Inspiration. Modellers are fuelled by inspiration! It can be a book, film, tv show, conversation or imagination. It’s that thing that’s gets our mojo fired up and ready to go!

In this case, I was inspired by the story of a man who’s story became the subject of a best selling book and hit Hollywood film.

That man was Ensign Jesse Brown who was the first African American aviator in the United States Navy.

I watched the film Devotion which portrays Jesse Brown’s struggles against racism and his life as a pilot in the US Navy. The story also centres around Jesse and his friendship with Lt. Tom Hudner. Both men who were fated to fly and fight together during the Korean War.

The film also features beautiful flying sequences of Vought Corsairs filmed by the same production team that brought us TOPGUN: Maverick. Seeing these legendary aircraft portraying the Corsairs flown by Jesse’s squadron on the big screen was a feast for the eyes. The film and Jesse’s courage compelled me to build my own tribute to him.

Which kit?

I needed a F4U-4 Corsair so I immediately thought of the Hasegawa and Hobbyboss offerings in 1/48 scale. Both kits can be built into a decent replica of the F4U-4 Corsair and after careful consideration, I opted for the Hobbyboss kit. There were two reasons for this: First, I could buy plenty of aftermarket items to enhance the model and second, this kit allows the modeller to pose the aircraft with the wings folded. I hadn’t finished a naval warbird with folded wings for many years and I wanted to create a model that would really stand out in my collection.

To accompany the chosen model I also purchased an Eduard mask set, Reskit resin wheels, a Quinta Studio’s cockpit set, a Plus Model resin pilot figure and aftermarket decals to portray Jesse Brown’s Corsair.

When I did some more research into which Corsair Jesse Brown flew over Korea I came across contradicted information. We know that Lt. Tom Hudner flew modex 205, however I have come across research that says Esn. Jesse Brown flew modex 203, 215 and 211.

I decided that I would follow the film’s direction and went with 211, the Corsair Jesse flew in the film. As my decal sheet did not have 211, I bought a Techmod decal sheet with white US code letters and numbers to build the aircraft depicted in the film.

With all the parts ready to go, it was time get to work!

I began with the assembly of the cockpit and here the Quinta Studio’s cockpit parts really enhance the kits OOB cockpit. The kit parts were painted with my own mix of US Cockpit Green which is a 60/40 combination of Zinc Chromate and RAF Cockpit Green. After a clear coat was applied to protect the paint I weathered the assembled cockpit by dry brushing aluminium in high wear areas and adding a dark brown wash to bring out shadows.

Before the cockpit could be mated to the fuselage and the airframe, I needed to assemble and paint the kits engine. Hobbyboss give us a nice styrene replica of the Corsair’s Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine, however I wanted to add a little extra realism so I used some solder wire to make the ignition harness for the engine. With some careful painting and weathering the 1/48 engine can look much better.

As assembly continued, I realised that I would need to modify the wing flaps if I wanted to display them in the lowered position. Hobbyboss tooled the kit so that the flaps are assembled to the wing in the up position, so I adjusted the fit by removing the original kit tabs on the flap parts and repositioning them in the down position. It’s an easy modification that adds some extra visual interest to the finished model.

With the fuselage assembly complete, I did have a few seams to take care of so some filling with Mr Hobby dissolved putty and a little re-scribing work on the upper and lower surfaces made for a smooth surface with the recessed detail restored. As per my usual practice, I primed my airframe before painting.

As this aircraft was to be painted in US Navy Gloss Sea Blue I wanted a light primer shade to work from so I used Tamiya Acrylics Yellow/Green which is a good match for Zinc Chromate. It was only after I was inspecting my handiwork that I noticed sink marks on the kits fuselage parts. So I had to go back and fill/sand /smooth them before painting. This was a small setback and easily rectified, so don’t let that put you off using this kit. In the photos of the airframe in primer I have shown the sink marks in red, just for reference.

Paint! Lets mix it up!

If you are a regular reader of my adventures in scale modelling then you will know that I am a real stickler for portraying my aircraft in their best light. So I often mix my own paints to capture a certain shade or hue of colour to make my model really pop! That was the case here! I wanted to mix a shade of US Navy Gloss Sea Blue to catch your eye and make you notice.

As you see here, this shade of blue changes according the amount of light it’s under. I mixed some Tamiya Sea Blue with Flat Green and came up with a shade I was very happy with:

With the airframe out of the printshop, and set aside to dry, I turned my attention to thinking about how to display the finished model. I had always planned to use a figure to portray Jesse Brown and display the Corsair on a carrier deck. But I wanted the build to stand out so I came up with the idea of making a carrier deck display base to replicate the USS Leyte just like they did in the film. I set about studying pictures of the USS Leyte deck and also photos of the Devotion film set and I came up with a design for a small section of the deck with part of the carrier’s island structure behind it.

Here is my scratch built deck display utilising a deck section from coastal kits:

Next I took the 1/48 Plus Model WWII Crosier pilot figure and modified him to look like Jesse Brown did in these photos:

By removing some unwanted details and adding new ones, like the new helmet sculpted from putty and extra equipment added to Jesse’s survival vest, we now have a simple figure conversion to portray our pilot. Here is the figure after initial painting:

I also modified the kits main landing gear by adding the Reskit resin wheels and some hydraulic lines made from lead wire:

My attention now returned to the Corsair and applying those famous VF-32 markings to the airframe. So with a mix of Cutting edge and Techmod decals I was able to re-create the F4U-4 Jesse Brown is depicted flying in the Devotion movie.

Everything was coming together and once the decals were sealed in with Tamiya Gloss Clear, I then began the weathering process. The later F4U-4 Corsair’s seen in the Korean War exhibited some very messy exhaust staining on its airframe so that is where I paid the most attention by airbrushing the exhaust patten in Tamiya Buff and then adding an Oil Paint Render (OPR) to simulate the hot staining.

To complete the weathering process, I gave the airframe an enamel wash with Mig Ammo Midnight Black and I picked out high wear area’s in zinc chromate to replicate scuffs and scratches in the paintwork.

The finished model was clear coated in VMS Clear Satin and antenna wire was added using EZ Line. I have to say that I was very pleased with the finished model especially with the wings folded, this makes for a an interesting model.

Here is the completed work with the model and figure mounted to its display base. It remains one of my favourite pieces and stands in honour of a great American Naval Aviator, Ensign Jesse Brown.

Ensign Jesse Brown photographed in his Corsair:

I hope my model inspires you to learn more about Jesse Brown and the brave veterans who fought in the Korean War, both the Book and Film of Devotion are well worth your time and consideration.

As always, thank you for visiting my website and I hope you look around and enjoy more of the models and articles here. Until next time, take care and Happy Modelling!

Darren.