Final progress report – F4F-4 Wildcat, F4U-2 Corsair and A6M2 Zero

I have finally decided to finish up the F4F-4 Wildcat as Marion Dufilho’s Wildcat even if I don’t have much information about which Wildcat he flew on August 24, 1942.

 

I know he flew a F4F-4 and I know he was a naval aviator aboard USS Saratoga with Richard Harmer. F-8 could even be the plane he flew or it could be the Wildcat Richard Harmer flew on that same day when he crashed his Wildcat aboard the carrier after being wounded.

I guess I will never know unless his son Tom looks at his father’s log book for that information.

My Forgotten Hobby II is a way to remember a hobby I started back as a kid in 1958, and is a way to motivate me with building what I have in my stash. It is also a way to share the experience and the fun of building model airplane kits some of which are in their boxes since the 1980s.

This being said here are my two other builds…

Richard Harmer’s No. 15 F4U-2 Corsair…

 

Saburo Sakai Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero…

 

Next time on My Forgotten Hobby II?

The choice is yours…

 

Finally decals!

Decalling is always an apprehensive part of building a model kit.

Everything can go wrong…

I knew the Tamiya Zero was an older kit, and the decals had to show their age also.

Even by soaking them a lot they did not detach that easily. But I was finally able to affix them.

It was not the same with the Wildcat or the Corsair which were newer model kits. The Wildcat decals are thicker, but they conformed well.

Instructions were somewhere vague on their precise location, but people will not spot the difference if some decals are a few tenths of millimeters off.

The Corsair decals were more delicate.

Time is of the essence when decalling. There is no need to rush, and I have to let everything settle down until at least next Sunday as I will be on a little vacation.

Weathering before decalling

I have been a little under the weather lately so progress has been a little slower than expected. Yesterday I have decided weathering the three planes instead of adding decals.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report – Done! Except decals

All three builds are now completed. I am thinking of decalling the Wildcat as the one flown by Pug Southerland on August 7, 1942. I had found this beautiful model before on the Internet.

The Zero will be Saburo Sakai’s Mitsubishi A6M2.

Source

Then it will be Richard Harmer’s Corsair.

Progress Report – Finally Making Progress

I have to move on with finishing what I have started. I couldn’t even remember when I started the Corsair. I had to look it up!

August 9, 2019

Almost 40 days ago… 

September 17, 2019

The Zero has received its clear acrylic coat as well as the Wildcat and the Corsair. I have decided to finish up the three models and get them ready for decals.

All canopies were glued with clear acrylic paint which is much better than liquid cement.

 

 

 

 

 

The three propellers had their tips painted yellow.

 

A second coat will be needed. The Corsair had its landing gear glued with Gorilla glue. I still have to glue the doors.

I still have a few parts to glue on before adding decals first the Zero.

Source

The Wildcat will be next, then the Corsair. After I should be able to move on to the next build which I will let my loyal readers choose…

Intermission – Cleaning up the workbench

There is nothing worst than having a messed-up workbench or a worktable.

Yesterday I cleaned up the workbench which is a small kitchen table my son had when he was at the university almost 20 years ago. After cleaning up I took these pictures of the progress I have made with my three builds since the end of my streak.

First, the Zero has been almost completed.

The pilot is checking the cockpit.

The nose was painted and the propeller will get a base coat before being painted silver.

The Corsair is still waiting for a coat of white on its underside, and will be the last one to be completed.

I am still undecided about how to finish it, either as Richard Harmer’s F4U-2 Corsair or a Marine Corsair.

Like the Zero, the F4F-4 Wildcat is almost finished.

The Zero will be finished first probably later next week, then the Wildcat, and then the Corsair.

I will be offline for the weekend. It’s my grandson’s birthday party tomorrow.

F4U-1/2 Progress Report Day 21 – Airbrushing the F4U-2 Corsair and then some…

Yesterday morning, I had to try my old Badger airbrush once again, but this time on the Corsair.

Before

After

I have used the same technique…

The masking was done with poster blue tack, green masking tape, and toilet tissue paper…

Then I diluted some intermediate blue acrylic paint…

I still haven’t try the color cup cover since it’s quite hard to put on, and mostly to take off after.

I am not even using my homemade spraybooth anymore since I have more control of my airbrush even if I think this is not a great idea.

I have also added a coat on the Wildcat while at it since I had more paint in the color up, but this time without masking anything.

I even hand painted the Zero with a thin coat of Tamiya XF-14… then another… and another.

Having three builds around the workplace is not something I will do in the future as I tend to rush into things a little too much.

With this in mind, I shall return only on Thursday.

F4U-1/2 Progress Report Day 20 – F4F-4 Wildcat – Airbrushing and cleaning up after…

I am still learning how to use my airbrush this Monday morning. I have to admit it’s still a stressful experience. I put on a paint mask since I was working indoors, I opened the window to let the fresh air in, and I used a fan for ventilation.

I did a final gray coat on the underside of the Wildcat.

Then I added a base coat on the Zero.

I used poster blue tack for the first time for masking.

Everything went well until I cleaned the airbrush. I noticed the tip was clogged with paint residue and I could not clean the tip. I had forgotten to use a paint strainer thinking I did not have to.

It won’t happen again.

Breaking the streak

I guess I should break my streak on WordPress as my brother is coming over today.

On Friday I will probably work with my Badger airbrush which has been long overdue.

I have hand painted the Corsair with the same color as Dufilho’s Wildcat. I will take a photo tomorrow.

I have worked on the Corsair canopy again to scrape away the excess paint seen before. 

 

I will take a photo tomorrow when I will start a new streak on WordPress.

Until then…

Breaking News – Dufilho, 4″

I guess a streak is not over till it’s over. I had some free time yesterday, and I looked at this e-book I bought two years ago on Google Books.

Now we know. Marion Dufilho was flying Wildcat F-4 while Butch O’Hare was flying F-15.

Except Dufilho’s Wildcat was a F4F-3 not a F4F-4…