Subject: Re: Jerry Hawhee (Old Blind Dog) TFCT 1/32 Corsair
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Jerald Thomas Hawhee" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2007 14:39:26 -0800

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jerald Thomas Hawhee 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2007 3:36 PM
  Subject: Jerry Hawhee (Old Blind Dog) TFCT 1/32 Corsair

  Gallery Template #04

  1/32 21st Century Toys F4U-1D Corsair

  by Jerry Hawhee (Old Blind Dog)
  --------------------

        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here  

  This is the 21st Century Toys 1/32 Corsair done up as an F4U-1D (the kit can also be built as a -1A and is actually a bit more accurate right out of the box as the earlier version). As this was my first 1/32-scale build in nearly six years I opted for the simple all-sea-blue scheme with a yellow cowl. The kit was built about 99 per cent out of the box with only a few very basic resin and PE details added to dress up the cockpit. 

  These kits have generated a lot of interest recently, and rightly so; 21st Century Toys has seemingly done the impossible, giving us high-quality injection molded kits with an excellent level of detail at a price you might expect to pay for a very basic 1/72 model! With some creative scratch-building and a few fairly inexpensive after-market details you can build yourself a very credible model for a lot less than many top of the line 1/48 kits! I spent a total of $35 on this kit (not counting paint or glue) and worked on it for about six weeks, bringing the cost of the kit to considerably less than 50 cents an hour! 

  As there are already a number of very-detailed full build articles accessible elsewhere on the web, I won't go into this build at excessive length, but offer a few highlights of my own experience in the form of an outline, and share some of the things I've learned in the process of this most-enjoyable project.

  1. Things To Watch Out For:

  Screw Holes

  As noted in all the various on-line reviews of the TFCT kits, there are some very prominent screw holes in the starboard fuselage half and lower wing section. Whether or not you elect to assemble the model using the kit-supplied screws (which I didn't), the holes need to be filled before any painting is done, and while TFCT supplies a selection of plastic plugs to cover the screws, these don't always fit well and it's essential that the holes are filled so as to sit flush with the model surface. 

  Interestingly enough, the holes in the fuselage are just the right size to receive several discs of .010 or .015 styrene punched out on a standard paper punch! You can fill the holes part way up with these discs, then finish off with Tamiya Basic (or other) putty. Also, when applying the putty, you can use the paper punch to put a perfect-sized hole in a piece of Tamiya masking tape, put this right over the hole and you can apply the putty with no mess or "spill over" and nothing to clean up later on! 

  Landing Gears 

  Along with the other TFCT kits, the Corsair has a number of working features including retractable landing gears, position-able gear doors (with massive toy-like hinges) and movable canopies. I've always felt that such "working features" tend to compromise accuracy, but here it's fairly easy to correct them and with a little TLC you can greatly improve on the kit's OOB toy-like qualities.  The landing gears are a case in point; designed to pivot and fold (just as they would on the real thing) they are quite wobbly and unstable as is and need to be cemented solidly in place for a proper static model. This is good to know BEFORE you start work on the model!

  Radio Mast

  As built-up right out of the box, the mounting hole for the radio mast sits too far aft. I used a small file and the tip of an X-Acto #11 blade to make a new hole farther forward (just aft of where the canopy comes to rest when open). I puttied up the old hole and sanded it smooth when dealing with the main fuselage seam. I drilled a #76 hole in the base of the mast to receive antenna wire later on. 

  Click on images below to see larger images

         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 03.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 03.jpg   Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 04.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 04.jpg  

  2. After-market add-ons: 

  QuickBoost # QB 32029: resin seat with molded-in belts

  This was super-glued into the kit-supplied base, airbrushed Polly Scale US Interior Green (with the rest of the cockpit) then detailed with PS Khaki for the lap belts, and PS Israeli Early Tan for the main belts with Citadel Mithril silver for the buckles and metal parts. It adds a great deal of verité to the cockpit and is a massive improvement over the very-basic kit-supplied seat.

  QuickBoost # QB 32014: resin US Mk VIII gunsight

  This also makes a simple, inexpensive but highly effective improvement in the cockpit, replacing the toy-like clear plastic piece that comes with the kit. I painted the part overall with Polly Scale Engine Black and highlighted the molded-in handle hardware with Citadel Mithril Silver.

   

  Eduard #EU 33003: pre-colored PE Dashboard/Instrument Panel

  While TFCT's molded-in instrument panel is OK and could be dressed up very effectively with some instrument decals and a few scratch-built switches, I wanted to try one of Eduard's pre-colored sets. I was very pleased overall, but didn't much care for the RLM 66 (scale black/gray) color Eduard used for this instrument panel; I re-painted the outer-most panels with glossed Polly Scale Engine Black to match the other panels in the cockpit. 

  3. Scratch-built items:

  Throttle quandrant (starboard cockpit wall): carved from styrene strip and painted (like all the other main instruments) with PS Engine Black and PS Clear Gloss.

  Trim wheel (port cockpit wall): .010 styrene punched out with a paper punch (a tad over-large, but I'm satisfied); handle made from .030 styrene rod

  Forward gear-bay doors: .010 styrene, shaped using Aires resin doors as a pattern. The new plastic doors were mated to the appropriate kit parts, which were then trimmed to match the proper shape.

  Radio antenna; .012 copper wire threaded through #76 holes and anchored to one of the large locator bosses inside the fuselage. My original plan had been to use the head of a small pin as an anchor on the outside; but this would have been unsightly and completely out of scale; I'd already drilled the now-too-large hole for the pin, but decided to call it good anyway and I'll know better next time!

  Engine wiring: TFCT's representation of a P&W R-2800 is excellent, especially considering the price of the kit. It lends itself beautifully to detailing. I airbrushed the whole engine overall Citadel Mithril Silver; the main housing for the prop hub on the front was then hand-brushed with Tamiya Metallic Gray. The corrugations in the cooling fins were highlighted with a wash of The Detailer, black, and I painted the pushrod details PS Engine Black with PS Clear Gloss. I drilled a series of small holes in the wiring harness (trying to make them as unobtrusive as possible) and added wires (using old cable harvested from an obsolete printer and some silver-bearing solder) to provide a suggestion of some "busy-ness" on the engine front (not, it should be noted, a perfectly accurate representation, but good enough to satisfy me). 

  4. Surface Preparation, Painting and Decals

  It's very important to dip the clear-plastic parts of this kit in Future before masking and painting them. I found that, without Future, the plastic has a tendency to cloud up and blur quite noticeably. Upon obtaining a new set of clear parts, I dipped them in Future, allowed them to dry overnight under a cover (to avoid picking up dust or hair) and cure for 48 hours before masking.  

  To achieve a beautiful glassy-smooth finish on this model I first went over the bare unpainted plastic with 1800 and 2400 grit MicroMesh abrasive cloths. This provided an ideal "grip" for the water-based acrylic paint I use. 

  Before the main Sea Blue color was applied, I stuffed some wet paper towels into the engine compartment as a mask and airbrushed several coats of Polly Scale Reefer Yellow on the front of the cowl. Once this was dry, I masked it off and proceeded to spray the main color. 

  I sprayed four thin coats (without primer) of Polly Scale US Sea Blue (at about 12 PSI) followed by four thin coats of PS Clear Gloss. I allowed the gloss coat to cure thoroughly over night, then I wet-sanded the model with MicroMesh abrasive cloths in a graduated series of 4000, 6000, 8000 and 12000. Decals were applied and sealed in with one additional coat of PS Clear Gloss, hand-brushed; the surface was so smooth and even that the well-thinned gloss coat went on without a single visible brush mark-so there!

  The set of eight HVARs (high velocity aerial rockets) mounted under the wings were assembled and airbrushed with two light coats of Polly Scale Olive Drab (the warhead color); I stood each rocket upright, sticking the fin section into a small piece of poster putty. When the OD was dry, I hand-brushed a couple thin coats of Gunze Steel Metallic on the main body, fuse and fin sections of each HVAR. I discovered that I can hand-brush Gunze, Tamiya and Polly Scale acrylics quite beautifully if I thin the paint liberally with Tamiya X-20 A thinner and always keep my brush wet with the thinner. The paint will not clump or blemish (as it does if the brush is too dry when it runs out of paint) and goes on with a surprising creamy smoothness, especially (as in this case) if applied over an airbrushed base coat. 

  The decals that come in the kit are simply exceptional and are certainly far better than many of the sheets you find in much more expensive kits (are you listening, Tamiya, Hasegawa, Academy???) These decals go down very easily and settle almost perfectly with one light application of Micro Sol. The whole decaling process was pretty much trouble free and a pleasure from beginning to end. I'd also like to acknowledge the author of a fantastic idea that I picked up from the ARC Tools n Tips Forum during this build; Joseph Osborn suggested using a round tooth pick chucked into a pin vise for manipulating decals, and-WOW!!!!-what an amazingly brilliant idea! This helps solve one of the most vexing problems modelers face when decals "fold over on themselves;" all you have to do is gently slide the toothpick under the decal and lightly twist. It's one of those ideas that so completely brilliant and yet so utterly simple you wonder why you never thought of it before! Thank you, Joseph, for sharing this great idea with us here on ARC!

  Conclusion

  I had more fun working on this kit than I've had in a very long time, and I learned something new and helpful almost every day in the process! While it's only the third 1/32 scale plane I've done since returning to aircraft modeling back in 2001 it definitely won't be the last! My only problem now is; what do I build next?

  Jerry Hawhee (Old Blind Dog) 

        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 02.jpg here  

  Photos and text © by "your name goes here"