Large Scale Central

F4U Corsair Diorama

So I have decided to take a little hiatus from train modeling. My first love in modeling was model airplanes. That was what got me started in modeling before the cars before the trains. We are taking back when I was like ten. One of my favorite TV shows growing up was Baa Baa Black Sheep. I fell in love with the bent wing bird the Vought F4U Corsair. As a Marine I had to like the Marine version and as an Idaho Kid I had to like Maj. Greg “Pappy” Boyington. So as tribute to Idaho’s Marine Corp fighter ace I am making a diorama of the plane credited to being Greg “Pappy” Boyington’s the F4U #86. Now interestingly there is a very famous photo of him sitting in this plane although it is likely he never flew it, at least while assigned to VMF214. It has been pretty well documented that this was a Navy photo op for war bond sales. But at any rate its his if for no other reason than prosperity.

At any rate this will be a small diorama of the plane, a couple of palm trees and some various other details. Here is where it is so far.

These planes were kept outside in the sun on coral islands. The sun and coral dust did a number on the planes. So I weathered it with grey chalk to give it that bleached out look. I also used some black chalk around the cowl to give it an exhaust and grime look. I also used some black on the gun ports. I used some light tan on the wheels and behind them to dust them up from the runway. A few details left are to put the plane number on the wheel doors and to patch some bullet holes with beer cans.

Here is the start of the palm trees.

Still a long way to go.

A good looking palm tree to go with a good looking aircraft! Did you make it? It looks like something one could do.

That’s a fine model of a palm tree…

Oh and the plane is nice too! Looks like Gary Buchanan has some competition. (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

Nice!

Nice Devon. (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Eric Schade said:

A good looking palm tree to go with a good looking aircraft! Did you make it? It looks like something one could do.

Yeah that’s the first attempt at modeling a palm tree. I used a combination of techniques from Youtube. It is a piece of 12 gauge romex wire with insulation (one stand of the three). That is wrapped in 22 gauge florist wire to give it the ribbed look. Base and top are made with airdry clay. Roots are lead wool. Leaves are card stock glued to a piece of the 22 gauge wire. I am going to use pepper corns for the coconuts and twine for the dried husk/leaves that are below the coconuts. I think it looks decent enough.

Pappy’s dead man

" Rooster " said:

Pappy’s dead man

lol Yes he is.

Devon, I have a model of an F4u Corsair too. Like yours, mine’s a replica of Pappy Boyington’s airplane. Not sure what scale it is (either 1/26th, 1/28th, or 1/29th) but it’s made out of solid Mahogany. My Dad gave it to me years ago, along with a P-51 Mustang of the same scale.

I love the Mustang, but my all-time personal favorite is the Whistling Death!

Nice!

I’ve often considered ways to model palm trees that could be used outdoors. For this type, I would use leaves from artificial trees, cut to shape as needed.

Unfortunately the kind I need for my layout is a fan palm. Fan palm fronds have kind of a “pleated” look which is very hard to replicate.

Ray , could you run the plastic palm fronds through an embossing tool, like what they suggest for making corragated roof panels out of beer cans? or make carve a mold out of wood and heat the plastic and work it into the mold?

Edited to answer my first question myself the way the fronds are pleated would not work for an embossing tool.

Just some more work. I figured out the base size and started to glue up the foam on a plywood base. It is 12" X 24".

And I added husk and coconuts to the palm tree.

Roots are made of lead wool

Ray Dunakin said:

Nice!

I’ve often considered ways to model palm trees that could be used outdoors. For this type, I would use leaves from artificial trees, cut to shape as needed.

Unfortunately the kind I need for my layout is a fan palm. Fan palm fronds have kind of a “pleated” look which is very hard to replicate.

I understand what your saying Ray. With your skill I am sure you could do it. Depending on how many you need what about making the leaves out of aluminum cans. They could be cut on a Cricut once you have the pattern you want then it would be tedious but you could pleat the individual leaves. The rest of this palm woud stand up outside I think use sculpy instead of airdry clay.

Michael Kirrene said:

Devon, I have a model of an F4u Corsair too. Like yours, mine’s a replica of Pappy Boyington’s airplane. Not sure what scale it is (either 1/26th, 1/28th, or 1/29th) but it’s made out of solid Mahogany. My Dad gave it to me years ago, along with a P-51 Mustang of the same scale.

I love the Mustang, but my all-time personal favorite is the Whistling Death!

Can you post pictures? I wold love to see them.

This Corsair on this Loyalist Parkway garage was my landmark for the cottages I stayed each year to fish West Lake.

Last year it was not there. Hopefully it has gone somewhere to be restored.

Corsair

Paul Norton said:

This Corsair on this Loyalist Parkway garage was my landmark for the cottages I stayed each year to fish West Lake.

Last year it was not there. Hopefully it has gone somewhere to be restored.

Corsair

I wish that was on m roof.

Well in the TV show they have machine gun pits with a good old ma deuce (browning M2 .50 cal machine gun) on a mount. The show’s guns do not have the protective armor plate that Navy deck guns do, but I love those guns. In my detail kit for the Corsair I got 8 m2 machine guns. I did not use them because I wanted the plane to be flight ready so you don’t see them. I decided to make a deck gun out of one of them. It will go in a sand bagged pit.

Here is the inspiration. I saw some land based mounts that were single pedestals. and liked the looks of it. So here is my rendition. The resin piece is the tan color parts the rest is what I added.

The palm is looking great!

In the prototype photo of the gun, I wonder what all those round dark things are, on the ground?

They are the ammo belt links. When you light off my girl ma duece she flings brass and steel clips all over. Doesn’t take long to make a pile.

Nice stuff, Devon…

My Dad was one of the tool designers who worked on the design of the wing hinges in Detroit during the development of the Corsair. He had some interesting stories…