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I was going to start this build last year; however, work and other things got in the way and I had to put the tools down for awhile...man how fast a year flies by.

I have the Hasegawa 1/48 F-8E kit with a set of decals from Microscale (48-266)

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I really like the dark blue and white star studded scheme of the Marines Unit, but I am somewhat daunted by the task of converting the F-8E to a K. That said, I am going to give it a go armed with my Squadron/Signal Walkaround book and information from the good folks of ARC (refer to thread from link below)

http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=202403&pid=1914027&st=0entry1914027

First up I cut off the spine from the top of the wing and filled it with Humbrol filler. Then it was out with the sanding sticks.

P1030433.jpg

I am hoping and crossing my fingers that the Humbrol filler won't shrink. I also started on the nose, by sanding sides to get a flatter profile and trying to get basic shape of nose cone right. I filled nose with filler to give the plastic some shape. I won't really be able to finish shaping until; the fuselage halves come together.

Profile.jpg

Edited by nubaba
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Thanks for the advice. I have read a few threads that mention miliput and it sounds like a great product. Unfortunately I have never seen it in a shop where I am and have only used Tamiya or Humbrol gap fillers :( .

The Humbrol product seems to work best for me, but I have only used it to fill gaps, not build up parts like this. I put the filler on in layers over a piece of styrene. The first layer was a bit thick I think as it did crack a little. I did a couple of thinner layers over the top of the first one and let them dry a bit longer than the first one. Then I started wet sanding the piece to shape. It seems to be ok but only time will tell if it holds up :pray: .

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Finished sanding top of the wing to final shape and after dry fitting it looks like I will be able to blend pieces together ok once I remove the protective tape and glue everything together.

P1030443.jpg

I also started to sanding down the fairing on the right side as it should blend down into the fuselage rather than the plank represented by Hasegawa.

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Next up I made a start on opening up opening in the Air Cycle Machine exhaust as the K has a larger bifurcated opening.

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I have decided to build this bird in flight as I really like the clean lines of this aircraft. After fiddling with the undercarriage doors I decided to add some bits of styrene around the wheel-well openings to make sure that I get a good solid fit.

Help wanted :pray: I am trying to find references/colour matches/photos of the flight suit and helmet that would have been worn by a pilot in this unit. The photo by Peter Nicholson (link below) shows the plane I will be modelling around the same timeframe as the photo.

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/269676.html

Any help you could give me would be appreciated as this will be the first pilot I have painted and I want it to be a reasonable representation :D

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have not been able to get much done of late; however, finally managed to finish the cockpit. Given that this will be closed up I was not too fussy with detail. I just used kit parts and added some seat rails and a few boxes, wire etc onto the rear bulkhead.

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Tricky part (for me) was changing the radar screen from the rectangle shaped unit in the F-8E to the round one in a square box typical of the early F-8's and the K variant I am building. I had to cut the old radar out and make a new one out of styrene and stretched sprue.

P1030638.jpg

Had a few goes at it before getting something that I could live with. Glad the closed canopy is going to disguise things a little :)

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Been working on the fuselage and trying to bring all the bits together.

After a lot of shaping and sanding I have now got the basic shape as close as I am going to get it.

Bump on the top is now gone...

P1030666.jpg

......the gear doors are all closed - the doors were made to be displayed open and it took a lot of cutting, filling and sanding to get them to fit in the wheel wells.....

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....the nose has been reshaped and front fuselage is a bit thinner. I have overlaid part of the photo with Detail and Scale drawing and side profile looks pretty close to me. Photo's showed that port side of nose needs to be shaved a little at the base, which I did not pick up till I had taken photo's and compared them to drawings :bandhead2:

Nose.jpg

Oh well part of the nose to shave, a bit to clean-up and I will have to re-scribe detail that has been lost, but, I am making progress :)

Edited by nubaba
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  • 4 weeks later...

Sorry no photo, but, F-8 is all buttoned up and painting has started. I have tiny problem that I was hoping someone could help me with. I was looking at the decal sheet and noticed that I did not have the instruction sheet. Does anyone have a copy (or know where I can get one) of the Microscale 1/48 F-8 Crusaders VMFA-321 & VMFA-451 Number 48-266 instruction sheet? Thanks.

Edited by nubaba
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Photo of Crusader buttonned up primed and base coat of white laid down. Base coat has highlighted a few areas that need addressing :(

GEDC0925.jpg

I want to get a really smooth finish on this bird and will try and follow what Paul Osborne did on HS with his build.

I am still looking for the instruction sheet for the Microscale decals (1/48 F-8 Crusaders VMFA-321 & VMFA-451 Number 48-266). Any help with this would be appreciated :D

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