Tamiya F4U-1 Birdcage Corsair Begins

You're probably thinking, "He's finished all his models and he's starting a new one!" You are completely wrong! I got anxious and started this kit last December while I still had the Spitfire PR.IG and the Stug IV quite firmly in progress.

Quite some time ago, I purchased, I believe a Revell Corsair for the nephew in the West. Perhaps this can be somewhat of a guide in your build, if you find the time between all the things you have going on.

If the Revell kit is like this one, sorry. I would have sent the Tamiya Spitfire Mk.I kit had I known the complexity. Not that I think this kit is that complex, just that I missed a few things...a few times.

The box art. I don't think it will turn out this nice, but we'll give it a shot. Although, it is a bit clean for my taste.

I decided to upgrade a few areas. The wheels, exhaust and the seat. I also hate masking canopies so I thought I would try pre-cut masks from Eduard.

Parts look good overall.

Decals, typical thick Tamiya decals.

Several sink marks needed to be filled. I touched them up with Mr. Dissolved Putty.

First the Cockpit.

You can see the difference between the kit seat and the resin upgrade. If not, I'm not sure how you're reading this.

Parts ready for priming.

I primed this with AK Interactive Gray Primer, before I knew of the wonderful Badger primer.

 I think I got all the interior areas....or did I?

For this kit I got Akan's U.S. Navy paint set. I sprayed Interior Green here. It's a fantastic paint, lays down beautifully.

I added a little Pale Gold to the green to lighten it up and provide some variation in the paint.

Can't you see it?

I brush painted flat black on the headrest.

The areas of wear were chipped with silver....I think.

Details painted.

I took some artistic liberty with the colors of the buttons, because it's my kit and I can!

Harness brush painted with Tamiya's Deck Tan, or we can call it "harness color" and silver on the buckles.

The tub is completed.

Glued into place ready for the fuselage to be assembled.

It's as easy as that! At least to read anyway, what it take under 5 minutes? This actually took place between Dec 6th and January 10th, 2016. I'm not that fast at building or apparently at getting posts out either.

The next post you'll see is the engine being painted and slapped together. It won't be as involved as the Zero so it shouldn't take that long, right?