Tamiya 1:32 Corsair F4U-1A Build

[Builder 2010]

I just did a search and did find another fellow (Cory) who posted building this Tamiya kit, although he chose a different prototype. Is there any interest to see another go? If so, I will continue and give you my usual detailed, nit-picky, on-going journal. If not, no harm no foul.

 

[Crimea_River]

Please do. Will watch with interest.

 

[fubar57]

Build away

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Is it done yet ...................

 

[Builder 2010]

Okay! Build it is!
First of all, I'd like to share a bit about a source book I've had for about 15 years. I was going to built a TopFlite F4U radio controlled bird for a friend and bought this book as reference for it. That project didn't happen and I gave the kit back to him. But, I intended on building a Corsair eventually. The book by Fredrick Johnson and illustrate by Rikyu Watanabe covers the entire F4U run, but the best part is the absolutely gorgeous illustrations, including nice details of the complex wing-fold area. I have to display the model with folded wings since my display area represents more of a hangar deck than the flight deck.

Here's an example of the wing fold details.

And here are the call-outs identifying what you see. I especially like details of the hydraulic and other piping that I will model like I did with the TBM.

This plane is a 1943 version and therefore will be the three-tone Navy, Medium blues and white scheme which will show off the piping a little better than the all dark sea blue scheme on the TBM. It's really hard to pick out all those beautiful pipes I put on the Avenger. Lastly, it has a very nice drawing of the cockpit clearly showing all the details and coloration. Like… who knew that those pads on the top of the instrument panel and gun sight projector were brown leather?

One thing that the Tamiya kit does not include is the details in the utilities compartment behind the firewall. The book shows the air flows from the wing intakes, through the intercoolers, and then onto the supercharger. The model has beautiful wing inlets, but not all the rear-engine details. This is something Trumpeter usually does which enabled me to open up the panels on the TBM and showing it all off. SWS also includes lots of hidden details. I just completed this model…

This was a scratch-built project combining the exterior (modified) from plans in a 1957 Model Railroader magazine that I kept around for almost 60 years. I liked the American 1890s Victorian-style architecture, and then wanted to add a 3D replica of Edward Hopper's American Masterpiece, "Nighthawks" which resides in the Art Institute of Chicago. Hopper's painting, being Impressionist, warped several things in the image including the shape of the bar, which I normalized in doing my rendition.

This vignette will go back onto the train layout after I finish repairing the street damage which will be done in a few days. And then I'll start the Corsair.

 

[fubar57]

 

[Wurger]

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far!

 

[Builder 2010]

Went to hobby shop and picked up some Tamiya bottle colors for the paint job. I am partial to Tamiya for lots of reasons, none the which is familiarity using it since the 70s. I bought Intermediate Blue for the mid areas and Royal Blue for the Navy Blue parts. Tamiya makes a Navy Blue in spray, but not in bottle. What Navy Blue looks like to me is a mixture of Tamiya Royal Blue and their Field Blue. I have a little bit of Life Color's Navy Blue that was used for the Essex project. Life Color makes the Navy, but I couldn't find a good intermediate blue. So it might be a mix to do the job. Based on the recommendation by Marty Schwanbau, the head of the shop's terrific plastics department, suggested using Tamiya Retarder to keep it wetter on large spray jobs and prevent striations between passes. So I bought that too. You can't get that from buying stuff on line.

 

[fubar57]

I am slowly replacing some Tamiya colours with Vallejo Model Air to avoid mixing. Some of the older colours were a bit sketchy to say the least and its hard to tell if its old stock or not when buying online. This chart is from their U.S. Navy paint set. Note the comment in the bottom right corner, they aren't kidding when it comes to naming paints

 

[Builder 2010]

That's a good chart! Thanks!

 

[Wurger]

 

[SANCER]

It will be an interesting project to follow, if the result is half of the formidable buildings you made for the train diorama ... wow, just wow!
We will be waiting ...

P.D. Great info Geo

 

[Luftace43]

I am looking forward to this one getting underway. Keeping an eye on this.

 

[Builder 2010]

I spend a lot of time picking up and putting down the wrong sprues especially when building a model with as many parts as the Corsair. I know that Hobby Zone makes a commercial Sprue Rack, but I had enough scrap ply and Masonite floating around the shop that I decided to build my own. I measured the smallest sprues in the kit and based the dimensions on something a little bigger, but not too big so small sprues wouldn't get lost.

I settled on 4" X 6" for the separators. I cut it all out using a saber saw and chop saw and then cleaned up the edges with my 1" belt sander. I held it all together with Aleen's Tacky Glue and some thick CA since I am basically impatient.

I started it yesterday and finished it today. Of course I only cut 15 pieces (that's all I could get out of the piece of awfully warped plywood) and upon attempting to load the Corsairs sprues I find that their numbers go to the letter "T" and I ended at letter "M". I'll make due. Most models don't have that many sprues. If I have to I'll build an extension. After marking the alpha locations, I loaded it up.

And with that, work officially commenced on the Corsair build.

I've watched some videos about this build and notice that folks like to assemble all the little bits and then airbrush the assembly. Then they go back and do all the detail painting with a brush. I decided to go that route. I already lost one part to the Quantum Rift continuing to uphold my theory that small parts do actually leave this dimension and occassionally grace us with their return (but mostly not).

All of the levers and trim tab wheels are separate parts. I'm not sure why, but Tamiya has two of the wheels in clear parts with their based called out as semi-gloss black. I looked at my color rendition and it shows these wheels to be entirely black. But to entertain Tamiya, I liquid masked the clear rotary knob and will paint the bases.

Tamiya calls for their interior green to be a 2:1 mix of Flat Yellow and Flat Green, but I already had some nice zine chromate green from PolyS that I'm going to use. I did want certain parts to show a little wear so I preparinted them silver and used liquid mask that will be removed exposing "bare metal" after the interior green goes down.

I had a little scare. I started assembling the main instrument panel by gluing the clear gauge lens piece to the back of the gray frontal piece, only to see that the instrument decal had a different gauge configuration. What the...? Upon closer inspection of the instructions I see that there is another sprue "T" that has a different instrument facing with the correct gauge design. So where is the clear part? It's on Sprue "Q". "Where the heck is sprue "Q"? I didn't remember seeing another clear sprue. I searched and searched and then called my LHS to find out how to get missing parts. I was instructed to contact Tamiya USA. I did so and was about to take a picture of my sales receipt as instructed to send off an eMail request, when I noticed the other lens piece on the same fret as the first one that I cut out. Oh... sprue "P" and "Q" and on the same tree. The model obviously has parts for several different iterations of Corsairs. I'd better keep my eyes open going forward. In the above image you see both configurations.

I put the decal behind the right one.

The images are brilliant and in perfect register. My plan is too cover the gauge faces with liquid mask and then airbrush the semi-gloss black. Since I had another gauge cluster I decided to see how this scheme works, so I made a test. There's no decal image behind it, but it does work...sort of. I'll probably have to do some micro-touchup after peeling off the mask.

It will work, but I will probably have to make the mask a bit thicker. Next session I'll continue building this beautiful interior. Tamiya has elimated most of the reasons from scratch-building all these little details.

 

[fubar57]

Good stuff. I like your sprue holder. I've seen Hobby Zone's holder and I was thinking of building my own as well but out of bent coat hangers.

 

[N4521U]

masking for little things like the gauges I use gobs of blue tack. Just little balls squished into the recess. It only sticks lightly and won't be as difficult to position or remove. What's better is you can just ball all the pieces together and reuse. I use this to protect holes and pins that will be glued after painting.

There is always room for scratch building, even at 1/32nd. Like the fuel selector switch. Even on 48th I will slice it off the IP, round the cut edges then add a bit, I have a hole punch set and then use the smallest, thinniest one for a post under what I have shaved off. A nicer 3D effect.
Nice work so far.
Just saying.

 

[Crimea_River]

Good start. I might have painted the IP before adding all the clear stuff but your method will get you there.

 

[Wayne Little]

Not bad...