First Steps in Chipping

As previously mentioned we now have a shiny glossed metallic Corsair, ready for future chipping layers and all that good stuff.

Since it was a small component that is easy to strip paint off of and restart if it all went wrong, I decided forgo the gloss coat on the metallic cowling panels and get straight to work to see if the chipping would work as intended.

First the chipping fluid, two coats via brush. Followed by Zinc Chromite. Problem arrised when I put the second layer of chipping fluid over this colour, which unsurprisingly (but was totally overlooked) begun to activate the previous layers when applied with brush. This wasn't a major issue on the flatter surfaces, but on the curved front piece of the cowling it removed a lot of the zinc chromite. A second layer was applied with airbrush after this. Once paint was applied it wasn't noticeable, but a tiny orange peel effect can be noticed up close due to the airbrush use. Not enough to be noticeable and warrent fixing, but enough to remind me why I'm not using the airbrush for the fluid.

Regardless with that out the way the parts were sprayed a couple of tones of Sea Blue to provide some simple variation, though KD431 doesn't show crazy paint fading or anything just paint removal so this isn't a big deal.

Chipping was done on the front piece and the cowl flaps, starting with a cocktail stick but this caused too much to come off. I then went for the scalpel which produced more in scale results, and more precisely than a brush would. Scratches clearly seen on KD431 were noted and were replicated with the rear side of the knife.

Meanwhile a second experiment, just how long can I get away with not chipping those engine access panels? This is due to another hard to see detail being added which is the factory applied nose number, used for identification during delivery and would be removed later on. This can be seen extremely subtle on the real thing, so subtle that you probably didn't notice it looking at other photos.

It seems only the photos taken with the brightest flash possible have a hope of showing the faint remains of this number. To replicate this I outlined the number with pencil, and then filled in the number using acrylic black wash. The outline is a little more obvious than I'd like due to the graphite (perhaps a black coloured pencil would be better), but in general its very hard to see aside from the light shining on the graphite and if I turn the brightness up. I'm not sure how to do this number any better beyond masking it off and spraying, which doesn't sound very fun making a very 'human' non-stenciled number out of masking tape so as such I'll likely leave it as such and hopefully a clear coat will dull down the graphite. I think I may be nitpicking though.

And that's the Corsair in its current stage, I plan to start the paintwork on the aircraft itself tomorrow but may sit around and just do some smaller details instead such as the canopy, the cowling number on the other side, gear legs etc.

Oh, one other thing is the propeller. There were two types used, a 13.4 inch one on the F4U-1/1A, and a 13.1 inch one used later on with the -1D. The later one is a bit fatter towards the base. I believe KD431 has the earlier type, though to be quite honest it's something I have trouble distinguishing without a side-by-side comparison, and it doesn't help that a lot of KD431 photos have them feathered making it at a harder angle to notice.

Now personally looking at diagrams it seems the Tamiya propeller is a bit too wide or something, it just looks a bit off, but I think it's the right one at least. I may look into aftermarket though for this part.

E: On observation looking at the photos, the 4 is different to how I've done it as the chalk outline wasn't the same as what is visible now on that nose number, darnit. Luckily it is such thin paint I was able to alter that without issue.

6 additional images. Click to enlarge.

Very nice work done, Harvey @scalerambush
To me this identifiation number does look great.
I agree on the green dot, this is likely the reflection of the ceiling lights.

Great job on the remnants of the factory number, Harvey (@scalerambush). I have never seen this number visible on any other plane. Great job replicating it.

Absolutely wonderful painting job, my friend @scalerambush!

Looks terrific, Harvey @scalerambush. The gas patch is an interesting detail on the plane. I never realized Navy planes ever carried them.

Great paintwork, Harvey @scalerambush
Those roundels came out perfectly.

Harvey R. (@scalerambush)
This is looking fantastic. It has to be the best Corsair I have seen to date. I'm glad you are enjoying the book I mentioned on the restoration of KD-431. Your comments about it are spot on. Being a fellow Corsair fan, there's another pair of books I can highly recommend to you that were written by Dana Bell on the "Birdcage" and the raised cabin F4U-1A and F4U-1D.

These books are a goldmine of information and they go into a lot of details on the differences between the Vought, Goodyear and Brewster versions. There's also some excellent information on the production line changes that were made, and they even go into the Bureau Number as to when these changes or upgrades took effect.

What I really found interesting is how the author went into the details about how various aircraft components were delivered pre painted, such as landing gear struts and wing panels. These items I mentioned were subcontracted out by various companies like Chrysler for the landing gear, and Briggs for the wings. Depending on when the parts were delivered / installed, they could have been various colors, ranging from Gray to an Aluminum color for the landing gear struts as an example. Then once they were installed, (again depending on the time), they could have been left alone as is, or painted again when the overall airframe was painted. They could have been delivered in White, Glossy Sea Blue or Light Gray, it depended on the color that was used on the bottom center section of the wing. The gear struts could have been the same color as the interior of the main gear wells. To make things even more confusing, later the Navy often painted the gear struts White, once they were placed in service or during major overhauls, to make it easier for the ground crews to detect cracks.

As far as the numbers on the engine cowl, often these numbers were painted on at the factory, and they gradually wore off in time or they were eventually painted over after delivery. They took the last three digits of the bureau number and applied them to the cowling to make it easier to identify on the factory's flight line.

Grumman, Vought, Goodyear, Eastern and some others did this regularly. The style / font depended on who was painting that day, because they were supposed to only be temporary.
The FAA Corsairs in the color picture you posted would have been JT-199 and possibly JT-235 (or 225), as it's hard to tell what the center number is exactly.

As far as the propeller on KD-431, as you mentioned there were two different sizes installed. On the earlier Corsairs, they used a prop blade that was more thin at the base, and I think you are spot on with your observation. The later prop was a wider blade, and these were often called the "combat prop". I think the wider combat prop was also slightly shorter in overall diameter, with the thinner blades being longer. The wider blade offered better performance.

One last thing about the ammunition cans that were installed in the wings: The top surface of the ammo cans actually made up the top or outer wing skin exterior surface. These boxes were interchangeable, and could be installed in position for a different MG on the later Corsairs. On the early (mostly "birdcage") Corsairs the ammo cans were placement specific, and this is why they were also usually numbered on top. This is also why on occasion you can see a wing insignia that has a small box section that is Blue instead of the usual White color, if it was a US aircraft, and a newer version of the Corsair.

I am completely blown away by the work you are doing here on your Corsair, and I can't wait to see the next installment.

What more to say than it looks absolutely stunning, my friend @scalerambush! Magnificent!