Thanks for the opinions folks! You all made good points, I agree with you Spiros that in all likeliness the flat aspect of PE wouldn't be as noticeable once its put in a cockpit, with two guys, and a canopy of the top. As Erik mentioned the PE being used in parts that are missing like handles and the circuit breakers by the pilots legs (which undoubtedly won't be see due to said legs) is a good idea. George, I actually looked into getting them as Quinta sell them, however I wasn't sure on the PE when I bought it and the Quinta set is triple the price of the Eduard one when shipping is included, and would come from Russia not the UK. I did want to try them though as I'm seeing a lot of adverts for them, but haven't done enough research and just assumed they were largely similar to PE just applied differently. That being said if they do have better 3D details compared to PE I may have to pick some up in the future if someone does one for a Corsair.

In the end I'm still on the fence, I also asked on my Instagram and for 76 votes vs 49 for PE, but that being said I got 5 messages about doing the painting rather than PE. In the end I'm still undecided but I painted up one of the panels to what will pretty much be the final finish, coloured buttons where required, a wash, and some drybrushing. I loaded up DCS as a reference and had a look around, I think they're both equally matched in detail honestly. On one hand the Tamiya set replaces some things with approximate shapes rather than being 100% accurate (as is expected with something this small) but naturally the colours can be as accurate as I can get it, whereas the PE is naturally way more accurate in buttons and dials but I feel its a slightly wrong colour. All in all I'd say the Tamiya kit realistically does as good as can possibly be achieved with a cockpit in 1/48 in terms of accuracy, also not particularly suprising from Tamiya.

Still tend to say that your handpainted panel is preferred, Harvey.

Thanks for the kind words folks regarding the painting, here's a little update.

To Paint or Photoetch, Part II

I decided to go ahead and paint some more and get a feel for it, naturally I'm beginning to become a bit fond of the painted plastic now some of it has been completed. So far I've cracked open the Citadel paints and the side panels and the sidewalls have been painted, washed and weathered. I've also gone ahead and started doing the same for instrument panel, but so far they've just been painted.

Magnetic Ordinance

I've also gone ahead and tested magnets for removable ordinance, 1.5mm magnets fit fine in the fuel tank but are too big for the pylon! It doesn't fit perfectly as the magnet is a little wonky, but a few adjustments and it should be fine.

Great looking instruments, Harvey.
Like the idea about the magnets, didn't know they existed in these small dimensions.

Instrument panels look great, Harvey (@scalerambush). Where did you every find magnets small enough to put in the pylons and ordnance?

Great progress Harvey. I like the look of your painted panels. I can say too, sometimes there is no shame in using portions of the PE along with painted details, in the same way you might use decals to spruce up some details.

With the magnets, I've done this on a few builds, all of which had pylons too narrow for the smallest magnets I could find. What I've done in these cases is - If the ordinance isn't too heavy - get thin gage steel rod (just narrower than the pylon) and cut them flush on the end. Then drill with the appropriately sized drill and CA into place.

With heavier ordinance this can be a bit finicky, so test first for something like the fuel tanks. Also, goes without saying, make extra certain that you've got your polarity right, otherwise you'll be pickling your bombs at the wrong time. 😉

Great progress so far!

Some more progress to report! Also that is a good idea Andrew, I'll look into it. Currently I'm testing the magnets on the fuel tanks as they are the easiest to just glue in place if I decide not to and are the ones I'm most likely to always leave on, but the rod would be a smart solution for those thin pylons!

The Cockpit and Forward Fuselage

She does indeed be big.

The Tomcats cockpit has been mostly assembled, ideally I'll put a clear coat over it but I generally forget to do this as it doesn't particularly matter on an area that won't be touched. One thing I do like to do is use a gloss, or Micro Krystal Klear and put a tiny drop on each instrument to give it a bit of very subtle shine so that's next on the to do list. I also need to paint the base of the joystick the same fabric material as on the sidewalls which I decided to do a darker grey. Overall its shaping up nicely, I may use the PE and put in the missing circuit breakers by the pilots legs though naturally when he is shoved in you won't see them. Regardless, it's going well and fits great. The cockpit hasn't been glued onto the front wheel bay, nor have the fuselage halves been glued, but as a size comparison I've put it next to another US Navy fighter that is slightly older...



Now I really need to get on the ball and order some paint for this bird, I was originally going to go for MRP but they seem to be out of stock of most of the required colours. I may have to use Tamiya but finding paint comparisons are hard as a lot of forum threads seem to just say 'don't use Tamiya and buy this random other paint', which isn't particularly helpful.

4 additional images. Click to enlarge.

Interior looks great, Harvey (@scalerambush). It seems like most places are out of the colors of paint that most people use, especially white, black, and clear. I like Tamiya and still use it when I can, but their biggest problem is having a small color range. Most of the time you can still find the colors you need, even if they don't use the appropriate name. I also use AK Real Colors, which are an acrylic lacquer similar to Tamiya, but they have a huge range of colors. I have never used MRP, so I can't comment on them. I think we all get used to specific brands that give us good results, and we don't stray far away from those brands.