The
F2G was a development of the Vought F4U Corsair using the Pratt & Whitney
R-4360 corncob engine, cut-down fuselage and bubble canopy. It was
intended as a low to medium altitude interceptor, and for its day had a
phenomenal rate of climb from its 3,000 hp engine. However it suffered
from some lateral stability problems and only a few were built by the end of
World War II. Some went on to be raced with considerable success, and I
believe that one is still racing today.
The
kit is a delightful rendition with excellent surface detail, resin cockpit
interior, wheel wells and engine, oil coolers, exhaust stubs and zero-length
rocket launchers, plus etched seat belts and instrument panels, a 2 vac-form
canopies and three decal choices. All this cost me NZ$20.00 (about
US$13.00) – Now that’s what I call value!
Unfortunately
the engine is a Pratt & Whitney R-2800, which is an 18 cylinder two-row
engine, whereas the F2G’s engine was a 28 cylinder 4-rower. I think that
Engine and Things offer a P&W R-4360, but because this was 2-3 week build,
I’m into volume, and aim for 12-16 models finished a year, I opted to cobble
something together from spares. I used four 7-cylinder rows of Airfix SM
79 engines and the reduction gear housing of the kit’s resin engine plus some
scrap details to come up with my model’s R4360 (see below).
After
that it was a straight forward build with no significant difficulties. The
oil coolers are a bit tricky to cut from their casting blocks, and require a
little filler. The canopy edges are quite thick, and needed chamfering to
sit nicely over the curve of the fuselage. I replaced the kit’s resin
head-rest brace with plastic rod, and used the tail-wheel from an Academy F4U-1
as the Special Hobby wheel was the only part of the kit that wasn’t crisply
molded.
The
kit was painted with Gunze acrylics and had a fair bit of weathering added by
airbrush, pastels and silver pencil. I did this because the photos I used
for references showed the aircraft to be heavily exhaust stained and scuffed by
boots, which surprised me for a post-war aircraft.
I
enjoyed the build so much that I quickly bashed an Academy F4U-1 together as a
Fleet Air Arm Corsair IV to sit next to it in my cabinet for contrast (I used
the lF2G’s left-over resin R-2800 to replace the under-nourished Academy
engine). This is a very good limited run kit, and the incorrect engine is
a minor hassle only.
Mark
Click on
images below to see larger images
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