Well, I did it - I took the first step and ordered the plans, wood, and accessories from Bob Holman. Now the waiting and prepping begins

I have done a lot of research for this project and want to thank the people here for your ideas, pictures, support, ect. If it weren't for you I would not even be attempting it. It's not my first build, or my first Corsair, but it will be my first 'very detailed' project. This will be a long build for me, because I want to take my time and get it right and make it as scale as I can.

I started with painting the pilot. It's the BBI "Doc Miller" that you have probably seen on eBay or maybe even here. With painting tips from Tom Pierce and the Aces of Iron website I put him in the Pacific so he got some sun and since he returned to base late in the day he has a 5 o'clock shadow too. As you can see I am about as far from an artist as one can get, but I think it will look OK in the cockpit. I will be weathering the parachute, Mae West, etc too.

Next it's time to start gathering the remaining wood for the kit. I bought the short kit so I will need the other parts. Does anyone have a source for wood that you have had good experiences with? I will go to my LHS too just to see what they have. I will need to create a list of the wood and parts needed unless someone has already done that and would like to share it.

Wish me luck, and keep those tips and pictures coming!

hey, cool, i have the plans, but have been putting it off, let me know how it goes, the wing looks
difficult. id go to balsa usa for the woods

Thanks typhoonfury. I have heard good things about Balsa USA so they will definitely be my first contact. I wonder if they already know what is needed or if I will have to supply a list? Guess I'll find out.

Yeah, I would love to see a build thread of this plane. Its always great to watch how a f4u comes together.

Good luck
Rob

I would also like to see a build on this. Studying the wing drawing can absolutely give you a migraine.

First of all, I want to thank everyone who have offered their assistance, pictures, and tips. I would not have even attempted this build without you.

For the first part of this build I started with the center section of the main wing spar.

I started this build by studying the plans.
Then I removed the laser cut short wood kit cut by Bob Holman. The wood was excellent! Very well cut - clean, straight, etc. Thanks for all your help Bob!
Then next step was studying the plans.
Then I sorted the wood according to major sections - center section, wing, control surfaces, fuselage, etc
The next step was to study the plans.
The next step was to post questions to this forum about the plans!!!
After studying the plans and reviewing the comments and pictures from others here on RCU I laid out the center section pieces onto the plans.

Picture Zx71053 shows the middle pieces
Picture Pk30914 shows the center section of the wings
Picture Af90289, Zt52108 and Gr93925 shows the front and rear main spars with ribs in place. They are (left to right) attached as 2 - 1 - 2.
The piece is placed on the plan for reference..


Two #1 ribs were in the kit. Anyone know why?

Richard,

I'm glad to see you get started on this, I hope to be of some assistance with some parts if I can get them done. You forgot to mention your goals for this build, what details do you plan to incorporate and so on. Good luck, I'll be following along!

Pappy

Thanks Pappy. Are you who I think you are? If so I also sent you an email earlier today.
I appreciate any and all assistance.
Any pictures that anyone can share will be appreciated. I'm especially looking for the center section and any skeletal pictures.

As for goals, I want to attempt to make it as close to scale as I can.
Here is what I am working on:
Carrier based, but squadron paint scheme not yet decided
Folding wings with working latch indicator
Sliding canopy - this will open when throttle is less than 20% and flaps are full down
Moving pilot - head moves when ailerons move, feet with rudder, left arm on throttle and will move with throttle changes, right arm on the stick so it will move when elevators and ailerons move
Detailed cockpit with some help
Working nav lights
True to scale hinges and possibly functioning flap control arms (lots to work on with that one)
Panels, rivets
Maybe a drop tank

Keep in touch!

P.S. I love your signature!

Has anyone cut lightening holes in their ribs, spars, etc?

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving.

you might want to call bob holman and ask him about those extra ribs. i've looked at the plans and the confusing area to me is the retract area, i have the typhoon plans and they kind of lay it
all out for you on the retracts, they dont on the corsair. lightening holes on metal are supposed to ( circular holes) increase strenth, i dont know about balsa. taylors are supposed to build lighter, you may not need them.

happy bird day

Good idea, I'll call Bob.

The retract area is confusing to me too. I think I may get the retracts before I begin that section. I've not decided which ones to get. I've looked at Robart, Sierra, and Century jet and have read many posts but still have not decided. I've emailed Earl Aune and Bob to get their opinions. What have you decided on?

I will need to put holes in the ribs anyway, for various things like wires, rods, etc so I wanted to see what others have done. Since balsa is already light, the holes are more for strength as you noted.

go to rcscalebuilder.com and check out the brian taylor forum section, there is an excelent
thread with pics on the wing and retract section of a corsair build

the thread is titled , 82 INCH CORSAIR BUILD , alpha mike
there's some great stuf here!!!!!!!!

I have been reading the build thread on RCScalebuilder and have been posting there too. You are right in that there is some great information there. I am making a document of it too so I could read it offline.
Any and all pictures are nice, but I am trying to document the process for someone, like me, that has built before but just not at this level. By that I mean showing the challenging and difficult to understand steps with pictues and 'lessons learned' tips. As you and others have pointed out there are many excellent Corsair building threads out there and I don't want to duplicate them.
I know this kit is for advances builders, but that is a relative term. I have built and repaired many models before. I have built the TF Corsair and did not have any problems with it at all. At what point does one become "advanced"? I feel confident that I can build the rest of the plane (I'm sure I will still need some clarifications, etc) I am just having some difficulty unstanding certain things. For example, I pondered the reason for why I have two #1 spars. Come to find out I received an extra one by mistake. When something isn't perfectly clear I want to ask before I do any cutting and gluing.
I hate to keep asking questions that I know a lot of builders would consider 'common knowledge' but I have to start on these larger kits somewhere.

Thanks to those who support others with the knowledge, tips, and time, I will make it through these challenges.

Today I worked on the wings.
I cut small lightening holes into the ribs for strength and to allow snaking wires, tubes, etc through them. For example, I am planning to have working navigation lights on the wingtips.
I placed the ribs (except #5 which will be modified for hinges) onto the spars and glued them using Titebond II Premium Wood Glue. I placed weights onto the spars to ensure the pieces are pressed firmly together.

Tip:
I use a scrap piece of metal torque rod and dip it into a glob of glue then apply the glue using the rod. This enables me to place just a drop or two of glue exactly where I need it. After pressing the pieces together, I use a small flat piece of scrap balsa to wipe off any glue that may have seeped out. When finished gluing, the rod is wiped clean and ready for use again.
I also use this method for mixing and applying epoxy.

Mistake I made:
The lower spar rises to meet the last outboard rib to help form the wingtip shape. To make this bend, you need to cut out a small amount of balsa in the spar just past rib #14. I cut out too large of a piece on the spar and it broke when I tried to bend it. (Shown in the last picture).

Corrective Action:
I decided to use 30 min. epoxy to repair it (instead of using wood glue) in case I jeopardized its strength. I applied the epoxy all around the spar.

Tomorrow I will be starting on the section where the retracts go. I have all of the front formers and braces but am lacking all of the rear ones. I have the two that connect together that are labeled "FRNT MIDL" and "READ OUTSIDE" but do not have the 1/8" brace that goes behind these two to brace them. Am I supposed to cut that myself or did I overlook it in the kit somewhere?

For retracts, I am seriously considering the Century Jet retracts. Comments?

i think most people are going with seirra precision, or unitracts, i don't know if the
top flight giant corsair robarts will work , also ck out spring air. I tried to find a web site for sierra, but couldn't. Unitracts is a UK company, its www.unitracts.com.uk . SPring Air, is www.retracts.com, their phone is 321-728-9002 , in fLORIDA.

good luck

Thanks for the info. I checked out Spring Air and that is a no-go. Still waiting on replies from the others.

here u go:
http://www.sierragiant.com/products.html

I've stopped working on the wings and have been working on the fuselage. I want to wait for the retracts before I do more with the wings.
I was wondering if anyone put lightening holes in the pieces above the wings? The picture shows them with formers and I was thinking about cutting the holes between the formers. This would be for strength and to lighten the weight a bit.

Started the tail section. Here is the fin taking shape.

I worked on the rudder and fin last night. Here's a picture. It's hard to tell from the angle of the shot but I put blocks on the leading edge of the rudder.
This weekend I'll add the ribs, lightening holes, trim tab, hinge blocks, and some filler. Then I will start the sanding. Then I think I'll do some sanding, and if I have any time I think I will do some sanding.

Robart recommends 3/16" hinges for 1.20 to Giant Scale Models, so I will get those.

I'll also add short fairings to the training edge of the bottom of the fin. They will be carved out in the center to match the shape of the rudder.

Question about glassing: Did anyone leave any extra space between parts if you are planning on glassing or does the added fabric, primer, paint, etc only add very little additional size to the parts?

Great jog so far, keep it going!

Now for the question: Everyone has a different way of doing things, so this is how I do it. When I glass I always glass the wing first, then I check the fit to the fuselage. After glassing the fuselage I check the fit of the control surfaces and then glass or cover them, some may be fabric. When I'm sanding them to conform to the glassed and finished surface I leave a very small gap to allow for covering material.

Here I'm checking the fit of the flaps after glassing the wing, then a picture of the finished product.

I'm having fun and learning a lot. I'm at the point now where I need to slow down and get the sanding and shaping right.
I realized that I used the wrong wood for the rudder - it's too hard. So, off the the LHS for more wood tomorrow.
Thanks for the pics!
How's the cockpit coming?

i e mailed shindin machine, he has a set of retracts you might be able to use.
I Dont think my project is ever going to get off the proverbial ground

www.shindinmachine.com , ask for lenny

tally ho