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Presented here is the Hasegawa (ex-Mania) F4U-4
in its original issue guise. First released in 1981 it shares little
lineage with the current line-up of Corsairs currently cataloged by this
company. Raised surface detail was sanded off during the assembly phase
so new recessed panels were re-scribed prior to painting.
| The interior of this
kit is generally specious, but I added some seat belts, side console
details, and a 'composite sandwich' instrument panel to animate the area.
Clear acetate was used as a reflector for the rebuilt gun sight. |
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Colored Plexiglas was used for the position
lights and collision beacons while MV lenses represent the ID and landing
lights. Aluminum tubing served to improve the kit's exhaust manifolds.
Aluminum tubing and steel wire replaced the
model's plastic main gear struts while bits from the spares box made the
tail wheel assembly more convincing.
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After adding sway
braces to the fuselage pylons I installed a pair of 1000-lb
demolition bombs from Monogram's B-25H. On the wings, HVAR
5" rockets from the Hawk/Testors Bearcat were fitted to
scratch-built launchers. |
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I replaced the engine gearbox
housing with the better detailed unit razor-sawed from Monogram's F4U-4
cowling. The Hasegawa prop's blades were a little too broad in chord
so they were thinned and re-shaped.
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The various antennas were scratch-built using
.013" guitar string, #20 hypodermic needles, and .010" sheet
brass. The HF antenna wire was replicated using monofilament line.
| The model was painted with
Modelmaster Gloss Sea Blue enamel (FS15042) and decaled with a combination
of MicroScale 48-120 and 48-121 to represent an F4U-4 from VMF-323 during
the Korean War. |
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A lackluster kit to be sure, but with a
little time and some basic modeling skills a lot of these older releases
can still end up as passable replicas.
Roger
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