1/48th Tamiya F4U-1A
This Corsair is modeled in the markings of VMF-422 as seen on Engebi in May of 1944. The kit was great to work with and went together smoothly with the exception of the joint line where the wing outer panels mate with the wing center section. Some of that problem was likely self-inflicted but I did manage to finally get it together. MM enamel paint was airbrushed and the decals were from a PYN-up set which were great to work with. The build was mostly from kit parts with the exception of Ultracast wheels and the pilot seat and an instrument panel from YAHU. Any comments or questions are most welcome.
7 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Greg Kittinger said on February 21, 2019
Good looking Corsair!
Jim Sullivan said on February 21, 2019
Thank you Greg, I'm glad you liked her.
bob mack said on February 21, 2019
fine work jim
Jim Sullivan said on February 21, 2019
I appreciate that Bob and I thank you.
dale travis said on February 21, 2019
Great looking build!
Jim Sullivan said on February 21, 2019
Thanks Dale.
Craig Abrahamson said on February 21, 2019
Good to see you back on the forum, Jim...and a nice Corsair to boot!
Jim Sullivan said on February 21, 2019
Thanks Craig, now all I have to do is make room for it on the shelves.
david leigh-smith said on February 22, 2019
Been a while, Jim, and a fantastic way to return to form. This is every bit as good as your 32nd scale Corsair- great colours and wonderful finish.
‘Liked’
Jim Sullivan said on February 22, 2019
Thanks David, I appreciate your comments and as for that 1/32 'hybrid' Corsair I'd have to say that the 1/48th Tamiya kit was so much easier to build.
Jim Sullivan said on February 22, 2019
Thanks David. I've been doing some scanning work on military aircraft which kept me away from the modeling table but I'm back to modeling now at least for a while.
david leigh-smith said on February 22, 2019
Glad to see you back. Gorgeous work on those blues.
Julian Shawyer said on February 22, 2019
Really great looking Corsair with a nice subtle paint finish.
I've always loved this aircraft. Well done Jim.
Jim Sullivan said on February 22, 2019
Thank you Julian and I share your love of the ole Corsair. I've lost count of how many of them I've built over the years. I'm still hoping that one of the mainstream model companies will release a quality state of the art accurate 1/48th F4U-4.
Tom Bebout said on February 22, 2019
Mr Corsair, it's nice to see you back with a great looking F4U. Nicely done, she looks really great. BTY, the rebuild of the Corsair at the Tri-Stare Warbird Museum is slowly coming along. She'll be decked out as Col Glenn's F4U when he was based out of Columbus.
Jim Sullivan said on February 22, 2019
Thank you for your comments Tom as well as for the update on the progress of the Corsair rebuild at the Tri-State Warbird Museum. I look forward to seeing her.
Robert Royes said on February 22, 2019
Masterful work, sir! Did you ever do that book on the A-1 Skyraider?
Jim Sullivan said on February 22, 2019
Thank you Robert, it was a fun build. As for the Skyraider book, the only one I wrote was the Skyraider In Action book for Squadron/Signal that published back in 1983.
Matt Minnichsoffer said on February 23, 2019
Nice & clean. Great Corsair
Jim Sullivan said on February 23, 2019
Thank you Matt.
Jeff Bailey said on February 23, 2019
Hello Jim! @bentwing
Beautiful Corsair, Sir! I just KNEW this was yours even before I saw who built the model & wrote about it. i LOVE that 3-tone scheme with the red outlined insignia.
Bravo!
Jim Sullivan said on February 23, 2019
Thank you Jeff and I share your thoughts about the tri-color scheme with the red surround national insignia.
Jordyn Collier said on February 24, 2019
This looks very nice. I love the corsair, and I have built three. I will have a post coming soon to the site about my most recent one. I dont think its anywhere near your skill level on this particular plane, but I just love the way it looks. Also, a question. How do you use the glue properly when given the option to fix the wings to the plane or have them folded? Whenever i do mine, i always seem to have a raised area at the connection point. Good job!
Jim Sullivan said on February 24, 2019
Thanks Jordyn and I look forward to seeing your Corsair. As for how to apply the glue properly I suspect there are several methods but on larger areas like the wing fold area I use the Testors tube glue. I put a small amount on a piece of index card and work with a flat toothpick to sparingly apply the glue to the edges I want to bond. I wait about 30 seconds to let the glue soften the plastic a bit and then I join the two surfaces. They usually bond quite quickly. If too much glue is used then you get a 'glue seam' that is often difficult to work with. I think I've had problems with the wing fold line of every Tamiya Corsair I've built. While it's an excellent kit I think it is engineered more toward a wings folded build.