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Jim Sullivan
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1/48th Tamiya F4U-1A Corsair

December 1, 2014 · in Aviation · · 30 · 2.1K

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 modified to flight test the top-mounted air scoop that eventually was used on the F2G Corsairs. I used the fine 1/48th -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 !

Reader reactions:
9  Awesome

21 additional images. Click to enlarge.


30 responses

  1. Looks great Jim.
    Nice paint finish.
    Nice pics as well.
    Well done mate.

  2. Very nice Jim. Like your approach to creating the scoop. Color scheme is attractive.

  3. 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.

  4. Top notch work as usual, Jim...very nice photography as well. Nicely done.

  5. just perfect jim

  6. Great looking model of a little known Corsair.

  7. 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.

  8. 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 !

  9. A lot going on here, Jim. Your modifications lift the kit out of the ordinary.

  10. Yep I agree with all of the above. Well done.

  11. Very interesting model, great work.

  12. Magnificent Jim. I like this one very much. Well done!

  13. 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.

  14. 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.

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