1/48 Tamiya F4U-2 Corsair

Gallery Article by Hal Marshman Sr on July 4 2010

United States of America Independence Day 2010

 

This is my Tamiya 1/48th F4U-2 Corsair night fighter.  Brake lines, seatbelts/buckles are scratch built.  All lights save the spine light and wingtip nav lights are MV lenses.  I added wiring to the engine.  Paint is Model Master Deep Sea Blue, Intermediate Blue, and White.  Decals are kit supplied, although I had 4 sheets to work from.  Lots of troubles with these decals.  Some wouldn't stick, and some broke up once wet. 

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A word about my painting system on this bird.  These night fighters were converted from -1 Corsairs at the Naval Aircraft Factory at Philadelphia.  They came out of that facility still in their original Blue Gray over Light Gray finish.  Sometime before they were boarded on the carrier, they were repainted in the newer Naval Air colors at a Navy depot.  Photos reveal a light color in the insert behind the cockpit, under the glass.  I know it was not an interior color, as Vought painted that area the same as the external surfaces.  I feel that it was probably easier to mask off those windows, than remove them for the repaint, thus that area remained USN Blue Gray.  Note that when repainting, the depot personnel applied the Sea Blue in a straight line above the Intermediate Blue, rather than the official Corsair pattern where the Sea Blue scoops down fore and aft of the wing to merge with the Sea Blue upper surface of the wing.  Because this was a -1 U-bird, I elected to use a home brew Salmon mix in the wheel wells.  The gear doors were originally Light Gray both inside and out, but the repaint only coated the outer surfaces with white.  Photos of these aircraft onboard the carrier show a very dark radome, which I took to be black.  Pics taken on the islands later, show them as white. Repainted, or new replacements, I have no way of knowing.  Well, that's the logic behind my painting method. Seems reasonable to me. 

Weathering was accomplished with eye shadow and Prisma silver pencil.

I regret that I had yet to attach the "T" shaped antennae under the fuselage before these pictures were taken.  I have leaned heavily on material from William Reese and Corsair Jim Sullivan in the preparation of this build. 

Hal Marshman Sr

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Photos and text © by Hal Marshman Sr