cruiz Posted July 20, 2019 Author Share Posted July 20, 2019 Hello Thomaz Thank you again for your help, indeed it’ll be the 1A version so the stall strip is a must. I’ll post more pictures as soon as can and thank you also for your encouraging words. Carlos Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cruiz Posted August 20, 2019 Author Share Posted August 20, 2019 Small update Keep adding some details to the flaps. Thanks to the images by Thomaz, I’ve been able to figure out how the case chutes are, here are six of them from different angles. Looking for information, I’ve learned how the .50 works and what’s going on with the case chutes in the corsair. What you see in there is the bottom part of the .50 where the empty cases are ejected, on the base side there is a small rectangular aperture where the links are ejected. Tried to replicate most of the details but cannot find a clear view of the bottom of a working .50, the only images were of disassembled ones. That’s all for now Carlos Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Falconxlvi Posted August 20, 2019 Share Posted August 20, 2019 Fantastic work Carlos! You have an awesome eye for detail and are inspiring me on my own Corsair project. Keep it up! Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TAG Posted August 20, 2019 Share Posted August 20, 2019 (edited) Carlos, you are the Grand Poobah of Evergreen! I'll second Steve's emotion, very inspirational work, can't wait to see more. Here's a pic of a Browning M2 .50 cal in action, you can see the spent shell casing is being ejected from the bottom, while the belt links are ejected from the opposite side where the belt is being fed (fun fact: M2's can be configured to be fed from either side, although the US Armed Forces has standardized left-hand feeds on their .50's). Edited August 20, 2019 by TAG Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EagleAviation Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 Great attention to detail and very explanatory build. Will definitely help my Corsair project. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cruiz Posted September 23, 2019 Author Share Posted September 23, 2019 (edited) Hello all Thank you for your encouraging words, I really appreciate them and I hope you can find this build useful or entertaining at least. The main characteristic of this bird has been quite a challenge from a modeling point of view, I’m still stuck with the wings but here is a small update. This is the wing part between the guns and the flap, most of the pictures on the web show the folding part of the gun’s cover but not from the rear area that is removable, in my case I only need to know about them to make the corresponding panel lines. Between the flap and the aileron, there is a support that serves as a hinge for the flap and also connects a rod for the balance tab in the aileron. The kit doesn’t include this detail so it was fashioned from photoetched leftovers. In order to provide mechanical rigidity, this part was sandwiched between plastic strips glued, superglued and gator glued (not taking risks here). My preferred method to replicate navigation lights is using clear sprues but in this case, I discarded it because all the fabric detail that will be lost during sanding and polishing, so I’ll need to try something new. Here is my first test, using Zap clear glue to make a film inside the hole and painted over with acrylics (not too careful as you can see), not 100% happy with the result but I’ll keep trying, maybe Microcrystal clear could be better (if I can get it). Carlos Edited September 23, 2019 by cruiz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Falconxlvi Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 That looks great Carlos- I like your approach for the ID lights and am trying out something similar on my F4U-1D project. I’m using an agent called “Gauzy” by AK to simulate the lenses. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cruiz Posted September 24, 2019 Author Share Posted September 24, 2019 Hello Steve I'm following both of your excellent builds, wish I could make so much progress as you. Please let me know how the Gauzy agent went, recently I've attended a contest and, while lurking on the vendor tables I found both, the Zap canopy glue and the AK Gauzy, but they told me that the AK agent was more like a clear coat (similar to Future) and will not form the "film" I need it. I also made a test on another piece of plastic using a very old (like 15+ years old) Testor's canopy glue, and it made a smooth, flat and glossy film that was also harder than the Zap one (which is very flexible) but dried with a yellow tint. Thank you in advance Carlos Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Falconxlvi Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 Hi Carlos, Interesting note about Gauzy. I’ve used it before to simulate instrument dials and just figured it would fill and solidify clear if poured into a recess. I will let you know when I return to the Corsair. Your Corsair is superb and definitely providing inspiration for me to return to that project. I’ve got four days to complete the Mustang so it has my full attention at the moment! Thankfully, I’ve had a lot of time at home this past week to work on it! Cheers, Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cruiz Posted January 27, 2020 Author Share Posted January 27, 2020 (edited) Hello again The progress in this build has been slow but here it is where I am now. The next order of things was to close the upper and lower halves of the wings; since they will be extended, a lot of attention was needed to make sure the union at the wing fold doesn’t become a problem later. Here is the result of replacing the guns’ tubes, the overall aspect is good but my attempt at engraving the panel lines didn’t end well, I’ll put some primer to have a better view and try to correct them. Lost count of the times I broke the windows on the wings, hopefully, they will be a nice detail when the approaching light and gun camera get in place. Since the wing’s attachment point at the folding area were modified to place the Aires wells I can’t rely on the kit’s parts to have a good alignment; while closing the wings halves, the bulkheads weren’t glued, plastic strips were added in the folding sections to help with the alignment and also to prevent the bulkheads come off. Here are the wings dry fitted, they look rather smooth and maybe only a light sanding will be needed at the end, the next step is to complete and paint the internal detail before gluing the wings. Carlos Edited January 27, 2020 by cruiz Grammar Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cruiz Posted February 25, 2020 Author Share Posted February 25, 2020 Small update This is the result after priming the gun's tubes. Seems nice at a distance but in a closer look.... Not what I expected; I'm thinking about reworking this or try a different approach Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Falconxlvi Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 I’d leave good enough alone 🤷♂️ Your improvements are amazing! Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cruiz Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 Hello This past weekend I started reworking the other air intake, looking at references the first one seemed somewhat strange, so I decided to change the angle of the aperture. In this way, the intake vanes group can be oriented in an angle closer to the wing leading edge, and, in my opinion, they look more accurate. What do you think?. Going back to the guns tubes, I filled the scribed lines with CA and rescribed them using a different method, it seems to work better, but since the CA fell off on most of the parts, because of the primer beneath, I need to go back at them; strike two. Thank you all for your comments, and I hope you, your families and loved ones stay safe these days. Carlos Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kurnass77 Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Fantastic job! Gianni Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cruiz Posted April 11, 2020 Author Share Posted April 11, 2020 (edited) Hello all While doing home office those past days, I got little time to work on models but finally got to make a little progress. Here are the air intakes, I refined the edges of the vanes and added panel lines and other details inside the lips of the intakes because the model has none of them. The idea is to paint the intakes before continuing but, I need your help to decide what is the appropriate color for this, I think they should be white on the front but not so sure behind the vanes, what do you think?. Going back to the gun's tubes, after several cycles of filling, scribing, priming; finally got to a point where I have to stop, I hope to conceal the imperfections during the weathering process. One thing that was bugging me since the beginning was this detail on the kit, it just seems odd-looking, references show those are called backfire ports (don't know what they are for) and should be flush with the fuselage. Here is the solution I came on with, engraved the details on a strip of plastic card and trimmed the excess until it fitted in; the part is not glued in place yet because I need to remove part of the kit's detail to make it sit flush. Thanks for passing by and for any advice you can give about the intake colors. Carlos P.S. Thanks, Steve and Gianni for your kind comments. Edited April 11, 2020 by cruiz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cruiz Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 Hello all I've managed to make some progress this weekend, Steve's marvelous Corsair build inspired me to move along with mine. One thing that completely forgot when doing the research was the information about the colors, so I've to rely on the Tamiya instructions while I gather more references. This is only my second model after switching to acrylics, so I'm still experimenting with them; since this part wouldn't be visible it was an excellent opportunity to do a test, here are my attempts at the zinc chromate of the interiors, one is the indicated in the instructions of 1:1 XF-3 and XF-5; the other one is a 2:1 mix of Vallejo U.S. interior yellow and RLM 70 black green (too late I've discovered the bottle of U.S. light green has dried). Wich one you think looks better? Two flaps actuators per wing were made from Evergreen rod; they will be cut to length later. The approaching light and the gun camera were fashioned from bits of clear sprue and evergreen; in this picture, I found that the window for the gun camera has a small crack, didn't bother to fix it at this point. For the oil filters, I've chosen a fine mesh from RB, to simulate the diagonal strip, a piece of thin stretched sprue was glued first in the back and masked on the mesh on the front, and then applied several layers of primer (AMMO One Shot), this product worked better than I expected. Here are the wings glued in place, some minor filling is necessary for the joint, the air intakes were painted separately before assembling the parts (oil filter and vanes), here are just dry fitted in the wing. Here is the other intake and also the backfire ports glued in place. Halfway in this build had the idea to make rivet details on it, the first time for me on a full kit. Months ago I made the first attempt on the bottom of the elevators leading edge, the result was disappointing, to say the least, and was undecided if going on or not; yesterday I give it one more try, filled the first attempt with cyano, sanded smooth and take extra time to draw the reference lines the better I could, the result where much better this time, not perfect but at least the lines are straight. That's all for now, thank you in advance for your comments and critiques. Carlos Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Falconxlvi Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 On 5/3/2020 at 5:40 PM, cruiz said: Hello all I've managed to make some progress this weekend, Steve's marvelous Corsair build inspired me to move along with mine. One thing that completely forgot when doing the research was the information about the colors, so I've to rely on the Tamiya instructions while I gather more references. This is only my second model after switching to acrylics, so I'm still experimenting with them; since this part wouldn't be visible it was an excellent opportunity to do a test, here are my attempts at the zinc chromate of the interiors, one is the indicated in the instructions of 1:1 XF-3 and XF-5; the other one is a 2:1 mix of Vallejo U.S. interior yellow and RLM 70 black green (too late I've discovered the bottle of U.S. light green has dried). Wich one you think looks better? Two flaps actuators per wing were made from Evergreen rod; they will be cut to length later. The approaching light and the gun camera were fashioned from bits of clear sprue and evergreen; in this picture, I found that the window for the gun camera has a small crack, didn't bother to fix it at this point. For the oil filters, I've chosen a fine mesh from RB, to simulate the diagonal strip, a piece of thin stretched sprue was glued first in the back and masked on the mesh on the front, and then applied several layers of primer (AMMO One Shot), this product worked better than I expected. Here are the wings glued in place, some minor filling is necessary for the joint, the air intakes were painted separately before assembling the parts (oil filter and vanes), here are just dry fitted in the wing. Here is the other intake and also the backfire ports glued in place. Halfway in this build had the idea to make rivet details on it, the first time for me on a full kit. Months ago I made the first attempt on the bottom of the elevators leading edge, the result was disappointing, to say the least, and was undecided if going on or not; yesterday I give it one more try, filled the first attempt with cyano, sanded smooth and take extra time to draw the reference lines the better I could, the result where much better this time, not perfect but at least the lines are straight. That's all for now, thank you in advance for your comments and critiques. Carlos Absolutely stunning Carlos! Your details are incredible! I love the mesh intakes and the gun camera details! What are you using for making rivets? Do you have a riveting tool? Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cruiz Posted May 11, 2020 Author Share Posted May 11, 2020 Thank you Steve, Chukw Steve, I'm using an RB productions riveting tool. It surprised me how small the rivets are; I'm hoping they wouldn't disappear under the priming or the paint. By the way, I saw your finished Corsair, outstanding job you did; it inspired me to go on. Carlos Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Falconxlvi Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 (edited) 23 hours ago, cruiz said: Thank you Steve, Chukw Steve, I'm using an RB productions riveting tool. It surprised me how small the rivets are; I'm hoping they wouldn't disappear under the priming or the paint. By the way, I saw your finished Corsair, outstanding job you did; it inspired me to go on. Carlos The RB tool is great- much faster than punching each one individually. It should work out fine with thin paint layers. Your Corsair also inspired my build- the scratch building you are doing to improve the kit is truly amazing! Steve Edited May 12, 2020 by Falconxlvi Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 Great work Carlos, love the oil coolers. Nice to see some quality Corsair builds popping up in this forum! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr.Happy Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 Carlos, You are truly blessed with some great skills. I just finished a Tamiya F4U-1A and now I’m getting fired up to dig out another Tamiya Corsair after watching your build progress 🤯👍😎 Best of luck, Mr. Happy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cruiz Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 Hello, thank you all for looking at this build and for your encouraging words. Working from home left me with even less time to build, but these past days managed to get some advance. The wing’s center and outer sections were glued in place and also the intakes; refining the union at the wing fold ended up being a challenging task. Abusing plastic surgery left this section with many weak points that needed to be corrected more than once. In preparation for the riveting, I sanded and polished the wing the better I could, this way it was easier to spot the flaws and correct them, I hope to keep at a minimum the rework required once the primer is applied. Armed with a set of diagrams found on the internet, started the riveting process on the underside so the expected initial errors would be less evident. Electrical, masking and Dymo tapes were used as guides to draw the lines using a mechanical pencil, once I was happy with the lines proceeded to make the rivets using the RB tool; proper illumination and an Optivisor make it easy to follow the lines without using extra support. Here is the result on the underside of the wing, once I finish the top I’ll give it a light sanding overall to smooth the surface. Thanks Carlos Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cruiz Posted June 28, 2020 Author Share Posted June 28, 2020 Hello all. The riveting on the wing is complete, a light pass with 1200 sandpaper to smooth the surface left only tiny holes, they look good, but I’m still afraid they disappear under the primer and paint, if that’s the case I’ll use the modelers' mantra for hidden detail “I know it’s there.” Now it’s time to work on the cockpit, the kit’s parts have good detail and will look good with careful painting, on the other hand, Aire’s set has fine crisp detail that in this particular airplane will be worth it because of its floorless nature. Here are most of the parts removed from the supports; I started to clean the details; in this step, I rely on references to discriminate what is part of the cockpit and what is excess resin. The central piece is warped in a way that it is narrower than it should; I’ll take care of this later using a hairdryer. Before removing detail from the kit, I want to be sure the Aires set will have a reasonable fit, if not, I’ll be using the kit’s cockpit instead. At first glance, most of it seems fine except for the part where the instrument panel goes. On the kit, the cover over the IP extends forward, but on the Aires part the cover ends almost flush with it, here are the comparison. The instrument panel is more or less on the same location in both cases; studying builds online using this set, found no mention about this issue, but the overall fit of this part looks fine. I don’t know which one is more accurate because it’s not clear on the references I have. I'm still undecided to extend the cover or leave it as is, what do you think? Thanks in advance for your critiques and comments Carlos Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cruiz Posted July 27, 2020 Author Share Posted July 27, 2020 Hello all Just noticed that it had been a month since the last update, half of this time was used studying references, a quarter thinking how to approach the construction of the cockpit and the rest in a combination of build and dry fitting. The best way I could think of was to attach each part of the Aires' cockpit to the corresponding section on the kit, so I can take care of the union points where they are more visible, leaving any misalignment on the interior where they are less evident. The first step was to remove the kit details to make room for the Aires' parts since the fit is tight, I prefer to remove most of the material from the resin and then remove the minimal required from the kit to maintain the rigidity of the model. I check the fit the parts often during this process. Once the fit of the parts is acceptable, it is time to correct the resin's defects and to add the missing details or broken pieces; at this point, I have to rely on the references to discern between molding errors or actual details. Here are the parts at this point. The Aires instructions don't show how to attach the rudder pedals, using references I made this detail from scratch, this isn't visible but will help to maintain the pedals firmly in place while airbrushing or handling. Most of the seat's supports were replaced with stretched sprue, either because they were missing or simply to add rigidity, the seat isn't glued yet, and most of the supports are simply mounted trough drilled holes, this will allow me to adjust the alignment later. Another part that I will address later is the union of the headrest and the fuselage, neither Tamiya nor Aires represent this zone correctly, so the armored headrest was removed from the Aires part to replace it with a more accurate one; I'm still undecided how to address this issue. After much thinking, I decided to use the IP cover of the kit so, the detail of the resin was removed, leaving only the gunsight, which is more detailed than the one from the kit, but I'll replace the resin lens with a clear one. That's all for now; I hope the next time will have at least some paint over the cockpit. Thanks for watching this. Carlos Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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