Academy 1/48 F4U-1 Corsair
I bring to you my F4U-1 Corsair in 1/48th scale, a gift from Louis Gardner. This model was a labor to build. I loved the kit so much. It was a fun project and even had some unexpected challenges fit wise that I ended up solving. I thought the process was entertaining. The hate part came when I lost my mojo following some pretty uncool things in my personal life, and my seeming inability to properly weather this. So, j didnt weather it. I'm just going to call it here and revisit it when I get the chance to expand my skills more, and I'm not so frustrated.
This particular scheme belongs to a Pilot named Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, one of the most famous Corsair aces. He scored those 6 kills you were talking about while flying as a Flying Tiger / AVG pilot in China. These 6 kills have been a subject of controversy over the recent years. Some historians only credit him with two out of the six he claimed. He is credited with a total of 28 kills. He also earned the Medal of Honor and this was presented to him by President Truman after the War was over. He spent the rest of the War as a Prisoner of War held captive by the Japanese. When he was shot down, he was picked up by a Japanese submarine and taken into captivity. His wingman, Captain George Ashmun was killed just before Pappy was shot down.
He scored his last two kills on the day he was shot down. They were number 27 and 28. At the time he was shot down, on January 03, 1944, he was the leading Ace in the Pacific Theater.
Jordyn, @1corsair64
I am very pleased with how your Corsair turned out ! It looks very nice and I'm proud of you. I know that you mentioned the wings were warped. What made me proud is how you kept on working on it and eventually succeeded. You didn't give up, when others might have. That's what counts.
I didn't know the wings were warped since everything was still sealed in the plastic... Hopefully the P-40 will be a little easier for you. By the way, Pappy Boyington also flew the P-40... so you could possibly build it up as one of his "other" planes.
Whatever you decide to do will work. Way to go my friend ! You nailed it.
Thanks for sharing this with us. I can tell that your skills are getting better with each new model you post. Keep it up buddy...
"liked"
Since I have the P-40, might as well build it by his markings!
Jordyn, @1corsair64
One of the P-40's he flew was number 21. It was serial number P-8178. This number would be visible on the vertical fin on both sides, just ahead of the rudder.
This is an artists rendition of how his P-40 "could" have looked...
Do some research on this subject when you can, and make your own thoughts about it. I hope this will help to get you started in the right direction.
That would be really cool to see you build up the P-40 I sent you as Pappy's plane. If not that's OK too. It's yours now, so build it however you want to. I'm sure it will look good once it's done, just like the Corsair does.
I have decided. I am ABSOLUTELY going to make the P-40 as his plane as well as my next project. I will have to order decals, so it wont be as quick as this build was, so it probably wont be finished for a while, but look for it. I think you will be pleased. I found a few more reference photos as well.
Jordyn, @1corsair64
Eagle Cals makes the exact set of decals you are looking for. It's listed as EC#30 and was available in 1/48 scale. The company is called Eagle Editions LTD. The set comes with enough decals for 4 AVG P-40 planes. Eventually I want to build two of the planes listed from the set. Once I met Dick Rossi, who was an AVG "Flying Tiger" pilot and also an "Ace" in the AVG with 6 kills. I had a nice conversation with him as he was eating lunch with our Police Chief. I was on duty at the time and had to cut our conversation short when I got a call.
Dick flew #3, while Pappy flew #21. Both of these planes are included among the 4 options. Please keep me posted on this. Thanks !
Great job on the kit, Jordyn! Great job on the tri-color scheme.
But for the record, Boyington made his "legend" flying for the VMF-214, aka "Black Sheep". There is a really good book by Frank Walton called "They Were Eagles" that tells a really accurate version of what "Pappy" and his squadron were like, as well as the conditions they lived in. Boyington got his initial combat experience with the Flying Tigers (squadron called "Adam and Eve"). A lot of what he learned in China he put to good use in the F4U.
Yes, Louis gave me some additional info and I fixed it. I havent really been all that well versed in my Ace history other than names.
For me, learning the history behind the men and the aircraft is almost as much fun as the actual building process is. The article looks good with the changes you made...
Well, you had some help with that.
No worries Jordyn - After looking at Louis' print realized I screwed up on Boyington's AVG squadron name - It was "Adam and Eve".
Nicely done, Jordon! Great color scheme.
My first time doing it. I'm glad it came out somewhat presentable.
Good job, Jordyn, it looks great on that stand.
I thought about what I could do different for it instead of it being black and I noticed that the label for the decals was also a decal. That led to what you see here. Very simple, but I like it. Also, thank you.
Nice job, Jordyn!
Ahhhhh! You are finding that special place when building a model leads you to digging into the history involved with the build subject/people.
Now I find the reverse happening. Most of my builds (or more honestly, the kits on my stash) come from being inspired by the history books I read or shows I watch.
Again, great job...keep em' coming and KEEP IT FUN!
Yeah, I've built a few models for the purpose of inspiration. I have an old corsair that I built that I will be converting to a prototype or racer here soon.
Well done Jordyn, you'll also discover as you increase the number of models you build new techniques and skills are developed. That's the fun of it all as well as the research behind the men and the machine you're trying to recreate. Have fun.
I enjoy learning about these things. I've tried to get a bit more history in my builds because I know yall enjoy it.
Jordyn @1corsair64, as everyone else has stated, good job. There is noting wrong with get one completed, then coming back to it to add weathering. I find this is a good habit to work with. Get done and let it sit for a while, work on something else.
Looking forward to more in the future.
Yeah, you will see this plane again. It will eventually be weathered when I figure out the best technique for chipping with what I have. Thank you.
Well done Jordyn - keep at it, each one will get better and better!
I'll try to keep at it. As long as I dont get forced to quit by my parents, I'll keep it up.