CMK's 1/48 Corsair Detail Sets

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

The recent release of Hasegawa's F4U-5 kit has many people wanting to build Corsair kits, and these recent releases from CMK will help reintroduce you to the Tamiya F4U-1 and the Academy or Hasegawa F4U-4 kits.

The first set is designed for either the Academy or Hasegawa F4U-4 and is a complete interior set. While I haven't tried it out, I wouldn't be surprised if you could also fit it into the new -5 kit as well. You get a one-piece tub, complete with the seat molded in. Two small sidewalls finish out the main tub, with the instrument panel being provided in photoetch & acetate. Other photoetch parts include tailwheel doors and other details. A vacuformed canopy is also included (although in my sample it was slightly crushed). The detailing throughout is very nice and will come off well with some careful painting.

The second set is much simpler and is designed for the Tamiya F4U-1 kit. It provides replacement control surfaces, including the rudder, ailerons, and elevators. In addition to these parts there are a set of replacement stabilizers as well, making the tailplane switch very simple. To round out the set, all the trim tabs are provided separately. The one-piece control surfaces will provide much thinner trailing edges than the kit parts and give a much more realistic look to your Corsair.