Well I’m calling this final. It was a tough road with many challenges and a lot of frustration.
Completely scratch build cockpit, which you can’t even see, and tail wheel bay, which isn’t even shown. The part of this build I’m most proud of is the paint job. Because of the new compressor I was able to try modulation and I think it was successful. Mostly.
I like the way it looks even though its not accurate to the plane.
The base is just a quickly thrown together square that is a fair approximation of corrugated steel used for working on the planes in a makeshift hanger. Not quite the Marsten mats I wanted to make, but who wants to drill all of those holes anyways lol.
So yeah there are a lot of tiny technical flaws in the build, such as the tail antennae mount being too far forward. I didn’t even notice till I was admiring the first attempt at mounting the wires lol. Then I knocked them off and I probably should have fixed it then, but I just wanted to finish this thing. I’ve got a lot going on at my work bench right now lol.
Well Gentlemen, if you ever want a serious challenge, near blank slate, project then this is the kit you should look for lol. You want a kit to throw a lot of AM parts; resin, PE, scratch building. Yep, this is the kit. AT least the decals were decent. I mean, I could mostly read the stencils lol.
The build looks great to me so you fought through pretty well. The corrugated sheet may not be accurate, but is certainly looks good under the plane. Great paint job!
You did a great job! I bought one this last Christmas for my son to build, and the flash was so bad; well, it was the worst I had seen. Removing the flash removed plastic you needed as well, creating huge gaps. We kept the decals and I replaced his with the Academy. It was disappointing, I had built several of those as a young 'un, it would’ve been easy enough for him to build. I wonder when they last maintained the mold?
Awesome F4U! Back in the day, one of my most memorable moments was to watch “Baa Baa Blacksheep”. If my memory serves me right, Robert Conrad played the part of “Pappy” Boyington. I also recall that the real “Pappy” Boyington did a few cameo’s on the TV series. Beautiful colors and you did a great job on Lulubelle. My build of this very same product ended in a total distaster, as the folding wings broke at the joints. If finally settled for the Monogram F4U. Congratulations on a job well done.
Thanks Guys! I’m not very good with planes yet, but I’m working on it. I really was not expecting much praise when I posted this. Nothing on this kit lines up right and I did the best I could with a lot of it. By the time I was nearly done with it I was was more or less just glad to put the last touches on it and put it away.
checkmateking02 - Yes they did. I want to build the Dauntless kit that Testors makes as well just because of it. I built both of these kits when I was a kid just because they had beautiful paint schemes. I’d like to tackle the Dauntless again. Although I probably won’t be doing much scratch building or for it because of the trouble the Corsair gave me and then just didn’t allow it to be seen. Those canopy’s are THICK.
Groot - Thanks! I just literally threw it together at the last minute. It wasn’t even fully cured when I took the pictures. It’s dried in funny ways over night and I’ll address the issues later when I feel like taking a break from the M-103 and the figure GB I’m in. But I think, even though it’s not what I wanted for a base, that it’s a pretty close second. I can imagine that as being a possibility for a mechanics work area.
mississippivol - I built a lot of Testors kits when I was younger. I still remember the yellow boxes they came in. For their time they were some of the better, and worst kits at a decent price. I certainly remember this kit fitting much better than it did this time however. There is a bit of Bondo surface putty and melted sprue and sheet styrene in the gaps. Fortunately the upper wing roots needed no filling after I carved away a lot of the joints that were keeping the wings misaligned on the bottom of the plane. I know Testors never actually designed any of their kits, they just bought the molds from other companies, but yeah, a little maintenance on this mold would have been a bonus.
Toshi - Again, thank you Baa Baa Blacksheep was on of my favorite shows as a kid. Boyington not only had a few Cameos but was always on set as the technical adviser. The plane that ended up being “Lulubelle” was never actually assigned to him. None of the pilots were actually assigned a particular aircraft. They all hopped in a jeep and drove down the line, one plane to the next, and if the crew chief gave them a thumbs up a pilot would hop out and jump in the plane.
Lulubelle was a promotional deal that they did for the press that afternoon. Before then that plane belonged to no one in particular and had no distinct markings.
Folding wings? Not on this kit. But I remember they did have the 1/48 kit that I never built. I did see it built however and it was a beautiful bird when built up properly. I did take a stab at the Monogram Corsair and it was a fun kit with neat features, but I never finished her. Far more detail than this little bird and built up fairly well even with the gaps lol.
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Thanks guys. I really appreciate the comments. But I’m also glad to be done with this kit. It was a PITA almost the whole time.
I agree with you about the paint job, Mike. It is outstanding. The modulation is very well executed, as is the weathering. It’s really hard to believe that is 1/72
Although I’m not 100% happy with it, it shall suffice until I get a better kit eventually. Using an airbrush has been a real joy however. I’m loving that part lol.
Great job, Mike!! That Testors Corsair ain’t the most accurate kit, but you did an outstanding job on it! The biggest flaws with that kit, in my opinion, are the prop (looks like it belongs on a rubber-band balsa plane), and the engine cylinders being way too far forward. Again, great job!!
Yeah I did something with the prop. Had to embellish it with some minor detail or I would have made a new one and I don’t think it would’ve turned out very good. I hate the engine, but decided I don’t have the patience to build one. So I kept it dark to sort of hide the fact that its too far forward. Yeah this kit is awful. Lol. Thank you for the kind words! Yes Sarge, modulation. The only real difference between modulation and pre-shading or post shading is that I only highlighted the larger areas and then shaded them as light would fall on them. Or rather where the south Pacific sun would have faded the paint a bit more than it normally would. At least that is what I attempted. If I failed let me know. No sarcasm implied. What do you think about it?
I tell you what, for a 1/72 it looks pretty good. Even with a magnifying glasses/hood I just don’t think I could do 1/72 anymore, unless it was something big. Great job shading and weathering and it looks like you got a good match on the paint scheme. I like what you did with the prop, the coral runways just chewed them poor buggers up. I a picture of one Corsair prop that had about 90% of the paint on one blade ate away. Looks like your familiar with the story behind “Lucybelle,” so I’m sure your aware that Boyington had several thousand reasons to later claim the name was “Lulubelle.” Of course, everyone of them was named George. My understanding is that there is one picture out there that clearly shows Lucybelle. Anyway, again, great job. I can’t wait to see what else you have coming up!!! Raymond
Yeah I do know the stories lol. The decal provided is closer to “Lucybelle” than it is to “Lulubelle”. But yeah, I know.
It wouldn’t take much for me to do a little painting to clear that up a little. But maybe another time on a better kit.
Next up is a Hasagawa AH-64D Longbow. I just got the pilots installed with tape harnesses and I’m going to add the wires for the Optical Sights for the helmets soon. Mics were already scratch built and I have those squared away. So just a couple things before I can wrap this up in the fuselage.
Most times Pappy would fly his steed without the kill marks visible. He didn’t want to “advertise” to the Japanese that he is an Ace. Then again, Pappy was a drunken liar at best. I’ve read a few autobiography on Pappy Boyington - all worth a read.
He was one of my boyhood heroes. but yes he was a bum once he was out of the service. He just fell apart after the war and his drunken hijinks were not much appreciated. He had more than a few gigs and appearances because of his fame as an Ace, but he didn’t re-adapt to civilian life very well.
That’s pretty much sums up what I know of the real man. The legend is what I grew up on.
Nice job here. I don’t know anything about any kit at the 1:72 scale, but for a plane at the 1:72 scale this one looks pretty nice. I don’t even want to think about what one has to do to paint fine details and a tri-color scheme at this size. =P
The same way you do it in 1/48 lol. Thank you for the comments.
The Longbow is going to be completed OOB except for the details I’m adding to the pilots and the Pit. I leaving the doors open and I want more to show.
Baa Baa Blacksheep was on of my favorite shows as a kid. Boyington not only had a few Cameos but was always on set as the technical adviser. The plane that ended up being “Lulubelle” was never actually assigned to him. None of the pilots were actually assigned a particular aircraft. They all hopped in a jeep and drove down the line, one plane to the next, and if the crew chief gave them a thumbs up a pilot would hop out and jump in the plane.
