Tamiya 1/32 F4U-2

By John Bardwell

As usual for the Tamiya 1/32 Corsairs, the build was very enjoyable with practically no problems except ones I created myself...as an example, I mistakenly installed the upper cowl flap pieces for the later version with the "gap". This model was a earlier one that had full cowl flaps. I had to go back and remove the "wrong" parts and install the proper ones. This after I had already painted the model. DUH!! Luckily I didn't mess anything up in the process. I used the Lone Star -2 conversion which consists of the dome, radar scope, flame dampeners and generator scoop on the right front nose. I had to scratch the antennas for the radio altimeter. The radio antenna on the turtle back and the IFF antenna on the underside are steel wire. I extended the tail wheel strut using plastic tubing. The seat belts are the paper/card ones from Waku which I really like to use because they are very easy to assemble, etc. Paints used were White Ensign for the Sea Blue and Intermediate blue, Testor's Model Master for the underside white. The cockpit Dull Dark Green is White Ensign. I freehanded the "Shirley June" on clear decal sheet with a pencil then went over that with white paint. The pilot's name was freehanded directly on to the model using a white pencil. Luckily I managed to get 'em both pretty close on the first try! Wheels and some of the engine parts are from Barracuda Cast. Decals are from my "spares" cache (the national markings are from the old Revell kit). As the photos I have of the a/c seem to show it in a "unweathered" condition I decided to keep the weathering to a minimum. I'm pleased with the result and think it will look great next to my other Corsair builds. I hope you guys like it too.

Tamiya 1/32 F4U-2

By John Bardwell

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