Academy 1/72 Vought F4U-1 Corsair

ACADEMY 1:72 VOUGHT F4U-1 CORSAIR

Reviewer: Richard Rusnák (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 16 February 2006

Kit Details:

Producer: Academy
Nr: # 1657
Model year (MY): 1998
Price: approx. $8

Aircraft History:

A prototype of the Corsair took the air for the first time in May 1940. The first airplanes reached the troops in June 1942. Despite the fact that it was designed as a carrier fighter, for its unsuitable properties, it long served from ground bases only. Only after modification in April 1944 it was assigned to serve in the US Navy too. It became one of the most powerful fighters driven by a piston engine. Globally there were more than 12,000 of various types produced.

The Kit:

The kit contains 43 parts made from grey plastic set in 3 frames. Another frame contains 3 transparent parts of the divided canopy. The removable cabin shelter is represented alternatively by a newer and older type without longitudinal crossbars of the frame.

The mouldings are clear with engraved panels. The material used is soft and easy to treat. The reviewed kit did not contain any scratches or marks after ejector alongside the outside surface.

Here are the benefits of the kit:

accurate shape of parts and indication of splitting lines of panels according available drawings,
equally transparent and divided canopy,
smartly designed intrusion of upper parts of wings to the fuselage, which reduces binding.

The back cylinder bank is indicated only partly, but after assembly of the kit this simplification is not visible.

Some other imperfections without adjustments would be visible on the completed kit:

shallow undercarriage wells,
untrustworthy indication of exhaust mouth,
blinded air outlets from the cooler in the wing-roots,
cowl flaps of the engine is partly in open position, but without indication of splitting.

All the mentioned imperfections can be adjusted by an average-skilled modeller.

Options and Colour Schemes:

The kit offers two versions of airplane:

F4U-1A, VF-17 squadron C.O, pilot Tommy Blackburn, late 1943. The kit is in standard 3-coloured camouflage. The bottom surface white, the top one dark blue and the middle transition one in medium blue
F4U-1 (?), VMF-212, pilot Capt. P.C. Delong, late 1945, in single-coloured dark marine blue paint-coat.

The kit can be alternatively accommodated with under-slung bomb or with an additional tank. The cabin can be left open.

Instructions:

There is a 4-page long folded instruction booklet something smaller as an A5. It includes on one page the short history of the type, distribution of parts in frames and one page with camouflage and marking for each version. The other side covers construction drawings for assembling divided into 9 steps. The instructions are carried out clearly. For majority of small parts, which need to be painted before gluing, the paint range is quoted, but not always this is the rule (e.g. interior of the engine cover).

Construction:

Interior of the cockpit

It is supplied as a tub with side-panels into which a seat and a control stick is pasted. The sides of the fuselage have imprinted internal structure of the cockpit and some of the instruments. The furnishing of the cockpit is closed by instrument panel with positive indication of instruments. For improvement of the look I recommend to amend the interior with following modifications:

Cut off control pedals and move them by 3 mm forward to the seat.
Blind fold the front sector by building a bulkhead.
Behind the seat create a frame from pulled sticks, which exceeds the lines of the seat.
Amend the seat with seat-belts. For this purpose I use fine paper painted with convenient colour from both sides.
On the left part of the floor add pipes, to the right behind the seat add oxygen bottle, to the side of the right panel add an indication of a case for maps and on the top side of both side-panels indicate the bigger instruments.

For all modifications it is necessary to follow the drawings or pictures.

Š Richard Rusnák 2006

Wings

This part required the most changes. First I had to cut in the lower part of the wing the side and back walls of the undercarriage wells, so they can be pushed gently inside. Into the created gap, next to the back edge, I placed the prepared plastic expansion blocks. By this operation you can obtain 1.5 - 2 mm of the missing depth of the wells (measured by the back edge). The whole action needs to be trained dry for a couple of times. If you push the floor too deep, it will push out the upper part of the wings, which can damage the geometry of the airframe.

Š Richard Rusnák 2006

Consequently I have filled the created wedge-shaped gap with further shaped pieces. After it dries perfectly it is necessary to bind and sand.

Another challenge is to open the air outlets from the cooler in the wings-root.

Š Richard Rusnák 2006

The next step is the substitution of unrealistic mouths of the exhaust pipe. The original one needs to be cut off according to the printed profile. Instead of these I used extracted blown rods of suitable calibre. The pipes (3 on each side) were finished by sloping cut under 45 grade angle. In case the rods have thicker walls it is necessary to bore them once again with a suitable drill.

An optional improvement can be the indication of barrels of machine guns, behind openings in leading edge. Machine guns were placed stepwise deeper towards the end of the wings. The required steps show openings on bottom of the wings.

Next you can follow the instructions, glue the indicated coolers and attach the top part of the wings.

Engine

According to the available drawings the engine had on the upper section two expressing cylindrical nipples. The kit marks them however only faintly with nipples of square pattern. I have cut off these nipples and replaced them with cylinders.

Contrary to the building instructions I have assembled up the engine inclusive of the cowl and propeller and put it aside. The advised imperfection, regarding the opened cowling flaps, I have not removed it, I have just emphasized by engraving the splitting line between cowl and flaps.

Š Richard Rusnák 2006

Airframe

Next the affixing of the fuselage halves followed. The touching surface of the kit is accurate and needs only soft local binding, mostly on the bottom of crutching wheel well and tall fin. There were no problems with sticking and geometry of elevators, only usual binding of the touching spots was necessary.

The gluing-in of the prepared subassembly of the wings followed. The upper sections of the wings extend into the fuselage and the section of the fuselage fits on it blankly from above, which ensures easy observance of the right geometry of the kit. The created gap is minimal; even it is necessary to bind and smooth the junction. The wings on my kit sink too deeply into the fuselage, which has shown a step where the back part of the center-secton meets the fuselage. This part required binding and smoothing in larger extent.

In case you will build a kit with closed cockpit I recommend to binding the leading rails for the canopy, as they are too rough and deep.

Assembling - Completion

After finishing the heavy work on the airframe I have completed the upper part of the instrument panel with appliances emerging from the frame. On the left from the receiver a box with ammunition control and on the right to the front control for heater and defrosting. At the same time I have replaced the indicated finding receiver of the kit with the remaining from another one, which was made from transparent plastic and offered much more realistic look.

Next was followed by the assembly of groups of engines, binding of the join, attachment of bomb-hanging, antennas of the shelters and undercarriage subassemblies.

Painting:

I decided to build the first version of Corsair from 1943 in three-coloured camouflage. Before undertaking I did some basic research of used paints.

The article from Martin Waligorski Camouflage & Markings - Interior Colours of US Aircraft, 1941-45 published on www.ipmsstockholm.org. was very helpful. Based on his article contrary to the instruction I used a white colour for internal of engine cowling, undercarriage wells and legs and inner parts of the landing gear fairing. I used interior green only for painting of some parts of the cockpit.

For the external camouflage I used dark marine blue (AGAMA A4 M) and white (Humbrol Gloss 22). I mixed the transition blue from the last two colours. The paint-coat had to be carried over in two layers, as the paints had low covering ability.

Consequently I have unified the top-coat of the kit with mat lacquer (Humbrol Matt 49). To emphasize the propeller I have repainted it contrariwise with gloss varnish (Humbrol Clear 35). The treatment of the surface was made using brushes.

After it dried I placed a smudge on the desirable places of the surface with sediments of black colour, which is used in usual paints. I've used this technique for many years, as the paint after drying is mat and by application with dry brush the intensity of fouling is very easily applicable.

Decals:

I used the decals from the kit. Colours and printings were okay. The labels for the wings seemed to me smaller as it should be, but I have not had any good picture of Blackburns specific machine to compare. Beside the basic stickers there are a couple of labels in white and black colour on the sheet. A big disadvantage of the stickers is their high fragility. Striping before the cockpit fell apart into 3 pieces. I recommend cutting it before moistening and applying it piece by piece. The covering lacquer of the labels causes an unpleasant border. Fortunately I was able to foresee this attribute and before applying I tried to cut out the sticker as closely to the edge as possible.

Š Richard Rusnák 2006

Overall Recommendation:

The result is a nice kit, which increases my collection of allied aircraft from the World War II. I have not made any measurements, but the kit looks like it's true to size and equally represents the characteristic form of the Corsair. As already mentioned above, the proportions of the panels match the available drawings.

I can recommend it to all groups of modellers. Beginners will probably leave out the described modifications and will build a nice kit just from the box. Construction is simple without unexpected traps. For the experienced modeller it could be a good base to do further modifications.

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