F4U Corsair reference

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Does anyone have some good reference pics for the F4U Corsair? I’m building the 1/72 Hasegawa kit and am getting close to the painting stage. Any general websites that might have general exterior detail pictures would be helpful.

Thanks

M.

2

Can you get a bit more specific than “general exterior detail pictures”? I have a bunch of stuff on the Corsair, but if I had a few specifics, then I could easier weed through it all and find something that’s useful for 'ya.

Are you looking for actual physical exterior details, or color schemes or both?

Fade to Black…

3

Hi Mkish,
I have a great deal of Corsair research information as well. We would need to know some specifics…

  1. Which model of F4U? -1, -1A, -1D, etc.
  2. Are you modeling a specific aircraft and squadron? If so, please let us know that information as well.
    Take care
    Dave
4

Thanks guys,

I’ll get a list of details together tonight. Much appreciated.

M.

5

Here’s generally what I’m looking for:

  1. I’m building the F4U-1A Kepford version of the Hasegawa 1/72 kit
  2. Visible colors from the exterior (ie. gear bays, color separation lines on the aircraft.) Any significant items that would be obvious on the exterior of the real plane. (Not every little minor item, just the major things you’d notice if you were standing 15-20 feet away from the real plane)
  3. Any general shots of how the motor looks from the front (color if possible)
  4. Any general shots of the prop
  5. Any general shots of the canopy and open cockpit that might show how the canopy sits and any obvious features that exist (again, close-up detail pics are not neccessary, just a couple area shots that would give me some sort of general reference.)
  6. Landing gear overall picture if possible.
  7. I’ve elected to ‘weather’ this plane fairly heavily, so if there are any pics of the most visible weathered areas on the real plane, that would be a bonus.

Generally, I’m just trying to make it as authentic as possible, without going into minute detail on every little item.

Hope you can help, thanks for offering.

M.

6

No minute detail? Well I suppose 1/72 is a little minute for minute [:D] geuss I’ll put the blue prints away.
Here’s a link that might help
http://aviacherteg.narod.ru/
It’s in Russian but with a little patience it could BE A big help. Just click your mouse over the button in the top row, second from left then three reb books will appear below, pick the middle one.
Ira “Ike” Kepford, XO of VF 17 and 16 Kills, if I remember correctly, good choice.[^]

7

Okay, this should help you. The overall paint scheme was pretty plain jane.
Upper Surfaces: Specular Sea Blue FS35045
Mid Section: Non-Specular Intermediate Blue FS35164
Lower Sections: Flat White
References:
In Detail & Scale Vol. 55 has excellent color photos of under carriage.
Osprey has a book called “Corsair Aces of World War 2”. I believe it is number 8 in their series. It has a color drawing of this aircraft.
Here’s a link to a web site with some good photos of this aircraft.

http://members.tripod.com/~ArloG/vf-17pictures-3.html

Here’s a link to a side shot of this aircraft from the above link.

http://members.tripod.com/~ArloG/17-4hogs.jpg

What I noticed immediatealy about this aircraft was the loss of paint on the leading edge of the verticle stabilizer and on the wing surface next to the fuselage. Also note that this particular bird leaked like hell. It seems to be dark from oil from the cowl nearly all the way back to the cockpit. Also note the entire fuselage tank cover is taped off in white tape. The leakage can see even on the wing. There also seems to be tape on the leading edge of the wing near the fold point. Not sure why it would be there. Finally note that the canopy is the semi-bubble version with the two frames running front to back. This was one dirty bird and that’s how I would model it. Compare it to the others in the flight.
Have fun!

8

For general pics try this website. It has a colour Corsair walkaround… Hope it helps…

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/AWA1/301-400/walk334_Corsair/walk334.htm

All the best with the kit…

Cheers,
Nandakumar

9

You guys are great!
Thanks alot!

There’s a couple of local guys in my club that are gonna bring some pics too so I think I’ve got it just about covered.

Much appreciated.

M.

10

One last note? Kokoobura books has a golor profile of a Kepford bird with the red surround on the national insignia. there is no tape on the top of the fuselage. It says the plane was lost in Jan., '44. There are 15 kill markings on the left side.

11

Per the Osprey book on Corsair aces, Kepford’s first Corsair was written off in a crash landing in January of '44. The illustration in the Osprey book does not show that Corsair with red surrounds on the insignia ( here we go again ! ). Oh yes - I think I recall reading that in order to make identification in the air easier, each division in the squadron painted the prob hub and first few inches of the blades a different color. One other thing - Roger Hedrick was Blackburn’s XO. Ike was “only” a Lt.(jg), and I think was a division leader.

12

Try Squadron/Signal- Corsair in action. Fletcher

13

dont. it sucks