Soo after hours on the forum and internet i cant find the 1/48 Hasegawa F4u-7 French Navy Corsair so I’m stuck with the heller kit. Anyway my question is What needs to be done to the Heller kit to make it accurate? Any help is greatly appreciated!!!
The biggest challenge is finding the white handkerchief to hang out the cockpit glass. Finding pics of the front can also be difficult since most photos were taken from the rear as the pilot radioed “run away…run away…”
Just kidding of course. Good luck with your build.
I have a Heller Kit of an AU-1 and seem to remember they forgot to lengthen the nose. There is “plug” forward of the leading edge of the wings. I’m not at home to check out the kit against the Hasegawa AU-1. I’ll get back to you on this.
thank you much appreciated![:D]
Hi have just read your message - am calling from the UK and can i suggest you try the following website, aviationmegastore.com - this is a Dutch based site, and they show Hasegawa F4U-7 (1 in stock)
Hope you find this site useful, as manged to get the Hasegawa AU-1 (USMC) from them
Phil
thanks but too much $$ to ship from the UK to US thanks for the help though!
The kit was reviewed in the January '94 issue of FSM. I just looked it up, and in the review, it says that the kit matches the dimensions listed in the reference book that he used. I have that same kit in my stash, and aside from raised panel lines, if that is one of your peeves, does not look bad at all. The cockpit does look a little spartan, but nothing that can not be easily dressed up- seat harness, instrument decals, maybe some rudder pedals and a throttle, etc.
that`s ok - i seem to remember Rareplane detective in Las Vegas has an update kit from Hi-Tech. Believe its for the Heller kit. Good luck anyway.
Didn’t Accurate Miniatures do a 1/48 Dash 7 in Racing colors? That is, if the Goodyear FG-2 is the same as a Chance-Vought Dash 7…
No, the FG-2 was a different variant developed by Goodyear with a new engine and bubble canopy as an “anti Kamikaze” interceptor. Probably the “ultimate” bent wing bird.
![[image]](http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/PJW4118/Corsair%20other/CorsairOther5.jpg)
Ok, gotcha… I remember the bubble canopy now that you mentioned it… And I think I recall a “Corn-cob Radial” on the FG2 now…
Looking at the pics of the Dash-7, it appears that they look identical to the Dash 5s… Just that the Dash 7’s were built specifically for the French Navy, and that the carb intake was a Dash 4 “chin” type, rather than the “cheek” types of the Dash 5…
Hmmm… So a Dash 5 could work with a Dash 4 cowl perhaps? ( I’m thinking of a kitbash to get a Dash 7 with a minimum of work, is what I’m getting at, lol… )
The Dash-7 carb intake looks like it might be a bit wider across and faired-in a bit better than the Dash 4’s though…
Yes, the F2G had the bubble canopy and “corncob” 4 row radial. Chino has one of the engines on cutaway display. I bet it must have been a bear for the mechanics.
The -7 was a cross between the F4U-4 engine and the beefed up AU-1 airframe. It was built specifically for the French Navy. Notice the five hardpoints under the outer wings
So it IS possible to get a passable Dash 7 out of a Dash 5/Dash 4 kitbash ya think? I’ve got a Revell of Germany 1/48 Dash 5 that I lost the cowl-front out of (so I had to buy another one), and naturally, I have a couple Monogram Dash 4s, and both have the typical engine facade/front cowl-ring assemblies…
Adding the extra hardpoints isn’t an issue, since the “beefing up” is internal, no?
(Sorry for the thread hijack, Scratchbuilder, but your issue has put me onto something, lol…)
Here is Vought’s page on the -7
http://www.voughtaircraft.com/heritage/products/html/f4u-7.html
Ok… Here’s the Dash 4 nose…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:F4U-4_Bu97388_front_view.jpg
And a Dash 7’s:
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2384/2063897121_5d099053ee_z.jpg
And a Dash-7 with an AU-1 (F4U-6)…
http://aerotoons.com/blog/2010/01/
Think it’s doable?
EDIT: Heck… Just saw a 1/48 Revell Dash 7…
Now that I know there’s a kit, why bother,lol… Even has French Navy markings…
as Mr. hammer stated:
EDIT: Heck… Just saw a 1/48 Revell Dash 7…
Now that I know there’s a kit, why bother,lol… Even has French Navy markings…
http://www.hobbyeasy.com/en/data/21647.html
I wish i wanted this or the Hasegawa one but they are all sold out including the one on ur link!! just gotta go with the heller like the rest of us!! lol!!
Thanks everyone for all your help your all really are a great bunch!! I’m gonna go with the heller kit and try and bash the hasegawa aftermarket engine and cockpit into the Heller. im gonna diorama the F4u-7 in SUez campaign on the leased a Fayette carrier with pilot crew and deck. Now i gotta figure out if i want a spining prop??? any thoughts???
the Heller kit does not look bad in the box at all. I do like those Suez stripes and the squadron markings.Will definitely make a sharp looking build. Spinning prop? sure… go for it…
I suspect the engine should fit without a major fuss.
Hans, I have a feeling that the Revell -7 is a rebox of the Hasegawa kit. And just wondering that since the Heller kit is nearly 20 years old, does it qualify for the current MMII GB?
Spinning as in motorized? Or spinning as in a static prop-disc or those goofy PE “Prop-blurs”?
If you have it motorized with an electric motor, I’d say no… Any “Animated” things on a diorama, unless everything is animated, look silly, IMNSHO…
If you do a static prop-disc or use the PE prop-blurs, that’ll look much better to the viewer, giving your diorama the desired “snap-shot” effect… On the other hand, of you plan on photographing it, motorized will always win out over the disc or blurs… Helps to have a rheostat on the prop though, to adjust the RPMs for the best effect in a photo…
Might wanna consider making two props, one for a motor and the photography, and one for static-viewing… That’s what I’d do, were I inclined to animate it…
Also, if you plan on adding an electric motor to it, might I suggest using the plastic box photo-frames for the base? I use them almost exclusively, because not only can you glue several of them together to make whatever size base you need, but they’re about an inch deep, and hollow underneath, allowing for the concealment of a power supply…
Another idea is to stack two of them, one for the flightdeck, and the bottom one the elevator that has just about risen to the deck (or has just started to lower the plane to the hangar deck)…
Rebox or not, it’s the right bird in the right scale (and I daresay that it’s probably cheaper as a Revell kit than as a Hasegawa?)…
As for the Heller kit, I dunno… Reckon it could make the cut… 'Druther see at least ONE Monogram Dash 4 in the MMII build, but I ain’t gonna insist on it, lol…
Yeah, go for it, Pard…