Using a sharp blade definitely helps! I forgot about it until the canopy part so sadly the front glass is a bit beaten up, but it seems like it mostly has caused aluminium paint to show rather than the clear plastic thankfully.

In other news, the parts for the stands hasn't arrived today either. I'll likely take pictures of '29' since ready for a finished article whilst I keep my fingers crossed for tomorrow being the arrival date

Superb result on the 29, Harvey @scalerambush
Your skills are exceptional, which is clearly shown on this one, although your skills were already great as seen on the other Corsair.

Thank you for the words! It's much appreciated. I did go in thinking I had much to improve on but it seems on reflection that (in my opinion) a better blue and better chipping are the largest ways I could have improved on 'Big Hog'.

The headline is up if you fancy some better photos. After taking far too long in the lightbox I realised I forgot something, scratches!

By going over the model's final clear coat with a toothpick you can create scratches on the model, I use this on the high use areas to create a final bit weathering and use. It's not hugely obvious in the real world but in a lightbox or when the model is in the right bit of sunlight it can add some extra degree of use. It's made a particularly noticeable difference to the Matt coat, previous experience with other clear coats are even more subtle.

Lost of words, my friend @scalerambush!
Scratches! Pretty amazing: cannot get more real!

A Finished Trio?

I was hoping to finish this build thread off with building my stands for the two in flight Corsairs, but unfortunately all of the 3 parts, from seperate suppliers, haven't arrived a week after the due date. With news saying there is a massive problem with Royal Mail in my county, it may turn tomorrow or in two weeks. As such I'll end this thread here for now and sods law will say it shall come tomorrow no doubt!

Regardless, its been great to have you all around. These build threads are a lot of fun to do, and I can't wait to do another one. I'm eyeing up the Empire of Japan group build so I hope to see you all there soon.

Thank you all for the comments and conversation, it's much appreciated!

Headline article for the F4U-1C is up, and I'll do the RNZAF Corsair in a few days once I've written something decent for it. So far these got shoved on stands made for other Corsairs for the photos but sadly still sit in a dust-free cupboard waiting for their chance to be homed in the IKEA cabinets.

A Strange Looking Corsair

I wanted to take a brief break after this long build thread, but I didn't wish to completely cut off the modelling mojo for a week. So I started on this little Airfix Chippie. It's a bit of a disappointing kit, but I having a model in its first primer coat within 3/4 hours of work is very much a nice change of pace.

Anyways, thanks again for following along. See you in the next one folks

FIN

Thanks for this truly wonderful modeling ride, my friend @scalerambush! It is really amazing not only that you created absolutely magnificent models, but also taking the time to document your progress and write it down in such a detailed, utterly helpful way for us here.
Looking forward to "see" you in our amazing and ever successful Empire of Japan GB!
Congratulations!

Thank you for the kind words everyone, if it this long build thread helped anyone then I'm glad.

Finally, the Stands

The bits for the stands all came Saturday so I build them up and now the Corsairs are sitting in their IKEA cabinet.

It's not a difficult task making these, but I wanted to include it anyways.

Firstly I bought the parts, these are a 150mm x 10mm acrylic disc and a 150x 3mm acrylic rod. The acrylic rod can be substituted for a brass rod, which can look better in some situation and is more importantly stronger so came in useful when dealing with a subject like a big heavy F-14. For the Corsairs I kept with acrylic.

Of course all measurements are subject to personal choice, the acrylic discs which act as bases could be thinned down a little if you'd like, and made smaller too. The rods can be any size you'd like, but I go for making a 3mm hole in both the model and the base so therefore the rod must be that wide. On the RNZAF Corsair I shortened the rod with a saw to 100mm as it goes directly against the pilots seat, the F4U-1C ended up more like 120mm as it goes behind the cockpit parts and ends up hitting the top of the fuselage, making it so this model actually sits a little lower.

To make the rod is simple, firstly mark out where you want the hole. With these two I aimed roughly for the centre but on previous models like the F-14 I made the hole off-centre so it sits further towards the rear of the aircraft. I made these holes with a dremel and a 3mm drill bit, and used a small pin-vice early on in the models production prior to painting. I'd recommend only drilling 1/2-3/4 of the way through the base rather than all the way through. It's best to drill the hole into the model prior to painting as it will cause some plastic build up that needs to be sanded or cut off.
[pix5]
With the holes done the acrylic rod can be placed in it, this can be glued in with superglue but in this case the join was strong without it so no need. Using a source of heat, in this case a borrowed/stolen hairdryer, you can eat up the rod and bend it into the position you'd like. I'd recommend getting it roughly into what you think is right then placing the model on it to confirm. If you use brass you're best off getting two pliers and bending it as you'd like.

And with that is the simple stand for the two Corsairs, and everything else in my case. All parts are from eBay for quite cheap.

2 additional images. Click to enlarge.

Great bases and ditto result with the F4's mounted, Harvey @scalerambush