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

[Aros]

Ugh. I'm glad the guy stopped video before the event...I know how sick I feel if I crash a $600 foam jet. I can't fathom the feeling of losing THAT.

[davegee]

Ugh. I'm glad the guy stopped video before the event...I know how sick I feel if I crash a $600 foam jet. I can't fathom the feeling of losing THAT.

Yeah, Brian O'Meara has had a number of very expensive mishaps in the past, I think many not of his doing. We had a Warbirds Over the Rockies event years ago in the Denver area. There were several of us in the pattern flying our aircraft. Brian was flying a Beautiful large P-47 Pistol Packin' Mama, with a improvised picture of his wife in sexy attire painted on the cowl. Beautiful airplane. Anyway, we were all flying when all of the sudden, it was as if someone was showering everybody with bits of balsa and other airplane materials. Turns out, there was a collision where another aircraft came in contact with Brian's airplane, destroying both in an instant. I'm sure it hurts even people like Brian, who has been in the hobby for decades, but he just presses on with a new project. For several years now he has been flying a HUGE P-47D, maybe 1/3 scale or so, but he campaigns that thing around the country at various airshows and gatherings. I'm sure he has 100s of flights on it now. Hopefully it will stay in great shape until he retires it someday, but we all know the possibility of disaster is just the next flight away for any of us in this hobby, it's just a fact of life.

Davegee

[Aros]

Truth!

[Elbee]

Hey all, love this picture. "Miller Time" VMF-114 pilots after a day at the office. Best, LB

[davegee]

Hey all, love this picture. "Miller Time" VMF-114 pilots after a day at the office. Best, LB

Great pic! Any guesses as to why they painted the base of the propellers white? Decoration only, or some other function?

Cheers

Davegee

[Elbee]

My $00.02 is decoration to differentiate between other squadrons that painted the cowl ring something other than spec,
Although, if you had a fluid leak at the prop hub, it'd be very visible. LOL
Best, LB

[Elbee]

Corsair Crew, a little update of the Comm Light Mod.

I thought this would be easier than it was, but that's the way it always goes, isn't it.

Next step is adding ANA 606 Sea Blue to the top of the right wing.

Best, LB

PS: I almost forgot, I sprayed the ANA 608 Intermediate Blue on the outer wing panel, too.

[davegee]

Corsair Crew, a little update of the Comm Light Mod.

I thought this would be easier than it was, but that's the way it always goes, isn't it.

Next step is adding ANA 606 Sea Blue to the top of the right wing.

Best, LB

PS: I almost forgot, I sprayed the ANA 608 Intermediate Blue on the outer wing panel, too.

Outstanding work, Elbee!! Love it!👍👍👍

[davegee]

Great pic! Any guesses as to why they painted the base of the propellers white? Decoration only, or some other function?

Cheers

Davegee

I love that picture. It means even more to me as I spent two weeks down there as part of an expedition in 2014 to recover WWII MIA human remains from aircraft shot down back then. The runway is very hard packed coral, in fact we had a tough time trying to dig into it a few inches to deposit the remains of one of those aviators, whose daughter had brought with her from the USA. It was his final wish to have his ashes to be buried with his Leatherneck brethren that he had fought with flying his Corsair with VMF-114 back then.

[Aros]

Fantastic job as usual Elbee and wow what an impactful and profound experience davegee, thank you for sharing.

[Elbee]

davegee, Aros, Gentlemen, I thank you from the bottom of my little-o-heart. Best, LB

[Elbee]

Hey all. semi-major fowl-up on my part while adding the Stars-n-Bars to the bottom of the starboard wing.

I did not like the the panel ridges and a sticker idea, so I thought I'd just remove the ridges.

Well, that was pretty much a 'cluster-bleep".

Ended up to be more than just sanding away the lines.

A couple hours of refilling and repainting from the foam to Minwax to primer and acrylic color in and around the whole area.

What a 'monkey-brain' and that's insulting to the lesser primates.

Geewhizlikers, y'all....anyway back on track now.

Happy Easter to one and all.

Best, LB

[davegee]

Hey all. semi-major fowl-up on my part while adding the Stars-n-Bars to the bottom of the starboard wing.

I did not like the the panel ridges and a sticker idea, so I thought I'd just remove the ridges.

Well, that was pretty much a 'cluster-bleep".

Ended up to be more than just sanding away the lines.

A couple hours of refilling and repainting from the foam to Minwax to primer and acrylic color in and around the whole area.

What a 'monkey-brain' and that's insulting to the lesser primates.

Geewhizlikers, y'all....anyway back on track now.

Happy Easter to one and all.

Best, LB

That stuff happens even to the best of us! Several years ago, I was at the NASM in Washington, DC working on restoring their lunar module. Sharing the floor space with us was Chuck Yeager's Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis. The wings had been removed, they did some repainting, and adding the star and bar on the top left wing, using masks to paint it on, as is how it was always done on the big planes. I noticed the wing on a stand awaiting its turn to eventually be reinstalled on the plane and eventually they would hoist it back into position high above the museum floor.

The thing I noticed was that the plane was beautifully finished, but the star and bar was upside down! In other words, the top point of the star faced towards the rear of the wing, instead of the front. I couldn't believe someone at this extreme level of detail and competence for the Smithsonian could make such a mistake. I talked to one of the staff about it who was standing there. I basically called it a super big mistake, and couldn't figure out how anyone at this level could have made such an error. The guy next to me just said: "I was the guy who painted it." I sorta backed off on my comments and we discussed how he was going to redo it properly. He of course was horrified at his error, and when he confessed to the director of the NASM, a retired Marine Corps fighter pilot and general. plus an overall Great guy, just commented something like: "Well, sh*t happens!" And that's all he had to say about it. He knew it wasn't worth humiliating the restoration painter any more, and also knew that the painter would redeem himself on the second try, which he did.

[Elbee]

davegee, Yeppers, the dooky is inevitable. Best. LB

[f4u ausie]

Cold and wet easter, so i got busy,, my first try at a detailed r2800 livens up the front end for sure. Naa i think its awsome.. yet to fly in the new colors

[davegee]

Cold and wet easter, so i got busy,, my first try at a detailed r2800 livens up the front end for sure. Naa i think its awsome.. yet to fly in the new colors

Nice job detailing the engine area some, they really do need a little attention to detail from the stock kit (IMHO). That gives the engine area some depth with the colors and details you put on there. Good job!

davegee

[Elbee]

Cold and wet easter, so i got busy,...

FA, Bravo Zulu, Sir. Makes a world of difference, doesn't it. Happy Easter, Brother, LB

[Grossman56]

Excellent job on the motors! Hard to believe you started with the stock kit motors, keep up the good work!!

Grossman56

[f4u ausie]

Thanx guys, thats nice who would have thought lawn trimmer cord( the back pushrod tubes) andfishing line( gold piug wires) would make such a difference,, even my wife said oh wow, and used the word detail (now that surprised me) sure colos may not b correct ,, but close.. pics not great,, better in real ya all have good safe easter

[davegee]

Thanx guys, thats nice who would have thought lawn trimmer cord( the back pushrod tubes) andfishing line( gold piug wires) would make such a difference,, even my wife said oh wow, and used the word detail (now that surprised me) sure colos may not b correct ,, but close.. pics not great,, better in real ya all have good safe easter

It's good to be resourceful and know in your mind what materials you can use to make realistic and believable details for your airplanes, or anything you are building. There used to be a huge model train store in Denver. I think it was the biggest in the USA, or close. People ordered parts from all over the world. They had tons of little bags of certain molded plastic or metal parts for whatever. I went in there so many times looking for a part for a scratchbuilt model, usually a rocket or spacecraft model, that I could somehow fashion to look like what I was trying to replicate. I don't think I ever got "skunked" or came out not finding something that I could use.

As all things good never seem to last, eventually the train store lost their lease on the building, packed everything up and moved to a smaller store in town. But it just wasn't the same thing, just a hollow core of what the big train store had been.

I guess it's good that the 3D printing revolution is here, and I hope to get proficient enough to design and build my own parts someday.

Keep up the imagination and good work!👍👍

Cheers

Davegee

[Elbee]

Hey Y'all, Thought I'd open up the radiator vent panels.

This intake area seems prominent in most of the head-on pictures I have referenced.

Uncertain if this is possible on the actual -1a, but it is on this one.

Will snug down flush to underwing panels when glued.

Best, LB