1/72nd Hawk F4U-1D
A good friend recently gifted me with an old 1/72nd Hawk F4U-1D Corsair kit. Since I had built many of them in my earlier years of modeling (the original kits came out around 1959), I figured I'd go ahead and give it a shot. The kit is basic-basic with a whopping total of around 20 parts. The only addition to the build was a set of TD wheels that I found in the after market stash box. The F4U-1D is finished in MM GSB and carries the markings of a VBF-6 Corsair from the USS Hancock late in WWII. Strictly a nostalgia fun build. I'm betting that many of our 'senior' modelers have, like myself, built a few of these in years gone by along with Hawk's Texan and Dauntless and a few of their other offerings.
Nice job,what a blast from the past, although I never built the Corsair, I did build the equally ancient Hawk T-6/SNJ
Thanks Robert and Hawk did have some fine plastic models by modeling standards back in the mid to late 50.s.
I had three of these as a kid, one of them was a white one with Marine markings. Mine sure didn't look as good as yours does!
Hello Robert...Like yourself, as a kid, I built a few of these Corsairs too. Back then it was glue the thing together, no paint, slap the decals on and there's the finished model. For most of us our modeling techniques have evolved a bit as the years have passed.
That turned out very nice !
Thank you Jay.
Jim-what a fun build and well done too. There seems to be a bit of a revival going on with all of the great old kit builds recently. Let's see-there was a Dauntless too!
Hello Clark...It's always fun to work with an older kit now that we have a bit more modeling experience than we did back then. I think the term 'nostalgia build' sums it up pretty well. I thank you for gifting me with that kit and I really enjoyed working with it. Surely brought back a lot of pleasant memories. Speaking of older kits, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing your ole Revell H-19 helicopter you posted her a few days ago. A very nicely done build.
Nice work! I grew up a few blocks from the Hawk plant in Harwood Heights, Illinois. I built a few of those too.
Thanks John and just wondering if you ever got to visit or see inside that Hawk plant? That would have certainly been a thrill.
Never went inside. They shut it down after Testors bought them and moved to Rockford. Monogram on Waukegan Rd. was pretty close too. Morton Grove is just a few miles north. That site was redeveloped into townhomes. When I’m in Chicago, I still cycle past it on the forest preserve bike trail. Lindberg was in nearby Skokie also. Memories!
The original kits came out somewhere around 1953-54 - that was the release with a solid wing and no landing gear. This is one ooooollllllld model. Nice work on it.
Hello Tom...I do remember that solid wing Corsair early release way back when. I built several of them and thought they were really fine. I never for a moment envisioned back then how the plastic modeling industry would evolve into producing the intricate and detailed kits we have today. The industry surely has come a long way.
🙂 ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
A very welcomed sight and a nice work.
Thank you for the memory of HAWK , for me ... it is part of the modeling AMERICANA.
I just loved their chrome plated kits. I did a few F-5's and a F-104 but the best one was their F-8,
loved the way the light curved on the cowling edge.
Thank you DE4EVER and I do remember the chromed kits. I think I have one of the plated T-33A's still in the stash.
Me too!
This oldie came out beautiful, Jim.
Drawing on that box is clearly showing the age of this kit.
Thank you John. The marks inside the wing of that kit said 1959 but as Tom Cleaver pointed out there was an earlier solid wing version that came out in the 1953-54 time period.
Love to see old kits built in such excellency, Jim!
Wonderful result!
Thanks Spiros, glad you enjoyed that build of the ole Hawk Corsair kit. I did have one issue with it. I had airbrushed the white nose ring on the cowling and set it aside to dry. A short while later when I was ready to glue it on, I couldn't find t anywhere. After a brief search of the modeling room I went out to the den and immediately discovered where that cowling had gone. My Boston Terrier had snuck into the modeling room and grabbed it and treated it as her new chew toy. It was totally demolished. Fortunately I had an old cowling from a previous build a long time ago so I cleaned it up and re-shot the GSB and white and I was back in business. I guess the moral of the story is not to leave chewable parts anywhere that a dog (or cat) can get to them.
Love an old nostalgia build! I can almost smell my grandma's basement...
Oh yes, let's hear it for Grandma's basement...I was a kitchen table modeler when I first started out.
It's amazing how that old blue plastic still sparkled after all these years in the box. Some tough stuff! Really nice work on this, beautiful job.
Thank you John.