F4U-1A Corsair Arii 1/48
Hi all , it's been a while since my last posting but here we are. This is an Arii kit of the brilliant F4U Corsair, it seems strange for me to say that as a lifelong modeller I've never built one of these before in any scale so when I saw it on a traders stand for a very reasonable price I picked it up.
O.K. , the kit - it is quite a basic kit and not in the same class as the Tamiya Wildcat that I was building at the same time , that one has now been parked up in the hangar awaiting paint and decals as the aircraft I want to build is on a different decal sheet ,"Yanks with roundels Pt 2", and that sheet is currently sold out at Hannants, anyway I digress, the kit is a little basic with recessed panel lines which are way to faint to highlight without re-scribing (I couldn't be bothered!) there is no tailwheel well interior and the engine could be a lot better but on the plus side the fit of all parts was great, the wings located nicely and the pilots office was good enough with the closed canopy, I added a pilots harness made from Tamiya masking tape cut into thin strips and that was all. I bought the decal sheet "Yanks with Roundels Pt1" which comes with full sets of markings for two different FAA Corsairs ,an FAA Grumman Avenger (Tarpon) a Grumman Hellcat and a Grumman Wildcat also FAA, though not the one I want to build, so very good value at under £10 and at some point I can build some of these aircraft in FAA markings as well. the kit also comes with a really nice glossy full colour print ,the instruction sheet is all in Japanese which looks great and was not a problem, all in all a nice little retro kit and I can recommend it to anyone fancying a nice ,simple, no pressure build.
I added a picture of the Corsairs massive prop' next a Spitfire prop' and a Wildcat for comparison.
Cheers Neil.
P.S. I need to thank Jim Sullivan for the very helpful information he supplied during the painting and finishing stage -Cheers Jim !
great to see this built Neil...fine job with that scheme
Cheers Bob.
N.
Hey pal! This is a real gem, and I really like it. The camo scheme is very handsome and you pulled it off with a more primitive kit. Nice work.
Dave ! nice to hear from you pal, thanks for the kind words , that Avia is edging nearer to the top of the queue !
Can't wait to see it!
That turned out nicely Neil...always good to see a well done Corsair. As you stated, it is really a basic kit but as you've demonstrated, with a little TLC, it makes quite a respectable model. My congratulations to you on the build.
Yeah ,it's nice sometimes to just get into a simple ,no pressure kit. That said it would have lacked important details without your advice.
N.
Real nice! A great colourful scheme.
Cheers Rob.
Great job on this! I really like the FAA scheme.
Thanks Dale , if I'm honest I think USN markings suit them better but it does look nice all the same.
N
Welcome back, Neil. Nice job. That’s a decent old kit. I must’ve built 3-4 of them over the years before the Tamiya kit came out. I like Corsairs a lot and have 7 in my cabinets right now. Second only to Spitfires in sheer numbers in my 1/48 air armada!
I know what you mean , it surely is a tough looking aircraft but she aint a purdy girl unlike the Spitfire especially the later griffon engined Mk's, my favourite carrier designation is USS Bunker Hill with the arrow on the tail fin and the F4U wears it particularly well.
Thanks for looking John.
Wow, an Arii kit. Looks so great.
Thanks for your comment S(?)
N.
Nice build Neil. Back when I started building again, I built a few of these Arii kits and liked them! You did it justice.
Hey Greg ,nice to hear from you buddy, I wish I'd bought an aftermarket opening canopy now it would of made a world of difference but it looks O.K..
Cheers Neil.
Nicely done Neil, a good presentation of an old and basic kit. As long as you had fun building her that's what really counts.
Cheers Tom, thanks for looking.
Nice job, Neil. I am a big proponent of the "keep it simple" philosophy. I am enjoying my kits a lot more now that I don't stress over the small stuff.
That's the way it should be George ,it's supposed to be fun. Thanks for looking.
Hi Neil! I've just finish reading "Carrier Pilot", Norman Hansons story flying FAA Corsairs with the BPF in 1945. If you haven't read it , well worth a look. Great to see this one built. Cracking job!
Hey Paul, nice to hear from you buddy, I'm just ploughing through "The return of the king" by JRR Tolkien and then will need a book so I will check it out .
Very nice. I've never built an Arii kit