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

[BlackSheep214]

[Floki]

That is very impressive looking.

And no masking for those panel variations! With the thin mixes and similar colors, I was able to get away doing it freehand.

You have done a excellent job at it. One thing I have noticed with the AK RC paint, it acts a lot like Tamiya but I think I have more control over it, have you noticed the same? I can also thin this paint down more too then I can Tamiya.

[jkim]

Yes, I've noticed that too. But not with all colors. I tried the same thing with other wing (which are using different AK Real Colors paints) and could not achieve the same results. No matter how fine I tried to get, I couldn't avoid the overspray. I'm going to have to re-think the Dark Blue/Intermediate Blue colors. I think the Intermediate Blue is fine but the Dark Blue is a bit too dark out of the bottle especially considering the heavily faded/worn appearance of 740. Lightening the Dark Blue introduces some inconsistency when mixing at the airbrush cup so I may have to bottle a custom mix so I can consistently achieve the same shade, especially important if I'm going to have to do corrective work around masks, which I think is unavoidable.

[mustang1989]

See…..this is why I stepped away from aircraft modeling for a few years. I had to learn stuff like this for my own paint jobs because I thought my outcomes were left looking like something was missing and I just knew that there was more to it than the way I was doing it. Looking at builds like this is not only instructional but inspirational as well.

[jkim]

There are definitely challenges that arise in trying to model combat aircraft in service. One of the enjoyable aspects of my hobby even though it can be filled with uncertainties.

I'm trying to get a handle on the color scheme for my Corsair. Using the colors straight from the bottle would give me a decent representation of a factory-fresh Corsair but it seems evident from the available photos of 740 and other VMF-214 aircraft that the harsh conditions imposed on these island-based aircraft was very unforgiving. I came across this nice color photo showing a lineup of island-based Corsairs (VMF-222, I believe). They look to be a mix of F4U-1 "birdcage" Corsairs and F4U-1a's.


Resolution is surprisingly high on this copy and I'm able to zoom in without losing too much detail. The bird in the foreground is definitely a birdcage but it appears to sporting a 4-color camo scheme similar to my 740.


Looking down toward the far end of the line-up, we see something very interesting. At the end of the row, there appears to be a Corsair in a very pristine 4-color scheme. The contrast between this aircraft and the others is stark and the contrast gives me a good clue into how the 4-color scheme could wear down in time. The aircraft directly in front of the new Corsair appears to be sporting a 2-color scheme but the one in front of that one looks like a faded 4-color scheme. I am going to use this photo to help establish lighter, faded versions of the Dark Blue and Intermediate Blue.

[Floki]

It will be interesting to watch your process on painting this. Them coral runways beat the crap out of these birds that's for sure.

[BlackSheep214]

I agree. Not to mention the constant sun and heat can have an effect on fading paint.
You know, when Baa Baa Black Sheep came out as a series back in the 70s, they always show pristine dark blue Corsairs like they had just rolled off the factory floor. But hey, we were kids and didn’t care as long as the dogfight scenes were in it.

I came across an old 1/32 scale Revell Baa Baa Black Sheep nemesis ZERO kit on eBay the other day. I completely forgotten they did the Zero.

[mustang1989]

Can't wait to see you replicate THAT!!! Man!!!

[Duke Maddog]

Oh this is gonna be one wild ride! Bring it John!

[jkim]

Getting closer to applying some paints to the fuselage but I have to complete a few things first. One of them is to attach the tail wheel, which is pinned into place by the a long panel on the fuselage bottom. I'll have to mask off the tail wheel prior to painting.


Conveniently, I've run out of one bottle of AK Real Colors Insignia White so I've used that as a container to mix a slightly lighter shade of the Dark Blue (AK Real Colors) upper camo color. I've left the AK Real Colors Intermediate Blue alone. Here is the initial painting of the starboard wing, which features the four-color scheme (which is essentially will boil down to a three-color scheme in this build as I'm not going to differentiate between the semi-gloss and non-specular Dark Blue). I've varied the uppers with a lighter shade on the fabric areas as well mixing up the colors on the interchangeable ammo cans.


The bottom of the starboard wing with the insignia painted on. I've sealed this side with a gloss coat.


The white taped areas have been painted and I've mounted the wings on the fuselage just to see what the two mismatched wings look like. The horizontal stabilizers have also been painted and have been temporarily slid into place.



There is a lot of stencil decaling that needs to go on the wings and I'm taking a look at the Tamiya decals to see if I can get them to lay down properly. Using the standard Microset/Microsol treatment doesn't do much. Walters Solvaset gets the decal to sit into the recessed details but doesn't do anything about the thickness so I'm playing with hot water and possibly Mr Mark Setter and Softer, which I have on order.