The Corsair with its wings folded
Building Tamiya’s 1/48 F4U-1D Corsair was an enjoyable experience. The 61085 kit has clear instructions and convincing detail straight out of the box. It is the kind of model that does not need photo-etched extras to look interesting when finished. That combination of thoughtful engineering and well-explained assembly is one of the things I appreciate about the kit. [1][2]
My most visible choice was to build the aircraft with its wings folded. The F4U’s inverted gull wing is distinctive even when extended, but folding the outer panels draws attention both to the carrier-based nature of the aircraft and to the mechanism at the fold. Tamiya gives the builder a choice between folded and extended wings; I chose the former. [1]
What the kit brings to the bench
The F4U-1D’s characteristic nose, canopy and wing geometry remain clear even in a relatively compact 1/48 model. The folded-wing configuration is especially effective when photographed from the front and three-quarter angles, where the wings rise on both sides of the fuselage. The original ModofWar gallery contains a finished side view, a front three-quarter view, a front view and a head-on photograph with the wings folded. These original photographs are central to this build record. [2]
Tamiya’s 61085 set also includes a Moto-Tug deck tractor. That is a feature of the box, but I have not established that I built the tractor as part of this particular model. The product description and the build record should not be confused: a part supplied in the box is not necessarily a part used in the finished display. [1]
The paint: a mix of Tamiya XF colours, not AS-8 spray
The main finish is where my approach differs from the kit’s printed recommendation. Tamiya’s painting guide specifies AS-8 Navy Blue (US Navy) spray for the principal finish. I did not use AS-8 spray. Instead, I mixed Tamiya XF-17 Sea Blue, XF-8 Flat Blue and XF-2 Flat White acrylic paints to obtain the dark sea-blue appearance for the fuselage and wings. [3]
The historical target was the late-war US Navy colour Glossy Sea Blue (ANA 623). The approximate reference mix discussed for this build is 5 parts XF-17, 3 parts XF-8 and 2 parts XF-2. I used a similar mixture, but I no longer have a definitive record of the exact quantities I measured. The 5:3:2 formula is therefore an approximate reference, not a verified exact ratio for my own build. Nor does matching the appearance by eye prove a spectrally exact match to the wartime paint formula. For the historical ANA 623 background see [4].
The finished model and gallery
The original photographs were published on ModofWar in 2019. 10 November 2019 is the legacy publication date, not evidence of the precise day the model was completed.
History and the model
This is a record of the build and its paint finish. The wider story of the Corsair—its difficult path to carrier service, the fighter-bomber role of the F4U-1D, and the historical ANA 623 finish—belongs in a separate F4U-1D Corsair Historical Dossier.
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