Tamiya 1/48 scale F4U-1 Corsair
The Tamiya Corsairs are know as one of the best kits of this legendary aircraft, and rightfully so. They are fun to build, and create a very good representation of this aircraft.
This particular model represents an F4U flown by Major Marion Carl USMC with VMF-223. Carl would shoot down his last 2 Japanese aircraft in this aircraft, giving him a total of 18 by wars end.
I had built this model years ago, from a picture I found. Obtaining the decals from my stash was easy, and I took the liberty (or as I like to call "artist discretion"!) and added the kill markings on the starboard side. I tossed in some eduard PE seatbelts, added some wire to the engine and cockpit, and strung some stretch sprue for the antenna wire. The paint was mostly model master acrylics and a combination of MM dark sea blue and Tamiya X-4 acrylic blue to get the shade I wanted for the top color. Why or how this worked, I couldn't tell you, as Tamiya and MM usually don't like each other !
The model was heavily damaged during my recent move. When I finally got settle in, this was one of the first projects I tackled. I'm happy with the results, and actually think the rebuild was an improvement over the original build.
Beautifully built and finished, Terry!
Very nice looking Corsair.
No signs of damage caused by your move.
A great result.
Delicious, would snapchat.
Nicely done Terry, that's a good looking bent wing bird.
Beautiful work, Terry. Very clean.
I am impressed with the smooth satin finish. A lot of modelers would give their eye teeth for that paint job. No pebbling or orange peeling. Allows for all of the details to been seen.
Terry what brand of paints did you use and did you thin the paint or add a retarder? How about the pressure used with the airbrush? With experience and a little more knowledge having a second go with an old friend can make things better and these photos prove it.
Two thumbs up.
Nice job, Terry!
I agree the rebuild of the model makes it look better. Those flat tyres you originally had on it were driving me nuts.
Actually Dave I didn't touch the tires, I believe the hot dry climate here may have increased the air pressure !
I will agree with the above comments...but...
I have a ?
You say that you use stretch sprue for the antenna wire,(s)...wow that sure looks good. I never mastered that technique, however I used ladies long black hair. It ties real good and it accepts thin super glue.
And hello to the previous guy, (Dave Hansen).
Rodney J. Williams.
I found out quite by accident that clear sprue works the best for heating and stretching.
A friend of mine use to use his daughters hair (is that legal ?) and it looked good. I was going to mention why I don't use my wife's hair, but I'll leave that alone !
This is a great model and a great rebuild, Terry.
Nice techniques too!
Terry I really enjoy seeing your builds. Your paintwork is simply pleasant to look at (in the same way Stephen mentioned), and your subject selection is very agreeable to me. This is no exception, it's a great looking marine Corsair.
Nice save, Terry. Beautiful paintwork.
Identifying a particular airplane in the Solomons/South Pacific campaign with a particular pilot is chancy at best. The closest one can get with a photo is to say "this airplane was sat in at least once by this pilot." Nobody in any Marine squadron had their own airplanes, the squadrons didn't have their own airplanes - the airplanes, and their ground crews, stayed at the forward base while the pilots rotated, carrying the administrative unit designation with them. The only exception was VF-17, a Navy squadron. Even the other Navy squadrons followed the standard procedure.
For instance, "Marion Carl's Wildcat" (according to what he told me at the 1992 AFAA convention) was a "hangar queen" at Espiritu Santo that was a shell of its original self, having been a source of parts. Following VMF-221's return from their Guadalcanal tour, he was told he would be doing a press interview where he would be photographed. He and a Marine crew chief wheeled the hangar queen out, slapped 16 Japanese flag stickers on it, and he sat on the wing while he was interviewed and photographed on "his" Wildcat. After the reporters were gone, the airplane was wheeled back into the hangar to continue its use as a parts warehouse.
"Pappy Boyington's Corsair," the famous "Lulubelle" was an airplane in the squadron he sat in once for photos, and flew on a mission (which he aborted for mechanical problems).
In fact, throughout all the air forces, very few pilots flew "their" airplane more than occasionally. An aviation artist did an analysis of Don Gentile and "Shangri-La" and found from Gentile's logbook that he flew the airplane for exactly three of the victories credited on its "victory scroll."
All of which takes nothing from your very nice model, but our attempts to create order out of chaos are doomed to disappointment.
Let me see if I understand this right. Your saying its possible he flew this airplane but unlikely, but still it could be possible. Therefore I'm wrong, but maybe I'm right and therefore this should be left at "nobody really knows", but at least the assumption does indicate that somebody knew and actually got the story right after all, or may have been confused as to the absolute facts, and made the entire thing up to drive us model guys nuts as we try to get things accurate 76 years later.
OK then, I guess we can live with that !
Stop this madness Terry, you almost made me spit my morning coffee all over my lab top reading this. BTY, it's still a looking Corsair IMHO.
Very nicely done Terry, always good to see a nicely finished Corsair. That's an excellent build complimented by fine photography. Well done Sir.
Jim, I thought I'd stir you up with this posting. Thanks for nice response and yes I'm still using the photography tips you gave me.
Nice looking Corsair!
Beautifully done, love the colors, that scheme is hard to get just right and you have done it!
Great job!
Fine-looking Corsair, Terry. I never would have realized it was a repaired model - no sign of that anywhere.
I like your choice of markings and historical backstory. We most often see VF-17 a/c like Kepford's or Boyington's from VMF-214. I never associated Marion Carl with the Corsair so it is interesting for me to know that he went from the Wildcat to the F4u1. It must have been a thrilling experience!
Terry,
Great re-build.. your usual magical model building.
Not to belabor a point but... If I were asked to build a model of an a/c a pilot flew and he gave me the exact information as to this airplane, would I be correct in building it as he requested or would I be wrong in that he may have only sat in that a/c. I certainly would not want to pose a historical inaccuracy for all to see. I want to be right but I also don't want to be wrong. Considering that so many old fliers are leaving us, this will only exacerbate the question of what is and what is not historically correct. That is, if they can believed eat all.