This is another oldie that didn’t get “finished” until last week.  It was complete with the exception of the starboard side decals.  How could that be the last bits and why did it take 17+ years to finish?  Ah well, it’s in the “done” column now.

The Subject

This is Kenneth Walsh’s other Corsair from World War II.  He preferred to have his aircraft numbered “13” and so this one was.  He flew this F4U-4 with VMF-222 from Okinawa in 1945, scoring only 1 kill, and also his last one.

I chose this subject simply because I had the decals and wanted a late war F4U-4 on my shelf.

The Model

This is the old Matchbox kit.  Deep trenches for panel lines and big empty holes where the landing gear bays and cockpit are.  Other details are sparse, the engine doesn’t look right and there are no exhausts.

But when I built this model there were no other 1/72 F4U-4 choices.  I now have the Italeri F4U-4, but it has it’s vices in terms of accuracy, and it’s a -4B variant (cannon armed).

The overall glossy Sea Blue scheme is painted using Aeromaster enamel Sea Blue, which is a matte finish.  After it had cured I put a coat of Aeromaster gloss to give the decals something smooth to lay on.  I’ve learned that after a few years Aeromaster gloss tends to yellow, so I don’t use it anymore.

The decals are from Superscale sheet 72-314, USMC Corsair Aces.  I used the Microscale system of blue label first, then after the decal was almost dry, applying a thin coat of red label to ensure the decals settle right down.  Finally, a coat of Future (Kleer) was applied to seal it all in.

Summary

It looks okay next to my other Corsairs but definitely stands alone in terms of quality.  Any close look and it’s obviously not much more than toy-like.  I hope to find a much better F4U-4 kit in the future and replace the two (maybe a third with the Italeri) currently on my shelf.

Thanks for looking…