Hello all. For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been working on my F4U since I wanted to finish it, after sitting on the model stash for 2 ish years. Anyway, I’m making great progress right now. I’ve finshed the cockpit, and I’m working on the landing gears, propeller, armament, and the tailwheel and the arrestor hook.
Here is my landing gear. I flattened the bottom of the tires to look as if the plane had weight.
I also finished my arrestor hook, with black and white stripes. I used XF-1and XF-2 Tamiya.
I painted the wheel wells with Tamiya XF-4 Yellow Green. I sealed it with Tamiya Semi-Gloss Clear, which I then weatherd with Tamiya’s Panel Line Accent Black. I used it as a filter, so that the wheel wells look dirty, because the tires are always dirty. I only used Dark panel liner since that was one of my only weathering products. It turned out pretty good.
Moving on to the armament. I used reference photos to try and be accurate with the rockets. The instructions say to paint the end of the rockets as black, but photos say otherwise.
So I decided to paint the ends with Vallejo Olive Brown, and white. I had to make 8 of those. I also painted the bombs the same Olive Brown, and the ends of those with Tamiya XF-3 Flat Yellow. The propeller, I painted with silver.
Here’s what you’re all waiting for. The cockpit. This was the most detailed one I made, since it’s my 2nd one. I used Tamiya’s XF-4 Yellow Green, and added a lot of Dark Green to make it more accurate. The reason is that cockpits are usually greener in color, meanwhile wheel wells are yellowish in color.
I painted the Instrument panel and the side (don’t know the name) panels Flat Black. The buttons I used white, and painted red over the white to make it visible. The dials of the instrument panel is drybrushed with white, instead of using the decals.
The Pilot, I used a variety of paints. I used a mix of Vallejo buff, a tad bit of olive brown to create the pilot’s suit. I used dark flesh for the face, then gave it a wash of olive brown to darken it. I also used the same wash for the wrinkles of the pilot’s suit to make shadows, and made some highlights as well. The boots I painted with flat black, and that is one of the biggest feet I’ve seen. Maybe a size 13?
Lastly, the propeller.
I painted the tips with Flat Yellow, and the black is a flat black, with a gloss look to it. I definitely sprayed too thick. Even after a day, the paint left fingerprints on it. I tried to wetsand the paint to level it out, and it worked a little. I applied the decals, and painted the spinner white. It definitely looks good.
Well, I’m gonna work on some other parts of the model. I will have to seal everything with Semi Gloss and add some panel liner to it. Then, I could start to glue the fuselage and prime and paint it. But, this is all for today. Hope you enjoy reading my progress [Y]
