages! Whew!!

Looks great Dan!! For a second I thought those belts lined up were the real thing you were showing as examples!

 

[lesofprimus]

Thanks man, they came out pretty nice....

 

[lesofprimus]

Well, I tweaked and cut and sanded and tweaked, and I think I got the cowl flaps pretty damn close to the real thing, which were rectangular flaps with a triangle sized gap between each one....

 

[Catch22]

Yeah, that does look better Dan.

 

[lesofprimus]

Pic of the real thing....

 

[vikingBerserker]

Excellent! There is just something about the Jolly Rogers that makes your checks pucker.

 

[Wayne Little]

That pics @rse-about Dan?.....Good one just the same though!

 

[lesofprimus]

I flipped it to give the same kinda angle as my shot....

 

[Lucky13]

Jolly Rogers on your tail and you'll start sweating buckets.... VMF-214 on your tail, no time to sweat, you're already dead!

 

[marek]

Excellent!

 

[Micdrow]

Awsome job there Dan!!!!

 

[lesofprimus]

Appreciate it fellas....

 

[ccheese]

Dan: Are you ready for this ? I'm reading a book on Corsairs in the Pacific, and I have a picture [head neck]
of Lt. William Case. The caption reads, " Lt. William Case, one of the veterans, who contributed their experience in the
early days of The Black Sheep. Before joining Boyington's outfit Case served two tours in the Solomons with VMF-122.
He shot down his first enemy aircraft [identified somewhat vaguely as 'Nagoya type] on 17 July 1943 in the Kahili area.
With VMF-214 he added a further seven Zeros to his tally in September and October 1943, ranking third in the list of
Black Sheep aces".

This book has lots of pic's of the pilots of VMF-214, VMF-215, VMF-321 and others.

Maybe you better send me a PM ??? I had to share this with the folks who have been watching this thread.

Charles

 

[Catch22]

Cool Paul!