F4U-1A Corsair- 9/30 - DONE!

[JimD]

I sprayed it on. In all my tests it worked beautifully. Not so much when it came time to using it on the build. However, I thinned with lacquer, and some of my limited research suggests that's what the problem was.

If you do spray it it will have sort of an orange peel look. Nothing I did would make it not spray like that...so I think it's just it's characteristic. It didn't affect the overall finish though.

[bbrowniii]

Marc

Love the progress. Those pics you posted have me frothing at the mouth - my wife the veterinarian is sure I've got rabies and threatened to put me down....

Add to that all the AM goodies people are tempting you with. Damn man, you've GOT to do another one of these that you absolutely LOAD with every AM bit you can cram into it.

Oh, and PS, that RNZAF scheme is just sick man. I love it!

[wing_nut]

Thanks for the feedback Jimmy.

Thanks Boyd. So far I've been able to resist the urge to splurge.

[wing_nut]

Progress has been painfully slow. But I finally got the center wing section fixed in place after a bit of a catastrophe. In the last pic, see the small spot of gray putty on either of the window? I dropped that center section and that back half snapped off. Thank God I have a strong heart Pretty clean break so it was really just another seam to be fixed.



Engine is finally a permanent installation.




If I have to cut the masks for the glass i may as well "cut" the Bare Metal Foil mask that is just love to use. Once burnished down the frame work pops right out making trimming a snap.

[wbill76]

I learned something new today...had no idea there was a window on the belly/cockpit floor on these birds.

[JimD]

Looks great. Do you usually mask with the foil? Never tried it. I did try the laying tape down like that and trying to cut it and it just never works for me. Though, this looks like it would be a lot easier to see and cut cleanly.

[wing_nut]

Me too Bill. Live and learn.

Thanks Jimmy. Yup pretty much use the foil all the time. Works best on a canopy that has not been Futured. Still gos down and cuts great but it tends to leave more adhesive residue with the Future. I will not be dipping my canopies in future any more. Seems weird to have a war weary birds with a canopy that looks like polished lead crystal.

I use the foil for masking in all kinds of situations on both planes and tanks.

[JimD]

Neato. Will have to try it. Looks very promising for those occasions where a pre-cut mask isn't available.

[Foenetik]

such a beautiful kit. i want one myself. after i added all the aftermarket up it came to 366.00 with the model haha. adds up fast! i know i dont need all that detail but if i build it, id have to. cant wait to see more!

[John Everett]

Brilliant little trick with the foil mask! I can think of a dozen places where I did too much work cutting blue tape.

[thechaos]

Hi wing_nut,

looks soo gof your Corsair.
a fantastic build.

[wing_nut]

Thanks for all the compliments guys.

Tony, I know what you mean. Strikes as being backwards though. We seem to spend more on AM stuff for the kits that are already packed to overflow with detail.

[TRM]

The Corsair is looking great Marc!! Nice little trick with the foil! Makes lite work of on the dovetail cuts!!

[wing_nut]

Thanks T. When I come up with enough things to do with the foil I'll do a column like a modeling version of "Hints from Heloise"

[wing_nut]

Lets start with something small but fun. I added some .50 cal barrels for something to see in'f ya'll decide to poke around in there.





I may be tempting fate but I have won this round with the carpet monster. 1st... thanks to doogs for making note in his Corsair to remember to put the gun camera windows in before you put on the outer wing panel. Holy cow tiny. Forget the tweezerpult into oblivion. i think the little part just jump off the bench as soon as I touched the tweezers

I took the fattest piece of clear sprue I could find thinking I could sand the end square so it fit in the hole. Not big enough. But if I cut a little log and laid it on its side it filled the square hole perfectly. Once the glue set just shape, sand (tape is to protect the gun ports) and polish.  I'll touch that up with some 12000 micro mesh and a drop of Future on the inside.

[JimD]

Dang carpet monster got me last night too. Dang any time I pick up a part with tweezers it's a 75% chance it's gonna pling across the room...do it with a 1/72 piece and it increases to 95% I think.

Your solution worked great though. Way to Mcgyver that

[wbill76]

There's always a way to defeat the CM...I like this one for its simple elegance! Only thing worse than something tweezerpulting is getting a false echo on where it lands only to discover after several minutes of fruitless searching that it was stuck to your shirt the whole time...

[bbrowniii]

May 8, 2015 17:32:58 GMT -5 wbill76 said:

Only thing worse than something tweezerpulting is getting a false echo on where it lands only to discover after several minutes of fruitless searching that it was stuck to your shirt the whole time...

Ohhh, I hate that... but I can beat it.

So about a year and a half ago (after Armorcon 2013, I think), I opened up a kit I had got at the show, just to mess around with it and caress it a little (don't judge me!).

As I'm doing this, I see a few small pieces had fallen off the sprue and were rattling around in the box so, not wanting to lose them, I dump them out on my bench with the plan to tweeze them into a small ziplock bag. First one, two, three go fine, but then number four, launched. I hear the plink of it hitting my concrete floor (or so I thought) and did my due diligence but to no avail.

So that was in September. Apparently, since it was getting on into fall, the shirt that I was wearing got put in the closet for the winter... spring arrives. I pull out my shirt, go about my daily business. That night at the table, my wife looks at me kind of funny and says, "Hey, what's that stuck up under the collar of your shirt?"

Six frickin' months that part was hanging in my stupid closet. Every time I was in at my bench and I happened to look at that box, I'd think to myself, "Son of a b*&^h, I can't believe I lost that stupid part."

*Sigh*

[bbrowniii]

PS Great save Wing_nut!

[dupes]

Wingy - looks great broski! I was fondling those decals you sent me the other day...do you have the Xtradecal sheet number? I'm trying to track down a placement guide. I might have found a kit to put them on.

Boyd - you aren't supposed to hang your parts in the closet. That's what kit boxes are for.

[wing_nut]

Boyd - you aren't supposed to hang your parts in the closet. That's what kit boxes are for.



And I know the false echo/clothing thing. Remember the pic of the PE part in the folded up bottom of me pants leg

[Leon]

Nice work on the gun camera window Marc!

[wing_nut]

Thanks Leon

[wing_nut]

Longtime no bench time. My job as a home inspector means lots of walking. So when the front half of your left foot goes dead numb it makes that weird and uncomfortable. End of day means feet up, not dangling under the bench. But some trips to the foot doc and several cortisone shots in select nerves and the feeling is coming back.

Being a 3 blade prop and having 2 on each of 2 sprues meant an extra for testing. Happy with the results i went ahead with the prop. The steps were, Mr. Surfacer 1200 black primer, Alclad dark aluminum, 2 coats of hair spray, color coat is the prime again and then the yellow tips.

Using a lacquer instead of an acrylic paint for the final color meant that it had to be scrubbed pretty good to get it to come off. More work of course but easy to control how much comes off to keep in delicate. I had to barely scratch the areas to start the chipping with a very course sanding stick and soak the prop in a tray of water far about a minute before anything would happen at all. The chipping is done with a couple of stubby brushes and a piece of Scotch Brite pad.





Got the wings on and a mock up before a few more bits to add and it will be off to the spray booth.

[JimD]

Looks great. Almost time for the fun part!

[Leon]

Coming along nicely Marc! Nice work on the prop chipping.

[Wes]

Yes please. Bring on the paint.

[Foenetik]

Props on the prop

[wing_nut]

Thanks guys. Honest opinions though... Prop chipping over done? It's been suggested that the prop doesn't chip at the trialing edge. Anyone got a pic of a beat to hell prop?

[wing_nut]

"Prop II, The Sequel"

I got a bit carried away with the wear on the prop. I think I was going to do it again no matter, even if they did get a crappy TE. It didn't have the real thin look that the blades have in the ref pics. Add to that if the prop was that bad the aircraft would have been a real mess and i don't plan to weather it "that" bad.

I've been away from my aircraft roots for so long doing armor I am finding out just how much I've forgotten. Sometimes an aircraft needs a bit more finesse. Chipping a tank with hairspray can warrant a more aggressive "peel" I had no idea that the TE wouldn't chip. I guess was thinking it would be more abraded than chipped but once i start chipping'... tough to stop LOL.