I built Tamiya's
1/72 F4U-1 "Birdcage" Corsair using Eduard's beautiful
photoetched detail set. The decals are from Sky Models, and depict a
Fleet Air Arm (FAA) Corsair Mk. I. To convert the basic kit, I sawed off
the wingtips, just outboard of the lights. Filing and sanding rounded off
the edges.
I sprayed the camouflage
freehand using Model Master enamels for the Sky and Dark Slate Gray
colors, and Gunze acrylic for the Extra Dark Sea Gray. The lower surface
Sky color was masked with drafting tape before the topside colors were
applied.
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The Eduard set
really enhances the detail of this kit. There are numerous items for the
cockpit, wheel wells, engine, and landing gear. For the wheel wells, you
get detailed sidewalls and piping for the front, back, and top of the
well. Eduard even included the retraction springs for the main gear legs !
You get spare
levers for the cockpit, handy in case you "tweezerpult" one. I
applied drops of white glue to the tops of the knobs for a more realistic
appearance.
This was the
first 1/72 scale kit I've built in over ten years, and it wasn't as
difficult or small as I had imagined. There are tons of subjects available in this scale, and Eduard has many PE sets for them. I can see
myself doing more "squint scale" aircraft in the future.
I must get the
little bird packaged for shipment now, as it was built for a customer. Anyone
have a 1/144 scale kit they'd like built? I wonder how that would go . . . ?
Bill
Visit my website to
see other models of mine, I also build models on commission. http://www.pix.prettyneatinc.com/
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