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Tom Cleaver
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The rest of the Tamiya Corsair photos

August 21, 2013 · in Aviation · · 10 · 1.4K

Due to space limitations and ease of download, Scott doesn't always publish all photos I provide for a review. Since people have been interested in this kit, I am putting up all the photos I sent him here for your viewing. I think these will answer any questions you have (if you also read the review, available at: http://modelingmadness.com/review/allies/cleaver/us/usn/tmcf4u.htm).

Reader reactions:
2  Awesome

22 additional images. Click to enlarge.


10 responses

  1. Ok, I'll bite. What is with the dummy machine guns? The Corsair had six 50's so why paint on another two guns?

    • Did you not read the review? The ground crews did it to "psych-out" the Japanese. How much it worked is debatable (as well as unknowable), but TBF ground crews also did this, painting "wing guns" on TBF-1s (there's a photo of one with six "guns") which only had the one .30 caliber peashooter. One F4U had five "guns" in each wing.

      • My bad, I was expecting to read that little ditty in the history section and not in the tail end. The good news is that the article was read three times over. Three more hits and views for the advertisers to cheer about.

        I'm surprised that Tamiya is tearing a page from Monograms book on modeling by simplifying the engine and emphasizing
        the face of the engine. The crank case and the mags along with the out side jugs...it falls short on what they did for their Spitfire and Mustang.

  2. Tom, Really like the finish (coral dust blast blue). I see that Barracuda has come out with an engine correction set (magnetos) for the early -1. Sneaky of the Marines putting the phoney gun detail on the AC. I believe that the crews of some glass house nose Ju-88's had their noses painted up as gun ships to ward off fighters.

    • Actually the other way around on the Ju-88s, painted "glass" noses on the fighters so they could escort the bombers and "blend in." An Eastern Front thing, from the photos I have seen.

  3. did you see the flap that the salmon primer was over painted white according to vought specifications at the factory and the lake michigan just lost it's white under the water...not that i care but i figured you might

  4. forgive me...light gray

    • It's all speculation until there's some chemical analysis, but I do not see why an airplane that was blue-grey over light grey would have light grey gear doors and a white wheel well. Alternatively, if the airplane was painted in tri-color, as late F4U-1s were, then it would have white wheel wells. Nobody ever saw anything approaching a complete exterior paint on it when it was raised so nobody knows which is what.

  5. Hi Tom. Please tell me how I can find the time/patience to do what you do at the rate you do it! If you say you're retired I'll be jealous! I note your name appears in the instructions for the HK Models 1/32 B-17G (...and no, I haven't succumbed to getting one!). Sooooo, when do we get to see your rendition of the kit please? Cheers, Nick

    • Actually I have been self-(un)employed for the past 35 years as a writer, so time spent modeling really is "mental health care." It's also a "break the writer's block" strategy.The reason you're seeing so many models up here is I have the chance here to put up extra pictures that weren't published on the reviews i did at M2 over the years (I really didn't do them all since this place opened. :-))

      I am working to finish one of the H-K B-17s in time for the annual Planes of Fame fund-raiser in October, using the new Zotz decals to do a plane of the 91st Bomb Group since the 91st BG Assn is the main sponsor of "Piccadilly Lily", the PoF B-17G currently under restoration. Giving it its own hangar out there is the only way I can come up with to store and display it. 🙂

      As far as the patience is concerned, it helps to have Asperger's, which includes an ability to focus for a long stretch at a time, which greatly aids production. Aspies don't have ADD. 🙂

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