Tamiya 1/32 F4U-1D Corsair
By Boyd Waechter
I just completed Tamiya's superb 1/32nd scale F4U-1D Corsair as a Naval Air Reserve FG-1D from NAS Minneapolis, 1947 to 1948 era. The earlier post war yellow fuselage bands were replaced with international orange bands in early 1947. The Tamiya kit is by far the best 1/32nd scale kit I have ever built. The kit's design, engineering, and fit are just superb. Don't let the 600+ part count deter you from building any of the Tamiya Corsair kits. I built and completed this model in 38 days using only Barracuda's resin wheels and Eduard's instrument panel from their zoom set to add some additional detail to the model. The cockpit in this kit is a real gem and a model in itself, so I didn’t feel spending another $50 for a resin set was necessary.
I painted the model overall with Model Master gloss Dark Sea Blue toned down with Testor's Satin Clear Coat so it doesn't look like a glossy toy. Man, this is A LOT of sea blue to paint, so I broke it up into 3 to 4 paint sessions. The decals all came from my scrapbox with the letter E on the tail and wingtips having to be put together with strips of white because no one makes letters this large for 1/32nd scale models. The large national insignia's are off a CAM postwar U.S. insignia sheet. These NAR aircraft were highly maintained, so I kept weathering to a minimum this time. This kit is highly recommended and a real joy to build.
© Boyd Waechter 2018
This article was published on Friday, April 13 2018; Last modified on Friday, April 13 2018