Many years ago, during the mid 80s, I was a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol in Mesquite TX… 42214, now TX 214 I believe, known, of course, as the Black Sheep for obvious reasons. Needless to say, Greg Boyington was my hero for many years. It wasn’t until much later that I found out about his less than admirable traits, though I understand he grew to regret many of his mistakes late in life. He actually endorsed our squadron at one time and my C.O., along with several other squadron members got to meet him at his last Oshkosh show. My C.O. presented him with a Sqdrn hat and patch (modeled after the original) and he was so thankful he sent us a letter thanking the work we did. My all time favorite plan is the F4U, so several weeks ago when I was looking for a new project I decided to pay tribute to the man and the machine. I picked out Revell’s F4U, unfortunately allowing my lesdixia to skip over the -4 part, and settled on F4U #17883 (a bird that Boyington both flew and was pictured in). Once I started on the model I quickly realized my mistake, but thought this would be a good opportunity to learn how to do some mods. Most of them worked, unfortunately there is one glaring mistake that I didn’t catch until it was to late. If you can’t see it, I ain’t telling 
In truth, I wasn’t all that impressed with the kit over all. It’s one of those that the wings folded, along with the wheels. That’s all fine and good, but the wing fit was so poor, that I ended up “floating” them in and making them fixed. Also, the clear canopy sections were horribly small. Fortunately, with a little plastic here and a little paint there I was able to make it work as well. Again, I know I am no where near some of the level you guys are at. Right now, I’m enjoying learning and I figure if you’re not making mistakes then you’re not doing anything worthwhile. My intention was to make the plane look as realistic as possible, including dirt, grime, and bird droppings. I didn’t use expensive decal material this go around, but now that I know what I’m doing I’ll invest in what I need. So, what it’s worth, here’s Martha: An F4U-1 flown by Greg Boyington and Bob McClurg. I hope you enjoy it, mistakes and all, Raymond… Bottom Plan View: 
Front View: 
Starboard View: 
Port View: 
The only glaring mistake I can think of is the air scoop on the bottom of the engine cowling. I haven’t looked at any pics of Corsairs in a long time but I don’t remember the F4U-1’s having that scoop. I may be wrong though. Anyway, that’s a good effort and a good attitude towards making mistakes as part of the process of learning. Keep up the good work and keep showing us more.
There have been some controversy whether Pappy Boyington (or the rest of the Black Sheep pilots in the squadron for that matter) actually had his own personal aircraft. In reality, they didn’t. There was also debate whether the plane was Lulubelle or Lucybelle… Check this out:
acepilots.com/usmc_boyington3.html
You are correct JimNTENN. The Black Sheep flew F4U-1A Corsairs. They did not have scoops under the cowling.
Yeppers, the air scoop is the big oops for the build… Black Sheep TwoOneFour, you’re correct. Most, if not all pilots, that I’m aware of, in the South Pacific were ever assigned personal aircraft. They did good to have an aircraft to fly period. The supply chain just didn’t support a ETO style of aircraft assignment. Instead, at least for the Marine Corps, the pilots would pile onto the flight line vehicle and drive down the row of planes. The crew chief would indicate thumbs up or thumbs down for a working or out of service airplane. If the plane was good to go, the next pilot would hop out of the vehicle and fly that plane. It didn’t matter if that particular aircraft even belonged to that squadron! My understanding is that the Navy had something fairly equivalent set up, even aboard carriers.
The Lucybelle, Boyington reportedly had 15,000 reasons to claim it was the Lulubelle (all named George), was numbered 89 and he never actually flew it. In fact, it was painted up just before Boyington flew in for the photo shoot. Again, I wanted to tribute both man and machine, so I decided to build a bird he actually flew. I don’t know the actual number right off hand, but I know that Boyington was recorded to have flown at least 5 or 6 different F4U’s until he was shot down aboard 17915…
Not a bad job there at all Ray. =] I’ve done this plane that Boyington flew and have a WIP that I’ve now completed but just haven’t posted yet. In it I can highlight some features by which I weathered the surface…if you’re interested. Tamiya makes a pretty good kit that will help you get your feet wet with the corsair. Plenty of AM parts for it as well. Give it a look see.
Hope to see more from you.
Absolutely bvallot, I’ll always take pointers. Thanks for the heads up on the kit as well. I’ll end up doing this build again, and I suspect sooner rather than later. Just something about that scoop that bothers me 
I’ll also state that Boyington didn’t fly with three-bladed props… I believe he was shot down before the 4-bladed Corsairs made it to 214.
Hi Raymond, that Monogram bird hails from 1961 IIRC. I bought one for my son for Christmas, and we’re going to build one of 214’s Korean war birds out of it. I can’t tell you how many Boyington “86” birds I built as a kid/teen, and with my primary reference being the TV show, they were all overall dark blue. I also got to read his autobiography in fifth grade when I bought his book at the school library. Learned a whole new vocabulary!
Glenn
Devil Dawg, you’re right! It’s hard to tell from the actual pictures I have of him with the plane, but yes, it is a three bladed prop. Thanks for the heads up on that one!
Glenn, I considered doing the Lulubelle, but like I said, I just wanted to concentrate on one he actually flew. 883 was of the tri-color variety instead of the monotone blue. I actually had fun mixing the paints to try and match the color pics I had of the bird, including the corroded areas on the nose… I’m actually thinking about doing a Black Sheep series of planes that run from the Corsair to the Harrier. If I do, I may pick up another one of these kits. Hopefully by then I’ll be proficient enough to make the wing joints look realistic when folded. I’d really like to do a diorama of a Carrier loaded with this particular model of Black Sheep F4U-4s… Thanks for all the comments guys! I really appreciate all the feed back. Raymond
A Black Sheep series would be really cool to see! I’ve been wanting to do an Arkansas Air Guard series from the F-100 to the A-10 myself, I finished the F-100 in '86…have still to finish the second one…
you could also do an F4U-1 with -214 (the “Birdcage” aircraft)
I would love to see a -214 history build, let me know if you do it and need any Skyhawk info
Rex (a Blacksheep ramp roach in the late seventies)
Heh - looks like somebody get the same idea I was going to do. I do know USMC VM-214 flew Harriers as well.
Hey Ray!
I just started posting my Boyington Corsair build I mentioned the other day. I actually want to say thanks too because it’s been something I wanted to do for a while but just never made the time. =] In it I’ve included some things specific to Pap’s “white 883” so I hope you find it helpful for round 2. When I finish, I also include some of the photos I used in making it. They aren’t hard to find online but I’ll just place them here for your reference. =] If you do have any questions about something I left out or what have you, just ask.
Hope you find it useful.