Tamiya 1:48 Vought F4U-1A Corsair Kit #61070 1998 (new parts added)
This is one of Tamiya's finest kits in my opinion, nary a problem during the build.Looking for something different to do to a corsair, I stumbled upon the "colourized" photo shown. I can't vouch for the accuracy but it started my search and I found a whack of photos of Corsairs of various models all over the web. This is not a model of one particular aircraft but several that had little peculiarities. The black and white photo was my muse to start as it shows some different shades of YZC. To do these differences I added Grey to Tamiya XF-4 Yellow Green. The Intermediate Blue was actually sprayed twice as I didn't like the first mix. The second attempt was Tamiya XF-18 Medium Blue and XF-2 Flat White, 3:1. Semi-Gloss Sea Blue was a Tamiya mix of XF-17 Sea Blue, XF-8 Flat Blue and XF-53 Neutral Grey 6:6:1. This was then given a Satin coat. The Non-Specular Sea Blue was XF-17 Sea Blue. To continue with the Frankenstein theme I found a photo of a long line of Corsairs, all having the flaps painted in YZC save one. The oddity was that the last aircraft had the inner flaps painted Semi-Gloss Sea Blue. Not sure why this was, maybe it was the end of the shift on a Friday or a hung-over Monday thing. I figured that maybe if they made that mistake once they could have installed an oddball set. Some photos showed the outer gear doors painted white so I went with it. Tamiya has you shave off the forward antenna mast. In the Detail & Scale book it says antennas varied depending on the radio equipment used. I found four and quit looking. The wire was Uschi Van Der Rosten super fine rigging thread. Only two decals were used. I wasn't going to do any weathering, this being a new aircraft and all but if you look closely at the black and white photo you can see dirty panel lines around the wing area. To acheive this I mixed Tamiya Panel Liner Brown and Light grey to get a pale Brown. A highly recommended kit and I hope you like this
Excellent result and a very unique scheme, George!
Thank you my friend
Really nice result, George @blackadder57
Never saw this scheme before, quite unique and beautifully applied.
Thank you John
Interesting scheme, George.
Not chromate green?
Thanks Rafi @blackmopane I was really hoping for salmon but those who knew more said YZC. What surprised me was how faded it looked in the photo. Here's a photo said to be from 1949-50, still YZC, also my inspiration for painting one of the flaps blue
@blackadder57 - Very cool George. The photo you stumbled across definitely led to a fantastic end result. I initially thought it was an in progress shot with the underlying chromate showing. I was surprised to see this seems to be an actual scheme. I wonder if this was a trainer or something?
Thanks Brian @brithebuilder . Possibly on the way to the paint shop?
Ahhh, that seems very plausible.
What an odd ball scheme, but one I must say I particularly like.
Thank you Tom
Interesting variation on a classic kit, George, beautifully applied.
Many thanks, other George
Very nice build and a distinctive appearance. Thanks for posting it. You made my morning coffee-time more enjoyable.
Danke. I try hard to find aircraft schemes that don't modelled.
love your work on this, super cool to see something so different.
Thank you
Unique/interesting scheme!
Thank you
Love how this came out, I've seen a similar build of an unpainted/factory Corsair done as a small diorama/vignette with it trestled up with lots of access panels open and always thought it would be an interest model to recreate, there was also an F2G that flew around which had the fuselage in primer only which would also be an interesting subject.
Certainly shows very nicely how different components were built and painted before being fitted.
Thank you @scalerambush . I thought I was being unique but when I was almost finished I saw two more builds posted here including the one you mentioned
Very cool! Original and way out of the ordinary.
Appreciated as always Tom @tcinla Didn't flat coat the blue as I did on my F6F. Always learning
Beautiful work! Love the result here!
Thank you
Great unique Corsair, George.
Really like the result of your work.
Thanks another George
A quick Google check and Vought would push each unassembled airframe down the assembly line with individual parts or groups of being painted and added as needed. With the final paint job being done once the a/c was assembled. The out door photo makes one wonder if the aircraft were test flown and then painted? A common paint scheme for Vought employees but, to out side world and military a strange duck indeed. Looks like a fun build George with out the constraints of having to weather and add too many decals.
Did not know they were pushed. Thank you
What ever means needed to move the aircraft. 😉
Unusual scheme, which definitely adds interest! Well done.
Thank you Greg
Great idea George @blackadder57 !
I really like this version of the Corsair that I have seen many times online in the past, both black and white photos and some beautiful dioramas of the production line. I hadn't found these color photos yet!
I have 6 Magic Factory Corsairs in production and one (F4U-2) is more advanced than the others...
However, I had to take some steps back in the painting process of this one that I want to show you and I hope to post the finished work soon... the effect of the peeling, I don't know if I'll be able to get it right!
I will definitely try to make one like yours too because I like it so much. Instead, I saw the splendid creation by @scalerambush and I will certainly try to make "Sally" with the metallic finish...
See you soon!
4 attached images. Click to enlarge.
Thank you Davide. Looking forward to your work
The Connecticut Air and Space Center is restoring a Corsair (FG-1) for the museum that is housed in the former Vought plant. I'm not sure how far they are going to take the restoration but for now she is painted very similar to yours...'in production'. Really neat way to build a model. It's interesting how these came together, the fabric covered bits already painted. The attached photo is not mine, but a quick google search will show many photos of this particular Corsair coming together at the Museum. It sat for years on a pylon out in front of the Jet Center.
Also, look up Vultures Row Aviation, they are restoring 10 Corsairs to flying condition and they post hundreds of photos of the process. Their selection of early Vought Birdcage Corsairs is very impressive and are being rebuilt to exacting Vought Standards, including the Salmon Paint.
Jim
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.