1:72 F4U1A/D CORSAIR

A cranked wing and a reputation from the Pacific

The Corsair got its unmistakable wing shape from pure arithmetic: an enormous propeller needed clearance from the deck and the crank allowed short landing gear legs to be used. The version with the letter A brought a raised cockpit with a better view over the long nose; on the D version racks for bombs and rockets were added, so a fighter became an all-purpose attack machine. Japanese pilots had a nickname for it referring to the whistle the aircraft made in a diving attack. In US Marine Corps service the Corsair lasted long after the war and in Korea it flew mainly against ground targets.

A cockpit frame with no compromise

The raised cover has a fixed windscreen with several fields at the front, followed by the sliding section. The applied parts make sure the width of the framing is the same on both sides, which on this type tends to be the most conspicuous weakness of a quickly built model. The cover is also clearly visible from the side and from above, so not even a small deviation in the width of a single frame can hide in front of it.

• 1:72 scale, cut for the Tamiya kit
• It matches the raised cockpit of the versions with the letters A and D
• The package consists of masking material without decals
• Suited to the matte finishes of naval camouflage
• The parts included can still be repositioned before spraying

A Corsair model is built often, and that is exactly why it pays to do the cockpit so that it stands comparison with the other examples on a display table. On such a well-known shape, accurately bounded glass is what tells a successful model from a weekend build.