Dark blue f4u Royal Navy
First few steps. The interior details are pretty good on this kit for the price and scale. But there is some flash and the cockpit detail on the left side of the of the cockpit wall is almost invisible for some reason.
Many parts are finished. I used a alluminium dry brush for a worn effect on the cockpit , engine and Prop parts.
This kit has a pretty nice engine.
the fit in the cockpit wasn't the best and this where the firat tie I realised that there where some warping problems on the fuselage parts.
The fit was much worse then I remembered form when I made this kit before. Most of these are a result of the fuselage warping. luckely the ring that is used to add the engine makes some problems less pronounsed.
Some modifications to the gun sight.
Many parts are painted and masked to prepare for painting.
The plane was primed black and I preshaded with flanker light blue to change it up a bit. I was trying to get a sun faded effect.
I spayed USN blue angles as a base layers. I didn't got the faded effect I wanted. I will try to make this right with oil paints.
I decided to paint the walk ways instead of using the decals. I used liquid mask for the weathering.
The decals are easy to apply but the color is not as good as on the US navy version of this kit. These seem a bit thicker and the colour is not as good.
Many parts are finished now and I detial painted the radiator inlets and gun areas. I also gave the model a dark brown wash. This isn't the most visible in the end but I still think it was a good decision.
After the wash I matte coated the plane and parts. The I used aluminium and zinc chromate paint for some chipping effects.
I wasn't happy with the sun faded effects so I mixed a light blue form ultra marine blue and titanium white oil paints and faded all the panels. I also added smoke effects to the guns with black oil paint.
I also made engine smoke effects form black and burned umber oil paints and dry brushed some white oil paint on top for the final effects. The antenna wire is also added.
Final parts are added.
Finished. I still like this kit but the warping didn't help to get a good end result. I'm still very happy with the paint finish in the end. The darker scheme aren't easy to make interesting and I learned a lot. More pictures will follow.
3 years of experience did pay of.
Comments
49 17 July 2023, 19:18
NeulingPicture 17 shows a very well painted model. Looking forward to the promised photos of the completed build.
18 July 2023, 07:14
VincentPhoto's of the finished model have been added. I also added some camparisons with the USN version I build back in 2020.
20 July 2023, 08:32
VincentThanks everyone. I always wanted to try this. It maybe needs some more finesse but I had fun making the faded look.
29 February, 11:34
Album info
I kit I wanted to revisit now that I have more experience. I really enjoyed it when I build the US navy version. But this time I realise this kit does have some problems. Also the fuselage parts where unfortunately warped. But it still makes into a fine model in 1/72 scale.
Mistakes/ problems:
- I used the wrong wingtips. The kit also inclused the Us wingtips and I didn't pay attention.
_ the fuselage parts where warped.
- the decals where not as good as in the US version. These don't have good colouring.
