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Tamiya 1:32 F4U-1A Corsair End-to-End Build

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  • #31
    F4U-1A Painted

    Milestone Day!

    First up was to paint the wings. The Life Color Intermediate and Sea Blues are not as "bluesy" as the Tamiya color sheet, but look pretty realistic based upon photos of the real planes that I've seen. The outer wings undersides are not insignia white. Instead they are the intermediate blue since when on the decks with wings folded, the white wings shining upward would make the ship captain very unhappy. In fact, that blue is not much different than the aircraft carrier blue wood deck stain used in WW2.

    After the paint dried (helped with the hot air gun) I carefully removed the liquid mask off the light lenses and I was very pleased, especially the landing light. It really looks like a silvered reflector under there. You can't beat the chrome pen. Chrome silver paint just doesn't cut it.

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    Then it was time see how I could free hand paint the multi-color scheme with the airbrush on the test article. I am soooo glad that had that since it really built my confidence that I could actually do it without a hard masking line or setting of the masks with blue tack or rolls of masking tape.

    I used my main line Badger for this, but the demarcation was a bit too fuzzy so I tried the detail brush. While I was able to sharpen up the line a bit, the brush was working terribly, and was sputtering putting big drops out in all the wrong places. I tried a total cleaning with acetone, which worked, but then I noticed that the tiny O'ring behind the air nozzle was shot and dissolved in the acetone. What kind of paint spraying tool uses a rubber that's not compatible with acetone???

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    While not perfect, it proved that I could paint to a line. The line, BTW, I drew with a pencil before spraying. I took the pattern from the Tamiya instructions.

    I then drew the pattern on the real model only spent more time on getting it correct. I needed to do some extensive masking to keep overspray from getting on the white areas that would be in the line of fire, e.g., flaps, landing gear and doors, and of course the entire exposed cockpit. I sprayed the vertical stab and rudder, and after force drying, masked it from the rest of the model since the rudder has a sharp color separation line.

    Then I drew the pattern. Incidentally, using the liquid mask as a temporary adhesive to hold the removable cowls in place worked! I sprayed the intermediate first letting the line wave a bit between the white, which apparently it did in the prototype. I then did the sea blue. I didn't like the demarcation and I was able to go back and forth a couple of times to get it to be fuzzy... but not too fuzzy.

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    After demasking and doing some very minor touchup, the bird is painted. I'm letting it dry well over the weekend and will gloss it to ready it for all the decals and stencils.

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    After these pics were taken I went back and cleaned up the separation around the oil cooler inlets.

    Tamiya provides nice masks, perfectly sized, but you have to cut them out. I used a fresh #11 blade and cut just enough depth to cut the mask and not the backing sheet so it was easier to separate the two. I actually enjoyed this. It was a nice delicate cutting op on something that wasn't styrene. It's the last thing I did today and I'll airbrush them on Monday. They get black first (the inside color) and then Sea Blue. I am sure that this paint job will come out very well.

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    The plane needs some gun shot residue around the gun ports and some residue at the shell ejection ports. I'm not sure what kind of debris is around those. I'll have to check the reference shots.

    Comment


    • #32
      F4U-1A Decaling

      WAB is still running very clunky. It's taking a long time to load. I attempted to upload images yesterday, but no luck. Meanwhile work continues. I'm almost done putting on a myriad of decals and stencils. The Big Hog version I'm building has the white sealing tape on the nose which supposedly prevented fuel and fumes from exiting the fuel compartment in front of the cockpit and entering said cockpit. Later iterations licked that problem and did away with the white tape. I really had no clue what that white striping signified, until I did some research.

      I had to put the forward canopy on before adding these stripes. I had already soaked the decals when I realized, after more careful review, that the decal goes onto part of the canopy. I had to hurry and get the canopy installed including the bulletproof shield and gun sight reflective panel before the water dried on the decal and it got ruined. I was successful. So all the fuze stencils and decals are in place. Yesterday I broke off that wing spar again when I put some side pressure on it and the brittle CA broke and the thin styrene walls (resulting from drilling for the pins) broke away. I fixed it again, this time, using J-B Weld.

      I finished weathering the bottom only after sealing the flat paint with Testor's One Coat Clear Lacquer. I used Tamiya Panel Line Highlighter and black weathering powder. I put two very tricky decals on the upper main gear strut that had to wait until it was all painted. That made access very challenging. Wings are finished and matte coated. All they need is some powder stains from the gun ports and cartridge discharge chutes.

      I have a few more stencils for the tail surfaces and then decals are all done. I have to built a prop, install antennas and masts, pitot tubes and tail hook. And I have to coat the entire model with airbrushed Tamiya Clear Flat.

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      Comment


      • #33
        Wow. Some really neat work. Your making me want to step up a scale and do a bit of detail work. My last plane fit in my hand.

        When it comes to matching colors I have copies of "The Official Monogram US Navy & Marine Corps color Guide" They have color chips in the back, that are suppose to be very accurate. I'm lucky in that I have all 4 volumes They go from 1911 to 1993.
        I'll use them to find the closest match from one of the color lines. And then stick with that color. I'm not good at mixing the same color twice and having it come out the same. Even when I take copious notes of how i did it the first time.

        I also try to stay with the same brand. If you look at my F-18 thread, you can see that Model Master Dark Ghost gray is way darker than Vallejo Dark Ghost Gray, And Ammo by MIG is way lighter.

        The weathering is nice., but don't forget the bottom of the flaps behind the wheels.

        Comment


        • #34
          Originally posted by tbm3fan View Post
          Panel lines gone crazy on 1/72 model
          Blame the guy from Spain, that makes a killing selling "panel line washes" and books/magazines on "Weathering effects".

          This is what I've seen being deployed around aircraft both afloat and ashore. Some panels will have that faded in the middle look. But they are very few. Panels that are opened for maintenance often get chipped paint around the edges. Corrosion control guys hate that. So those panel lines get a coat of paint around them. It creates a different look because of 1 of 3 reasons.

          1. When you spot paint you create a different sheen in that area. Spot painting creates shine spots.Reflects more light so it looks like a lighter color.

          2. The paint comes from the "Paint locker" and the individual painting probably doesn't shake/mix the paint like it should. In the Corps we call that "Lack of supervision" or towards the end of the float there may be a 1/2 dozen different open cans of paint, so they consolidate them all. And no 2 batches of paint look exactly alike.

          3. Another "Lack of supervision" thing, In a sloppy squadron, they will grab the first cn of paint they see. May be light gray or dark gray, doesn't matter and will use that same color all over the plane.

          Planes do create static,flying through the air, and in places like the middle east collect dust. Good plane captains find a way to clean their bird between wash downs. And planes usually get washed/scrubbed down about every 2 weeks. Depending on how much water the ship is making.

          Sometimes a plane will have panels that are a different color. Lighter/darker when the original panel needs to be replaced. That panel either came fresh from stock or from a different bird. So it was't painted at the same time as the rest of the plane.

          Comment


          • #35
            I'm getting an "Internal Server Error" when I click "Advanced" so I can add pics. Something is still very wrong with WAB's site.

            Meanwhile, Gun, I love getting your input. I got a lot done today and should be finished the bird tomorrow or Friday. I flat coated the plane after using liquid mask on the windscreen and pilot's goggles. The pilot was a bit shiny from handling so I didn't mind if he got sprayed also. The Tamiya flat clear from the air brush was much better than Dullcoat.

            I did add some more exhaust stains, powder stains on the wings AND added the staining on those down flaps behind the main wheels. I also dirtied up the tail wheel area bit.

            I finished the details in the wing joints and started on the prop by gluing it all together and filled some small gaps between the blades and the hub. On this particular plane, the entire hub and hydrodynamic done are all red.

            I painted the bomb and rack, coated the bomb with gloss for the big decal and then left it all to dry for tomorrow.

            Here's the pics if they load properly.

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            Last edited by Builder 2010; 06 Dec 18,, 00:56.

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            • #36
              f4U-1A Finished!

              With the addition of the antenna and prop, this baby is ready for the flight line.

              Rather than attempt to get the latest pictures on this forum, which gave me fits last night, here's the line to the photo posting site where I load these images for uploading to another forum. All the build pics from beginning to todays beauty shots are there.

              https://postimg.cc/gallery/1azqi0zrk/

              The prop gave me some trouble yesterday. I painted the blades semi-gloss black and then wanted to overcoat them with gloss lacquer. The lacquer on the front was fine, but it out-gassed on the blade backs and these bubbles dried horribly. So today, I re-finished the blades with 3200 t0 8000 grit abrasive wet/dry sheets and then re-shot the black. When it dried, I added the decals including the yellow tip decals. These needed a lot of coaxing to get them to settle down. When dry I went back and touched up with Tamiya yellow which is a perfect match to their decal yellow.

              So... to sum up, what are my thoughts about the model and what, if anything, did I learn new.

              The Tamiya model right out of the box is a very complex and satisfying build. I added hydraulic lines and engine detailing, not because I had to, but because the scale and detail of the basic model made it fun to add to it.

              I attempted and was successful in hand air brushing the 3-color demarcation line without resorting to any masking whatsoever. That was new for me.

              I furthered my skills at detailing radial engines which I really get a kick out of.

              I finally built the plane that was so beautifully detailed in my F4U Corsair Book that I for years and years.

              Found more uses for the Molotow Chrome Pen.

              Furthered my skills in handling exhaust staining.

              And lastly, had a blast building that amazing cockpit that no one else can see. Luckily I have all those pictures. Even if you're not going to post everything you do like I do, you should capture your builds photographically becasue it's just fun to go back and see what you actually did.

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