The F4U Corsair was without a doubt the most successful naval fighter of WWII. The XF4U-1 prototype flew for the first time on May 29, 1940, and over ten years later, the last of 12,571 Corsairs rolled off the production lines. So many Corsairs were ordered that two other companies, Brewster and Goodyear, also set up production facilities. The most startling indicator of the Corsair's success was it's incredible 11-1 kill-loss-ratio. From April, 1944 until the end of the war in the Pacific, 2,140 enemy aircraft were destroyed by the Corsair for a loss of only 189 Corsairs to enemy aircraft.

The Corsair was also one of the most immediately recognizable warplanes of the period due to its distinctive bent-wing design. Vought started out with the idea of mating the most powerful engine then available, the Pratt and Whitney XR-2800 double wasp,  with the smallest possible all-metal airframe. The bent wing design came about as a solution to the problem of designing strong enough landing gear because a straight wing would have necessitated very long undercarriage legs to keep the huge propeller clear of the ground. A hardly desirable characteristic for a carrier-based aircraft. Another bonus of the cranked wing design was minimizing the height of the folded wing. The main wheels rotated 90 degrees and folded to the rear and then lay length-wise in the wing. The blown canopy on the birdcage Corsair allowed a small mirror to be fitted replacing the early wide angle rear-view periscope gear.

In spite of this, the initial design was deemed unsuitable for carrier operations by the U.S. Navy, with the result that the Marines got first crack at using the Corsair from land bases. The Royal Navy had no such qualms about the Corsair's carrier suitability and operated the aircraft from April 1944 onward. One of the marking options Tamiya provide (and the one I used) is an aircraft from VF-17 "Skull and Crossbones" or "Jolly Rogers" which was the first Navy squadron to see combat. VF-17 is often referred to as the greatest Naval Fighter Squadron of all time. The squadron produced a total of 12 aces and while based on New Georgia was credited with destroying 154 Japanese aircraft in a 79 day period. Not only was VF-17 the first to see combat, but were the first Navy Corsairs to operate from a carrier. While providing top cover to the carriers Bunker Hill and Essex during the attacks on Rabaul, they downed 18 Japanese bombers and then used the carriers to land on when fuel got low.

To the Japanese ground troops forced to endure the Corsair's ground-attack favors, it was known as "Whistling Death" because of the sound of hot air blown out of the oil coolers through doors underneath the wing.
 

This is Tamiya's offering of the first production version of this outstanding warplane. The kit is absolutely flawless and consists of around 100 parts molded in a crisp light grey plastic with numerous options and 4 marking choices, 2 F4U-1s and 2 F4U-2s. All panel lines are engraved and there is abundant molded-on detail on the cockpit sections of the fuselage, all three gear bays and at the wing-fold. There are four sprues of grey plastic and one clear sprue in four separate bags. Like the fine model citizens they are, Tamiya have put the clear parts in a separate bag to prevent scratches.
 

Construction is relatively straight forward and begins as usual with the cockpit which consists of 10 pieces including the gunsight. The detail is very good and the only drawback (for lack of a better word) is the seatbelts, which are provided for as decals. The completed cockpit looks quite accurate and really shows off the "floorless" design. There is loads of detail and ribbing on the fuselage sides and the cockpit side consoles as well as the tailwheel well. A fairly decent instrument panel decal is provided and this went on quite nicely with a bit of Solvaset. Normally I like to paint and drybrush instrument panels, but since I got my hands on this Solvaset I thought I'd use the decal. I'm very pleased with how well it settled into the raised dial faces and how it looks. The fuselage halves mate together perfectly and the seam disappeared after the Tenax was sanded and polished with steel wool.

The engine is provided for as four pieces plus a poly cap to push the propeller into. The detail is pretty good and all I did was dry brush with a bit of steel. Now we come to our first option, open or closed cowl flaps. The engine is cemented onto the front of the cowl flap ring and then the cowling itself is attached to the ring.

Next up was the wing assembly. You can build the kit with the wings folded or extended. I think folded wings are pretty cool so I went with that option. The main landing gear bays are well detailed and after painting them the centre wing section was assembled. The wing root radiators are separate inserts and some filing was required to get a snug fit. You are instructed to trim a section off of each wing top for the folded wing version. I just chopped off the part as indicated in the instruction and threw them away. Shortly after this, I found a discussion thread on Hyperscale that said the parts I discarded should have been reattached at an angle. Needless to say I wasn't too impressed. After the seams were sanded down and polished, the wing centre section was glued to the fuselage. The wing to fuselage joint is terrific and cleanup of the seams was a breeze. The tailplanes were added at this time as well and the fit was great here as well.

The outer wing sections were next and assembly was straight forward. The flaps are provided as separate pieces and are in the down position. This was fine with me as I love the dirty look they give the completed plane. I left off the wing fold mechanisms till all the painting and finishing was done. The folding wing option is very well engineered and quite strong. Everything fit as advertised. The wing mounted radome for the night fighter version is also as option and the gun plug on the outer machine gun is included. I used those parts with the Hobbycraft kit I recently finished. You also get a choice of a bomb or a fuel tank to hang on the fuselage centreline pylon.

The landing gear was next and is very sturdy, just like the real one. A nice touch is the separate hubs which are a blessing for those of us who hate painting tires and hubs. It's one thing about building aircraft that I just hate. The tail wheel and arrestor hook look pretty accurate and all three gear fit in nice and snug after the finish was complete.

The clear parts are all very crisp and transparent. You have a choice of the flat canopy or the blown one depending on which version you're building. I masked all the framework with Parafilm and spray green chromate for the interior frame colour.
 

Tamiya provide markings for four aircraft. Option 1 is an F4U-1 of USN VF-17 which I built with white under surfaces and two tone blue on top. The skull and crossbones is provided for the cowling as are the kill markings below the cockpit. Option 2 is a USMC F4U-1 of VMF-213 which light grey lower surfaces and blue-grey upper. There is a stylized bird provided for the cowling. Options 3 and 4 are F4U-2 night fighters from USMC aircraft from VMF(N)-532 in the same colour scheme as Option 2. Markings for the night fighters are pretty basic. The decals went on well and I used Solvaset to get them to snuggle down. I used ModelMaster enamels for all painting and Tenax 7R and Humbrol cement were used for assembly.
 

A great kit all around and one that I must recommend without reservation. It's a bit pricey compared to the Hobbycraft Corsair, but the great fit and numerous options represent good value. I've got the next two Corsair versions Tamiya released and I'm looking forward to tackling them very soon.