Hasegawa's 1/48 scale
F4U-5N Corsair

by Ian Robertson

Hasegawa's 1/48 scale F4U-5N Corsair is available online from Squadron.com

This is Hasegawa’s 1/48 scale F4U-5N Corsair in the familiar markings for an aircraft in VMF-513, “Flying Nightmares”, Korea 1952.  An excellent in-flight photo of this aircraft, along with others from VMF-513, can be found on page 50 in Flight Journal magazine’s special issue “F4U Corsair” (Winter 2004 edition).

Construction was straightforward.  One issue that must be addressed with Hasegawa’s kit is the prominent mold seam located on the cowl approximately 1/3 the distance from the windscreen to the spinner.  It’s difficult to eradicate completely, but filler and sanding will go a long way to improve the flaw.  Additions to the model include Eduard seatbelts, a T-shaped radar altimeter antenna made from spares, and an ADF antenna made from spares and fitted on the belly beneath the cockpit, and a drop tank taken from a P-40 kit (used for napalm).  Decals are from Victory Models – the Hasegawa kit includes decals for a similar scheme, but the colors appear too bright and orange when referenced against color photos of the real aircraft. 

I painted the cockpit black from the panels up.  The seat and lower areas of the cockpit were painted interior green.

To create the black surfaces on the model (without making them look solid black) I mixed Polly Scale black and Polly Scale red/brown in a 60/40 mixture. 

Various washes of thinned black/brown paint were added with a brush to create streaking and overall wear. 

The wheel wells and undercarriage were painted glossy sea blue because this was the color in which the aircraft was originally delivered, and it is possible/likely these concealed areas were not repainted in black. 

A final finish of Polly Scale clear satin and flat (50/50 ratio) was used to create a light sheen on the outer surfaces. 

Chalk pastels were used for the exhaust stains.

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Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2009 by Ian Robertson
Page Created 27 February, 2009
Last Updated 27 February, 2009

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