Hasegawa F4u-4 instructions

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Anyone have a set of the instructions for the Hasegawa/Mania F4u-4. Got the kit on ebay but no instructions. Price was right tho and it looks like a nice kit. Most of it is pretty straight forward but I can’t figure out what parts A 7 & 8 are for. Tiny little shark fin shaped bits. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

2

If noone beats me to it, I’ll try and remember to take a look at it tonight. The kit’s near the top of the stash, so getting to it shouldn’t be a problem.

-Fred

3

Here’s a pic of the instruction set where these pieces are added

And a pic of how it looks on the completed kit (in the red box)

Hope it helps,

Fred

4

Thanks a bunch. I wouldn’t have figured that in a million years. Any idea what it is on the real plane?

5

I believe they are fairings to help smooth out the airflow around the tailwheel which is sticking out of the airframe, but don’t quote me on that!

6

I believe they are fairings to help smooth out the airflow around the tailwheel which is >>sticking out of the airframe, but don’t quote me on that!

Yup. That’s azactly what they were. In “Whistling Death,” Boone Guyton talked a lot about what Vought did to make the bird more stable with bombs and external tanks. He said they never did really get it where they wanted it, but it had fairings and stuff all over it.

7

What I find odd about the whole thing is in that the assembly instructions, it looks like they’re attached so that the “points” face up (i.e. towards the sky). But in the painting/decal overview, the “points” face down, toward the ground.

At least hasegawa is continuing their history of the world’s most confusing instruction sets.

-Fred

8

Fred-

If you look here, it looks a little bit more clear how they look on the plane. On the earlier versions (F4U-1A and such), it was absent.