SPA Modeler

Carlos,

They really do and this is a case where real life superceedes my artistic vision and sensibilities. They definitely add something special, as hotly debated as they are. I went with the “they got the order to paint them over but hadn’t got around to it yet” option and I’m glad I did.

Stewart,

Thank you so much my friend. I appreciate that. I’m glad I went this way. I’m glad this one will be my first successful Corsair.

KennyX wrote:Carlos,

They really do and this is a case where real life superceedes my artistic vision and sensibilities. They definitely add something special, as hotly debated as they are. I went with the “they got the order to paint them over but hadn’t got around to it yet” option and I’m glad I did.

Stewart,

Thank you so much my friend. I appreciate that. I’m glad I went this way. I’m glad this one will be my first successful Corsair.

That sounds like a reasonable position on the red surround. Photos may not completely confirm it, but conversely they do not rule it out. Odds are that it happened for a short time period.

Stikpusher wrote:

KennyX wrote:Carlos,

They really do and this is a case where real life superceedes my artistic vision and sensibilities. They definitely add something special, as hotly debated as they are. I went with the “they got the order to paint them over but hadn’t got around to it yet” option and I’m glad I did.

Stewart,

Thank you so much my friend. I appreciate that. I’m glad I went this way. I’m glad this one will be my first successful Corsair.

That sounds like a reasonable position on the red surround. Photos may not completely confirm it, but conversely they do not rule it out. Odds are that it happened for a short time period.

It’s crazy. This has been bandied back and forth a lot on the modeling world. Inread on another forum where some guy stated he knew Tommy Blackburn and the man himself
Said their aircraft had red surrounds.

There is no way I’d do the red surrounds based on that argument.

They had them for a little while and then they didn’t. I ended up liking how they look,
so I kept them. And that’s alright. Like you said, it’s a reasonable position.

Officially the red surround was in use only for summer 1943. But they were so poorly received in the Pacific that they were rapidly painted over before the official orders came down to do so. On the other hand, in Europe, they were worn late into 1943- Red was not a problem there.

If you look hard at this photo, there is certainly a contrast between the insignia blue behind the star and the red surround area. It certainly was not repainted with fresh insignia blue, nor intermediate blue. And it is just a shade lighter than sea blue as well, so... that’s why I strongly with your reasoning.

Carlos,

That was the photo I went with, and my gut said “Yep, red” when I looked at it. And as much as I disliked the idea of doing it at first, I did it anyway and I’m glad I did. Like you said, it adds a nice splash of color and looks better than my in my initial vision of the project. It just hadn’t been painted over yet. That works for me.

Bruce,

Thank you, and you are correct! There is indeed a lot of love that went into this thing. Unlike my previous attempts, this one has brought me a lot of joy. I have enjoyed, and loved, every minute of this project. And I’m happy that comes through. I wanted that to come through.

Thank you!

She is a beauty!

Looking really good. Seam work is impeccable. Good looking bird. I love the Corsair!

AtomCat109 wrote:She is a beauty!

Thank you my friend and fellow Emil addict!

Kenny, here is an overhead shot of Big Hog showing the upper wing star. Not the best quality, but at least it gives the same impression.