1/32 Tamiya F4U-1a Corsair - Boyington 17740

[LyleW]

Man, you gonna use all those parts? That is a lot of itsy-bitsy pieces. Those engines drive me nuts and never come out right, so I usually don't bother with the rear row of cylinders. I am looking forward to watching this. You will nail it, I have no doubt.

[jkim]

Maybe not ALL of them. I will be showing both wings extended so maybe some of the wing fold parts will get left behind. And no ordinance so I'll have a spares from that sprue. On top of all of the parts that Tamiya provides, I'll be adding a few from other manufacturers.

Archive photos of 740 indicate that she had smooth tires so I've opted to pick up a set of Barracuda resin wheels.


I also have the Vector resin cowl flaps, which includes a new crankshaft cover and parts and detailed braces for the nose cowling.



The cockpit will feature no resin upgrades but I'm going to spruce it up with the Barracuda cockpit placard decals. They have been described as "extremely fiddly but worth it". It looks like the many of the placards are separated by color so I can see how they may be a pain to install.


Although Tamiya supplies metal belts, I've chosen to replace those with HGW fabric belts. I can never get metal belts to sit naturally.


Montex masks will be used for the major markings.


Lastly, I picked up this neat little resin parachute from True Details that will be displayed outside the aircraft. There are a couple of other Tamiya Corsair builds that feature this parachute so it is not an original idea but I thought it was too cool to pass up.

[LyleW]

Those will certainly add a realistic-er (new word) look to this guy.

[Stikpusher]

Is that in the Kan Tuck Ee dictionary?

[LyleW]

Yup.

[speedgraflex]

I sincerely appreciate how you approach building models, John! I have one color reference of the blue with weathering effects, which I am sure you have seen. I collaged your mule beside it... and the color (taking away weathering and atmospheric effects) is quite a match. Tagging into Kenny’s comments about your painting skills, I have always looked to your work for inspiration.



I want to keep adding more, but I need to spend time with the sprues, as you have. Interesting as well to think of the base for these aircraft, and how the extreme conditions beat the men and the machines really hard.

[jkim]

Keep in mind there was a different two-tone scheme used by many of the birdcage Corsairs. I believe this comprised of Non-specular Blue Gray over Non-Specular Light Grey. This top color was different than the two top colors for the three-tone scheme of Sea Blue and Intermediate Blue over Insignia White. Whether this applies to the photo of the birdcage Corsair you posted, I do not know.

[speedgraflex]

My mistake, John. I am sure the mix is different, actually. I really like how you put those spare Jumo “cans” to use in Corsair colors.

[jkim]

But your point is well taken. The colors on the mule look really saturated and give off that showroom vibe. Obviously, not what I am looking for on this particular build. I'll have to modify the colors at the onset if I want to achieve that faded and worn look I am seeing in the photos. I may also order these shades in AK Real Colors for comparison.

[BlackSheep214]

Since you're doing Pappy Boyington's Corsair, what's better than getting this!

https://www.ultracast.ca/product-p/ult54015.htm

or this:

https://www.ultracast.ca/product-p/ult54010.htm