This kit seems to give you a hard time, Harvey @scalerambush
I'm sure you will get those issues solved nicely.
Cockpit and engine do look amazing.

Howdy all, been pretty busy so haven't had a whole bunch of time on the Corsair. Aside from that I was also doing a bit of work on the Bearcat, and I also started a quick Japanese build purely because I really want to make something perhaps unrealistically dirty since the last 4 or 5 builds have been clean. Regardless, the Corsair did get a bit of attention and is starting to look like part of an aircraft rather than a random collection of plastic.

Assembling the Fuselage

Well, John was right, those parts on the front of the fuselage were very fragile and one snapped off when it got caught on a sprue in the box, so the other one just got cut off while I fit the cockpit.

Surprisingly though the cockpit actually fit well... Far better than on the older F4U-1A I did with this resin cockpit. The only real issue was joining up the nose as the guide holes were naturally removed. With some tape and a night overnight in a vice just to be safe the fuesleage was together and it didn't seem like I had to sand as much down as previously.

Even the wing fit on without issue, which was handy and unexpected as I had huge issues last time. As you may notice I drilled out the fuel tank cover and added in the resin piece, I actually can't find any good references of the fuel tank online or my books regarding colouring or whether the fuel tank actually has accurate detailing to it, I decided not to paint it as I think it'll be easier to paint the plane then paint it later rather than the other way round.

Then the plane got some filler, and those lost thin parts glued back on. Mind you, not a lot of filler was used, just my standard routine of adding a strip down the spine and such to remove and seam line or damage from when cutting off the sprue.

Currently I just need to sand down the wings as I forgot to fill the gaps here, after this I suppose I'll work on the wing and such. The engine can sort of fit in the plane but its an exceedingly tight space so I'll likely need to sand down some bits on the inside of the fuselage, there's also some PE to go in here to detail it but I think that's best added after the engine is added, which in turn is best added after painting.

Nice progress. This is going to be a very interesting model when finished.

A pitty about the part breaking off, Harvey @scalerambush
Maybe I missed that part, but the glass in the belly, is that for a photo camera.

Thank you all.

The window was a bombing window, present on the F4U-1. It offered very little visiblity and was found to often be covered with oil and dirt obscuring what little could be seen, so mechanics in the field either painted over it or replaced it with sheet metal. Very early in the F4U-1A production it was deleted and replaced with an access hatch, with the Tamiya kit it comes as the clear plastic and it just gets painted over. The few F4U-1P (photorecon) that were made either had the camera in underbelly hatch further back or in the side of the fuselage depending on the version/time/etc.

3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Thanks, Harvey (@scalerambush), for the info on the window. I always figured it was some sort of window for bombing, but I couldn't figure how it would be useful in combat, especially if it was covered with oil, dirt, and sand.

Wheeeeelp, been a while!

Been a busy few months (thanks to the holidays), so modelling time had been limited. More importantly, despite how much I love the Corsair, I just wasn't feeling this project. When my time to model had been reduced, spending it sanding a wing for the 5th time wasn't my ideal of fun and I lost my mojo heavily. Then I got the P-39 as something quicker to focus on so as such the hobby time went towards that.

It's nearly a new year, so will this project be revived? Well I'd like to, though after March things get very busy to me and a new model landed in my lap due to Santa which I'll start yet another build thread on.

So what's been going on with this project? Well let me go back to my notes and see where we left off.

Recap

Huh, honestly not a lot has changed.

Firstly a few little bits were done (that I thought I already posted) such as the undercarriage, obviously not needed right now but will be needed in the future. These used photoetch included with the Aires set, as always looking at the instructions iss more of a suggestion so high quality photos are the true guide.

The main issue is those wings. I have big regrets with those resin wheel bays, the detail is nice but as I mentioned before the detail isn't anything that wouldn't be able to be done with a bit of wire and the stock parts. The issue is that the wing is slightly wider now, which made attaching the folding wings harder.

Now the folding wings on the Tamiya 1/48 are probably the weakest link of the kit, the option to do it folded is very nice and appreciated however when unfolded getting them to join up nicely without gaps is troublesome, and now with the wheel well making the wings a tad thicker that's even harder.

The left wing generally went on without too much issue, but some filler, sanding and thus rescribing was required. The problem is that right wing. It has gone through the process of sanding and filling at least 5 times. Either a dent becomes apparent a few days later, or the wing gets damaged accidently via just holding it, causing a crack, or on my last attempt the wing cracked heavily when I was trying to rescribe the details which are all heavily lost on that wing. Normally a minor dent or some missing panel lines wouldn't bother me and can be somewhat hidden with some heavy weathering (that dent could just be solved with some aluminium paint), but considering the subject it needs to be near pristine as the subject is pristine

That's about when I bought the P-39. Since then I did some minor bits, such as riveting the tail. This took time of course, but was more enjoyable than going for the wing.

Since then the kit has been left to the side a bit, I was hoping to get more done now life calms down a bit but with a shiny new model to do instead... Its a hard sale. The major blocking point is that wing, as soon as that jigsaw piece falls into place then the rest of the plane will come together quite quickly after.

You know what, after writing this out I'll give it another crack. The issue again is that fixing it is a slow process. Filler takes a day to dry, sanding it down reveals issues, so then you need to apply filler and sand again, rinse and repeat.

On the subject of riveting because I've seen it mentioned before on other forums. 'The F4U wasn't riveted, why add it?'. Totally correct, the Corsair was spot-welded which doesn't produce as noticeable an effect and on a factory fresh aircraft its very hard to see. That being said I don't see anyone complain about the Tamiya 1/32 having recessed 'rivets' to show this, and I think my best work so far is the Corsair I did with this technique. Modelling is a case of realism versus 'realism'. Overexaggerating painting, especially weathering and damage, helps create a more 'real' looking model. Panel lines are too big to be in scale, but the model panel lines a kit has the more detailed it looks and so on. Either way, with a paintjob that will be monotone I felt riveting (as well as opening up that nose) will provide more interest.

As a side whilst I didn't photograph it, I did carve out a bit more of that nose so the engine fits properly. Removing it did result in some of the framework coming apart (not breaking, just coming out of the holes it was glued in) so repeating it for the camera seems like a bad idea! It would be far easier to attach that piece at the end once the painting is all done and dusted.

In the meantime, I'll post the new project in a few days as not to spam and I'll be going back and trying to fix that wing every so often to try and break the traffic jam it has caused on productivity.

A further point: I won't blame my tools but I don't really have ideal stuff for rescribing, currently I've found best success with a razorsaw. That being one of the issues is trying to rescribe over filler. Fundementally I might need to go ahead and get some better supplies so I can actually rescribe over the filler, so something a bit thicker and stronger than the tamiya putty, Mr dissolved putty, and sprue glue.

Your persistance is amazing on this aircraft, Harvey @scalerambush
All this filling, sanding and repeating the process multiple times is indeed demotivating.
Nevertheless your progress indicates she will eventually turn into a nice Corsair.