Composite-ARF (Comp-ARF) F4U Corsair

Composite-ARF (Comp-ARF) F4U Corsair

The Composite-ARF (Comp-ARF) F4U Corsair is a true museum-quality warbird. It can be purchased in three versions: the standard kit featuring a plug-in wing, the folding wing kit, and the deluxe ARF folding wing kit with the wing mechanism installed, flying surfaces hinged and gear doors hinged and installed, which is the subject of this review. The airplane can be built and flown by the intermediate builder/pilot who has worked with composite kits before and has some experience with giant-scale aircraft setup techniques. The build time for the Corsair is around 100 hours for the basic build, but it can take several hours more to do an absolute “Top Gun” quality job with added details including scale doors on the top surface of the wing to hide the wing mechanism structure.

UNIQUE FEATURES

The almost ARF kit includes the basic airframe components, the landing gear and wheels, the wing-fold hydraulic pump, and all the hardware needed to complete the assembly. The airframe is all-composite with scale details molded right into the surface. The silver gel-coat finish is great because after the paint work is completed you can take some steel wool to the surfaces to make the underlying silver appear in the right locations for a realistic weathered look. The Comp-ARF landing gear and wheels and the wing-fold mechanism are manufactured by Sierra Giant Scale.

I painted the Corsair with Nelson Hobby paint (nelsonhobby.com). It’s water-based, easy to use, and produces a durable finish. All the markings were supplied by Pro- Mark (pro-mark.com). The large stars are painted and the smaller markings are all dry transfers.

Flying the Corsair

For the intermediate giant-scale pilot, the Corsair is a dream to fly. Operating from either grass or a paved surface this warbird has great ground handling characteristics. The bigger they are the better they fly.

If you are looking for a straightforward giant-scale Warbird with no bad characteristics, this is the plane for you. The build takes relatively little effort, but you can add the details to make your scale dreams come true. This warbird is truly a work of art!

Bottom line

This Corsair is a great scale aircraft that any intermediate builder and flyer can complete successfully. The quality of the kit parts and scale detailing are perfect. The wing mechanism works flawlessly with no maintenance involved. It truly is a museum- quality warbird.

To see the complete review on this outstanding Corsair check out the December issue of Model Airplane News.

Updated: October 5, 2011 — 11:14 AM

3 Comments

  1. HOW ABOUT WING SPAN, SIZE MOTOR REQUIRED, ETC

    1. All of that info (and more!) is in the full review, in the December issue of Model Airplane News.

  2. This is an outstanding model one of those guys like me have on the when I win the lottery list!

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