A flood of new F4U kits have been released over the past few years, so here are some cool markings options to consider.
But First, A Shameless Plug For A Friend’s OUTSTANDING Aviation Reference Books (which you’ll buy direct from him, not from me): I’ve mentioned world-famous aircraft researcher and author Dana Bell’s book series on the F4U Corsair several times before. Dana is extremely well known for his detailed research on whatever aviation subject he addresses, and this book has photos and technical details you never even dreamed of. He presented an overview of some of the stuff he’s discovered at the IPMS-USA national convention in August 2014–to rave reviews. It fundamentally changes what we thought we knew about the “Whistling Death.”
I don’t sell Dana’s books, but you can buy directly from him on Amazon at Dana Bell’s Books! You will be glad you did.
Update: See Brett Green’s Gorgeous 1/48 Hobbyboss F4U-4B Build/Correction:
You surely already know Brett Green’s consistently amazing models (he also finds time to run the world’s largest modeling website, edit a major model(l)ing magazine, write books, etc., etc. – truly a modeling “Renaissance Man.”
Anyway, he emailed me last night to say he’s completed his latest Corsair build, the 1/48 Hobbyboss F4U-4B using my Cutting Edge decal set. See the results of his efforts–and what he had to do to get it right, here.
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Available now are a few of my Corsair decal sets that will nicely dress up your 1/32 or 1/48 treasure. Not all of these schemes are for F4U-1s, but they’re all pretty cool. Enjoy!
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PYN32002 PYN-up Decals F4U Babes-4-U Part 1. F4U-1, “Marine’s Dream,” Modex 576, VMF-222, BuNo 02576, 1st Lt. Edwin Olander, Munda, October, 1943. Although not widely recognized, clear photos of “Marine’s Dream” show the nose art was shaded and not “flat!” Olander was part of VMF-222, although this plane has been often incorrectly identified in print as being assigned to VMF-214. This is confirmed by information cards for the official Marine Corps photos (see below). This aircraft flipped over during an emergency landing at the unfinished Torokina airstrip on Bougainville on 13 December 1944. That the plane has been so well recorded in photos is due to the fact that the Marine Corps took a series of photos of its recovery that are now in the US National Archives collection. The first in this series shows the plane on its back in a large mud puddle. Subsequent photos in the series show the large truck-mounted crane pulling the aircraft back right side up. It’s unrecorded whether this plane ever flew again, but if so would have required a new fin and rudder and left outer wing, both of which were well bent in the flip over. One source notes this plane was scrapped in February 1944. This plane was painted in the early two-tone scheme of M-485 Blue Gray (non-specular) over M-495 Light Gray (non-specular). However, the scheme was extremely weathered, with a very large amount of overspraying and touch-up with fresh colors. Given the time period this plane was in combat service, it is highly likely that stocks of the Blue Gray paint were exhausted and at least some of the touch-up was in ANA 607 Non-Specular Sea Blue and/or ANA 608 Intermediate Blue. Touch-up was especially heavy on the upper inboard wings, which were almost completely covered with darker, fresher paint than the original faded camouflage. The original modex number on the fuselage was painted out with darker paint. It’s possible that ANA 608 Intermediate Blue was used, given the time period the aircraft was in service. In addition, extremely heavy, light colored exhaust staining ran from the engine exhausts back over the sides of the fuselage to well aft of the wing trailing edge. This was one beat-up bird, even before the accident! The national insignia, at the time of the landing accident, were the original large star-only cocarde with white horizontal bars added. Both the fuselage and wing insignia can easily be seen in the crash photos. At this time there was no outline to the white bars. The upper right wing star has been overpainted, leaving only an upper left wing star cocarde with plain white bars added. Note that a F4U-1D warbird is currently flying in these markings. The warbird’s markings are considerably different than the photos show for the original aircraft, and for some reason the team flying the warbird claim it was Marine ace Ken Walsh’s Corsair. While it is possible that Walsh may have flown this aircraft, it was certainly not his “regular” aircraft, which carried his Japanese flag kill markings. The currently-flying warbird has red-bordered insignia, but no photographic evidence of this on the original has been found and it’s extremely unlikely. The second subject is F4U-1A featuring kneeling Texas cowgirl artwork based on Vargas. The Modex was 8, and it was assigned to VMF-422, BuNo 17965, 1st Lt. Stout, Engibi Island, May 18, 1944.
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CED32038 F4U-1A/Ds. EXTREMELY LOW QUANTITY! FG-1D, “SeaBees/USMC” insignia on nose, #993, VMF-222, Philippine Islands, March 1945, in three-tone scheme; F4U-1A, “Ace of Diamonds” playing card insignia on nose, #643, VMF-122; FG-1D HQSS-22 “Skipper’s Orchid” with a “girl in a drink glass” nose art, Ie Shima, June 1945; F4U-1A of VFM-217 with “Ring-Dang-Doo” nose art.
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CED32058 F4U-4 Corsairs. F4U-4, Naval Reserve Training Unit, Olathe (pronounced “oh-LAY-tha (rhymes with “pa”), Kansas, March 1956; F4U-4B, VMF-214 “Black Sheep”, K-3 (Pohang), Korea, 1953.
F4U-4 Medal of Honor & First Black Naval Aviator. VF-32, ENS Jesse L. Brown; F4U-4, VF-32, LTJG Thomas J. Hudner; LT Hudner won the Medal of Honor trying to rescue his wingman, ENS Jessie Brown. Hudner crash-landed his Corsair behind enemy lines next to Brown’s crashed aircraft and attempted to free ENS Brown from the wreckage; F4U-4B, F-96995, ‘Football War,’ Honduras, 1969.
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CED48123 F4U Nose Art #3. LAST SET! — THEN NO MORE! FG-1D HQSS-22 “Skipper’s Orchid;” F4U-1A VFM-217 “Ring-Dang-Doo;” F4U-1 VMF-213 “Dangerous Dan/Eight Ball;” F4U-1 VMF-215 “Spirit of ’76” (and we ain’t talking about the Bicentennial!).
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CED48124 F4U Corsair Nose Art #4. This set features extremely unusual nose art on Marine Corsairs. First is F4U-1D “Daisy Jane” from VMF-511. Next is F4U-1D “Laura-Ricky” from VMF-113. The third bird is a FG-1A, “Blue Baron,” from VMF-122 and sporting a very unusual white panel on the fin. The final ship is F4U-1A “Reluctant Gator” from an unknown unit.
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CED48267 F4U-4 Corsairs #1. Three combat veteran Corsairs grace this set. First is a F4U-4 from the VF-713 Fighting Aces flying off the USS Antietam (CVA-36) in January 1952. This bird displays 11 mission markings and the large “H” on the fin denoting Air Wing 15 fighter squadrons. Next is another Korean vet, this time a Marine F4U-4B of the famous VMF-214 Blacksheep flying from K-3 (Pohang), Korea, 1950. The “WE” tail code was used by the Blacksheep during the entire war. Now for something completely different . . . the Central American combat veteran F4U-4B flown by the Honduran Air Force, F-96995, during the 1969 “Football War” (“Soccer War” to North Americans) with El Salvador.
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CED48268 F4U-4 Famous Planes. MEDAL OF HONOR Corsair! F4U-4, VF-32, ENS Jesse L. Brown; F4U-4, VF-32, LTJG Thomas J. Hudner; LT Hudner won the Medal of Honor trying to rescue his wingman, ENS Jessie Brown. Hudner crash-landed his Corsair behind enemy lines next to Brown’s crashed aircraft and attempted to free ENS Brown from the wreckage; F4U-4B, VMA-332, USS Bairoko (CVE-115), Yellow Sea (off Korea), July 1953; F4U-4, VA-14 ‘Tophatters,’ LCDR Lou Burke (commander VA-14), September, 1949.
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CED48269 F4U-4 Olathe & Korea. F4U-4, Naval Reserve Training Unit, Olathe, Kansas, March 1956; F4U-4B, VF-113, CDR John “Tex” O’Neill, USS Princeton, 1950
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PYN-up F4U Babes-4-U #1. F4U-1 (“Birdcage”), Marine’s Dream (the artwork was actualy shaded as depicted on this decal, not “flat art” as shown on other decals), Modex 576, VMF-222, BuNo 02576, 1st Lt. Edwin Olander, Munda, October, 1943; F4U-1A, Vargas Texas kneeling cowgirl artwork, Modex 8, VMF-422, BuNo 17965, 1st Lt. Stout, Engibi Island, May 18, 1944. We produced this set at the express request of Brett Green of HyperScale.
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Nose Art Corsairs. ONLY 12 LEFT IN STOCK. F4U-1Ds of VBF-83, Summer 1945: #185, 6 kill marks; “Killer’s Hash Wagon,” #195 (later #227), ; “Maggie’s Drawers.” #191. This sheet was researched by the inimitable Hal Tippens.