1/48th Tamiya F4U-1A Corsair
More and more I find myself building to model a plane that appeals to me as a result of seeing it in a photo. That was the case in my FG-1A build. The actual plane was FG-1A 13374 which was a stock Goodyear Corsair modified to flight test the top-mounted air scoop that eventually was used on the F2G Corsairs. I used the fine 1/48th Tamiya F4U-1A kit and scratch-built the air scoop by using a portion of the Monogram AD Skyraider nose intake which I cut down and shaped to fit the fuselage. I used some sheet styrene to outline the profile and using green putty, built up and shaped the scoop in accordance with what I saw in the photo. The rest of the build was pretty much out of the box. The plane has an Eduard instrument panel and some of the cockpit PE. The wheels are TD trimmed a bit. The exhaust stubs are from Ultracast and I used the Vector cowling set to detail the front of the engine cowling and I also wired the engine. The paint is airbrushed MM enamels. To add a little color to the aft end of the Corsair, I added the rudder-lock tabs. My thanks and appreciation go out to Pip Moss for the custom decal work. Now I'm patiently awaiting the arrival of the big new 1/32 Tamiya F4U1A...I've just got to build that one !
Looks great Jim.
Nice paint finish.
Nice pics as well.
Well done mate.
Thanks Simon, that was a fun build once I got past the air scoop.
Very nice Jim. Like your approach to creating the scoop. Color scheme is attractive.
Thanks Al, when I saw the photo of that Corsair and it's unusual markings, I just had to build it.
Smart move to glue a piece of plastic as a guide to sculpting the putty.
I'll remember that one.
NIce build!
Thanks Ulf, I needed that plastic strip to give me some sort of visual reference to shape the scoop. If I were to do it again, I'd probably use two of them on the sides rather than just one on the center line.
Top notch work as usual, Jim...very nice photography as well. Nicely done.
Thanks Craig...one just can't have too many Corsairs.
just perfect jim
Thanks Bob, that Tamiya kit was a pleasure to work with.
Great looking model of a little known Corsair.
Thanks Rick, I found that photo quite interesting and just had to model that plane.
nice looking corsair! great work on that airscoop!
Thanks Ramon, the air scoop from the AD Skyraider was the basis for that bit of scratch building. I wish there had been a side view photo to work from but I only had that one photo so I just worked from it as best I could.
Great Corsair, Jim ! Your air scoop/ whole aircraft looks the part.
The F4U is one of the "coolest" aircraft ever flown.
Looks simply awesome, well done !
Thank you Bernd.
You did my F4U in Action book ! How great is this ! 🙂
OK, you got me...I plead guilty as charged.
Congratulations to this great book !
A lot going on here, Jim. Your modifications lift the kit out of the ordinary.
Thanks Rob, when I saw that photo, I just had build a model of it.
Yep I agree with all of the above. Well done.
Thanks Gregor.
Very interesting model, great work.
Thank you Nikola.
Magnificent Jim. I like this one very much. Well done!
Thank you Morne. that 1/48th Tamiya F4U-1A is a great kit to work with. Really looking forward to getting their new 1/32nd release.
Great work as usual Jim. I like the building approach you are taking-bring even more realism to the models of real aircraft you are duplicating. Excellent build.
Thanks Clark, I thoroughly enjoyed working with that fine Tamiya kit. Now, if they'd just come out with a F4U-4, I'd be a happy camper.
Tamiya Corsairs always look good, Jim, and yours is no exception, and the extra work and the paint scheme help to make it that little bit different. The photographs really show it off to advantage as well.