discussion My first Aircraft. F4U-1A corsair

[Guest]

I bought this kit as my first aircraft to build, got it from John at the scale model shop. (Have to say, he is the best priced for this kit, and arrived super quick! Will be buying again from him!)


I'm still not in my new garage build area yet, my brother is going to rebuild the back doorway into it, as at the moment there's a two foot step, and no room for a ramp for me, so unless I keep going in through the main up/over door, I'll stick to in here for now.


Opening the kit up, it's a lot let pieces than I expected, so I'm happy! I'm still a very new greenhorn and have a lot to learn!


Anyway, I begun with the cockpit. Why? Because everyone else does, and the instructions say to do so! Duh! I looked at some of the completed and In build planes on here, and I'm amazed, but I really want to try the idea of making it more realistic.


The main IP has a decal which I'll use, but the two side control systems don't, so I've tried to add some detail. This is only in base at the moment, I'm going to tone down the colour to blend it a bit.


Also, once it's dry, and had some gloss coat, I'm going to start with the Millput and some very thin wire. I want to add to the effect a little, so it's experiment time. The Millput I'm going to roll flat and make some of my own seat belts, also the back and bottom seat cushions, as I don't want to use the man sitting in there.


If I don't try and experiment, and just keep reading and looking at others, I'll never actually learn how to do this.


So here's the units drying, unglued (I cheat and put an X in marker pen on areas I need to not paint so glue adheres!)


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[flyjoe180]

Wow, that looks good, very nice work on that cockpit detail so far Dave.

 

[Bigfoot57]

I like what you've done so far Dave great detail on the cockpit


Colin

 

[Guest]

Nice work so far, are the panel lines raised or reassessed.


Scott

 

[Guest]

Thanks everyone, they're raised.


I've got some very thin wire, and stripped it back, and the strands are VERY thin, so it's excellent to use.

 

[takeslousyphotos]

Cracking job on the cockpit detail Dave. Looks really good.

 

[Guest]

Did a bit more today.


I had some yellow wire, so I stripped the very thin inside wires out, and used the sheathing to make some cabling on the cockpit. It's not totally exact as the real plane, but it looked so boring without it.


I also looked at pictures of the cockpit on the real plane and every one who's a centre console coming up from the floor to the IP behind the stick. This model is missing that completely, the IP has a big hole through to the body, where nothing goes, and no other filler is placed.


So I used a piece of acetate sheet, cut to size and glued it to the back of the IP. Then I dug around and found an old decal, so I cut that down and made the centre console. Then I painted the acetate sheet black, on the back.


I'm still waiting on the Millput to be delivered, so I can make some seat pads and seat belts. Once that's here, I will glue this bundle together and move on.


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[Guest]

Grand opening! Gonna enjoy this coming to life - fantastic 'plane!

 

[colin m]

Looking nice.

 

[papa 695]

A very nice start Dave

 

[Guest]

One thing is the IP has raised markings for the dials, but the decal obviously only goes in one position, and the dials on that are not even the same as the IP!!

 

[Guest]

Had an off day today as I have been to hospital all day, had an MRI on my pelvis and leg, and the rod in my spine really hurt!


Anyway, I spent some time researching the colour scheme for this plane, and got a few nice pics. So that's what I'm going for. Although there's some discrepancies between the distance the lighter grey/blue reaches down the fuselage from the engine nacelle, one lot of pics shows it ending just past the fuselage prior to cockpit, the other (below) shows it going full length.


Wonder what the idea behind that was?


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[Robert1968]

Awesome detailing so far and love the cockpit etc, sorry to hear bout your hospital experience but hopefully you'll get better soon


Nice ref pictures, also like the scratch building your doing


Great work


Robert

 

[Guest]

Great job so far, regards seat belts I've seen someone get some solder wire and roll a tin of humbrol paint over it flattening it and using that for seat belts, looked very effective.

 

[Guest]

That's a new one Kpnuts, didn't think about that.


I need to make the seat cushions too, as the seat is bare.


By the way, I'm in my new modelling area in the garage. I have more space and feels better.

 

[Guest]

Ok, done some more, got the Milliput and made some seat belts and cushions,


I found some foam that was about the right thickness first and cut that down to make a template and check the look and size.


Then I rolled out some putty, and cut it to the size I wanted. Then using the knife, I shaped the edges, took the sharpness out of the cuts and then fitted the cushions onto the seat.


Using the piece of foam, I wetted the cushions and pushed the foam onto the putty, to give it the texture of the seat.


Then I rolls out the remainder of putty to a very thin paper thickness for the belts. Cut the strips and then cut them to length, using water and a brush, I placed each one onto the seat unit, and curved them to get a realistic shape. Once the belts were on, I used small pieces to overlay the tops of the belts where they fit to the bulkhead and some adjuster slides.


I'm really happy with my first attempt at this, as I practice I hope to get better, and I can already see, by taking a little more time to shape the end of each belt, and by cutting a slot in the bulkhead, I could make it even more realistic.


Anyway, once dry in a few days I'll begin to paint them up too


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[flyjoe180]

One thing is the IP has raised markings for the dials, but the decal obviously only goes in one position, and the dials on that are not even the same as the IP!!

Be aware of war-bird aircraft, they often have redesigned cockpits to comply with modern radios, navigation aids etc. There are plenty of cockpit photos online. For an example of an original Corsair cockpit see here (yes it's actually a later Goodyear-built F4U FG-1D, but it gives you an idea: http://www.airspacemag.com/panoramas/fg-1d-corsair-180953750/

Although there's some discrepancies between the distance the lighter grey/blue reaches down the fuselage from the engine nacelle, one lot of pics shows it ending just past the fuselage prior to cockpit, the other (below) shows it going full length.
Wonder what the idea behind that was?

Again, war-bird aircraft are often painted in fictitious or variations of the original schemes. The official paint scheme for the F4U-1 in the US Navy four-tone scheme (often referred to as the tricolor scheme):


Undersides: Insignia white (ANA601, = FS37880).


Underside of outer wings: Intermediate Blue (ANA608 = FS35164)


Sides of fuselage: Intermediate Blue (ANA608 = FS35164)


Upper surfaces, blending down the fuselage sides over the intermediate blue to align with the wing surfaces: Non-Specular (flat) Sea Blue (ANA607 = FS35402)


Wing leading edges: Semi-Specular (semi gloss) Sea Blue (ANA606 = FS25042)


Here is an example of the scheme. It's a RNZAF example but these were delivered in US Navy paint schemes. After months of operating on coral airfields, tropical weather, and the fact that the aircraft were often washed down using aviation gasoline, the paint often faded badly, to the point that it was stripped from the leading edges of wings, propellers and other surfaces.


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[Guest]

Thank you!! Great info!


Did some more, I finished the seat unit,


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[Guest]

All stop on this build for a few, the office is finished, and put to one side.


But my Mig pigment kit and some plaster of Paris has arrived and I want to finish the tank before I continue building this.


Terminator quote inserted here.


(You know the one!)

 

[Guest]

Carrying on, as there's only a little left on the tank.


So I cut out the side fuselages, and the rear jockey wheel system. The fuselage halves were not too bad, little bit of flashing on the engine end, easily removed with a knife and a little 1200.


Painted the office space and jockey wheel space and put to one side, as I want to put some more detail in the cockpit sides before I fit the cockpit.


Onto the rear jockey wheel assembly, the sprues were melded into the parts a little, so I cut them off carefully. I then noticed the wheel wasn't even wheel shaped! Never seen an aircraft with a square edged wheel, with a huge ribbing down the centre, so I got it in the drill, on a stick and sanded it down and gave it some shape. Not as much as I'd like, but without my mini lathe I'm going to have to accept the finish.


Also the centre flashing on the other parts was quite prominent, so I sanded those down too.


All waiting to dry, rubber black on the wheel, alloy silver base on the assembly.


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