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1/48 Tamiya F4U-1D build


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Ive been lurking around long enough and decided I would finally post a wip and join a GB to boot..a two for one! Know Im coming in late but Ive already made some progress on the beautiful Tamiya F4U-1D kit. The pit is already built up and weathered...hope to have some photos tomorrow. Been working on getting the big fan out front buttoned up. So here we go:

Tamiya's beautiful R2800...

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and...

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Painting consisted of a primer coat of Polly Scale acrylic engine black + Future. Man I love that engine black paint! Then a couple of mist coats of Alclad duraluminum were shot over it. A wash of raw umber oil paint + turpenoid preceded the push rods getting painted Vallejo black. The gear reduction housing got a mix of Gunze grey and blue then some detail painting with Citadel silver and Vallejo black. A wash of the same raw umber slurry was applied liberally. The bolts around the ignition housing were tinted with Alclad pale gold.

Finished the firewall up yesterday...

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Was going for that grey heat stained look on the exhausts. Rust colored pastels were applied followed by a slurry consisting of grey pastel and Tamiya thinner. In retrospect probably should have applied the grey pastels over a black base instead of a rust one...oh well.

Thats all for now...time to start on the airframe!

Thanks for looking

Michael

Edited by rumbling1
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If that is your first wip im going to go and hide under a rock ..... ive done quite a few and none come close to looking this good

Cheers

Neo

Edited by Neo
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Back with a little bit of progress...real life has slowed things down some but Ill go down in flames trying to make the deadline! This is what I call the boring stage...the actual construction. The bird Im doing didnt have the forward mast so I attached the mast with epoxy then cut it off and filled the susequent gaps with CA and accelerator. I then brushed some Mr Surfacer 500 to check my work. Something I do a little differently when removing the Surfacer is I use a piece of white paper with a drop or two of iso alcohol to remove it from flat surfaces instead of q-tips. The q-tips always seem to remove just enough surfacer from the gap that I have to apply a second coat...the paper will stay parallel to the surface without entering the gap. First things first though...need to mask the area off so the sanding dosent erase any of that beautiful Tamiya surface detail:

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I Built up the lower wing and the main wheelweels. I decided to use yellow zinc chromate for the wheelwells to give it some contrast. Got all the bits added to the fuselage including the decking behind the canopy...kinda tricky but if done right you can maintain the proper gap to represent the panel lines without having to break out the sandpaper. I installed the pit and glued the upper halves of the fuselage together with Tamiya thin and epoxy and set it aside to dry. I have installed the lower wing in the following picture and am gluing it as well as the lower fuselage halves...Berna clamps are one of my favorite hobby tools!

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Thats it for now...hopefully will be posting more progress soon. Thanks for looking!

Michael

Edited by rumbling1
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  • 2 weeks later...

Greeting from a very soggy central Alabama! Let me start by saying I have seen some great and inspiring builds in this GB...a big well done to everyone so far!! Been making progress slowly but surely. This constant rain over the last 2 weeks has put a major hamper on my painting oppurtunities. The bird Im building is #184 from VBF-83 which flew from the Essex in April of 1945 (Eagle Strike 48086). Build wise everything is buttoned up and ready for the paint shop. The flaps are all assembled and the step filled. ( I know these are accurate on late 1Ds but the bird Im building flew from the Essex in 1945 so Im assuming it was an early 1D). I filled the wing leading edge tank caps on the wing tops as well as the drain and ground on the lower wings. The aerodynamic fairing on the tailwheel doors was also removed. Just a few quick pictures...pls excuse the poor quality:

First up is the coaming painted up and weathered...the eyebrow panels and gunsight are yet to be added

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Next is the bottom showing the main wheelwells and bomb racks. I decided not to hang anything and installed the aero fairings to lthe racks

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A close-up of the main wheel well weathered up. Pretend the nasty injection marks are not there...had to leave them in the interest of time

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If the rain ever stops I will be painting her up...until then cheers

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Jay,

Probably not the most common color but I did go by the tip pinned in the prop section:

F4U-1D Corsair. Cockpit: FS 34151 Interior Green. The area above the consoles was black. This matches the Navy's directives at the time very well. Inside of the wheel bays and engine cowling were also Interior Green FS 34151. Wheel bays could have been Zinc Chromate Yellow, FS 33481. Landing gear was Light Gull Gray or Aluminum Lacquer. After overhaul aircraft could have had the landing gear, wheel centers and wheel bays painted Glossy Sea Blue.

Im hoping to get paint on her this week so Ill be cutting it close!

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looks like some nice progress. think you will get it done in time? not too sure about your color choice for the wheel wells but the weathering looks really nice in there.

True for earlier planes, but by the time they went to the black/green cockpit and the GSB exterior, the wheel wells were also interior green, according to IPMS Stockholm and Dana Bell.

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Michael,

Looking very impressive...the wheel wells and bomb racks are very tidy and neat and the coloring looks flawless and good..

well done..just keep at it and will be back for more of your WIP...

Great Work..

HOLMES :crying:

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