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Just in time for the new Tamiya 1/32 F4U-1A!!


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Fündekals is proud to announce our first sheet of F4U Corsairs! This sheet is the result of our taking a long, hard look at these subjects with fresh eyes, as if we’d never seen any of them before. You may find our interpretation a bit different from what you’ve seen in the past, but we’ll back up our conclusions with a lot of photographs, and we think you’ll agree! Several of these historically important subjects have never been seen in decal form before from any source, and we think your Corsair will look killer wearing them! Available in 1/72, 1/48, and in 1/32, just in time for the new Tamiya 1/32 F4U-1A masterpiece. Our usual comprehensive instruction sheet, containing copious notes, photos, and diagrams (of some Corsair details you probably haven’t seen before!) will be available for download from our site, whether you want to purchase the decals or not. Available soon and only from www.fundekals.com!

F4_U_Preview.jpg

Edited by Jennings
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Those are some great looking Corsairs. I'll be wanting to look at your research info first but I'm definitely impressed with the choice of subjects.

Question - Does anyone know if the upcoming Tamiya kit will offer both types of canopy, the one with the extra frame structure and the fully clear one?

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I know nothing whatsoever about the Tamiya kit. If it truly is a -1A it will likely only have the framed canopy though. I just hope they provide the option for a lower left wing without the landing light. It doesn't belong on most -1As and on no -1Ds at all.

Edited by Jennings
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I know nothing whatsoever about the Tamiya kit. If it truly is a -1A it will likely only have the framed canopy though. I just hope they provide the option for a lower left wing without the landing light. It doesn't belong on most -1As and on no -1Ds at all.

To bad.... I wouldn't be able to build some of your subjects then. I was really diggin' FF75. I'll have to see what the Tamiya canopy looks like. I might be able to sand the frame off.

Are your decals all for the F4U-1A or are some of those subjects later versions? I know the FAA Corsairs would need some surgery on the wingtips but per the title of your post, I assumed that all the subjects were compatible with the upcoming Tamiya -1A.

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Do you have any doubt whatsoever that they'll do a 1/32 -1D? I'd be utterly and completely shocked if they didn't. Meantime there are other kits...

Edited by Jennings
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Do you have any doubt whatsoever that they'll do a 1/32 -1D? I'd be utterly and completely shocked if they didn't. Meantime there are other kits...

I have no doubt about this, I was simply confused because in your initial post, it seemed (to me at least) that these decals were for the -1A version. I see now that this is not the case. No biggie, as you said, there are plenty over other kits.

Looks like a great product, good luck with sales.

John

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Hasn't his airplane been done already? We try not to duplicate things that have been done correctly by others. If somebody did it and made a mashup of it we'd consider it, but otherwise we'd be wasting resources that would be better spent doing something original.

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Hasn't his airplane been done already? We try not to duplicate things that have been done correctly by others. If somebody did it and made a mashup of it we'd consider it, but otherwise we'd be wasting resources that would be better spent doing something original.

Aeromaster did decals in 1/48 but all the serials were not in the correct sizes or font.

25-30 years ago Arrow Graphics released his decals. At the time they were all we had and they certainly are not the highest quality decals. These were copies of Hamilton's restored 115 and were not accurate either.

No one has released accurate or quality decals of his aircraft (or an aircraft in his log book). 115 appeared in his log book frequently.

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I was trying to remember the name - White Dog. I recall that getting good reviews.

The decals were good, the accuracy wasn't.

This build has decals from the sheet Joe referenced.

http://hyperscale.com/2007/features/hellcatiimn_1.htm

Randy Lutz has a build online with a mix of White Dog and Aeromaster decals on a FAA Corsair to get the build reasonably accurate.

Very old sheet and White Dog is gone now,

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In any event, we probably won't do any more F4U's in the foreseeable future.

As it turns out, Jonathan has already researched Hampton Gray's airplanes. Not only was "X 115" not "his" airplane, there is no agreement on what her serial number was, nor whether Gray or anyone else aboard actually had aircraft assigned. They most likely flew whatever was serviceable and on deck when they were scheduled up. Unless and until some heretofore unknown information comes to light, I suspect Hammy's airplane will remain a historical mystery.

Edited by Jennings
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In any event, we probably won't do any more F4U's in the foreseeable future.

As it turns out, Jonathan has already researched Hampton Gray's airplanes. Not only was "X 115" not "his" airplane, there is no agreement on what her serial number was, nor whether Gray or anyone else aboard actually had aircraft assigned. They most likely flew whatever was serviceable and on deck when they were scheduled up. Unless and until some heretofore unknown information comes to light, I suspect Hammy's airplane will remain a historical mystery.

As you mentioned Hampton wasn't assigned an aircraft, very few FAA pilots were. 115 has always been associated with Hampton as it was in his logbook and he flew it more often than others.

I have copies from log books of pilots who flew 115 after Hampton died and as far as I can discern 115 X was KD399. I also have one picture of 115 X with what appears to be KD399. I feel the source of that picture has more (a former WWII FAA Corsair pilot who is still alive in my city).

Vintage Wings and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum depicted 115 X as KD658, which I feel is an error. They all repeated a painting that depicted 115 as KD431. Bit it is also possible two 115s were painted as the serials were used over.

Someone will do decals for Hampton; he was our last VC winner and the second last Canadian to die in WWII. He is well revered in Canada.

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How many photographs do you have of 115, that we can state for certain are the same aircraft coded "115" that's listed in his logs? I'm not aware of but one, and it's really lousy, and it's not even known for certain that it's the same airplane.

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