Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair by Hasegawa

Kit No. 09125
Price: $18.99
Decals: Two versions – U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, both Korean War era
Comments: Raised panel lines, detailed cockpit with raised relief on main and side instrument panels, optional position two-part canopy, detailed wheel wells and landing gear with diamond tread on tires; ordnance consists of two drop tanks on wing root pylons

History

The Chance Vought F4U Corsair marked a turning point in piston-engined fighter design and pointed the way to the highest-performing and final generation of such aircraft before jet fighters came on the scene. The Corsair was the first single-engined fighter equipped with an engine capable of power in excess of 2000 hp, and was also the first fighter to exceed 400 mph in level flight. As both a carrier-borne and land-based fighter, it remained in service with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps from 1943 until after the Korean War, being withdrawn from front-line service in December 1954. It would remain in service with smaller air forces in Latin America and elsewhere until the end of the 1960’s.

In 1938 the U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics invited bids for a new, high performance single-seat fighter for its carrier fleet. Rex Beisel, chief designer of the Texas-based Chance Vought Corporation, conceived a design that explored the idea of maximum speed via minimum drag. His approach was to combine the most powerful engine available with an extremely slender fuselage and the largest possible propeller. To prevent the massive Hamilton Standard three-bladed propeller from striking the ground or carrier deck upon take-off or landing, an inverted gull wing design was employed.

The landing gear was positioned directly beneath the kink in the wings and retracted backwards 90 degrees into the wing, much like the earlier Curtiss P-40. The new Pratt & Whitney R-2800-8 Double Wasp double-row radial engine was chosen as the powerplant. The prototype XF4U-1 left the assembly line on June 25, 1942, just weeks after the Battle of Midway. The Navy initially rejected the Corsair because it was (and would remain) an unforgiving plane to fly. Its long nose impaired visibility during landings, which were uncomfortable at the best of times.

Entering service with the fleet in February 1943, the Corsair was not initially popular with Navy pilots, and the reasons were not limited to visibility from the cockpit. Due to the gull wing design and with the torque of its powerful engine, it had a tendency to turn gently to the left on take-off that was difficult to control as it left the flight deck. It also had an unfortunate penchant for bouncing on landings, no matter how gingerly a pilot tried to set it down. This was a particularly dangerous quality on a carrier that could mean bouncing over the arresting wires and crashing into the barrier, or worse, jumping the barrier altogether and crashing into aircraft parked in the forward section of the flight deck. Landing accidents mounted and the Corsair developed a reputation for being a nightmare for inexperienced pilots. As a result, for a time the Corsair was primarily operated by land-based Marine units in the Pacific, while the Navy turned to the Grumman F6F Hellcat, which was easier to handle.

Eventually the problem was solved by modifying the oleo struts of the Corsair’s main landing gear. This improvement, and reports from the Marines that the Corsair represented a big leap forward in terms of speed, maneuverability and firepower, giving them the ability to slug it out with anything the Japanese could put into the air, induced the Navy to take a second look at the F4U, and it began to once again equip Navy fighter squadrons. The first was VF-17 which operated as a land-based squadron during its first combat tour. The British Fleet Air Arm (FAA) also began to receive the Corsair and they assigned it to carriers — in fact it was the Royal Navy who were credited with being first to tame the Corsair for carrier operations.

The F4U-4 resulted from modifications made by Vought to the F4U-1D to further improve the Corsair’s performance. These included a re-designed cockpit which included for the first time a cockpit floor, an armored pilot’s seat, a four-bladed 14-foot Hamilton Standard propeller, and the removal of the unarmored 62-gallon fuel tanks from the wings. A chin scoop was also added to the bottom of the cowling. The new version ( XF4U-4) made its first demonstration flight on September 20, 1944 and it entered fleet service the following month.

Vought would eventually build 2,537 F4U-4’s, including the F4U-4B armed with four 20mm cannon instead of the standard six .50 caliber machine guns, the F4U-4N nightfighter, and the F4U-4P for photo reconnaissance. Originally powered by the Pratt & Whitney R-2800-18W radial engine, the F4U-4 could reach a speed of 450 mph and could lay claim to being the fastest propeller-driven fighter of the Second World War. It also had a climb rate of 4,000 feet per minute and an impressive service ceiling of 41,000 feet. The engine would later be upgraded to the R-2800-42W for even more power. Vought built a total of 2,050 F4U-4’s, some of which would see action in the Pacific in the closing months of WWII.

The F4U-4 would come into its own during the Korean War, where it would prove highly effective in the ground attack role. Fitted with underwing hard points for eight air-to-ground rockets or bombs, as well as wing root pylons for additional bombs, napalm, or fuel tanks, the F4U-4 could loiter over a battlefield while providing devastating close air support. Since the power available to early jet engines had to be dedicated to air-to-air performance, the Corsair with its powerful engine could easily bring more air-to-ground ordnance to bear on the battlefield than its turbojet-powered counterparts.

The Kit

First released by Hasegawa in 1989, the F4U-4 Corsair is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 48 parts, including two clear plastic parts for the canopy and windscreen. As there are comparatively few parts for a single-seat fighter of this scale, construction should be relatively simple. The kit features raised panel lines and a detailed cockpit featuring a two-part canopy that can be positioned opened or closed, with raised relief on the main and side instrument panels — thankfully the manufacturer did not take the easy way out with a decal. There is a fairly detailed Pratt & Whitney engine face with a separate part for the crankcase and pushrods, and a large, four-bladed propeller, a tell-tale sign that this plane is of the -4 series. The landing gear have above average detail, with the tires of the main gear featuring engraved diamond tread, but the tail wheel and tail hook are integrally molded as a single part — this could be a drawback as the tailhook is rather thin and looks as if it can easily be broken.

The kit’s raised panel lines would be more of an issue if the F4U-4 had not appeared so late in the war in the Pacific, after the Navy had transitioned from the three-color dark sea blue/intermediate blue/pale grey or white scheme, to overall dark sea blue. With such a dark main color, it would be challenging to bring out much detail by weathering engraved panel lines, except to depict worn paint here and there. The only exceptions to the lack of engraved panel lines are the control surfaces and wing fold demarcation lines on the wings and horizontal stabilizers, and the cooling gills at the rear of the engine cowling. The interesting thing about this kit is the relative lack of ordinance, since the markings clearly depict post-WWII (likely Korean War era) aircraft — and the F4U-4 came into its own as a ground support aircraft in Korea. But Hasegawa opted to provide auxiliary drop tanks only — modelers who want bombs or rockets will have to get them from aftermarket sources. The wheel wells feature meticulous ribbed interior detail.

Markings

The kit decals are of fair quality with a nice semi-gloss sheen, but they exhibit a faint yellowing that is unfortunately common to many Hasegawa decals when they are not freshly minted. This is never a welcome sight but may not be much of a problem in the case of the Corsair, since the decals will be set against a dark, gloss sea blue background. Still, upon examination modelers may wish to seek aftermarket replacements. The markings offer a choice of machines, one for U.S. Navy fighter squadron VF-193, the “Ghostriders;” the other for U.S. Marine Corps fighter squadron VMF-323, the “Deathrattlers.” Both feature the stars and bars national insignia in use at the time of the Korean War. Paint schemes are nearly identical with overall gloss sea blue the common theme. The VF-193 aircraft features a sky blue propeller hub, wingtips, and tip of vertical tail, while the VMF-323 aircraft features a white cowling and propeller hub with a large rattlesnake marking on both sides of the cowling.

Conclusion

This is an above average kit of one of the later Corsairs that a saw a bit of action in WWII, but did most of its fighting during the Korean War. Modelers expecting extras should note that this kit features drop tanks only. Not quite state-of-the-art by today’s standards, but it looks like it will be a most enjoyable build. Highly recommended.

References

• F4U Corsair in Action by Jim Sullivan; Copyright 2013 Squadron Signal Publications, Carrollton, Texas
• Fighter by Ralf Leinburger; Copyright 2008 Parragon Books, Ltd., Bath, United Kingdom