I’ve just finished a Tamiya’s Corsair which was built for an ex USMC friend from work. What a great kit it is. Even I had trouble messing it up [:D] Anyhow, any suggestions? I built it pretty much OOB except for some harnesses and a little bit of wiring in the engine. I also didn’t correct some little things like the “step” in the wing which (from what I understand) wasn’t a feature until later Corsairs. Anyhow, w/o vast research resources, my understanding of “Ole 122” is that she was quite “seasoned” so I had a bit of fun weathering her. Shown after a nice tropical rainstorm [:D] Opinions and suggestions welcome!
That’s an odd thing, Gunny. My dad was a Marine NCO, got out, went to college, ROTC then USAF pilot training. Though he spent more time as a USAF officer, he always considered himself a former Marine, right up to the day he died. Every time I switch on Mail Call I still get those little butterflies in my stomach, because when R. Lee starts using words like “grabass” and “piehole,” I think my father’s getting ready to knock me to the ground and make me do 50. Of course, R. Lee has to tone it down so much on Mail Call that it doesn’t give a true representation. Watch him in action as the DI in “Full Metal Jacket,” and you get a closer idea what it’s like to live with one.
That is, by the way, a sweet Corsair, and I like what appears to be contrast in the color of the canopy framing and the overall Sea Blue. I know the Marines were extremely restricted as to how much they could decorate their birds, so they did it as much they could get away with. Or, I may be mistaken, and the model represents a canopy taken from a bird with an earlier medium blue paint scheme.
Tom
You’re so right, gunney I should have said former Marine!
Tom, your guess was great. I actually wanted to make it look as though the canopy had been scrounged, replaced and fit to match. I didn’t much bother w/ the historical accuracy as w/ the “feel” of a tried and true USMC warrior. Kind of rough and tumble, but dependable and always ready to scrap. Any plane that flew all those missions w/o an abort had to be held together quite imaginatively by those all too often overlooked ground crews who were forever short of supplies and resources!
Nice build of one of my favorite WWII warbirds. I’ve got that kit built with the wings folded. Some time, I’m going to get another and do it again, only more like your’s. A definite keeper there.
My dad is always very quick to point that out… I am 5th generation military, 1st generation Navy (other 4 were Marines)
My Grandpa almost disowned me when he found out I was going Navy… until he found out I was going to be a ‘Doc’… basically told me if I didn’t go FMF I was a p#$$y… and I agree, every Marine I have ever met, either active, retired or plain discharged… was still a Marine.
Shark: I know exactly what you mean… ever see “The Great Santini?” you’ll relate because it is the life of a marine kid… I remember the inspections before church on Sunday, the horror of coming home from school and seeing my dad throwing my bedroom contents out into the hall, the yard, etc… because I was living like a “pig”… He even threatened to paint my room grey, tear up the carpet and put a drain the center of the floor so he could go in with a hose now and then and wash it down. But it has helped me through each and every part of my life and I don’t begrudge it one bit… First day of boot camp my CC’s looked at me and asked where I learned to make a bunk… then they made me do 50 for making it like a Marine haha…
FINALLY: the Corsair is GREAT!!! it does have the look of the worn down, day to day flight aircraft… It’s definitely a A1 job! Keep it up!!! I like the license you took with making a “not stock” and “not like the photos I have seen on the net” aircraft… like it has been around the block a few times…
Monktrade -
That base has got to be the smallest atoll in the Pacific! [:D] Great job on the weathering - it looks every bit as used as photos of the real thing.
Since you brought it up, it’s a pity the kit mfr’s can’t get the step cutout right.
( I know, “deal with it!”) Anyway, great job. [tup][tup][tup]
Dick
Beuatiful man. Can hear that big P&W start to cough. Adding to this since you asked for any cooments, could be the pic but the corsairs right foot appears to to be a bit futher forward then its left.
