Firstly, I apologize for falling off the face of the Earth and being MIA for so long. I went through a period during which I limited a lot of my social media interaction. That was half of it, the other half was that I experienced a bad case of “Builder’s Block”. It’s like Writer’s Block I guess, except for it involves models and not really being able to progress on any projects. My mojo was kind of gone... so instead of building stuff, I used my free time to teach myself how to play ukulele. I learned fast. I’m writing my own blues and jazz compositions, and my pal has a recording studio at his house, he’s gonna record me and I’m going to make a record. I’m pretty excited about it.
Here’s what I’m even more excited about though:
This is the third Corsair. My third attempt, this time it’s Tamiya’s Birdcage Corsair. This here is just test-fitting.
I lost steam on the last one, straight up. Maybe I’ll finish that one, one day. For now it’s safely boxed up.
Several days ago my wife and I were talking and she mentioned she missed me talking about my models. I told her I was feeling creatively constipated, and also that my confidence was shot after my last painting disaster... she said “Well when we talked before you said the Birdcage was the one you were really excited about so just start fresh on that one. So I did. Here’s some shots...
Cockpit walls, painted and weathered with washes and a kustom mix of pigments to simulate coral dust:
Gear bay for tail wheel, in beautiful salmon primer, with kustom coral dust pigment:
Here’s a reference I used for determining the look:
I believe I matched that color very well. I did it with a mix of Tamiya Red and White, heavily thinned and then cut with Hull Red.
Cockpit module test-fitted into the fuselage here:
I am very happy with the look of that.
And here’s the progress on the rear bulkhead and seat:
I believe this is an improvement over the last one. I like the color and chipping and wash much better.
Oh! And here’s one of the weathered gear bays I’ve been working on:
Okay, so a few things- aside from prepping the landing gear hardware and doing the wheels, there isn’t much else I can do until my PE parts arrive from Eduard. I sprung for the PE details set with the seatbelts, instrument panel, landing gear scale upgrades, and ignition wires. I figure if I’m coming back with this, I should go all in. But progress will slow until they arrive, that’s okay.
And for now, I’m just focusing on one model aircraft at a time. That’s not to say I can’t build other stuff while I’m waiting on my PE parts (I’ve got a Panzer IV I’m building here!), but for now, only one airplane at a time.
So that’s where we’re at!
And I’m happy to be back here, and back at the modeling.
