1/48th Hasegawa F4U-5
I Just finished this 1/48th Hasegawa F4U-5 in the markings of VF-41 as seen aboard USS Midway during a Med cruise in 1950. The model is finished in Model Master glossy sea blue over-sprayed with Testors clear gloss. The decals were dug out of ye ole decal stash. TD weighted tires (trimmed down a bit) were used along with the TD F4U-5 cockpit set and instrument panel. I replaced the kit engine with one from Vector. Now I'm sure that some of you will notice and perhaps question the white wheel hubs and struts on a glossy sea blue plane (as did I) but I've attached a photo of the plane I modeled to support that. Hope you enjoy seeing her.
Man O man is that a beauty Jim. My next door neighbor Fred Caban used to be a mechanic on these. He told me some interesting tales about keeping these flying.. Spark plugs, lots of spark plugs.
Great looking model!
California Steve
Thanks Steve, sounds like you have an interesting neighbor.
Excellent work, One pretty looking bird.
Thank you Robert, I love to build Corsairs.
Jim, pretty build, you can never have enough Corsairs. I remember reading someplace that towards the end of WW II they were repainting the gear legs on F4Us aluminum, vice the GSB. I'm thinking that process continued, and probably at some point, the instruction was to not paint them at the manufacturers.
Hello Bernard and thanks for your input on gear legs. I've seen them in white, aluminum and GSB. I usually try to build from a photo but even then not all the details can usually be seen.
Yeah, usually in the shadows, depending on the angle the photo was taken. To stir up the rivet counters, have one aluminum, and the other GSB, and one tire with tread, and one smooth. Bwahahahahah! Make some popcorn, and sit back and watch the fun! Like an Italian opera, one guy gets up and sings, and six people stab him in the back. That's entertainment!
Beautiful work as always, Jim...really nice build. Did that kit come with movable control surfaces or did you have to cut those elevators?
Thanks Craig, it was a fun build. As for the elevators, I forgot to mention that addition in my write-up. I used a very nice after-market control surface set done by Pavla Models. I used only the elevators but the set also had parts for rudder and ailerons. I've had that set for so long I don't remember where I got it but I'd sure like to find another set or two. It was engineered for the F4U-5, AU-1 or F4U-7.
Really nice Jim, is it fair to say you have a little experience building Corsairs ?
The color looks really good, and being I have a particular fondness for the -5, I have to say I like this one alot.
Hello Terry and yes that statement would surely be true. As memory serves me (which sometimes it does) my very first Corsair build was a Monogram Speedee-Bilt F4U-5 balsa kit with a few plastic parts.sometime back in the 60's. I do acknowledge my Corsair addiction.
Jim, refresh my memory- were the speedee built flying models? I also remember they had a 72nd(?) B-24 and a B-17 "solid" that was wood fuselage, wings, and empenage and cowlings with decals for the canopy and plastic props. A friend of mine had both.
Bernard, As I recall, Monogram had two lines that I remember...one was the Speedee-Bilt kits which were flyable (to some degree) like the Corsair, Mustang, Warhawk, Thunderjet, Sabre, PT-17 and a few others that escape me at the moment. The second line was the Superkits which were solid balsa with some plastic parts and were for display only. Among them were the Corsair, Mustang, Sabre, Mig-15, and a few others. I think the B-17 and B-24 kits as well as the B-25 and B-26 Invader were in the Speedee-Bilt line but were not 'flyable'. Man. those were the good ole days.
Thanks, Jim! That sounds right to me. The superkits sound like the Strombecker wood and plastic kits I had a couple of. I was a poor whittler, and sandpaper, what's that?
Like the English guy said about his wartime "solids" ,I produced some nicely painted pieces of firewood.
This looks awesome Jim! I can't wait to get mine started. The F4U-5 has the nicest looking cowling of all the Corsair variants. The paint finish on this one looks great! Well done.
Hello Morne...Thank you and I agree that indeed the F4U-5 had beautiful distinctive lines and was immediately identifiable by the engine cowling design. Hasegawa faithfully captured its lines with that fine kit. My only concern in building it was the cockpit area which in the kit is a bit sparse but with a little after-market help, it can be easily resolved. I look forward to seeing your F4U-5.
Beautiful looking model, thanks for sharing it with us, Jim.
Thank you George, I'm glad you liked her.
First Corsair I had was the Hawk 50 center, about 72nd. Then, the Lindberg 48th F4U-5N nightfighter, with solid cockpit and no wheel wells. Not sure about the cockpit, maybe it had the "tadpole" with the seat to match. Or just the head sticking up from the solidly molded cockpit.
I think I saw one recently, as a twofer, all their early 50s stuff, P-47N, Stuka.
Yes indeed I remember that ole Hawk 1/72-ish Corsair which was released (several times) as a F4U-1D and an AU-1. I still have several of them in my stash. I remember that ole Lindberg kit too and I'm thinking the cockpit contained a seated figure and a bar for him to sit on...that was their version of a detailed cockpit. We've come a long way since then with all the finely detailed models now available. Thus far I think the cream of the crop now is the pair of 1/32nd Tamiya Corsairs whose intricate detail is mind boggling.
Outstanding work as usual, Jim!
Thank you Drew.
Good job Jim...love the glossy sea blue paint job and custom markings.
Thanks Clark...I really enjoy doing the GSB paint schemes. When the white markings go on, it really fires my rocket.