1/32 Trumpeter F4U-1D Corsair

Gallery Article by Luc Janssen on July 18 2011

 

Building
As I've already built a F 4U-1A with the three-toned camouflage in the past, I wanted to build a F 4U-1D with a weathered Sea Blue finish. After checking my books and magazines, I decided to make a Bunker Hill F4U-D used during the Iwo Jima campaign.

The Trumpeter kit has a number of mistakes: some details are oversized or badly shaped and have to be reworked. I started to eliminate all metal parts necessary to make the flaps, ailerons, trims and elevators movable. All unused construction holes were filled and the actuators of the trims, the hinges of the flaps, the ailerons and the rudder were corrected or remade from scratch.

The attachment of the propeller blades to the spinner is completely wrong in the kit. So I had to correct this by placing the blades closer to the hub. I gave more detail to the front and tail landing gear (my good friend Luc Van den Ende made me the oleo’s again and he did a remarkable job in giving the tires a diamond pattern!), the cowling flaps, the interior of the cowling and the drop tanks.

For the interior I used the Black Box set, but I had to add some bits and pieces and I made the seat and its frame from scratch. The radial engine was completed with the necessary wiring for plugs.

With white glue and fine, light colored sand, I created a base simulating a war airfield made from coral. The life vest, forgotten on the starboard wing, gives the ensemble a touch of color !

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Painting
Painting was rather simple. I started with a coat of Alclad Aluminum on the fuselage and the upper side of the wings where I sprayed 2 coats of gloss varnish on top (after the necessary drying time!). Then I gave the complete modeI a coat of Sea Blue and, again after the drying time, I sprayed the white lettering and the US insignia while not forgetting the slightly darker blue roundels. 

A very difficult part of the finish and the appearance of the model is the wear of the paint (chipping off). Very carefully and extremely slowly I sanded away, with a mixture of fine sand and polishing substance, parts of the Sea Blue paint on places where the paint is cracked and worn away, like the inner parts of the wings, the ammo hatches, screws on the cowling, etc. 

The next step was again a coat of gloss varnish and then the smaller decals and stencils were applied. Two thinned coats of mixed varnish (5 parts matt, 2 parts gloss) finished the painting job.

Weathering
As this is a darker finish, the panel lines have to be lit up by a lighter color. With a very sharp color pencil, Light Blue and Dark Gray, I accentuated parts of the panel lines. For the final touch I gave dirt and smoke stains with a mixture of light and dark pastel, applied with a brush.

After market update sets

  • Black Box F4U-1 cockpit set 

Paints

  • Alclad II Lacquer – Model Master

References

  • Fighting Colors – F4U- Corsair in Color

  • Squadron/Signal Publications – F4U Corsair in action – Nr 29 + 145

  • Famous Airplanes of the World – F4U Corsair

  • F4U Corsair – In Detail & Scale – vol 1 + 2

  • US Naval Fighters in WW II

  • Aero Detail Nr 25

Luc Janssen

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Photos and text © by Luc Janssen