In 1938, Vought submitted a proposal for a new U.S. Navy shipboard fighter.
The XF4U had its maiden flight in May 1940. It soon became the fastest U.S. single engine fighter.
The XF4U prototype differed in several ways from the production versions, most notably the
cowl mounted machine guns, the "bird cage" canopy, the "stinger" style arresting hook, and the
cockpit being a considerable distance farther forward.
This is the rescaled version of Nobi's F4U, repainted and modified by John Bowden to the XF4U.
As I wanted to open the model up a little, I added a cockpit, engine assembly, folded wing
detail, layered wheel/tire assembly, and clear canopy. In addition, I added a cowl gun, cut out
the XF4U square radiator intakes and backed them to provide depth, as well as "dimpling"
the wing mounted guns to give some depth there.
With them being hard to see in the final pics, here are parts of the cockpit, the engine, and wheels.
Here are the final pics.
