Vought DF4U-8 Corsair "The BlueTwin"

[Basosz]

What if...

July 16th 1945. White Sands Proving Grounds. Testing of a device called Trinity. At 05:29:45 local time someone flips a switch... and nothing happens.

Fast forward to August 6 1945, which is a pretty usual day for everyone in Japan. Air raids are announced by sirens, people get into shelters and bombs fall. Regular bombs.

Another flash forward to January 1946. The Japanese fleet, while decimated after years of battling the US carriers, is still a menace to allied shipping all over the Pacific. Especially the Japanese Submarine fleet. Just before Germany surrendered, they sent out their entire U-boot fleet. Some went to Argentina, some went missing, but most (almost 300 subs) set sail to Japan. The thinking was that the tides of war might still tip in favour of the Axis powers and the Japanese might feel obligated to help restart the German war-effort. These submarines were hunted like crazy during their flight from Germany as it was believed (and later proven true) that Adolf Hitler himself was on one of them. Of the 291 subs sent out to Japan, 16 were sunk, 35 (!!) were captured and 9 suffered technical failures en-route and had to make port in friendly countries along the way leaving Japan with 231 new U-boats to play with. This would prove a definite hassle for the Allied forces.

During this period, the Dutch Navy lost their first ever aircraft carrier (The HMS Karel Doorman) to Japanese torpedoes in the Second Battle of Okinawa. The second carrier that was already on order was hastily re-christened the HMS Karel Doorman II (originally it was to become the HMS Piet Hein) and delivered only 3 months after the first one sunk. It was one of the 2 remaining Long Hull Essex Carriers that the US Navy did not need any more after gaining massive air superiority in the Pacific (The other hull eventually also went to the Dutch navy and became the HMS Egbert Kortenaer). For the Dutch this was an ideal platform to launch Anti Submarine Warfare missions against the Japanese subs though, as shipping to the East-Indies was still severely hindered by them.

Aircraft stationed to the Karel Doorman II were primarily the ones that previously served on the US Essex carriers such as the Wildcat, the Avenger and the Corsair. Especially this last one proved supremely capable of finding and destroying submarines. Equipped with several submarine finding sensors and armed with the new Piranha Implosion Torpedo, the Dutch navy Corsairs scored several hits and were feared by many a Japanese submariner.

When the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker saw what the Germans had done to the He-111 Zwilling, and North-American to the F-82 Twin Mustang, they wanted to do a similar thing to the Corsair. Experiments and calculations had shown that a twin Corsair might have better ASW characteristics than a single one (which was already impressive) due to a reduced magnetic signature, greater range, and a larger payload. Also, with the Stork-improved Pratt & Whitney R-2800 (now producing 3400 HP through the use of better fuels, fuel injection, turbochargers, intercoolers and more efficient water injection) the aircraft's top speed could be markedly higher. Something pilots really appreciated when they were under attack from enemy fighters. Also, either one of the engines could be switched off during flight which made them slow enough to track subs very effectively and simultaneously gave them a huge range.

Vought gave Fokker the go-ahead for this development thinking that if it worked, they could market it for themselves. After all, Fokker had done all the research. It turned out to be a huge success. After some initial problems with the engines and reduced lift (the first attempt at flight failed because the aircraft refused to take off), the new aircraft, now officially called the DF4U-8 BlueTwin due to it's characteristic colour (although the Dutch painted theirs in the standard two tone Sky and Extra Dark Sea Grey... silly Dutch), set record after record. Speed, height, range... almost every previous record was knocked from the books by the BlueTwin. For a long while it was faster than even the best jet-planes of the day. It also proved a pilot's favourite because of the very good flight characteristics and the fire power it carried (6 or 8x .50 machine guns in the centre wing section, and again that much in the both outer wings) with which many pilots defended themselves against enemy planes. Vought rapidly put this new development in production and eventually 356 were built. The Dutch navy ordered 42, the rest went to France (70), Panama (32 for defence of the Panama Canal) and the USA (215).

The Dutch navy used them in the Pacific primarily to support Allied operations and for defending the main shipping lanes to the Dutch East Indies (The later Indonesia). The carrier based BlueTwins could only operate from the new angled-deck variant of the carriers due to their pretty outrageous width and they were slightly difficult to land on a pitching deck but it could be done by a pilot with sufficient experience. The folding wings made for easier storage in the hangar. The only thing that was a bit problematic was that they didn't fit on the standard elevator so they could only be brought up and down with the special side mounted elevators that were extended outward for a few feet. This was however a minor inconvenience according to naval personnel who served these magnificent aircraft.

The Vought DF4U-8 was built until 1954 and saw action in almost all the battles in WW2 before Japan finally surrendered in October 1949. It also saw some action in the Korean conflict several months later where Dutch and American (land-based) BlueTwins sank several Russian built, North-Korean submarines. The USA kept them in service with the US Navy till 1958 when they were finally superseded in the ASW role by more modern aircraft. The Dutch navy officially turned the last BlueTwin over to the Dutch National Military Aeronautics Museum on 8 September 1966 but that aircraft by then hadn't seen action for several years.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Basosz

[AnonymousDFB1]

Great back story

[Daniel]

That sounds like a challenging build!

Dan

[Basosz]

That sounds like a challenging build!

It's not too bad I hope. Just cutting off some of the wings, some modelling with some putty so get them to look like 1, and extending the rear wings to look like 1 between the rudder thingy... I've completely forgotten how all the control surfaces are called in English. Dementia is stetting in ! Run for the uhh... thingys that stick out of the ground buit are lower than mountains

Anyways... the build is mostly pretty straightforward.

The most work right now is finishing the What If Background

Edited July 25, 2010 by Basosz

[Basosz]

The most work right now is finishing the What If Background

Which I have now done !! Whoohoo !!!

[Basosz]

Finished the Eggplane and the Wellington today so now I can focus all my attention and space on the BlueTwin. Nothing got done today as It was quite late, but I just wanted to post the obligatory pictures. It also gives the thread a nice little bump

Box shot

What's inside the box. Big thanks here go to Yeehaa1 who traded my Revell Corsair for his two Airfix ones.

The decals I'm going to use. They're for old Dutch navy planes but they're in the correct scale. I figure I can use them for the BlueTwin

[TaiidanTomcat]

This looks promising!

[Daniel]

Despite your protestations, I think this is challenging, well done for taking it on.

Dan

[Basosz]

OK... finally did some stuff with the Corsair. Had a bit of a mini-slump last week so I lost one week

I did however find a nice Website (along with several others) with lots of pictures of a restored Vought Corsair at Museu Asas de um Sonho (Wings of a Dream Museum) at São Carlos, Brazil. I like this one a lot. The white landing gear and landing gear bays look just right for a navy bird. So I'm gonna make my TwinBlue look a bit like this one. It's also a great place for reference. The Airfix Corsair is a disaster really. Lots of flash, parts that aren't the correct size or correct shape. Anyway, I've decided to steal/adapt/borrow/learn from some of the ideas on this website some more and scratch build some of the parts that I need to make it look better. This will be the first time I'm going to do what looks to be a fair amount of scratch building so I'm glad that I have a few months. I have already started some preliminary work as preparation for some Evergreen bits I'm gonna buy *looks @ clock, damn it's already 1:15, I need sleep* today. Understand that the extra bits I'm gonna add are only for aesthetic reasons, not for rivet-counting purposes.

I've removed most of the floor from the cockpit because the Corsair really doesn't have one so bye bye floor !! (this was done to both 'Pits btw) where I'm going to add some good looking bits below the "floor" to simulate the control rod that goes to the control surfaces. The seat and controls will probably also get some extra bits added to make it look a lot better

This is the upper inside of the wing. The ribs are actually not that bad although probably oversized but I can live with that. There is however a distinct lack of enclosing bulkhead type things at the front and back of the main gear bays so I'm gonna make that with thin plastic. Also some HUGE pin marks that may need to be removed (if they're in the way that is)

The wheels are pretty good. The reference website makes note of the main wheels being post-war and thus wrong, but that would fit my story nicely as my bird is from 1946 onwards. I'm keeping the wheels then (also because I have no idea where to get other ones)

I think these are the radiators or something, but they're spectacularly wrong. There need to be 5 or 6 rib-like things inside which will be made from thin Evergreen plastic. May get some other treatment if I stumble upon some ideas/suggestions.

Engine is pretty useless. Fortunately it's mostly hidden but I wanted to do a few extra bits. I've made some extra lines to busy the place up. Might do some more if I can realise the ideas in my head beyond a pure concept-stage. Even unpainted, the extra lines look good though.

Tomorrow is going to be shop-time. Have to help the LMS guy with his website, then it's going to be time for me to pick up some Evergreen. Going to be fun

Thanks for watching and as always, suggestions feedback and questions are welcome.

[TaiidanTomcat]

The extra detail on the engine is great and everything looks like it is coming together well.

[Daniel]

Yep, the wires do make a difference, and should be visible enough to make a difference when it is built.

Dan.

[RussTnailZ]

great start look forward to seeing more

Russ

[Basosz]

Not much to look at, but some work has been done. Engine with the new cables was fixed to the back plate (no picture though)

Also I've made a few brass barrels as a filler for the horrible holes that are to represent the guns. This looks WAY better. Also visible in the background is a bit of evergreen to make the wheel wells an enclosure. Lots more plastic bits to make (although I now realise I only need to do two sides instead of four as the Twinner will only have two landing struts. I'm an idiot!)

Also removed the entire old bits next to the radiator and added some evergreen plastic. Still need to add some more, but this is it for now.

[Basosz]

Daniel might actually be right in that this build could become quite challenging. But that would be mostly due to the fact that the Airfix Corsair is very disappointing in detail. Almost everything I've done so far has been to upgrade the detail.

More things done today:

Taping off where I needed to cut the bottom parts of the wings.

Wings are cut!. This was quite unnerving because it is my first major surgery on a plane (or anything else). Took the plunge though and in hindsight it was pretty easy. Just cut slowly and think about seven times before cutting once.

The cut wings together. This will be the size of the plane when finished! It's rather big Next thing to do to the wings is strengthening the joint between them before putting the top parts on. It looks very interesting so far.

More wall parts of the wheel bays produced. Need to do this to the other half as well. Getting the fit of the curved parts is a bit tricky, but that's half the fun right?

Dry fitting the wings with the new gun barrels installed. This is one of my better ideas for this build because it looks awesome!

[TaiidanTomcat]

Oh that is nice!

[AnonymousDFB1]

Great idea, looking good

[Basosz]

Quick update because I've had an idea *why do I do this to myself?*. I'm going to make a Leigh-Light-Like device, which will be quite similar to the Leigh, but built by Dutch light-maker Philips of course To make room for this, and to accommodate the weight of the plane, the landing gear is going to be uneven. Two gears on one plane, one on the other. By a pure and totally happy coincidence the Phi-Leigh (hey... that sounds cool ) weighs just about as much as one single gear with tire and stuff so the light will go on the place of the fourth gear. Isn't it totally odd how things like that work out in the wonderful world of What-If ??

[Basosz]

Things done today:

I've created the wing intakes flappy things. I've tried to make them look a bit like this.

They're not perfect, but a huge improvement on what was there in the first place which was crap. Also finalised the Wheel bay walls on all three wheel bays that will be used. Next step is detailing the walls (are they called bulkheads?) with wiring and hydraulic lines etcetera.

Closed up the wing for wheel bay #3 where the Phi-Leigh Light will be placed. This was rather simple by just using the bay doors that were included in the kit. The forward door, the one attached to the front of the gear itself, was too small but a bit of putty took care of that.

Actually done yesterday, engine exhausts were drilled out. It was easy to do and looks just that little bit cooler.

Parts that are going to make up the scratch built Phi-Leigh Light. Bit of Evergreen tube, tiny broken rice light from a train set and a wheel rim from some kind of Revell custom car. Don't know what kind of car since it was given to me and I didn't look at the box. Looks very useful though as it is concave on two sides with both a different radius.

Result after a good two hours of sawing, sanding, figuring out how to make the light stick in the middle, watching paint dry. Outside will be painted like the bottom of the plane. Front end will need a clear hemispherical piece that needs to be vac-formed. Never done that before so another steep learning curve ahead. Rear-end will be similar but made from resin. Also a good learning moment.

It looks quite good though... I'm very happy with this.

Thank you for looking and as always: comments, questions and feedback are welcome.

[Basosz]

I've tried to make the Phi-Leigh Light look like the one on WikiPedia

[Basosz]

Some more work done over the past few days

Not all steps were photographed. Sorry bout that. I made the wings into one solid whole. The thing is gonna be wide !! Looks cool though Also done are the landing gear bays. Painted and detail added. Only need a bit of a wash to dirty them up.

Landing gear was painted, treated with a wash and given a brake line for each of the three gears that will be used

Made a start on the cockpits. One will get a full flying interior (I might even scratch some bits and bobs to make it look better. Detail is fairly low now) while the other will get a sort of GIB/RIO interior with a radar screen and some other things. Might have to call this crew member the GIOP (Guy in Other Plane )

Finalised the extra detail on the engine. First coat of a bit of white paint was added. More coats will follow

Dry fitting of the full wing with the hulls on top. I'm now agonizing over whether to put in the rear wings from the original kits, just add the outer ones and create a huge middle one (like the P-38 Lightning has) or option number 3: no outer rear wings but only middle wing (Like the Fokker G1 had)

As always, thanks for looking. Comments, questions and feedback remain welcome

[Basosz]

I now have to admit that Daniel was right for the wrong reasons. This is a lot of work but that is purely because this Airfix kit is total crap. The actual surgery on the plane with the subsequent joining of the wings was a breeze compared to detailing the rest of the aircraft.

I can't wait till this is done and I can perhaps start work on my Trumpeter 1:32 Corsair. That kit looks a lot better than this heap of junk.

[TaiidanTomcat]

It looks awesome!

[Basosz]

Update:

It's been a while but here goes.

I hate this kit/these kits. I really don't care what any of you Brits say, but (this) Airfix kit(s) is total crap. The fit is awful, the detail is horrid or just plain absent and it's really very bad. I had the wings fused together (see previous pictures) and the fuselages just sit on top of those. When I fitted them, they were crooked!! They both listed, as seen from the front, a few degrees to the left. How the hell can Airfix justify that? I've seen sort of the same thing with their Red Arrows Hawk where the two fuselage halves both are banana shaped outward. And that's just one of many stupid mistakes that I really don't like or enjoy. Call me spoiled I may offend some of you but if (after the Hawk) I never touch an Airfix kit again it will be too soon.

I will finish this, but I cannot promise I will enjoy it, and I will not spend too much effort on it. I want this thing done and gone.

First pic of today. I tried to make some sort of wheel bay for the rear gear. There was absolutely nothing there (again, I hate this kit) and at this point I was quite pi$$ed off so I couldn't be bothered to look up references so I just made a probably quite oversized wheel bay from some Evergreen plastic card. Still needs some more paint and a wash.

Cockpit just got some safety belts and paint to look detailed. My first time making belts and they're a bit wide but I'm rather pleased with this as a first try.

Instrument panel on the pilot's cockpit. You can see the NAV/ASW pit in the background.

Engines detailed with bits of wire and painted.

The whole thing together. The off centre fuselages played havoc on the level-ness of the rear wings so I had to heat up the with my little torch to get them to bend up and down so they'd be level. It's a total surprise to me that I didn't actually burn up the whole thing.

Canopies are both fitted and masked for primer (which I've done at the time of this posting but haven't got pics yet)

Thanx for looking and comments, suggestions (like shooting it into space on Estes rockets) and questions are welcome.

[CPNGROATS]

looks like your beating it into submission.........

Cheers,

ggc

[Basosz]

looks like your beating it into submission.........

Cheers,

ggc

While I really just want to beat it into little bits of plastic

Edited September 5, 2010 by Basosz