1:48 Tamiya Corsair

[KennyX]

I bought this kit on a lark. I saw her on the shelf at Hobby Town yesterday and decided she was a must-have. Less-than 24 hours later I decided she was a must-build. That’s how it works sometimes. And I’ve been wanting an aircraft to hang-up above the mini-Tiki Bar I built in my kitchen. Something to look at while I’m mixing-up my Mai Tais and Corpse Revivers. I also wanted an aircraft that I could weather as dirty as I wanted it to be. So here we are. I’m gonna run this build concurrently with my Stuka build, make it 100% fun just like my Stuka, and use it as a test bed for more advanced weathering concepts. I’m stoked about it.

Here’s the box:


And here’s Step #1 which’ll commence either tonight if I’m not too tired after the Mother’s Day festivities, or Monday morning before I login to work:


The cockpit module is so different from the German aircraft I build. It’s attractive in its own way. And this’ll be a great stepping-stone for me in terms of rolling-into my Hellcat build which is forthcoming.

Stay tuned for updates. It’s about time I gave the Allies some attention.

[Cherrylock]

oh interresting one, a very good kit and lot of nice marking..

[scorpiomikey]

Ive built this kit before. Its a dream to build.

[Stikpusher]

I can’t wait to see where you go with this one! And you can weather the hell out of this one. The Corsair squadrons in the South Pacific operated in very harsh conditions. Mud, abrasive crushed coral sand dust, tropical downpours and sun... and a high op tempo.

[Stuart]

Very cool - can't wait to see what you do with this one!

[speedgraflex]

Subscribed. Good luck and Happy Mother’s Day to the Missus.

[KennyX]

It starts with a cockpit, er- a playlist...

I just finished putting one together. I cal it “More cock in your rock.” I’ve got Quiet Riot and Bon Jovi on there, Mötley Crüe, The Cult, Skid Row, Guns N‘ Roses, and Warrant. I figure it like this, if I’m going to build an airplane and weather it absolutely filthy, then I shall listen to the filthiest rock n roll I can think of on while I do it. Bruce, John, et-al- if you can think of any songs that girls with obviously bleached-out hair would dance to at a bar in a small town near an oil field, by all means make suggestions.

OKAY, so, it starts with a playlist, *then* a cockpit, oh wait- I need a statement of purpose.

I never thought about any of this stuff when I started modeling. It wasn’t until I crash-landed here and started watching what all you guys do, that I thought about what I want to accomplish with my models.

That last Emil I did I’m particularly proud of. I learned a lot throughout the course of that build. But when I built it, I wasn’t necessarily thinking about what I want to accomplish beyond, well, “Not dropping the damn thing and breaking it.” That all changed when I started my Stuka and it coalesced when I finished building and weathering the engine.

What I’m shooting for, here, is riding the razor’s edge that exists between making and finishing a model which is dramatic and compelling from an artistic point of view, and which also looks real. Does that make sense? I think I started zeroing in on that, with the Stuka engine. And when I build and finish that aircraft, I’ll be operating with that mentality. Same goes for this here Corsair.

They’ll both be weathered. The Stuka rather heavily, and this aircraft even more-so.

I’m still reading Adolf Galland’s autobiography in preparation for my next Emil build of his. That’ll happen after these two aircraft are complete. I’m enjoying reading his thoughts on how the German High Command handles the battles on the Eastern Front. The Stuka will reflect that.

As to this Corsair, I’ve been reading-up on the battles in the Pacific. That fascinates me, too. A pal of mine had an uncle who was an Ace Corsair pilot. He’s been speaking to me extensively about it. The man was 22 when he was a pilot. He was out there splashing Zeros every day. Awesome. This one will be weathered heavily. And I intend to build her wings-down, not up.

Okay, well, I have a few meetings to do this morning. No problem. I’ll crack the kit open on my lunch break and get started.

[Stikpusher]

Kenny, have a good read thru this article before you apply any paint in the cockpit or elsewhere...

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2 ... urs_us.htm

[KennyX]

Carlos,

Thank you for suggest I beg that article. I’m going to give it a thorough read on my lunch break after I get started on the cockpit subassemblies.

I am particularly grateful for this because that green color is something which I agonized over quite a bit previously whilst building my Warhawk. I didn’t know enough about modeling, paint colors, and what was available back then.

Take a peek inside my Warhawk:


I ended up settling on Tamiya’s “Cockpit Green” for that:


I never was happy with what I ended up with.

Needless to say, getting it right on this one is a major thing for me. I guess I’m a “Do-Over” modeler more than I thought, these days. But hey, we bring the lessons we learned into the next build. We always try to improve.

So I’ll definitely read that. Thanks again!

[KennyX]

Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. And hot-damn, boys! I always wanted to paint a cockpit pink!

(I’m joking)

All joking aside, holy cow that article is packed with a lot of food-for-thought. That whole “Zinc Chromate” thing has me racking my brain badly throughout the course of that warhawk build. This is quite elucidating.