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

[F22trainer]

Saw 2 of these birds get a maiden flight this weekend. One with no graphics - waiting for Callie, and one ‘stock’ with satin Polycryllic. Very nice finish and a nice looking flyer. If I buy another plane it will probably be the P-38, but my hangar is full and kits await their turn. I do like to build.
I just need to build mine.

[RCAV8R]

Got my repainted bubble top out for its maiden today. Flight went great but it did Rage a bit of aileron trim to keep it from rolling. Landings were a breeze, slowed down very well and landed lightly. I’m impressed with the flight time, easily 8 minutes minimum with variable throttle settings. For me the minimum settings were more than enough. Looking forward to flying this again.

Excellent job Hi Flyer! I especially appreciate the criss-cross panel lines you added at the leading edge wing root and the faded area for fuel leaks coming down from the fuel tank seams! Beautiful! Rob

[Beeg]

Saw 2 of these birds get a maiden flight this weekend. One with no graphics - waiting for Callie, and one ‘stock’ with satin Polycryllic. Very nice finish and a nice looking flyer. If I buy another plane it will probably be the P-38, but my hangar is full and kits await their turn. I do like to build.
I just need to build mine.

Can't go wrong with the FLRC P-38. A real crowd pleaser with it's unique shape. If you like flying in the weeds and making very low passes this is the plane.
Here's the one I did awhile ago.

[Grover54]

I matched the dark blue of the bubble top at HD. Attached is a photo of the label with the formula. The second photo is a match for Intermediate Blue. I needed this as I was repainting mine in the 3-color camo.
The match is near spot on. For airbrush use I thin with Future floor polish. It is a 100% acrylic clear and works beautifully. Doesn’t change the flatness of the paint either.

HF - Took the dark blue image to HD and they duplicated the formula. I also took in my stab and they scanned it for a color match but the resulting formula was ever so slightly different. Your paint formula 150/145/30/3 was a perfect match. I bet there's a potential issue store to store based on the scanners they use or if it's been calibrated lately. Another possibility is each batch of planes may be the same color blue in "name" but like paint in general different batches can be slightly different. Regardless, yours was a perfect match! Thanks for sharing.

[theoldALFER]

Grover,
Just curious, are you brushing the HD latter or spraying?
if spraying, how are you thinning it? I’ve tried, but no luck with my (cheap) Badger airbrushe.
Thanks.

[Grover54]

Grover,
Just curious, are you brushing the HD latter or spraying?
if spraying, how are you thinning it? I’ve tried, but no luck with my (cheap) Badger airbrushe.
Thanks.

I used a small hobby craft brush just to touch up a very small scrape on the belly and feathered it out but when I need to paint a larger area I used my airbrush. The key is to really thin it out almost 50/50. I've heard a lot of folks use everything from Windex to 100% acrylic liquid floor wax as a thinner but I've used distilled water or thinner depending on the paint. Good luck.

[Grover54]

Hangar 9 is one of the nicest I have seen

https://www.horizonhobby.com/airplanes/warbirds/p-51d-mustang-60cc-arf-han4770

sorry for competition plug

Thanks - I also found this Hanger 9. It's actually more in my price range. https://www.horizonhobby.com/p-51d-m...ator1_10082018 However, it's showing a 2-bladed 16X8 prop and I'd like something more scale like a 3 or 4 bladed prop preferably. Hangar 9 doesn't offer a 3 or 4 blade prop so I check XOAR props. They have a tri-blade but not sure what will work with this bird. Any suggestions?

[theoldALFER]

Thanks Grover.

[apmech1]

Guys trust us, if we didn't have to raise the prices we wouldn't. It sucks. However it has to do with tariffs, licensing and other fees that force our hand. Profit margins are already very slim (we like to say we didn't get in this business to get rich but for the passion and love of the hobby). It's a sad fact of the current business climate, China and dealing with licensing contracts among many other factors. Perhaps others can comment more on the matter but that's the quick synopsis.

My perspective:I love my 1700mm corsair. I paid $459 for it. It is now $499. But some things tahat I don't like about it is the hinges on the flaps and the finish quality. They look ridiculous when they are lowered. I have always wanted to change them to look more scale but I don't have the skills to make that happen. So when I saw the price go up on this one, I was only slightly bummed out. But I still orderd it. Well, because between the finish on the fw or flrc planes and the scale control surface hinges plus the overall quality I feel I am purchasing a better model at the same price point. Hopefull mine will arrive soon! :)

[Aros]

So when I saw the price go up on this one, I was only slightly bummed out. But I still orderd it. Well, because between the finish on the fw or flrc planes and the scale control surface hinges plus the overall quality I feel I am purchasing a better model at the same price point. Hopefull mine will arrive soon! :)

Great perspective! I enjoyed my FMS 1700mm Corsairs but this FlightLine model is superior on many levels in terms of scale detail, quality and performance. That's not the Motion RC employee talking, that's a fellow RC pilot who loves Corsairs talking.

:Cool:

[Hiflyer]

Excellent job Hi Flyer! I especially appreciate the criss-cross panel lines you added at the leading edge wing root and the faded area for fuel leaks coming down from the fuel tank seams! Beautiful! Rob

I appreciate your comments, thank you. I really wanted to get the fuel stains and found that the Model Master paint color "Smoke" worked remarkably well as the main part of the stain. It is a transparent color and after it was dry I added some highly thinned "Gunmetal" and some "Interior black" also highly diluted.

The weathering at the leading edge of the wing near the root was something that I saw on several of the reference photos that I have. Seems like it is a result of maintenance crew foot traffic more than anything.

[Aros]

Love the attention to detail Hiflyer!

[Aros]

Question for you weathering gurus...

I want to weather mine...Giving it some kind of light, light "dusting" to appear it's been in the Pacific without overkill. I still want the stock paint to shine through more or less but a calculated "dusting" which would give it a realistic weathered effect without going overboard and changing the tone completely. Does that make sense? I am exploring both airbrush and compressed charcoal options....

Bump. ;)

[Beeg]

Decided to see how big a wheel I could fit in the Corsair. As TiredIron pointed out earlier the Robart 3 1/2" (#135) fits without too much work.

Anyway, here's what I had to do to get the 3 3/4" to fit.

First thing was to get the existing axle shafts to the Robart 3 3/4 Diamond tread wheels (#136).
I used a #4 drill (.209in.) to open the supplied wheel bushings and it provided a fairly snug fit to the axle. I tried a 5mm drill but it was too tight and a 5.5mm drill was too loose.

Next thing was making sure the wheel cleared the strut. This required a couple of extra washers added to the existing thick aluminum washer. This left 7mm of extra axle protruding through the strut which is easily trimmed and a new flat ground for the set screw.



Next was moving the gear door control rods.
The right gear required moving the rod from the outer hole on the arm to the inner hole. Then clip off the extra from the arm. On the door end, move the clevis to the hole closest to the door. You will have to adjust the length to get proper door movement.



Final item was trimming back the rear edge of the wheel well.





The only negatives are you have to trim back beyond the edge of the rear gear door seam. Doesn't look too bad though especially since it's on the bottom. The other is the weight which with the power of this plane shouldn't make much difference. The weights I got for both the stock wheels were 1.96oz. The weight for both the Robart wheels with spoked hub caps are 5.56oz. So, a nominal increase of about 3.6oz.



Some final shots..

[RCAV8R]

I appreciate your comments, thank you. I really wanted to get the fuel stains and found that the Model Master paint color "Smoke" worked remarkably well as the main part of the stain. It is a transparent color and after it was dry I added some highly thinned "Gunmetal" and some "Interior black" also highly diluted.

The weathering at the leading edge of the wing near the root was something that I saw on several of the reference photos that I have. Seems like it is a result of maintenance crew foot traffic more than anything.

I appreciate the tip on "smoke"...there are a lot of washes for smoke, grime, gunnite, etc. also that I was looking at. I'm a ways out on my Birdcage purchase, but that detail on the wing root is something I have to try! It appears in almost every photo, to some degree or another, and the panel lines for that section are not often included in the mold. I got some HK "Extreme Metal" aluminum and am going to do the two step pre-shade and post color brush off technique. It's pretty time intensive, but the look is so realistic! Rob

[RCAV8R]

Bump. ;)

I'm no expert Aros, but I think the pre-shade and post-shade effect is the most realistic. Then your "dusting" of color coat allows a peek thru of the darker color and creates the 3-D look of those faded planes. Post shading with lighter shades highlights high spots and tops where sun was most prevalent. Alpha's work is a great example. That is an airbrush thing of course...I think charcoal is good for gunnite and smoke but wouldn't be near as effective for the overall body. Just my $.02! Rob

[AkumaZeto]

I would add my .2 cents here but lots of the paint jobs I see are far to stark and contrast to much to be in any realm of realism.

[Grover54]

They are locktited in. But not with permanent red. Both of mine made a cracking sound as they broke loose but came out fine. Heat from a soldering gun also defeats really stuck locktited fasteners as heat breaks locktite down. I did not need to heat these but heat is the only answer on red permanent locktite. The cheap Turnigy drivers have never failed me either.

Success - got the set screw out no problem but it appears the additional bushings that come with the wheel are not needed? Those bushings are all two small for the axel. What say you guys?

[TiredIronGRB]

Wearing the Robarts full time now:Cool:

[Ole-Timer]

Success - got the set screw out no problem but it appears the additional bushings that come with the wheel are not needed? Those bushings are all two small for the axel. What say you guys?

Robart bushings are simply to act as filler, so then, if the axle fits..., wear it! :Cool:
They are not bearings so toss em in the spare parts box.

Robart scale tires are all I use on my warbirds, only the Spitfire’s have stock shoes.
Been using them since the 70’s.