April Group Build--F4U Corsair

[Second Air Force]

Yep, overall sea blue looks great, but I'm glad you can't see this one up close . The paint job is pretty ugly when you see it in person. It's still better than the attempt I made with the original French scheme but it won't win any prizes!

[ta152c]

Couldn't you polish it with T-Cut and 8-12,000 grade micromesh?

[Second Air Force]

Sure, but it's really just a "rebuilder" anyway and it'll be fine after decaling. This got overhauled because it's the last one in the box and it looked lonely. When I painted the Corsair IV long ago I took the extra care to have proper temperature in the paint area. This was a bit of an experiment to see how cold it could be and still get a decent result. 30 degrees Farenheit is too cold for gloss enamel!

[ta152c]

Might be worth trying to see how much it removes, and might work for further restrips?

[Second Air Force]

Oh, I know it would polish out, but I am too lazy to repair this one. When I was still building automotive subjects I got my fill of 12000 grit Micromesh! This old model is a good relaxer, though!

[ta152c]

Fair point

[Second Air Force]

Here are a couple of pictures of the nearly finished -4. I was quite confident that I had the decals needed for this until I started digging in the decal packages. It turns out that I need to replenish the supply of both white numerals and U.S. insignia--no inventory here! So, this will be placed in the "almost finished" storage for later completion.

April Group Build--F4U Corsair

April Group Build--F4U Corsair

[No.1]

Too beautiful to left it long without decals

[Sall]

I agree with Srecko! Hope you will find something soon.

[draken35]

Splendid!

[Second Air Force]

Today my decal sheet arrived to finish this -4. The entire Otaki F4U-1 cost less than a decal sheet and now I have another Corsair to add to the collection! This one will either be RNZAF or possibly FAA Southwest Pacific scheme.

April Group Build--F4U Corsair

[No.1]

I think there is some images of NZ machines on forum Decals look excellent, nice colors and you have cover three airplanes with national insignia

[Second Air Force]

Yes, this decal sheet is actually pretty nice as long as the example in your hands is on-register! I have parts of five of these sheets in my collection and on two of them the British roundels and fin flashes are no good, though the other markings are fine. I used the good sheets to do both the Corsair II and Corsair IV in this GB. This newest one is spot-on, all in register and ready for use!

I've picked a ship to build from this Otaki kit, having found a great series of photos on the Wings Over New Zealand website. I'll be building NZ5215 "E" from 19 Squadron in the USN four-tone paint scheme. I'll be able to use the national insignia from the kit decal sheet as this airplane has the dark blue roundels. I'll also get back to search the Forum, thanks No.1 for reminding me!

[Second Air Force]

Here's the old F4U-4 rejuvenated from the first attempt. It's not pretty but still better than my first attempt with the French scheme all those years ago. One of these days I'll do another Aeronavale airplane--I've always liked the markings of those machines .

April Group Build--F4U Corsair

April Group Build--F4U Corsair

April Group Build--F4U Corsair

April Group Build--F4U Corsair

This model comes from a nice color photo that No.1 sent me a while back of a -4 after landing aboard her carrier. The airplane had a number of bullet holes in the aft fuselage and had gone over on the nose just enough to bend some propeller blades. The deck crew is running to assist the pilot from his airplane but I don't know what unit or carrier is shown.

Scott

[ta152c]

USS Lexington, CV-14