G’day from Brisbane .  And at the risk of repeating; I have been a daily visitor to the ARC over the last two years, and have finally joined the faithful contributors.

The Corsair has never been a most beloved subject of mine, thinking it small and fairly unspecific. So I commenced this kit as a way of re-activating my skills/interest as a modeler after my first years of fatherhood (hard to model with a nappy (diaper) over one’s shoulder). It was also an inevitable inclusion to my subject matter.  However as the kit grew in my hands, I have come to admire the gutsy attitude of this little aircraft and understand its popularity.

I built this SLUF virtually out of the box following the directions as a guide or basis, and not as a schedule. As always though, one starts with the cockpit.

I made the seat harnesses out of 2 ply masking tape and thickened silver paint for the buckling, which when washed over with dirty ‘turps’ provided such a well worn look to the seat that I continued throughout the entire model. The instrument display was picked out in colour and the CRT’s painted in a base metallic with multiple layers of Johnson’s Super Stride (our version of your Future) to give depth.  A wash of the dirty turps again gave me that ‘worn horse saddle’ appearance over the whole cockpit.

The major construction was as ‘shake and bake’ as it should be with a Hasegawa, but I did have quite a task to get the intake pipe smooth – I can understand the appeal of “Seamless Suckers” now !  I found the ‘cockpit on top of the intake’ assembly fit into the fuselage surprisingly neatly.  I did however have some problems getting my head around the optional open airbrake assembly, being in my opinion, way to complicated for it’s own good ? However the completed assembly, when closed provides a ‘superdetailed’ look.  

I closed the access hatches that are a welcome inclusion to this kit, as I believe it spoils the neat and gutsy appearance of the airplane, and It is also a rarity to see this kit with these hatches closed. 

Yes……….I did say I built it out of the box but I couldn’t resist extending the Flight Refueling Probe.  I cut away the probe arm from the receptor and cemented the remaining two half’s of the receptor in place.  I drilled out the fuselage end of the receptor and cut along the nearest panel lines, to create an entry point.  I saved the two ends of the probe itself and fashioned the hidden side with putty (incidentally I use car spot putty for filler; smooth, shapeable, sandable, strong and a tenth of the price ?)  I added a stretched sprue rod for the arm between the probe….end (can I say nipple ?) and used plasticard and more stretched shaped sprue for the hinge and internal plumbing.  With a lot of balancing on paint bottles, I had an extended FRP – well at least I’m impressed – and at the end of the day that’s the point isn’t it ?   

Click on images below to see larger images

I painted all over with Humbrol colours, and decaled over a coat of ‘Future’. 

The decals were from the ‘low viz’ kit, this was the Marauders version originally.  - Dave; wherever you are, thanks again 

A medium allover wash of the dirty turps was used as weathering, just to give that famous Navy ‘grubby’ look.  I lightly sanded some control surfaces for wear, and selectively touched and smeared a few hydraulic leaks with thinned russet colour.  I finished with a few hand painted panels in slightly altered shades, with one at the rudder base in Yellow Zinc.

The aircraft just seemed to scream for a warload of snakeyes; So I scouted all kits and spares for all 18, Yeh-ha ! 

In my opinion I liken the finished result to a well worn aircraft, that has been pushed just beyond it’s retirement. Two things I learnt from this build; do not underestimate the perspective of an absence from the hobby, and always look for an individual ‘feel’ for the subject. 

I must thank my beloved family, for help with the photos. And as this is my first article, in closing; I would like to join with others on congratulating Steve on his magnificent commitment to this great site, and valuable resource.   It is heartening to see a passionate commitment to something that is this good.  

Be Happy all,

Steve