(Off-topic) a pair of 1/72 F4U-4 Corsairs "USS Boxer" (Korean War) (done!)

[jeroen_R90S]

Thanks, Terri!

Still no paint.... 
One of the consequences of Revell using the F4U-1 wings on the F4U-4, besides the fabric flaps I filled earlier, is that the F4U-4 had a boarding step square in the right inner flap. There was also a panel that opened up and a similar hand-hold near the windscreen.
The interesting thing is that due to the angle of the flaps (wings) the step is angled when the flap is retracted and horizontal when the flap is lowered. Fortunately there are some F4U-4s still flying so there are more than a few photos showing the arrangement. I marked out the shape, drilled holes, and carefully filed the opening. It is not high enough (mine is a bit too rectangular) but I would need to go neared to the trailing edge and was afraid the plastic might break so I kept it at this. I also scribed the entry step hatch, the hand-hold is too small to scribe nicely on the curved surface.


I also got a bit furher with the bomb pylons for the VF-791 aircraft. The HobbyBoss pylons have a square and round pin, as squares are kind of hard to drill I snipped that off. Some careful measuring and drilling later:

Until I looked at the photo and noticed the pylons are mounted in reverse...
As the mounting pin is offset I had to make new holes, I had to be quite careful as they are very close to the old ones...


Much better:

I also dryfitted the modified Italeri tanks to see how that would work out.

Some other small stuf was measuring and drilling the holes for the T-shaped radio altimeter antennas, holes for the antenna wire (some people call that rigging, too!) and installing the gunsights and after these were dry the clear parts. There were scratches on the main canopy that I carefully polished out, only to have one of the two sliding parts develop a very small crack. These parts are very brittle! They are installed also and now the glue is drying, hopefully I'll be able to mask them up and then finally get rid of the messy look with some help of Mr Surfacer!

Jeroen

[RAGIII]

You have made excellent progress since I last checked in! Really coming along Well. Nice detailing and like Terri Said the Yak looks great also!
RAGIII

[jeroen_R90S]

Thanks!

Well, honestly at least one of them was about to fly out the window, as I got really frustrated by it...
I wasn't happy with the wing fabric areas after primer... they were still much too trench-like, despite sanding and some filling.
As I put quite some effort in the rest of the model I felt I should put some more effort in them...
Here was how they looked after a first coat of Revell enamel black:


The wing fabric areas still didn't look right, both too deep and not quite smooth. So I filled them with more surfaces, and more sanding an several rounds of filler resulted in a somewhat better look.


However, when I re-primed the areas after all that work it looked OK enough (as I was losing my joy) but after painting the gloss sea blue, one of the models was pretty good (the less warped VF-884 version), but the other had quite a bit of rough spots I somehow missed. Also had some cracked filler on the nose, and by this time was ready to test how well that one would fly in real life...
After a cool down of a day or 2 I decided on one last fix by filling the crack with CA and sanding the rest. Then I re-painted it, and was actually quite pleased I put in that little effort (with hindsight the fixes weren't all that bad...):


I'm now leaving them for a week or so, as gloss paints usually take some time to fully cure and I don't want to invoke any more bad luck -I found out when looking for pictures that 3 of the 4 options actually have the earlier rounded windscreen/canopy instead of the flat one provided in the kit...
So the VF-884 version can only be "416" and for VF-791 I found a picture showing "214", but will have to guess the serial number as that is not readable.

Left for now is masking and painting the tail tips, and then it would seem it's finally on to the decals. I'm rapidly losing the fun in these, so I other than some exhaust stains I won't be putting a lot of effort in the paint job and weathering. Just getting them to this paint has consumed enough energy so far ;-)

Jeroen

[RAGIII]

Looking Terrific to Me! Keep on going so they don't end up back on the Shelf Of Doom!
RAGIII

[jeroen_R90S]

Thanks for the support Rick!

More progress, with the setbacks that seem the story of these builds... However, first how the VF-791 (the most warped one) looks now:

Perfect? Far from it, though I'm happy with my filling, rescribing and multiple repair jobs, despite that, those wing ribs still stick out. Fortunately the decals cover most of the uglyness, and I'll give them a final sating coat when done so that mutes them as well.
The decals (printed by BOA Agency in the Czech Republic) worked like a treat, screaming off the backing and though they do stick rather quickly they can be properly moved with a wet brush.
However, not visible in this photo (when dry I'll post a close up, the decals were on for about 10 minutes when I took the photo), some of them have jagged/fuzzy edges, and the A on the tail looks too thick and not big enough. Eagle eyes readers will notice I deviated from the instructions on the wing numbers and air wing letter on the top; on the bottom I left them off as most of the Boxer's aicraft from VF-791 and VF-884 did not seem to use these (unlike VC-3's F4U-5 nightfighters).
The same eagle eyed readers will notice I did not do either 209 or 211, as both had the earlier rounder windscreen. Just as I had thought I found a second photo of 214, it turned out to be a differend aircraft with the rounded windscreen, where 214 as I did her definately had the flat one as in the kit.
Interestingly this aircraft did not seem to have the VF-791 title (not that uncommon), but also no serial number marked under the tail (unusual). Since I didn't have those as well and the VF-791s from the decals were the wrong (modern) font anyway that was a bit of a bonus.

I also painted the coloured bits of the props, the parts of the bombs and rockets and just finished masking off the wheel hubs.
Slowly getting there... just the VF-884 to decal and make a few more details.

Jeroen

[RAGIII]

In spite of the trials these are giving you they are looking great! There is something about adding the Markings that helps take away the pain and bad memories of the build...at least that is how I feel!
RAGIII

[Monty]

Some stellar work going on with this pair, Jeroen! Not easy to get the amazing results you do with these kits - it's much easier in 1/48th with quite a choice of kits! I love your attention to detail and very clean and neat work... Regards, Marc.

[jeroen_R90S]

Thanks for the support, Marc and Rick!
I'm still plodding along, but as my European neighbors will attest, it's currenty very hot over here. Besides work, staying healthy and family (birthdays, doing fun stuff) I do get some modelling done, but it's just too hot. When I was masking the propellers after evening dinner, sweat was dripping everywhere and I had to thin my paint so much to prevent it from drying too much I spent the rest of the evening painting them.
Interestingly the Revell Aqua I used was so dried out I could barely get it from out of the airbrush cup, which I've never had before.
But, all decals (except the props) are on, rockets, wheels and propellers are painted, so I'm slowly getting there. It is so warm, however, that decal solvent does not seem to work properly, it kind of evaporates before it does anything!

I'll take some pictures later and do a proper update soon

Jeroen

[jeroen_R90S]

So, as promised, some (rather lousy, sorry) pictures of where I am as of now:


With the kids back in school this week I took some time this morning to give the last decals a coat of Mr Mark Set (the rudder "A" needed a bit more help) and add the propeller logo's. Most F4U-4s from this era did not seem to have them, but they add a bit of colour, especially on the blue and white VF-791 aircraft. (214).

Slowly getting there....!

Jeroen

[RAGIII]

Both of your Corsairs are looking excellent. You are getting Much closer to being finished now 
RAGIII

[jeroen_R90S]

Thanks, I just finished detail painting on the rockets (rear ends, aluminium little tip) and glosscoated them. Hopefully a bit of a wash on all the details parts, and then it's onto a flat coat (anti-glare panel) and satin for the rest

[jeroen_R90S]

Hopefully finished this weekend!


Anti-glare panels are simply flat coated, but they give the blue an entirely different look. Though the "lesser" build of the two, I like "214" more, possibly because my 1/72 F4U-5 is also sea blue with yellow trim.

Jeroen

[jeroen_R90S]

Wheels, gear doors etc are on now, and slowly crawling to the finish line...

The T-shaped radio altimeter antennae are, as are many other things, missing from the kit so I scratched them with some stretched sprue sanded flat, and a bit of brass wire:


416 needed some sway braces for the bomb, as the Tamiya pylons don't have them (they are moulded with the upper half of the fuel tank I'm not using) so I found these (too big) ones in my sparesbox. Once painted dark blue and mostly hidden in the "gull" of the wings I can live with them:

Then it's onto some paint for the lower sides (signal lights, antennae, pylon for 416) and attached the pylon and bomb. Then I can add the pitot tube on the left wing, antenna mast behind the cockpit and the antenna wires. Then remove canopy masking and they should be done -that's the theory anyway

Jeroen

[Alexis]

Both are moving forward very nicely 


Terri

[RAGIII]

You are almost there and both are looking Great!
RAGIII