Greg Boyington’s ‘photo’ F4U-1a Corsair.
Here's an older build from a few years ago. Otaki's 1/48 F4U-1a. (lots newer kits out there, but, I had this one , and decided to play)
I use and spare engine from a Hobbycraft Corsair, an Ultracast seat, A Falcon Vac canopy, aluminum tubing for the exhaust, and lots of plastic strip and sheet.
I detailed the engine, scratch built the wheel wells and tail gear, scratch built much of the cockpit, and added internal structure, mirrors , handles etc on the vac canopy.
It's finished as Greg Boyingtons 'photo' aircraft using a older Superscale sheet - I had to change the name "Lullubelle" to the correct "Lucybelle" - that was some interesting surgery!
Hope you like, (I do seem to have a fondness for these old Otaki kits!
The old Otaki F4U and F6F can still be competitive with a cockpit, a vac canopy and aftermarket decals. You've done a superb job on this, @tail-dragon. An excellent result that more than got the most out of what was there.
I also like the identification of the airplane. All the "his airplane" business by modelers regarding SoPac airplanes would be funny if it wasn't so anti-intelligence - the information is out there! When I met Joe Foss at the 1992 AFAA convention (held in San Diego, and lots of Cactus USMC aces showed up), some guy came up and asked him for information on "his" airplane, to which he replied, "Which of the 34 Wildcats that are in my logbook from then are you talking about?"
This is an excellent build, Colin.
The scratch building is really awesome.
One of my first builds after returning to the modelling scene was a 109 from Otaki.
Although I never heard from this brand I was pretty impressed about the quality.
Nice work on the Corsair Colin. I built one of these using parts from a partially built kit I got at a show (way back in the 80's) The kit stands up well like Tom said if given the detail work. I scratch built the cockpit and wheel details as well, although I think yours look better than what I did. If I recall I "stole" some parts from the Monogram Corsair to do parts of mine.
An excellent job with amazing scratch built extras, Colin.
Congratulations!
Hey Colin, that's an excellent display of sublime modeling skill. I could have easily mistaken it for the Tamiya 1/32nd scale kit.
Cheers,
Scott
Colin, you sure turned the old Otaki kit into a winner with this build. As I've experienced myself, the old Otaki (Arii) kits actually had some very nice surface detail, and with some good detail work (as you've shown here) can be made into a real beauty.
This is really a very nice looking model !
Nice work, Colin. Old school detailing at its best.
I did this one too, with an Otaki also, about 35 years ago. I'll post it someday. Nowhere near as fine as this one though, some really beautiful work.
These Otaki kits are nice, so far I've done the Corsair and two of their P-47's. What I really like about their P-47's is that the underwing pylons are separate, therefor optional. I have a barely started Otaki P-51D on the bench now. That one may need a little extra help looking less like an Otaki and more like a P-51. I'll be taking notes as I go because I have more.
Great to see this Corsair finished so very well.
Very impressive bit of scratch building. Great overall finish.
Excellent cockpit job, very nice build!
My compliments Colin on a fine build of that Otaki Corsair. You've taken a basic kit to a much higher level with your fine scratch building, weathering and paint work. Very nicely done.
One word comes to mind when first viewing . . . "Professional". Two, you put the "M" in modeling with all the scratch building Colin. This kit is a demonstration of using what some would consider plain materials or basic materials and through a simple series of cutting and shaping plastic, wire , and tape one can create a very sophisticated model.
The painting is excellent and the weathering is not over done and you didn't use a Uber kit or a shake and bake kit. For some this would be the "Gold" in a modeling contest or a excellent example of what one would use in a hard copy mag or book on how to build the Corsair. If only the "Model of the Month " where going you'd have my vote. For now I am stating the obvious and hitting the like button.
Corsairs are one of the most popular models on this site, and when you see one as good as this it's easy to see why, definitely liked.
🙂 ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
Amazing work on this model Colin, neat work on the details, nicely done.
Great looking Corsair, and some nice detailing. Well done!
Thanks to everyone for the comments! Old kits are fun, they are more challenging than the new super-kits, but they are uniquely yours in the end.