A few weeks ago the local hobby shop had a contest. The manager of the branch on the other side of town asked why I didn't bring anything to enter. (I don't do contests.) He asked me, very sweetly, to bring him something he could put in the display case at his store. "I'll make room for it," he promised. Since then, I'd been trying to figure out what to do. It needed to be something I liked, but not too big, and something to which I wouldn't become overly attached. A little thought, and this resulted.
This is Academy's 1:72 F-8E Crusader. The best word to describe the kit is "delightful." I started it on a Sunday afternoon and was done six afternoons later. It was an easy and fun build. Getting the separate leading-edge droops lined up was a challenge, but nothing insurmountable. Same for the engine intake seams, a problem area for any model of Vought's people-eaters. The clear parts are really delicate, and I snapped the canopy in half after I painted it. I had to thermoform a new one. Thankfully, it worked.
In places the Academy kit seems like a scaled-down version of the 1:48 Hasegawa kit, and there's even a resemblance in the instruction sheet. On the other hand, the Academy kit has a few more features, like the separate speed brake, and seems to fit better. I've been wrestling with the big Hasegawa kit for a while, but the Academy kit went right together and needed very little cleanup.
Most Crusader models show the variable-incidence wing in the raised position, but the wing was usually lowered when F-8s were parked. So the wing on mine is down. (It also saved me from having to lower the flaps and droops.) I also opted for the single Sidewinder mounts on each side, instead of the dual Y-rack mounts most modelers like.
In my youth I had the Lindberg F-8 (you know, the one with the jet-sound motor and the rubber-band ejection seat system). I didn't like the plain decals in the kit, so at the nearest really big hobby shop an hour or so away, they had this big selection of Microscale decals. It's impossible to say how much Microscale decals excitedme in my younger days. There was something exciting about looking through them and seeing all the different markings you never knew existed, and there was even something that felt a little naughty about putting non-kit decals on a model. That was how I built my Lindberg Crusader in VF-13 markings. I thought they looked cool, and different. Not something you saw every day. (I didn't know at the time that the squadron was called the "Night Cappers." How can you not love that?)
So I wanted to build this as a homage to that model. I had the 1:72 Microscale sheet, but now I could see it was old and not terribly detailed, and I also had questions about its accuracy. So I used an Aeromaster 1:48 VF-13 Crusader sheet from my stash to create a new set of markings, printed out on my inkjet. They worked okay. Some of the red rubbed off in places, but I left it as-is since it made the markings look just a touch weathered. (And, yes, if you look very closely on the port side below the canopy, there is a little martini-glass logo.)
Not a perfect model, but I've never produced those anyway. This one was something different, and a lot of fun. I sort of hate to let it go. But the nice thing is I can always build another one.
This is Academy's 1:72 F-8E Crusader. The best word to describe the kit is "delightful." I started it on a Sunday afternoon and was done six afternoons later. It was an easy and fun build. Getting the separate leading-edge droops lined up was a challenge, but nothing insurmountable. Same for the engine intake seams, a problem area for any model of Vought's people-eaters. The clear parts are really delicate, and I snapped the canopy in half after I painted it. I had to thermoform a new one. Thankfully, it worked.
In places the Academy kit seems like a scaled-down version of the 1:48 Hasegawa kit, and there's even a resemblance in the instruction sheet. On the other hand, the Academy kit has a few more features, like the separate speed brake, and seems to fit better. I've been wrestling with the big Hasegawa kit for a while, but the Academy kit went right together and needed very little cleanup.
Most Crusader models show the variable-incidence wing in the raised position, but the wing was usually lowered when F-8s were parked. So the wing on mine is down. (It also saved me from having to lower the flaps and droops.) I also opted for the single Sidewinder mounts on each side, instead of the dual Y-rack mounts most modelers like.
In my youth I had the Lindberg F-8 (you know, the one with the jet-sound motor and the rubber-band ejection seat system). I didn't like the plain decals in the kit, so at the nearest really big hobby shop an hour or so away, they had this big selection of Microscale decals. It's impossible to say how much Microscale decals excitedme in my younger days. There was something exciting about looking through them and seeing all the different markings you never knew existed, and there was even something that felt a little naughty about putting non-kit decals on a model. That was how I built my Lindberg Crusader in VF-13 markings. I thought they looked cool, and different. Not something you saw every day. (I didn't know at the time that the squadron was called the "Night Cappers." How can you not love that?)
So I wanted to build this as a homage to that model. I had the 1:72 Microscale sheet, but now I could see it was old and not terribly detailed, and I also had questions about its accuracy. So I used an Aeromaster 1:48 VF-13 Crusader sheet from my stash to create a new set of markings, printed out on my inkjet. They worked okay. Some of the red rubbed off in places, but I left it as-is since it made the markings look just a touch weathered. (And, yes, if you look very closely on the port side below the canopy, there is a little martini-glass logo.)
Not a perfect model, but I've never produced those anyway. This one was something different, and a lot of fun. I sort of hate to let it go. But the nice thing is I can always build another one.
Interesting. At the 'big airport' I frequent, there's a freight hauler outfit using mostly C-310s and C-402s. So parked amoung all these clapped out freight doggies is a weathered but functional looking F8, a Navy version with folding wings and stretched to two seats.
I wonder what the story is there. I'll try to find out.
Posted by: Sarah | May 20, 2010 at 04:14 PM
Sarah: Sounds like TA-7C 154500, originally an A-7B but converted to a two-seat trainer. Apparently it became a gate guard after its retirement, and is now listed as belonging to the American Wings Air Museum. (The A-7 attack aircraft sorta looks like a squished F-8. To my knowledge, there was only one two-seater F-8, and it crashed long ago.)
If you find out more (especially if there's an interesting story attached), do tell!
Posted by: ea757grrl | May 20, 2010 at 07:18 PM
Of course, that must be it. Serves me right for making a drive-by identification.
There's a to-do at ANE this weekend, maybe I'll find out more.
Posted by: Sarah | May 21, 2010 at 10:22 AM