Vought Corsair, F4U-4B, VF-63 Fighting Redcocks, USS Midway (CVB-41), Korean War

This was actually a rebuild of this model. It was originally completed back in 1984 as part of a collection of “Fighting Redcock” squadron aircraft. This is the only one that still survives from all the moves since then. It was originally an in-flight model and I happened to have the landing gear in my spares box.

The Subject

VF-63 was originally commissioned in 1948 flying the F8F-2 Bearcat. Within a year it reverted to the F4U-4B Corsair and was redesignated VF-63. At the time, the US Navy was designating squadrons based on mission (VF), Air Wing (CAG-6) and then number of squadron in the CAG (3rd). Harking back to the colorful 1930’s, the squadron colors were generally retained; the 3rd squadron having a light blue trim color.

VF-63 was assigned to USS Midway at the start of the Korean War and made two combat deployments flying the F4U-4B.

I chose this subject, and the other subjects (at the time) from this squadron because I was a member of the squadron. The squadron flew a number of aircraft types and was designated originally a Fighter squadron albeit focused on the light bombing / close air support mission. Eventually it transitioned to an Attack role and today has reverted back to its roots, flying the fighter / attack multi-role fighter in the form of the F/A-18F.

The Model

This is the old Matchbox kit, with no details on the inside, heavy panel lines on the outside and no real detail on the outside either. There are no exhausts and some of the heavy lines appear to be in the wrong place. At the time it was the only choice for an F4U-4B and given I was to make it in-flight, a pilot in the cockpit would hide most of the emptyness.

30 years ago I wasn’t keeping any records of my builds, so I’ve no idea what paint manufacturers or paints were used. I’m pretty confident it was probably a glossy dark blue enamel from whatever range was available at my local hobby shop near Lemoore California. Possibly even the old small jars from Testors…

The kit went together quite easily, but then again my standards were quite low at the time. Seams were still not critical and getting it done was quite more important. But it was also my first foray into actually showing my work off, so I spent quite a bit more time getting it right in terms of the paint scheme. After all, my squadron mates were going to see these!

I had to pry open the landing gear doors and the glue was brittle enough after 30 years to readily allow that. The pilot looked comical, so I pried open the canopy (it was discolored anyway) and pulled the pilot out. After stripping and repainting the canopy with Model Master acryl Glossy Sea Blue (it matched the rest of the kit perfectly) I reattached the canopy and shot the entire model with Future (Kleer) to protect the decals.

The decals came from Superscale, long out of print and I don’t remember the sheet number. It was one of the “colorful CAGs” sheets that had a couple of Redcock subjects as well as other squadrons. This was my first attempt at the (new to me) aftermarket decal world, including using the Microscale system of Micro-Set and Micro-Sol. I was immediately sold on the “system” and have used it ever since except then the decals were stubborn and required much stronger chemicals.

The decals were not sealed originally, simply because I didn’t know that was important at the time. Luckily the decals were never damaged in all the moves it made. I’ve no idea why other than I was just lucky!

Summary

This is another subject I’d like to replace with a modern tooling of the F4U-4B. The Italeri kit is not it, simply because it isn’t appreciably better, albeit some details are better. Plus I need to find the decals again, and hopefully they’ll be reissued.

Thanks for looking…