BPM F4U1-A Corsair

[cjwalas]

Couldn't help myself on this one. I needed another US fighter for the wall and I've been hanging around the Bestpapermodels site. Besides... it's a Corsair!
This model is interesting in that the construction design isn't the typical bulkhead to bulkhead formers or bulkhead and stringers. There are only a very few formers of any sort; it's a cross between a Fiddler's Green and a more advanced model.
While nothing fancy, the cockpit interior is fine; pilot's seat, joystick, instrument board, seat belts, and other stuff I don't know.:o

This much of the fuselage is just two pieces;

I should mention that the the color work on this is excellent and really raises the look of the kit.

The dihedral in the wings is formed by a box former that connects the two wings;

I was a bit leery of this, but it worked quite well and quite easily;

Wing to fuselage went well also;

This is not a simple kit. I would estimate somewhere in the realm of 110 pieces. No Halinski, for sure, but a solid kit nonetheless.
The model feels surprisingly sturdy for so few formers.

That's as far as I've gotten so far. I need to pay closer attention to the simple directions. I wasted some time looking for part #8 on the parts sheet as well as the diagram until I noticed that the directions clearly state there is NO part 8 (or 37 for some reason).
Chris

[Mauri]

Looks great! I think with a litttle effort FG models could take this level without disappointing it's hardcore users... what do you think?

[spgifford]

Looks great, bought this one when BPM's sight came back up. Little leery to start it as I only have a couple card models under my belt (1 Ollie San Pablo and 4 FG aircraft). The again, I switched from plastic to paper because if you screw up you can just reprint!

[WVA]

[QUOTE=spgifford;113035]Looks great, bought this one when BPM's sight came back up.


Who is BPM?

[rickstef]

Bestpapermodels at Paper model, papercraft and coloring book download | Bestpapermodels.com

[cjwalas]

Moving along;
It's becoming a Corsair, despite every effort on my part;

This kit, while simpler than many, actually requires greater care in some assemblies. There are no wing fairings and while the fit is good, if you walk away while the wing attachment is drying you're likely to get a small gap;:o



There are no cylinders in the engine, just a flat circle, but there are other detail parts;



I found the main wheel assembly confusing and I don't have much reference for this plane, so I hope I got it somewhat correct??


The kit could use more and better diagrams. I simply have not been able to sort out how the two long pieces on the right go together for the tail wheel yet.

Workin' on it. I'm not at all familiar with this plane, except as a longtime fan of the look, so forgive me if I'm getting the details wrong!
Chris

[Mauri]

Hey, it's looking really good! Don't let a couple of issues stop you from enjoying the build... maybe you could search for pictures in internet to get a clue on those doubtful parts.

[cjwalas]

I did get the rear wheel built finally, but I had to cut part of the piece and re-glue it to make it work. Still could be all my problem understanding it.
HOWEVER... this is not all my fault;

There's a LARGE gap on either side of the fuselage bottom center piece. If it were just a small gap, I would think it was my building, but this is much bigger. The dihedral on the model looks good (to me), so I suspect this is a failing in the design somehow. But the kit comes with spare color and it wasn't a big deal to patch.
I've made three attempts so far on pulling a clear canopy with no success. I think I need one more arm to make it work!
Chris

[CMDRTED]

VAC-U-FORM!!!!! Besides that, this is a great build! I have to look at the wing issue that is a pretty big gap for no design issues. Otherwise this is coming out great.!

[CMDRTED]

If you have a front on view of the wings that would help, from a few of your first series pics maybe it needs more bend from the wing root.