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Dan DeSilva
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1/48 Minicraft F4U-4B VMF-214 Korea

January 20, 2018 · in Aviation · · 21 · 3.4K

I built one of my -4B kits with Tamiya 1/48 F4U wing fold hinge parts.

I made resin copies of Tamiya 1/48 F4U-1 oil cooler inlets, then cut out 3 of the vanes to modify them to match F4U-4 inlets. They have a much better shape than the Minicraft ones.

I used a resin copy of the Hi-Tech late P&W2800 crank case and magnetos on the kit engine.

The Minicraft kit fuselage is incorrect from the firewall to the rudder. Too wide, and the rudder is not offset. I thought I had taken pictures of how I modify the fuselage to correctly get the rudder to be offset and the fusealge to be correct in cross-section, but I could not find them to attach to this article- will have to see if I can find them and add them later!

I used vac canopies to replace the kit canopy parts (since they were too wide anyway!) by using F4U-4 vac canopy main sections and the windscreen out of the F4U-5 replacement canopy set of the Squadron replacement canopy sets. The F4U-4 set has straight windscreen frames, but the correctly bulged canopy part.. no choice but to use the F4U-5 canopy windscreen as they should have tapered frames.

I used the True Details F4U-4 replacement cockpit, and added a reflector to the gunsight.

I also used two HVARs from the Hasegawa late kit, and 250lb bombs from the Monogram Panther, with one Hi-tech 500lb bomb with etched fins, and a Hasegawa drop tank.

Wheels are resin copies of the Hasegawa F4U-4 resin wheels included in some boxings they released. Tail wheel is a Tamiya corsair kit added to the modified Minicraft tail wheel gear. I cut out the floor of the tail wheel bay, which meant I had to modify the kit leg to look more realistic. Prop is a spare Tamiya P-47 Prop.

Thanks for looking!

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11 additional images. Click to enlarge.


21 responses

  1. Now you're talking my language Dan ! What a beaut ! A Blacksheep Korean F4U... it doesn't get much better. Your mods look spot on to me. Very well done Sir !

  2. Looks real pretty, Dan! I live in hope that Tamiya will do some late Corsairs, like a -4. Hasegawas later versions are fine, but competition would be a good thing. Same thing I wonder about Airfix not doing a Spit XIV. Never satisfied.

    • Yeah Tamiya should have done the -4 back when they released the -1's. Similar to their current 1/32 kit...not that I could buy one! I have a 1/32 Trumpeter one coming- lots more corrections needed there!

  3. You've gone to a lot of trouble to get this great result Dan. I've never had much success with this version, perhaps because I was not adventurous enough. You've made me want to try again. Thanks for the inspiration!

    • Thanks Tony, I am having problems with my photo editing in win 10 so i would like to add better detail images of the oil cooler ducts and the tail wheel, but the computer is not cooperating at the moment!

  4. Wow, you have been busy, Dan, and you certainly seem to know how to get the best out of these kits with very impressive results.

    • I built this and the VMF-214 bird at the same time, so they completed at the same time as well- its been a haul to get the two corsairs and the AD-4NA done!

  5. Excellent build and mods made on the Academy Corsair. Don't see too many Academy built up, you see the Tams and Hasegawa kits more often. When I started building again, the first kit I built was the Academy Corsair. And now currently building a Tam Birdcage. Like Louis I would like to a build a Korean version as well. Nicely done and thanks for sharing,

    • Thanks Chuck, means a lot coming from you. It is a shame that Academy got the fuselage wrong, but better than the HB where a much larger list of errors is the case!

  6. Shame about the silvering...looks like you didnt aply them on a glossy surface?

    • Yeah- it has been a constant battle for me- I used about 4 coats of Future floor wax to ensure it did not happen! I will be trying a trick Tom Cleaver passed on when i have a moment.

  7. Love those "bent-wing" birds, Dan...nice job on this one, too.

  8. Dan, you put a lot of time and effort into this build and its shows. Cobbling together many kits to make a unified one is like pulling a rabbit out of the hat.Hats off to this build.

    • Thanks Stephen- actually it is mostly the Academy kit except for wing intakes, tail wheel prop and canopy. I don't count the weps and the cockpit in that as many people use aftermarket on perfectly good kit cockpits!

  9. Nice clean build - looks great!

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