Vought F4U-1 Birdcage Corsair
VMF-124 "Bubbles", Guadalcanal 1943
Tamiya (61046)
1:48

A very quick build for my IPMS NSW 2019 Group Build entry. I was impressed that the quality of the Tamiya kits still holds up today and even if you go against the grain and model this kit with wings extended, gear up and flaps retracted (each of which adds considerable work) you end up with a fantastic model of the venerable F4U.

The kit was built out-of-the-box (to comply with the GB rules) and the markings are from an old Aeromaster sheet (wish I had taken the extra time to mask and paint the markings though). One thing I did spend extra time on was the painting and weathering. If ever there was an ideal subject for "hard love" it would have to be a pacific theater Corsair.

The main paints were MRP with lots of pre and post shading applied. Oil dots and oil washes were used to further dirty things up. Some salt masking and pigments were used on the heavily stained wingroots.