A Bevy of Bent-Wing Birds (Tamiya 1:48 Corsairs)

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Hi all, i just thought I’d post my current planned project. I’ve decided to take a different approach with this WIP, and chronicle the whole thing from start to finish with a more detailed account.
First, a little background: This will be the sixth iteration of the Tamiya kit that I’ve built, having previously done two F4U-1s, one F4U-1A, a -1D converted to an F4U-1C, and one F4U-1D. The kit itself happens to be one of my favorites I’ve ever worked with. The engineering on the kit is perfect, save for the flaps, and the detail OOB is excellent. However, having built the kit five times previously, I have learned a few things. First, I prefer corsairs with their flaps up and wings extended, otherwise the clean lines just get ruined. That’s how I’ve built all five of my previous Corsairs, but I’m still trying to decide whether or not to break things up and either build a flaps-down or wings-up bird. I also learned quite a bit during my last build of this kit as far as detailing goes, and I’ll be continuing that process with this build, namely by detailing the cockpit, engine, wheel wells/landing gear, and possibly the wing folds, if I decide to build it that way.

I’m planning on purchasing BarracudaCals’ recent corsair sheet for the markings, because I also have two partially built kits that I scored on eBay on the way, so I’ll be able to use three of the markings options on the decal sheet. this particular kit will be wearing the “Mad Cossack” noseart.

Anyway, enough talk, here are some preliminary pictures of the cockpit area showing what I’ll be undertaking:

I started by separating the pilot’s side consoles to make it easier to add detail to the left side.

I’ll also be scratchbuilding a new throttle and radio equipment for the cockpit sidewalls:

The pilot’s foot troughs will be getting new structural supports.

The pilot’s seat will be sanded to the correct shape and thickness, and the incorrect seat framing on the rear bulkhead will be removed, and a replacement scratchhbuilt.

Anyway, thanks for looking, I’ll try to keep this thread updated weekly, at the very least, though with my university course load about to increase, I can’t promise anything.

And, to get an idea of some of the work I’ll be doing for this build, please check out my finished article detailing the F4U-1D to -1C conversion here.

2

I’m a big fan of Corsairs, the bent wing kind. I would like to see how this goes. Keep us posted.

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Hi Jay,

Great subject, I too like this bird.

Thanks for sharing and good luck with the build!

4

gonna keep an eye on this build so that i will have some idea on my future build of this mean bird…

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looking good so far.

But here is a funny fact.

The F4U Corsair wasn’t the only bent wing bird of WWII the JU87 Stuka also has the distinction of being a bent wing bird .

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Very impressive start Josh!

I followed your link to the build on ARC, very nice as well. The details you added to the cockpit area were well done, may borrow a couple of your ideas for the one I am building right now. [;)]

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Thanks for the replies guys! And now it’s time for update #1. I took the kit and some tools down to work today, and managed to get a bit done during my breaks. I’d intended to get a lot done in the cockpit, but time kept me from doing so… I did, however, get a decent start on some important parts, and got a lot of general parts cleanup done as well.

I started by removing the seat mounting “blocks” and starting the tubular support framework with .020" evergreen rod:

I also started working on the main gear bays. There were some nasty ejector pin marks to clean up, and some sidewall framing to remove. On the left is an unfinished well with the frames that need to be removed marked in black, and on the right is the finished item. I’ll be adding more structural details and wiring to the wells later on in the build.

And finally, I did quite a bit of work on the center wing/lower fuselage section. I glued the fuselage window in place and added some framing to it, as the window was only present on the earliest F4U-1s. I also added styrene to finish out some structural details, and removed a few raised ejector pin marks. And finally, I added some framing to the interior of the engine bay vent/whatever it is panel on the lower fuselage according to the one and only photo I could find of the area. I’m pretty sure it’s not 100% accurate, and will be pretty much invisible on the finished build, but it’s one of those “I know it’s there” things…

Anyway, that’s all for now, thanks for looking!

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What’s this? Two updates in one day? Yep! I got a little extra time tonight to get some more work done. This time, I focused exclusively on the pilot’s seat and its support framework.

I started by removing the clunky seat mounts from the back of the seat and then sanding the back to the correct thickness and curved contour:

I then added a couple of rectangles from .005" to the front to match the one clear-ish photo i could find of the pilot’s seat:

And then I started in on the support framework. The whole thing was based on another pretty unclear photo of the area, so I’m not 100% sure that it’s correct, but it looks good enough for me. The whole thing was made from .020" styrene rod and some strip and stretched sprue.

And now I promise, that’s all for today. See y’all next time!

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Ok, time for update #3! I spent the better part of my free time yesterday and today gathering research and doing some work on the outer wing halves, as well as a little work on the tailwheel strut. The pictures are as follows:

This photo shows the work required on the wing panels, namely: fill/remove the landing light on the left wing and the small teardrop-shaped depressions on both wingtips, and cut out the openings for the approach light and gun camera windows in the wing leading edges, and the navigation lights in the wingtips, and replace all of them with clear sprue sanded to shape.

The holes are opened up:

and then two small “plugs” were cut from a piece of the kit’s clear sprue:

these plugs were secured with CA glue:

And then sanded until they were flush with the wing leading edges. (I’ll polish them up and make them nice and shiny when I’m finished painting the model) The wingtip nav lights will receive the same treatment at some point.

I also added some short lengths of evergreen styrene rod inside the wings to simulate the .50 cal. gun barrels, although in hindsight, it probably would’ve been a better idea to use some tubing instead to avoid the “hollow-winged” look…

I added some detail to the tailwheel strut, and there will be much more to come:

And finally, I finished cleaning up the main gear wells, and started detailing them by adding the canvas inspection covers from pieces of masking tape:

And that’s all for tonight’s update. As always, thoughts, comments, criticisms, and the like, are all ver welcome. Thanks for looking!

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As one who does OOB builds, I marvel at those who can go to such lengths with their skills, bravo! [Y]

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Excellent updates Josh!

I wasn’t aware of the approach light and gun camera apertures on the leading edges, I think I will fix mine as well! Like the tape for canvas inspection covers in the MLG bays too, those kind of tips are awesome!

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Hi all, I just have one quick update today- I haven’t had much free time to do any work on this kit lately, and it’s not looking good in that respect for at least another week, but I thought I’d post the one thing I have done, which was detailing the pilot’s left side console. I may end up rebuilding the landing gear control assembly (the large lever at the front of the console) because it’s slightly over-scale, but we’ll see how that works out.

Anyway, that’s all for now, thanks for looking!

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So… I don’t exactly have an update on the -1D kit, but I do have a related update:
I managed to make it home for Easter weekend, and as such, finally got the chance to go through the “partially built box” of corsair stuff I scored on eBay awhile back. This is what I found:

So, in short, I have one kit that’s about 75% assembled that can be built as a -1D, and enough parts to build TWO -1s (or a -1 and a -2, depending on what I decide)
However, there are a few issues:
The cockpit painting/detailing on the assembled -1D is nowhere near up to my standards, so I’m now faced with whether or not I should try to disassemble it and redo the cockpit myself, or just leave it as-is and hope nobody notices…

The other issue is that there are problems with the two wing center sections that were included:
one is broken on the rear edge (though that should be a fairly easy fix with some cutting, evergreen styrene, and putty)

The second center section is a bit worse for wear:

Getting it up to a usable standard will require a LOT of CA, putty, and some styrene to replace the completely missing outboard “half” on the left underside, and it’s also missing one of the oil cooler plugs. So, this kit will be “grounded” until I figure out what to do about the problems
(btw, anybody who may have either a complete wing center section, or any of the parts to make it up, and would be willing to part with them, I’d be happy to pay/trade for them…)

And, I’ve also got something else to distract me from starting these kits:

Anyway, that’s all for now… thanks for looking!

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Josh- Great to see another modeler with a passion for these Tamiya Corsairs! I am thoroughly enjoying mine right now (6th one as well LOL!).

I have a question for you- The approach lights on the leading edge of the wings, Tamiya has them molded differently on each side, should they in fact be this way, or should that be corrected? I have having difficulty finding good reference photos for these. Thanks for your help!

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Frank- Yeah, the Tamiya Corsair is by far my favorite kit I’ve ever built, and that’s not even counting the fact that the F4U is my second favorite airplane (second only to the B-17). the engineering on it is awesome, and even though it’s pretty well detailed, it’s a perfect platform for adding some scratched detail, as well!

About the approach light/gun camera window, yes, Tamiya got it right. According to my references, one of the windows ( I don’t remember which is which) should be pretty centered vertically in the wing, and the other should be a little below vertical. I’ll see if I can dig out my reference pics of them (I know I have at least one photo that shows one of the windows), and post it/them here if I can, but if not, rest assured that, as far as I know, they’re correct.