Model Airplane International – August 2019

64 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - August 2019

KIT BUILD

Next day I gave the cylinder blocks a base
coat of Alclad High Speed Silver. I then added
some colour variation to the lower sections of
the cylinder blocks using Alclad Steel. To add
further depth I applied a dark wash, before
adding the exhausts to the rear of the engine.
The front of the engine was built up, including
adding the ring that the ignition harness slotted
into. This was also drilled out to accept the
wiring, for which I again used 0.4 mm styrene
rod. Once added, I painted the wiring brown
and added highlights to simulate the effect of
braided wire. The cowls were painted in Mr.
Color C351 Interior Green, then glued it into
place.
Tamiya gives you the option to either
show the engine or exposed, or have all the
cowlings in place, enclosing the engine. The
great thing is you don’t have to choose one or
the other, as the cowling is removable. There
is also the option within the kit to use clear
cowls if you so choose. I painted the interior
of the cowling and placed them in place over

the engine. The outer cowls were primed Mr.

Surfacer 1200, left to cure, before adding the

three-colour camoufl age scheme. The US

Navy applied this scheme freehand in the fi eld,

so each colour has a feathered demarcation

line. I began with the Dark Sea Blue, before

adding Intermediate Blue and Insignia White.

The construction of the landing gear bays

on the Corsair and the internal wing structure

is quite a complex affair on this kit. The

instructions have two separate multi page

sections for each confi guration you choose

to pose the wings either extended, or folded.

This build was a commission build for a client

who did not have a lot of space, so I went with

the wings folded option. The major negative

with this option is that a lot of detail is covered

up and diffi cult to see when the model is

complete, but on the positive the detail in the

wing-fold sections is exquisite and it would be

shameful to cover it all up.

I began by adding in the roof of the forward

section of the wheel well. It was painted

The ignition harness points also had to be drilled out.

The cockpit glued in place on the

fuselage side.

Drilling out the induction piping locations.

Priming the engine using the new Alclad formula for their

Gloss Black base.

Deepening the base of the cylinder blocks
with Alclad Steel