1/32 Tamiya F4U-1D Corsair

[KungFuDrew]

Hey folks, welcome to my build thread for this GB

I've been waiting on this GB. TBH I was hoping that this would be the first GB this year because I've been dying to build this kit.




Lots of lovely plastic. I can't add anything that hasn't been said about this kit, the moulds look great.


What I want to know is how the hell they managed to cast the canopy without a seam line???


To add to the kit, I've got some fabric belts and decals. I've also got some resin wheels on the way to replace the vinyl ones supplied with the kit.


On with the build! Surprise surprise, we start with the cockpit. Construction didn't take long here, the only thing I altered was the headrest. I textured it slightly with a Dremel, as this was leather and wouldn't be as smooth as the kit part. Nothing extreme, just enough to give it a bit of lumpiness




Then it could get a lick of paint. I recently started using MRP paints and can't sing their praises high enough.




And that's where I'll leave it now. I've actually made much more progress but I don't want this to become a monster of a post. I started this as soon as I was able, and the Tamiya fit has let me fly through this in the last couple of weeks. See you soon!

[aur0ra145]

That's a really detailed cockpit, looks like it's coming together well!

[digger303]

Wow nice gear.

[Stokesy44]

I saw a review of the kit where the guy described it as the best engineered kit he had EVER seen.

That paint has gone down beautifully

[Twokidsnosleep]

Oh great choice of kits!!!

Really looking forward to seeing this build progress

[Gary30]

Lovely start! I have the 1/48 scale version of this in my stash, it's the only flying thing in my entire stash, so that tells you how much I love this aircraft.

Keep the updates coming

[Tomcat64]

Same as Gary I have the 1/48 version in the stash and really interested to see how the 1/32 version comes together

The cockpit looks great so far

[Garion77]

That's really a nice start ! Really awesome details ! Is it a recent kit ? But tamiya is always the best !

[KungFuDrew]

I saw a review of the kit where the guy described it as the best engineered kit he had EVER seen.

That paint has gone down beautifully

Lovely start! I have the 1/48 scale version of this in my stash, it's the only flying thing in my entire stash, so that tells you how much I love this aircraft.

Keep the updates coming

Same as Gary I have the 1/48 version in the stash and really interested to see how the 1/32 version comes together

The cockpit looks great so far

Well the 1/32 kit is literally falling together. Everything so far just fits properly and feels right if you know what I mean.

That's really a nice start ! Really awesome details ! Is it a recent kit ? But tamiya is always the best !

The kit is 2013 vintage, with some 2017 sprues to make this a -1D. TBH you could have told me the kit was released yesterday and I'd have believed you.

With the pit painted, I wanted to give it some wear and tear, and added some chipping with a sponge to give it some life.





I then applied a dark brown wash to the details. I've painted the headrest as well, this was my first attempt at a worn leather look. I'm 50/50 on it, not bad for a first try, but could do better!


Then onto the front panel. This is usual for the 1/32 Tamiya kits, the dials are a clear part with a decal applied behind it.


I could then add the fabric belts to the seat, and then assemble the pit.




The good thing about this being a 1/32 kit is that this work won't all disappear once the fuselage halves are joined up. Speaking of which, they were next. The halves got all the same steps as the pit.




Then it was a big milestone, the fuselage could get joined together! I'll need to use as tiny bit of filler, just to smoothen out the join, but apart from that it's been perfect so far.


That's where I'm at now. I've started work on the engine, which, surprise surprise is going together great, but it'll take a lot of painting and masking to make it pop. See you guys soon!

[digger303]

Marvelous crafting

[Stokesy44]

The pit looks beautiful. That's real art, right there

[KungFuDrew]

Marvelous crafting

The pit looks beautiful. That's real art, right there

Too kind!

Time for an update methinks. The next stage is the engine. Here it's a toss up between detail/what you can actually see. I'm going to be covering up the engine anyway, so I didn't want to spend time on something that was never going to be seen. However, you can still see decent portions of the engine from the front. I'm happy with how it turned out. First was constructing the individual parts, no dramas here.


Then on with paint. I didn't have the exact match for the housing, I've mixed my own and from reference photos it looks pretty accurate.


Then it could get some grime and then assembled. I didn't do too much here, just a wash and drybrush. The first photo is a before/after wash.


Then it could be mounted to the fuselage, the fit here was a bit iffy to my surprise. Nothing a bit of careful gluing couldn't solve though, and I deviated from the instructions here. I constructed the entire engine housing and mounted it to the fuselage, instead of installing the covers later. This helped ensure a tight fit and kept the gaps to a minimum. I've installed the cowl flaps in the open position to maximise what can be seen, and painted part of the fuselage just to make painting easier later on.




And that's it for now! Up next is those iconic inverted gull wings.

[digger303]

The wing fit is always a pinnacle moment in my mind. Will it fit nice or not, but hey it's Tamiya it's going to be fine.

[aur0ra145]

That motor looks good!

[Stokesy44]

The wing fit is always a pinnacle moment in my mind. Will it fit nice or not, but hey it's Tamiya it's going to be fine.

My money's on them fitting.

[WordenB]

Beautiful work Andrew,, very impressive!

[BigWall]

Very nice! The blue and silver of the engines looks great together.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Show to cover that with the cowling
Excellent

[Garion77]

Nice progress ! And because of you it's now a kit on my wish list ! Excellent paint job on the interior ! Really smooth. Still have to learn that.

[Tomcat64]

Absolutely stunning work on the engine

[KungFuDrew]

Thanks folks! Time for a much overdue update. I took a break from the kit for a few weeks, to build something with tracks and mud. But now we're back to full progress on the Corsair.

So the wings come in two main parts, the inner wing with the underside of the fuselage, and two outer wings. This allows you to build the kit wings out or wings stowed. I'll be building mine with the wings out. First up is to paint the interior green parts


And then it could be stuck together, the green bits got the same treatment as the cockpit, although I still have to do some work on the wheel wells, but this can wait until I'm at the painting stage.


Then came time to stick the wings to the fuselage. The fit along the wing roots was great, and there was a minor gap at the bottom of the fuselage. 5 minutes with some superglue and some sanding sticks and that was sorted!


Then on to the outer wings. These were very simple to assemble, and gave me no problems.


However, when the time came to add them to the plane they threw up my first problem with the kit. When mounting them the fit wasn't the best, and I basically had a choice between a large step or a gap where they met the wing root. I think I assembled everything correctly, but given how well the rest of the kit is engineered I'm assuming builders error. Anyway, I busted out the sprue goo and set to work filling, sanding, re-scribing and riveting the join.


A pretty good repair job if I do say so myself! (I wish I'd taken better pictures) After that it was back to business as usual, and the kit pretty much fell together. The landing gear was assembled, and I've left it off for easy painting. I replaced the vinyl tyres with resin ones, the kit tyres have a seam round the diamond pattern that was impossible to remove.


Then the glazed parts could be added. The fabric seat belts I ordered came with masks as well, I used these instead of the kit ones as these were pre cut.



As you can see I've got the engine masked off as well, as that's construction finished! Up next it's time for paint! See you soon!

[digger303]

Hmm the outer wing.....damn I don't like the sound of that. I haven't mastered re riveting or a lot of other things..
You seam to have it in hand though, taking it in your stride.

[aur0ra145]

Good to see you're still making progress!

[Stokesy44]

Looks beautiful and ready for her make up!

[Tomcat64]

Awesome progress & great work on sorting out that wing join