Is it true that the early F4U Corsairs had fabric-skinned wings? I never see this represented in any of the models kits.
The F4U-1 & F4U-4 did have fabric-covered outer wing panels.
Jim
Yes, it’s true. I’ve heard that some of the earliest Corsairs had wooden ailerons too. The fabric effect is represented on all of the Corsair kits I’ve seen. That’s what those sags are between the ribs on the outer wing panels.
If you don’t mind, I’m going to vent on one of my pet peeves here and thats on the subject of fabric representation on plastic models. Most models tend to have a very fine cross hatch pattern to represent fabric and I find that very irritating. Go take a look at one of the sheets on your bed. If you were to reduce the weave in the sheet 72 times it would be absolutly smooth. Take an unshrunk sheet, tack it to a frame, shrink it, then put on three coats of clear nitrate dope, three coats of silver nitrate dope and then two coats of colored butyrate dope (sanding between each coat) and the surface can become glass smooth. You will get some sag between the ribs and longerons (if more than 1 foot apart) and if you have a wire trailing edge you will get scallops as in WW I aircraft. Just remember there are no panel lines where there is fabric.
Here’s a couple of shots of the prototype’s wing. It even had anti-aircraft bomb compartments located in the center of the outer wing !
Pictures are from Detail & Scale.