I must say this kit was an absolute pleasure to build! When I bought it, I was researching Birdcage Corsair photos for inspiration and found a couple period photos of “white 6” from the early days of VF-17, and chose to replicate that aircraft. Something that stood out was how filthy these planes were, with minimal chipping other than on the upper wing surface near the fuselage.
I used Aeromaster decals, Eduard PE seatbelts, and Vallejo Model Air for the paint. I noticed from a reference photo, the early VF-17 Corsairs had a black device hanging under the outer wings. I have no idea what they’re called, if someone knows what they’re called and what purpose they served, please educate me! Anyway, I lifted them from an Eduard Wildcat I have stashed and added them to this build. The rest was done out of the box, with some scratch built detail items added.
I used a black base with mottled gray, and sprayed the colors freehand. The chipping was done using cheap hairspray, with bits of salmon primer added after the fact. I was going to do a two layer chip technique, but it just slipped my mind as I was working through- oops! Weathering was a combination of oil dot, oil paint washes, oil paint wash splatters, various shades of pin washes, and Tamiya Weathering Master, with a final finish of Vallejo matte varnish. EZ Wire was used for the antenna.
Here’s the end result. I included a couple WIP photos, reference photos, “fun with Photoshop” photos, and photos in natural and artificial light. I’m pretty proud of this one, I hope everyone enjoys seeing it as much as I enjoyed building it and sharing with everyone.
