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  • 1 month later...

Thank you, guys ( @Falcon50EX, @crackerjazz) , for the kind words.

 

Once the holiday season passed, I had time to continue this project; as anticipated, flaps became quite challenging.

 

To make the hinge mechanism more accurate, the original supports provided in the kit had to be removed; to compensate, metal tabs were inserted for the new supports; these worked fine in providing mechanical strength, but I didn't foresee a sure way for alignment, and that resulted in a big headache.

 

At least two weeks went by in several rounds of try and error; the bend of the wing made things more difficult because the two inner sections of the flaps had to align at different angles but also had to be installed simultaneously since there was a plate connecting both.

 

The strategy was to glue the right side the best I could and then use it as a reference to align the left one by eye.

 

YLvWwDW.jpg

 

kX8Pih8.jpg?1

 

I'm not sure if the drop angle of the flaps is correct, but I think it is close enough; also, I wanted to represent the gap between the flaps and the wing the best I could.

 

4EQiJ6s.jpg

 

The ailerons were also glued in place and presented in a neutral position. The reason for having them as separate parts was to enhance the actuators' details and better represent the separation from the wing.

 

1TzBHGl.jpg

 

The next step is the installation of the outer flaps and maybe the main wheels.

 

Thanks for watching.

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4 hours ago, Falcon50EX said:

Those fuel filler caps look great, as does the outboard flap disconnect plunger.

Thanks, David; much of the credit goes to you for pointing out those missing details in the first place.

 

2 hours ago, chukw said:

Simply marvelous, Carlos- those flaps are quite convincing- cheers!

Thanks, Chuck; I'm glad you like it; once I started checking references couldn't unsee the fictitious details provided in the kit.

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Many thanks, @Ikon, @RichB63; I'm glad you like it.

 

On a side note, I just found this on YouTube; I would have liked it knowing this reference when I started the project. Anyway, I left this video very interesting for anyone working on a Corsair, especially the birdcage variant.

 

 

Regards

 

Carlos

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  • 2 weeks later...

While reworking the flaps' attachments, I smeared some black cyano which will need retouching later.

 

8mjme1K.jpg

 

In the end, I had to settle with this; you can see that the gaps differ between the right and left wings, which is not what I wanted, but it is the best compromise I could get.

 

EFKmXEc.jpg

 

Next is attaching the inner hub of the wheels; at this point, I committed to using the ResKit instead of the kit ones.

 

To minimize the risk of misaligned tires, I try to get the inner hubs parallel and perpendicular to the floor; for this, I made a jig with some legos borrowed from my

daughter, gluing one hub at a time; in this pic, both hubs are already fixed in place, but I just wanted to show how it worked.

 

jX2J6EG.jpg

 

The next step will be to attach the wells doors; these have some peculiar angles when open that will require some extra work and probably a jig to get them right.

 

Thanks for watching

 

P.S. (Sorry for the multiple posts, they were needed to avoid the server error)

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Ah, why didn't I think of using Lego's for a jig?  Thanks for sharing that.  I was re-gluing landing gear on a Spitfire yesterday that had been hanging in my son's room and getting the alignment right was difficult and I was thinking of ways to make a reusable jig but Lego's never crossed my mind.  My kids have a bazillion of them.

 

Incredible work on your Corsair.  Very inspiring and Monogram's old kit is my son's first model....I wish I had started him on a Tamiya kit as that Monogram kit is a bit of a disaster, but he's learning!

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Thanks, @kernsc; I'm glad you like it. I recently started using Legos for this; now that you mention it, my daughter also has a pair of those big flat bases from Lego that could be handy for building a painting stand.

 

Good luck to your son; let's hope those challenging kits don't demotivate him.

 

Thanks, @chukw; the alignment (or lack of) is just one of my pet peeves, but I've listened to some unnerving stories of IPMS contests.

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Quick update

 

The oils used for weathering on the undercarriage doors were still fresh, so I started work on the elevators instead of installing them.

 

Early during the build, I prepared two sets of elevators, one from the kit parts and the other from a CMK set; after painting, both were very similar, but I decided on the CMK ones mainly because the trailing edges were sharper and the ribbing detail closer to the one on the flaps.

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With the elevators glued in place, it was time to take care of the actuators for the balance tabs; these were fabricated using stretched sprue and mounted on the corresponding supports and will be painted later on.

 

tt5q0UR.jpg

 

Since I was already in the neighborhood, I installed the tail light fabricated with sections of stretched sprue.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for your kind words, guys.

 

Main gear doors are finally in place; this phase was more challenging than anticipated; I couldn't use any jig, so the alignment was adjusted by eye; the two strips of tape are there only to serve as a visual reference to maintain the doors parallel.

 

uFGTTrJ.jpg

 

The lack of a positive attachment point for the doors and the misalignment between the hinges and the actuator cylinders made things more difficult. In hindsight, it would have been better to detail the kit's wells with some scratch-built parts to avoid those construction challenges.

 

In these close-ups, the errors are evident, but it's the best I could manage; with some luck will not detract from the rest of the model. The actuator arms were made from stretched sprue; some paint touchups are needed here and there.

 

gSGfTLE.jpg

 

K4rytW7.jpg

 

On a happier note, here is the other balance tab actuator.

 

xncn4LL.jpg

 

While gluing it, some black cyano spilled over the stabilator; a little VMS Glue Debonder applied with a fine brush was enough to remove it without damaging the finish underneath; I love this product.

 

RctM5Ut.jpg

 

That's all for now; thanks for passing by.

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I know i've said it a thousand times, but the model is looking great.

 

32nd scale may not be your thing, but i strongly suggest you give Tamiya's 32nd scale Corsair a try. It is an all-new, from the ground up effort that has nothing in common with the 48th and 72nd offerings. A lot of the things you'd consider "fiddly" in 48th scale gave been improved and taken care of for you in the 32nd scale kit. At present, i'm on my 3rd.

 

Not trying to sound like a fawning Tamiya fan boy, but i'm happy to go into more detail off board in case you're interested.

 

-d-

 

 

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On 2/1/2023 at 9:51 AM, cruiz said:

Many thanks, @Ikon, @RichB63; I'm glad you like it.

 

On a side note, I just found this on YouTube; I would have liked it knowing this reference when I started the project. Anyway, I left this video very interesting for anyone working on a Corsair, especially the birdcage variant.

 

 

Regards

 

Carlos

Thanks for posting this - what a great resource of information.

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That’s a cleaver way to approach the challenge of landing gear alignment. 
 

If Tamiya ever retooled their 1/48 Corsair family they should consider consulting you. Your build is amazing to see with each update.

 

Eagerly awaiting your next update.

 

Keep modeling,

 

Mr. Happy


 

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