The Corsair is considered to have been one of the best World War 2 fighter aircraft. It was especially feared by its Japanese rivals who nicknamed it "Whistling Death". Its distinct gull wing and radial engine are captured in brilliant detail with this kit. The kit includes 2 markings, one representing an aircraft used by the U.S Marines on the Solomon Islands and a second from the U.S Navy in 1944.
Corsairs fought in the Pacific theatre from 1943 to 1945 scoring record-breaking kills, despite originally being rejected by the Navy and only being used initially by the Marines off of land bases. This was because the Corsairs long nose reduced visibility and the landing gear on early Corsairs had a nasty habit of bouncing excessively, making it unsafe for carrier landings. It was the British Fleet Air Arm using Corsairs of of carriers in the Atlantic who devised several modifications and the technique of approaching the carrier deck in shallow turn to eliminate the visibility issues, so after a new set of landing gear the Corsair became accepted on aircraft carriers in the U.S Navy in 1944. By the end of WW2 the Corsairs and the Grumman Hellcat had both become the backbone of the U.S Navy and two of the most successful WW2 fighter/bombers.