Official FlightLine F4U-1A Corsair 1600mm (63") Wingspan

[Grossman56]

Yep, lots of fun. Now, regarding the cockpit. I know absolutely NOTHING about 3D printing! Now, I know a few of you guys are lucky enough to be into it, so I'm hoping that, for a price, someone would be kind enough to volunteer to print the cockpit parts for me??
So many cool things to get into with this plane. Now its not going to be as great as Elbee's, but I want it to be something that I push myself to make it the best I can do. Eventually, I'd like to get the strut covers and of course, the Robart tires and that cool pilot that Elbee has. I considered the Aces of Iron pilot (Of which I have 3) but he doesn't come across as 'Pacific' enough to me.
I'm also going to try the 'salt trick' on the prop blades, I'll use a broken prop at first just to see.

Stay tuned!

Grossman56

[davegee]

Yep, you're right, I'd looked through that collection but missed that pic. Still interesting that it has stars and bars on one side and roundels on the other though.

Grossman56

That was quite a busy time for the Marines operating out of those remote islands in the Solomon Islands, as you well know! It is possible that some markings were updated when possible, but I'm sure there were several instances of mixed markings during that time, and other times during WWII.

I like your suggestion of the "8 Ball" Corsair. That would be a good one for the markings and your F4U-1 birdcage Corsair. You've got a good start on the weathering. Looking good!

Cheers

Davegee

[jetfool]

Weathering looking great. The model becomes real the more weathering you do. They didn't have time to worry about keeping them clean in those hectic days.

Best Regards, Rex

[Elbee]

Grossman56 (aka "Danger"),

ditto, my friend.

Best, Steve

[Aros]

Looks great!

[Grossman56]

Started 'riveting' ala Papa Boozer and tried a little weathering with chalks. I'm using a very thinned out brown to paint the panel lines as well, it takes a few washes and wipings (?) but the effect looks good. You probably can't see it from the pics but I used a coral pink color for weathering as well, make sense to me.



Several months later... which is why I wanted a winter project!
BTW, using a scotch brite pad to weather the decals worked well!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Now here's one right up my alley:

8 Ball/Dangerous Dan!

Sounds like a winner to me. For those who don't know, my name is Dan Gross, or Dangross slight mods to it and you get Dangerous. Cool!
And Callie even has the decals!


Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Yep, you're right, I'd looked through that collection but missed that pic. Still interesting that it has stars and bars on one side and roundels on the other though.

Grossman56

[davegee]

Still shopping around. As I mentioned up above, 17740 of VMF 214 is tempting as she seems to have been a survivor. Can't find her on the list of wrote offs or losses. She also seems to have been an insignia 'transition' airplane, according to the picture so I could get away with leaving the roundels on. Again, pilots were not assigned an aircraft, they took whatever was available, at least in the early days, so other than the number, they just looked weathered and beat up. I'm leaning toward that airplane.

Grossman56

I did a quick search of your airplane. I found a pic online that shows it as a F4U-1A, and not a F4U-1. This photo also shows it with the improved bubble canopy over the "birdcage" of the earlier F4U-1s. Here's a link, for what it's worth:

https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Corsair/VMF214/pages/Vought-F4U-1A-Corsair-VMF-214-USN-Bureau-No-17740-Torokina-Strip-Bougainville-1943-01.html#google_vignette

See what you think. This early model F4U-1A has the earlier roundels on the bottom of the wings, but I'm guessing you might want to consider another plane that was truly a birdcage F4U-1, that you have the model of. Just my two cents' from a quick internet check.

Cheers

Davegee

[f4u ausie]

This corsair does not need alot of elevator.. mine is around 8 or 10 mm,, (i like mm),, it can b pitchy with to much travel.. im thinking ur a scale type!, so whatever elev travel u decide on,, move the pushrod to innermost hole, on the servo end, then adjust the% to get desired travel.. rich baker(rc informer) did it on his,,, definatly makes 4 a smooth non pitchy scale flyer, still loops nicely,, but in a nice round circle.. ive found the other surfaces less sensative.. the other thing i found early,, ease into the power withe that big prop.. or it will end upside down on the runway.. really only needs half power to get up... the spitfire never (does not) do that,, gross once ur sorted ur goina luv it.. mines been awsome to me ,, (a bit worn) and still keeps asking 4 a zeek to play with lastly those old pics u guys have r awsome,, i think books r the answer,, a little but not heaps online,, have fun🙃

[Elbee]

So basically she's assembled now.Grossman56

G56, Looking Sah-Weet. Robarts are the way to go in my opinion. Helps with the spring rates, too. Full throws were a bloody nightmare for me on my first check flight, especially in roll. Pitch rate was too high as well. I did not tune in any Expo, however. Best, LB

[Grossman56]

Still shopping around. As I mentioned up above, 17740 of VMF 214 is tempting as she seems to have been a survivor. Can't find her on the list of wrote offs or losses. She also seems to have been an insignia 'transition' airplane, according to the picture so I could get away with leaving the roundels on. Again, pilots were not assigned an aircraft, they took whatever was available, at least in the early days, so other than the number, they just looked weathered and beat up. I'm leaning toward that airplane.

Grossman56

[davegee]

So basically she's assembled now. Had a bit of wrinkling on the portside wing tip but no biggie. Added the two nose weights and putting one of the 4500 Admirals all the way forward the CG looks good, basically she's now the same as the two Spitfires, 4500s all the way forward and 5000s slightly back, perfect!
So what are you guys using for elevator throws. I've heard through Wes' videos that he's turned them down to 42% and ailerons to 85%. I realize everyone is a bit different but I'm thinking of setting my highs on 50 mids on 42 and lows on 40. Opinions??
BTW, the barn doors aka flaps are literally hanging way down. Got to get together with DaveGee and to some comparisons.
Here she is in all her glory. That prop is huge, compared to the Spitfire, each blade looks to be at least 3/4" bigger, so an increase of about 1-1/2" in diameter. Wow.


So, are the spare springs softer or harder than the installed strut springs? The stock tires are just short of a rock but not by much. Robarts!

Grossman56

Lookin' good, Dan! I highly recommend the 3.5" Robarts in place of the stock tires. It's not as big a deal as it was replacing the stock tires on the E Flite 1.5m P-51D that in my opinion REALLY needed them, but the Corsair lands much better with them on.

Have you thought about which aircraft you plan to represent with your model?

davegee

[Grossman56]

So basically she's assembled now. Had a bit of wrinkling on the portside wing tip but no biggie. Added the two nose weights and putting one of the 4500 Admirals all the way forward the CG looks good, basically she's now the same as the two Spitfires, 4500s all the way forward and 5000s slightly back, perfect!
So what are you guys using for elevator throws. I've heard through Wes' videos that he's turned them down to 42% and ailerons to 85%. I realize everyone is a bit different but I'm thinking of setting my highs on 50 mids on 42 and lows on 40. Opinions??
BTW, the barn doors aka flaps are literally hanging way down. Got to get together with DaveGee and to some comparisons.
Here she is in all her glory. That prop is huge, compared to the Spitfire, each blade looks to be at least 3/4" bigger, so an increase of about 1-1/2" in diameter. Wow.


So, are the spare springs softer or harder than the installed strut springs? The stock tires are just short of a rock but not by much. Robarts!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

By the way, there are different versions of that bat and ball pic. The one on the cover of my book shows seven on each wing and seven, including Boyington on the ground in front of the airplane.

[Grossman56]

I'll be digging into mine today and I'll get back to you. It should go into the nose wheel slot if I'm not mistaken. Is it possible you have it plugged in opposite to what it should be? Try reversing to position by flipping the plug the other way.

[Grossman56]

Grossman56

Is 740 a Tri-Color -1a? Very interesting, Holmes.

Best, Watson

I have a bigger picture in one of my books of Pappy in to cockpit and he's definitely in740 and its definitely a birdcage. Another thing I noticed just lastnight, after having seen this picture of the boys on the wings many times over the years is that one side of the underwing (left side from the cameraman's view) is the stars and bars while the right side is the barless insignia!
Figure that one! The only thing that makes sense is that they were in the process of converting from barless to bars. Here's another as she's taxiing out , nothing on the starboard wing and its really difficult to say what the insignia is on the portside. Fuse definitely has bars now. Another interesting fact is that she isn't listed as lost or written off, so she was a survivor.


Grossman56

[GIBlackmomba]

I love my F4U Corsair but, I am having trouble getting the tailwheel to work correctly. I am using a programable Spektrum AR636 receiver. I programmed the gear into position 5 (using the Spektrum programmer). The mains work correctly. However, plugging the tailwheel servo lead into the nosewheel slot on the blue control box does nothing. If I plug the servo lead into the gear slot (on the blue box) then the wheel moves all the way left or all the way right. Either way I am unable to steer the Corsair on my NX8 transmitter. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Elbee]

Grossman56

Is 740 a Tri-Color -1a? Very interesting, Holmes.

Best, Watson

[Grossman56]

Got home from work today to find Santa came early

I'm amazed because the projected delivery date was Tuesday, so three days early
So, opened the box and checked everything out, wow the foam just gets better and better on these models. The only thing I noticed was when I removed the battery hatch cover, the battery tray and mount were not attached to the fuse. They were screwed together, but not glued in place.


As you can see, there is not glue residue on the foam but there's a fair amount of glue on the wooden attachments. Looks like it was never put in place. No big deal, had some of the "White Tube" glue that came with the Avanti (?) so ladled it on and put the unit in place.
So like WOW, it's big, I have a spare Spitfire prop assembly and compared the blades, the Corsairs are a fair amount longer.

As for scheme, I really like the barless roundels, so I'm sticking to that.
I'd like to go with a Marine squadron, but I read where marine pilots, at least in VMF 214, weren't assigned a specific airplane, they grabbed whatever was available. For instance, Boyinton preferred the birdcage Corsair and the publicity pics of him in 'Lucybelle' were staged. Now, what does tweak my interest is VMF 214 #17740 which is the airplane whose wings the squadron is standing on in the famous baseball hat picture.

Now, in the pic, she has the correct roundels and the side and L/G numbers would be 740. Unless I can find more pictures, that's about all the details I can put on her and be accurate. But again, if no one was assigned a specific airplane, that may be all she had.

Boyington sitting in 740

Interesting, still researching....

Grossman56