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David Mills
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Revell 1/72 F4U–1B Corsair – HMS Colossus July 1945 – FAA 1846 Naval Air Squadron

March 25, 2019 · in Aviation · · 26 · 2.9K

I picked up this little gem last year and have been working away at it off and on for some time.

Despite what says it is more likely to be a -1D, and there is some debate as to whether the makings are right for this time period however I think that these are small complaints.

The kit fits well and has some lovely engraved detail.

It comes with inserts for the clipped wingtips for the Royal Navy or the more common rounded wingtips.

The canopy was superb and very finely moulded but also fragile. Only the one decal scheme but great decals.

A nice enjoyable build all for £7.00 ! Will we see any more of these ?

I suppose we will have to wait and see what appears out of the ashes of Revell.de.

The build is out of the box.

Paints: Lifecolour and Humbrol. Tamiya X-22 and XF - 86 Clearcoats.

Thanks everyone.

Reader reactions:
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6 additional images. Click to enlarge.


26 responses

  1. Lovely build and a nice finish on that Corsair. It’s strange how a different paint scheme and markings makes the aircraft totally different. I suppose we just identify certain planes with specific characteristics and ‘embed’ that image in our brains. Seeing it in a different ‘skin’ changes our perceptions.

    Anyway, great work in 1/72. Way out of my comfort zone but will be trying it out later this year.

    ‘Liked’

    • Thank you David - it was my first attempt at glossing with X-22 and using XF -86, so picked up a few lessons there.
      You can see why the insignia was changed for far east operations!

  2. Nice and simple.

    "out of the ashes of Revell.de."? What happened?

    • Hello Stellan, @stellan

      There was a company called Hobbico. They owned all of the US based Revell products. They went bankrupt a little over a year ago.

      Revell assets were purchased by a German investment group almost a year ago... it has affected how we can get Revell products here in the US.

      The bankruptcy of Hobbico has led to Revell’s assets being bought by a German investment group, listed in court documents as Blitz 18-313. It is based near Munich. Blitz also bought Hobbico Germany.

      The sale was approved by a U.S. bankruptcy court on Friday, April 13, 2018.

      Sale price was $3.9 million with several contingencies that could raise or lower the sum. Hobbico, based in Illinois, had owned Revell and was forced to sell it due to its bankruptcy.

      Here's a link to a website that can tell you more.

      http://www.scaleautomag.com/articles/2018/04/revell-has-been-sold

      I don't know exactly how it has affected Revell.de, but for us here in the states, the regular Revell company products are getting harder to find each day.

      Unfortunately for us here in the US, Revell DE will only ship to mainland Europe. So we can't get their products anymore... 🙁

      Hope this helps to answer your questions.

    • Lately some Revell kits have become scarce here in the UK. Heres hoping the new owners can get production up and running again soon!

    • Thanks Stellan !
      That solid graphic look of the blue helps give the Corsair that look!

  3. David, @davem

    What a beautiful bent wing bird ! You captured the look rather well.

    "liked"

  4. Nice job on the Corsair David.

  5. Nicely done David, looks good.

  6. Great job! Looks good in Royal Navy scheme and the clipped wings.

  7. Great model, David. Those markings are an interesting choice on Revell’s part. They’re accurate, but HMS Colossus never saw combat with the BPF, the flaming Zero on the box notwithstanding . Those standard European theater markings were on the ships aircraft when she left Glasgow , bound for Ceylon and ultimately Australia. BPF markings were applied either enroute or in Australia. By the time Colossus left Australia on her first war cruise, hostilities had ended. You did a really nice job on this one.

    • Thank you John ! You are right on the markings.
      I considered going aftermarket, but argued to myself that they were probably correct at some point before they reached the far east and so stuck with the kit markings!
      You can see why they were changed though!

  8. Very nice work David. It's a lovely kit indeed, recently added one to my stash... but will build this one certainly.

  9. Good looking bent wing bird David. I like it.

  10. Looks great! Those clipped wingtips are interesting look for the Corsair.

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