As I mentioned last month, I often struggle with the most basic of modeling tasks, so I decided to build a kit that I built at the beginning of my modeling journey, in order to see how much (or even if) I have progressed. I first built the Otaki Corsair in December of 2007. I picked up another one (two actually, since the kit comes with Royal Navy and New Zealand markings), to see how this build would compare to the first.

The kit goes together reasonably well - I don't recall any major difficulties, and for me, that's saying a lot. Unlike the Tamiya kit, it does not have folding wings, which simplifies things tremendously. As I knew I would be freehanding the exterior - i.e., not masking anthing - I used Mr. Surfacer 1200 to prime. The bottom is XF-2 Flat White, the Intermediate Blue is AMMO 0228 FS35164 ANA608, and the Sea Blue is XF-17 Sea Blue. As it turns out, I did have to do some masking on the bottom, where the outer segment (representing the part that folds up) was painted Intermediate Blue, but I didn't have any problems.

The Otaki kit comes with three decal options, a US subject, a New Zealand subject and a Royal Navy (UK) subject. The US subject is also offered in the Tamiya kit, and as I had a set of left-over decals from that kit, I used them here. The surface was a little rough, but not as rough as some of my paint jobs. I used very hot water, but was able to apply the decals without any setting or softening solution.

Overall, this did turn out better than the first time. Maybe I have learned something in seventeen years.

Page last updated March 3, 2025.