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Academy 1/72 F4U-1 Corsair. I bought this kit a couple of expo's ago for my son, but he prefers targets. Pretty simple build, no major issues except the kit wheel suck, so I've ordered some resin replacements. Just about ready for decals, although I think Academy may have got the paint colour wrong....have a feeling it should be a much darker blue. However, I'm too lazy to respray it. And it looks ok to me.

OK looking pretty good
You are right in thinking it should be darker, normal scheme was Gloss Sea Blue, and not that hard for a repaint, it's just the one colour all over

That sounds about right. The instructions call out Gloss Navy Blue FS 15042...Gunze H54 is pretty close to it.

That would be pretty close

As per usual, I stuffed the paint job to the point of requiring stripping and a repaint. Just hope I haven't stripped the cockpit - won't know to tell until I remove the canopy. Second time around, I used Tamiya XF-17 Sea Blue instead of the Gunze H54 Navy Blue I'd used originally. They're supposed to be the same colour, but obviously the Tamiya paint is darker. One more coat, then I'll gloss it.

I've been trying a gloss sealing spray I got from Bunnings - Boyle Gloss Clear Finish Sealer. Costs about the same as a small can of Tamiya primer.

It dries very quickly, and fingerprints rub off with a tissue. The chip on the wing is painted with XF-17, same as the model, and has two coats of the gloss. I rubbed it back with 2000 grit sandpaper between coats, hence the white spots where the paint was a little thin.

So I had a bit of fun experimenting this afternoon...two coats of XF-17, then I tried the Boyle gloss coat. Got some mixed results - in some areas it went on fine, but it seemed to attack the paint in others. Overall, it's OK, but it really needs to be misted on to begin with. Did about 4 very light coats, then a heavy coat, allowing around 15-20 minutes between coats.

Looking good now, can't wait for the decals

Unmitigated disaster....don't wanna talk about it. This project on hiatus until I source a replacement kit. Or go to the LHS..

Uh oh

It's smashing time! Go to the shed and get a "re-calibration" tool - i.e a 10Ib hammer!

Or, if no parts are broken, perhaps just put it aside for awhile, let the dust settle and start again. Ignore my statement above - it is in fact a "sin" on this site to smash models - right Ray? You must continue with this build - regardless of the cost and amount of time it takes.

Cheers

Adam