Vought Corsair, F4U-1D, VF-17, Lt Ira Kepford, Solomons, 1944

This is one of those subjects in my “must do” category. Ira Kepford racked up 16 kills in 5 months, 4 in one day protecting a local carrier task group. When he left the combat zone he was the highest ace with the US Navy. This is also another model I started over 17 years ago and just recently finished. Again, it seemed to have all the decals on but the right side!

The Subject

VF-17 was one of the highest scoring US Navy squadrons and produced more aces than any other squadron during 3 combat tours. It was the first US Navy Corsair squadron, but due to problems qualifying the aircraft for carrier duty, VF-17 deployed to land strips in the Solomons, operating alongside USMC squadrons at the same time. VF-17 arrived in the Solomons in October, 1943.

Ira Kepford was one of the original squadron members, completing his flight training and transition to the Corsair at Norfolk, Virginia. This aircraft was the second “29” flown by Kepford. Kepford quickly racked up his kills, and within 5 months had attained all 16 he would get during the war. He finished the war in a number of staff positions, retiring from the US Navy in 1956.

The Model

This is Hasegawa’s F4U-1A/D kit, albeit none of the bits are included to build a -1D. I remember this being an easy and quick build, with no vices whatsoever. It’s not as well detailed nor as accurate as the Tamiya kit, but it’s also significantly cheaper. Shape wise it looks right. As with most Hasegawa kits of the era, the cockpit is not very accurate at all.

Paint is likely a mix of Aeromaster and Testors enamels. I originally put down a coat of Aeromaster gloss before starting the decals, and unfortunately it yellowed over time. The good news is that while I was cleaning up the flaws created by the styrofoam peanuts, the overcoat of Future (Kleer) seemed to minimize the yellowing. Don’t ask me how…

Decals are from the Superscale sheet number 72-314 “Corsair Aces”. The national insignia is a bit out of register, but at the time I didn’t have anything else, so I used them. Again I used the Microscale system of Micro-Sol and Micro-Set and the decals laid down perfectly. It was sealed with multiple mists of Future (Kleer).

Summary

Close scrutiny of the photos show that I made some mistakes. The antenna and pitot are not painted properly and it looks like I found an old landing gear cover that is from the starboard side and put on the port. Yikes! Unfortunately the model is about 4,000 miles from my current location, so corrections and new photos are not possible. So…

This is another subject I’ll do over. I’ve recently acquired the new Revell F4U-1A/D kit which looks much better, and it’s certainly better than the HobbyBoss kit, which will be the subject of another post. I’ve got Kepford’s markings in my stash and I’ll also do Tommy Blackburn’s, the CO of VF-17. He was a pretty phenomenal leader.

Thanks for looking…