Hasegawa F4U-1 Corsair 1/72

Taking pics of your models serves to highlight the defects ! Wing leading edge needs some more attention and I've omitted the prop blade decals for some reason. That prop also need some touching up. F4U-1 finished in the markings of Lt. Merl Davenport's "Lonesome Polecat". Davenport was a six-vic ace with VF-17. Kagero decals. Kit national insignia salvaged thanks to a coat of liquid decal film.

Hasegawa F4U-1 Corsair 1/72 (2)

Some more progress - finished with my own mix of Humbrol enamels and my PremiAir G35 for some suitably 'faded' effects. Frankly I've no idea of the 'correct' colours for VF-17 Corsairs using humbrol enamels. This is especially true of the undersides which appear to be white and grey. The lighter blue looks like RLM 76 here.. but then check out the colour pics of Hellcats in the Squadron Walkaround volume on that type - a perfect match ! Tried out some chipping using the salt/water technique. Certainly appears to be 'easier' to control than the 'hairspray' technique. Kit builds easily enough, raised panel lines and all, stuck some etch in the cockpit, Airwaves belts/buckles. Drilled out the exhausts.





Unfortunately the canopy didn't fit too well and the Kagero masks left some very sticky residue on it when they were removed. Cleaned up with 'Brasso' but that meant that I had to repaint the frames with a brush !

Hasegawa F4U Corsair 1/72 VF-17 Jolly Rodgers

..pulled this old Hasegawa Corsair out of the stash for a quick OOB build - thing is there is no box, no instructions and only a very old decal sheet. £2 from under somebody's table at the Medway show. Will dig out some Kagero refs and a decal sheet for a VF-17 machine as per this OFMC example (?) photographed at DX. And just in case I get stuck Rob ('Basic Modelling') has done a video build ...just one click to view here.

new Airfix Bf 109 Emil in 48th scale

well I've more or less finished this Airfix Bf109 E 'build-review' so here's where I am currently. Used some Kagero decals to finish this as a ZG1 Wespen Geschwader E-4/B. The only kit decals used here are the Balkenkreuze. Overall I'm fairly pleased with the result. The kit is very nicely detailed but is let down on a couple of points - the canopies are rather thick and the prop a little on the skinny side. The gear legs are too long and need shortening. The kit decals were just a little bland and limited to BoB subjects. There is a suggestion that the nose is too short - it may be compared to the Tamiya but if it is there's only a millimetre or so in it and it certainly doesn't spoil the 'look' of the finished model..always assuming the Tamiya nose is correct. (it looks a little long to me!)
As for this particular finish I hesitated over greens vs. greys for the camo, and then there's the 'old' III./SKG 210 vs. ZG1 or E-4/B vs. E-7 argument. All in all this build/finish is a bit of a 'dogs dinner'. The kit itself looks so good in the box. The few faults that become apparent during the build are easily corrected !