Academy F4U-1A Corsair "Skipper Riley" 1:72
My dear son, 3 years old, is big fan of the movie "Planes", so I have seen it a couple of hundreds of times. When I proposed my kid to build a "Skipper Riley" F4U he jumped of joy, so it had to be done.
As always, I build to test things. I tried here the hairspray technique, Vallejo washes, letters done with 1mm masking tape and the very fun checkerboard tail. And the hardest part to do, by far, was to make the eyes. I tried at least 4 times till I got something acceptable. I didn't liked too much the hairspray results, the paint "cut" over the hairspray layer and anyway was hard to scrape later in a workable way. I learnt also what NOT to do with washes. I'm not very happy with the results but finally I decided to show it here anyway. My son loves the result.
George Williams said on October 8, 2017
Great work, Alfredo, getting your son interested is brilliant, kids love glue and paint!
Craig Abrahamson said on October 8, 2017
Nice little build...what's the story behind that stand? You make that or buy it?
Alfredo Cofré said on October 10, 2017
There is a story, indeed, but is mildly saucy. Last month our local modelling temple, Mirax, which is the size of a supermarket and full of models, RC and toys, did a Facebook contest about what was your first buy there. I recall my first salary ever, full, I spent it there buying an awesome Gentle Lady 2 meters glider. I won the contest, they gave me a $20000 gift card (don't jump, is only $30 USD) and among all the things I bought (custom decals glue, MIG paints, etc) i got a couple of Master Tools model stands. These are very nice, can be set to display several kinds of models in diferent positions, and cost only around $5 USD.
Robert Royes said on October 8, 2017
Love it!
Paul Barber said on October 9, 2017
Lovely idea, Alfredo! Your most important critic will have loved it! My two adore those films (they are 4 and 6). Hopefully your son we be building soon enough, too!
Julian Shawyer said on October 9, 2017
What a great build. Very well done Alfredo.
Greg Kittinger said on October 9, 2017
Fun! I think everyone needs a little "Skipper Riley" in their lives...
Jeff Bailey said on October 9, 2017
Well done, Alfredo and kudos for getting your Son interested early in his life! You ... and he ... will never regret it. His future wife (your Daughter-In-Law), perhaps ...
Anyway, good on ya!