Tamiya F4U-1A Corsair BuNo 17833 Maj Marion Carl
Here is my completed entry for the Jim Sullivan Memorial Build. Fittingly it is a Corsair of the VMF-223 stationed in Torokina, Bougainville, in December of 1943 Decals are from Fundekals and the main wheels are from True Details.
I tried hard to achieve a faded weathered look using black-basing, pre-shading, and salt weathering.
Overall I like the look although it does not come across as well as I would like in the photos.
One of the unique features of aircraft 833 was the antenna wire secured to an 8 inch post that was attached to the pilot tube. I tried to replicate this with EZ line and stretched sprue glued to the kit supplied tube.
Although far from perfect, (I fought self inflicted mistakes the entire build) I am pleased with the result and I hope that it is a fitting tribute to our friend Jim Sullivan.
@dbutlr - Fantastic build David. The salt weathering is something I've never tried. It looks great finished but also looks very messy. The additional antenna wire is definitely unique. Great work!
@dbutlr - Your finished Corsair is superb! I think your model is a great tribute to Jim Sullivan and to Marine aviator Marion Carl. Impressive indeed!
Beautiful and unique build of one of my favorites. Well done, David!
Nice Corsair, David! Great catch on that antenna wire.
David Butler (@dbutlr)
Outstanding is the very first word that comes to mind when I look at this magnificent Corsair. Jim AND Marion Carl would be very pleased.
I agree with you that Tom Bebout is a great fellow. He sent me some decals for the Pappy Boyington Corsairs I am currently working on I had a setback on #740 plane. I think I have it fixed now though. I'll post it up later.
Thanks for contributing to the group. Well done !
Well now, that is one fine looking bent wing bird David. Glad to help out on your build and I'm sure Jim would appreciate what you've done here to honor his memory.
Phenomenal build David. I've always liked this version of the tri-color paint scheme. The additional antenna wire is something different.
This Corsair definitely fits Jim's tribute, David @dbutlr
The outcome of the salt weather technique looks really good. This kind of antenna is new to me but it does give your build a unique look.
A wonderful result, David! Your build thread was a joy to filloy! An awesome tribute to Jim Sullivan!
Great job, David! I enjoyed watching the build and the overall outcome is wonderful. Again, well done.
Thanks everybody for the kind comments! Salt weathering was an interesting experience and something that I am interested in developing more. The antenna wire/post was definitely an interesting detail that I almost missed until I stumbled upon it in in the fantastic directions that Fundekals includes. If you haven't used Fundekals before you should- the decals themselves are fabulous but also included are photos, references, and research in the pdf file you can download. Here are some screenshots from the directions that I took regarding the unique antenna wire arrangement
Great build, and I learned something I didn't know about the Corsair! Looks fantastic.
You really knocked this one out of the park, David @dbutlr. Superb weathering. Great subject matter. I hadn’t seen that rare variant F4U before. Enjoyed your WIP thread too.
Great build and paint finish.
Nicely done! Great looking scheme.
Fantastic tribute, David.
Nice looking Corsair. The paint is wonderful.
Beautiful work on your Corsair.