The interior slipped in and buttoned up nicely, as there are a few unique nuances in the kit design that allow for the top of the forward fuselage to remain open while fiddling with the fit of the instrument panel. I found this helped, but some reviewers of this kit chided this feature, complaining about the fit of the upper decking later. It went on nicely for me and I think this is one of the better 72nd late Corsairs out there. It captures the big beefy "hose nose" elegantly! Another difference was that the oil cooler/intercooler intakes and one of the defining elements of the bent winged bird, were separate and added to the leading edges after mainplane assembly. This is the only filler applied to the kit's basic assembly. Not bad! The exhaust pipes were molded to the lower firewall and slipped right over the fuselage scalloping to produce a convincing reproduction. The well detailed engine was a pleasure to paint and detail and the rudder is molded separate and can be positioned offset , which I did, exposing a detailed inner fin ,if you can believe that! Two choices of cowl flaps give open or closed options,which for me is always a given, as I have spent hours laboriously fabricating open cowl flaps on other radial engine fighters. The orange fuselage stripe is supplied as a decal , but I chose to spray it on over a black undercoat as I find it gives an illusion of depth ( and as modellers we are all illusionists aren't we?) I have seen some -4 Corsairs with an anti-glare panel and though I am not sure if any Naval Reserve Units had them ,I like the look , so there you go. Two coats of FS15042 and a couple of clear coats and I am ready for decals! It seems to be taking forever, but this is the busy season at work, so I guess I should go easy on myself.
21 attached images. Click to enlarge.
