Got this from HobbyLink Japan, a 1/48 Chance-Vought F4U-1A Corsair by Arii. It ruled the skies in the Pacific War in World War II against the indomitable Mitsubishi Zero of the Imperial Japanese Army. The Corsair is one of my favorite planes from World War II, owing to the unique gull wing design of its wings. It outclassed its comparative fighters from the Imperial Japanese Forces owing to its large engine that gave it superior speed as well as its tough frame and more heavier weapons load out.
The Corsair on its initial deployment was supposed to be a carrier based fighter, but owing to some teething problems in the first versions with regards to its compatibility with carrier ops as well as the ability to supply it with parts, it was relegated to land based air strips instead. These problems were eventually fixed and the Corsair was transferred back to carrier duty as it was sorely needed to combat the desperate Kamikaze tactics of the Imperial Japanese Forces.
This particular plane was referred to as "Ole 122" from the VMF-111 "Devil Dogs" of the Marines. It received a citation for having successfully flown 100 bombing missions and 68 reconnaisance for a period of 6 months using the same engine. Although the original Ole 122 was a F4U-1D and not an "A" version, I'm assuming that this scale model kit should be referred to as being an F4U-1D and not "A".
The photo above shows the opened box next to a 6 inch ruler for comparison. One of the things that's great about this scale model kit is the small size of the box which could afford you to save a lot in shipping costs. Plus the fact that the scale model kit is retailing for 640 yen, makes it a good buy for its price.
Pouring out the contents of the box you will be met with the 2 plastic bags that contain the runners while the other bag has the manual and the decals
There is a photo sheet showing two variants of the Corsair, the decals included however are for the US version.
Here's a shot of the decals for the US version of the corsair.
Manual included is a single page fold out sheet printed back to back. There are English translations right next to the Japanese instructions. The build manual contains a simple 13 step guide with a very straight forward build. I love the simplicity of the design of this build and well thought of breakdown of parts that will make painting this kit a bit easier.
Next photos are for the 3 runners included holding the parts to build this kit. There are a lot of excess plastic showing on the parts, so you will need to get your file out to fix this.
I love too that this kit has recessed panel lines, which will make panel lining and weathering much easier. One thing I wish that this kit had was a pilot figure. It has a standing figure included though.
The last small runner is for the clear part canopy. The seat for the 1/48 Corsair broke off from its runner and I decided to just take its picture together with the clear canopy runner.
I've been looking for a simple 1/48 kit to build and I think I found it in the Arii line of model kits. By definition of simple, I mean fewer parts without sacrificing much of the detail as well as ease in painting. Great buy in my opinion because of its relatively cheap price despite being a thoroughly detailed kit.
