Tamiya 1/48 F4U-1A Corsair
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KIT # |
61070 |
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PRICE: |
$27.00 |
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DECALS: |
Three aircraft |
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REVIEW : |
Franck Oudin |
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NOTES: |
Eduard and Aeromaster aftermarket used. |
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CONSTRUCTION |
I started with the interior, the
complete cockpit is painted interior green and some details have been
painted in black. The instruments panels, has been erased and replace with PE part, and
a drop of clear varnish is put in every radial. The complete
seat is also replace with PE, and as well painted in green. The seat belt are
painted in a buff color. To give a bit more life, and realistic look in the
interior I apply a dark brown/black wash, and then apply with a large but
soft brush some graphite, and it does give and nice effect. I had the oxygen hose, made
in scratch.
The tail wheel bay has been painted in the same time, and weathered like the cockpit. The fit of the completed interior, is no problem, both fuselage are now glued together, and the antiglare panels is painted in black. The front canopy, is now glued in place, and the stabilizers are put into place as well. The interior of the engine cowl is painted interior green and receive again the same treatment as the cockpit. The engine has been painted with Alclad aluminum, and receive an acrylic wash. The front of the engine is painted in neutral gray, the circuit of wires from the PE set is painted with a mix of copper and gun metal and put in place. Then again, a tiny amount of graphite is put with a soft brush, then the engine is glued to the fuselage. In the meantime the cockpit has been masked, and the canopy too. The tail wheel receive some serious surgical treatment. If you decide to use the same PE set that I used, be prepared to do so, but the result look pretty good.
Now the wings. I did not modified anything at all on the wings, the adjustment is so perfect, just a nice gluing, and you are done. The wheel bay as been painted with interior green, and a wash was apply on every corner. With an artist silver pen I made some chipping paint effect. The landing gear and the tail wheel have been painted with Alclad and a wash of acrylic has been apply. Some modifications, as been done, to updated with PE parts, and a brake line from a copper wire has been had, on each strut.
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PAINT & DECALS |
The wings are now glued with fuselage, and there is no problem and no
filling has been required. When I had mask all the areas; cockpit, wheel bay
,the a/c is now ready for painting. Before that I polished the complete
a/c with iron wool, very fine quality00 and then with a soft cloth buffed
after it. Then a complete coat of Tamiya chrome silver as been apply and let
it dry for 24hrs. I forgot to mention that the flaps received the same
treatment. The
a/c is now buffed, and a random coat of future as been sprayed
on the mode. Then the white is painted; several layer are needed to obtain
a nice opaque white. Again I let the paint dry for 24hrs,and then both blues, have
painted on free hand, which to me is the best way to paint a/c
models.
Then the fun start. It was the first attempt for me to try to do a nice
chipping paint effect, and I am happy with the result. To do that I took a
piece of magic tape and 
press on the area where I wanted to chip the paint,.
Then pull it
quickly, and some paint come off. Just repeat the operation
until you are satisfied, then a coat of Tamiya Clear X-22. At that point a
wash of black/brown /grey is apply on the panels lines. Then the decals are
apply and are set with some Aeromaster setting solution.
The exhaust stain are made with the airbrush. I used 3 different colors; first soot and brown, and at last grey. The rest of the weathering is made with pastels. All the small parts are now put in place, wheels landing gear, gear door, etc. The antennas wires are from stretch sprues, the exhaust pipes are replace by plastic tubing, finally a complete coat of flat Aeromaster varnish, is apply on the a/c.
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CONCLUSIONS |
The a/c is depict as LT Ira Kepford from the VF-17,based in Bougainville in Solomon's islands in January 1944. This kit was pleasure to build, the general fit is perfect, and it does give a very model of this fantastic aircraft, that the Corsair was.
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