Yiannis Mitzas

F4u-1A Corsair Greg “Pappy” VMF-214 BuNo. 17740

Many of us grew up watching Baa Baa Black Sheep on TV and I was one of those kids. So I’m going to do one of Greg “Pappy” Boyington’s many reputed mounts: Bu No. 17740 of VMF-214 based on Vella La Vella in 1943. The kit will, of course, be the wonderful Tamiya 1/32 F4U-1a kit. I’ve heard so many glowing reports about this masterpiece that I half expect the kit to magically build! I’ll be adding a few common pieces, such as the Barracuda cockpit stencils, Barracuda resin wheels to replace the kit’s vinyl tires, HGW belts, and Vector resin cover flaps. The markings will be covered with Montex masks. Fundekals produces a nice set of decals for some of Boyington’s Marine Corsairs and the informative PDF instructions will serve as a painting guide.
Anyone interested in seeing the sprues of this kit? I don’t want to bore anyone, but it’s really helpful for me to show the sprues as a way to familiarize myself with the contents of the kit before I get started. I’m not as familiar with the Corsair as I am with Luftwaffe fighters and I’ll be using previous builds here as references, of which there should be plenty. I thought I was being cute when I lifted a True Details parachute to serve as a visual interest prop, but there are at least 3 Corsair builds that had the same brilliant idea as me. Takeaway?.. there won’t be anything new here. Except for what I’m bringing to this build. And right now… it’s not much.
Rather than show all the sprays, I might just cover the extras, since I took the time to take pictures of them in my light box. The Vector Cowl fins are the biggest addition. The kit comes with a crankcase assembly, but it can be quite a pain to fit, as it’s a solid piece and will require some precise surgery to center the mounting hole, which I’m not particularly good at. I’ll compare it to the kit parts before making a final decision.
The photos of the 740 indicate that it had slick tires, so I picked up a set of Barracuda resin wheels to replace the kit’s vinyl tires, which are flat. There was one little thing I wanted to check out before the build began in earnest… the exhaust stems. They are semi-hollow but are on the thick side. Using a dremel and some metal bits, I thinned out the exhausts a bit and deepened the openings. Something that caught my eye while reviewing the kit parts. the instrument panel. Tamiya does something a little different here. They provide a clear backing section on the solid plastic instrument panel surface. The gauges are provided as stickers that you apply to the BACK of the clear parts. This gives you a clear lens in front of the gauges without having to do any masking.

Vector Resin Cowling
Barracuda Resin Wheels and Tires
HGW Fabric and Phototech Harness
Barracuda Cockpit Stencils
Montex Masks
True Details Resin Parachute
HGW Wet Transfer Stencils

The build thread for this model can be found on the forums. https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/79153-132-tamiya-f4u-1a-corsair-boyingtons-17740/

The canopy is removable so I can mount it in the closed or open position. I did not glue the wings in place to make it easier to transport. AK Real Colors acrylic paints were used for the exterior.

By :John Kim 

Colors US WWII NAVY & MARINE Early War (1942-1944) Third period