Crazy Snap Captain Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 (edited) Hi all, Modelling hasn't been good to me lately. First I had a 1/32 Tamiya F16 that I was morphing into a Belgian MLU. This fell off my bench after i knocked it over and was broken beyond repair. Then, with much trepidation, I took GWH's vunerable 1/48 MiG-29 9.13 off the shelf. Let's just say I f**ked that one up big time. Lately I tried my hand at Kinetic's 1/48 Mirage III EO. This particular kit kissed the wall at a rate of knots after much pain trying to get it to comply. As a result, I have decided to go back to a fun and easy (ish) kit in Hasegawa's 1/48 F-8J (which I will make as an E) and decided to join the goodness that is the Vietnam War Group Build. Here is the kit... and some of the AM bits I will be using along the way...although in the spirit of keeping this fun I will probably not use all of them... I scanned through the Furball decals instructions and settled on the VFA-162 "The Hunters" option from 14th December 1967... I chose this bird for a couple of reasons. Firstly the markings. I really like the colours and markings. The royal blue and gold stars does it for me. I particularly like the band under the intake...tres s3xy. It also has a cool looking Snoopy riding a Sidewinder on the top of the tail fin... and secondly for it's rather awesome, kick A story. Have a read of the narrative on the Furball intructions... Surely that has to be one of the lowest launches of a Sidewinder in history!!! So the journey (hopefully successfully this time) begins... more to come... Edited September 18, 2015 by Crazy Snap Captain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted September 18, 2015 Author Share Posted September 18, 2015 So it begins... I used the seat from the Aires set and only put the top seat belts on as I'll be posing it with Dicky Wyman in the office. Truth be told, I could have used the kit seat but hey, I had the resin one so time saved on gluing... Next the pit. There was no way I was gambling with resin pits on this build...nice and easy remember and some people say that Aires is Czech for "Does not fit"... so the rather sparse stock pit was used. With the pilot inside it should suffice as the cockpit will be closed as well... HUD with kit decal.. Ladies and Gentlemen...Lt. Richard "Dicky" Wyman...round of applause... Internals glued to one side of the fuselage... Seat fits...thank God After all internals were placed in the first halve of the fuselage, the second half was attached... Hasegawa fit...tight y'all. Mmmm...gluey goodness...more to come... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rich in name only Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Looks really good! After your previous experiences I can see some turbulence ahead--- Are you posing it wing up? Everything else should be down (flaps, ailerons, droops, UHT in up mode--leading edges down). If you're rusty on Vought-speak "droops" are slats and UHTs are stablilators. Note the smaller pointed-tip UHTs on E. Fin tip is different so what should be shaved off and added will be different from J instructions. Droops on E are single piece and the fit to get the two parts looking like one may be a challenge (plus needing filler/sanding of the seam between the J forward and aft droops). Flaps don't fit when down (won't go on if down)--recommend sand the inboard edge at an angle, keeping the inboard forward corner as is and sanding so you angle outboard from there, straight edge. Good call on cockpit--the pilot will block most of it. Be sure to put the pilot in before the stick. I really like the Furball decals but patience is in order here. Many are tiny and close together with almost no edge to grip. I used the more prominent ones but skipped a lot. The hardest for me were the gun groove red on the J but they went on well. Allow plenty of time to set!!!! Note how position of control surfaces determines what decals are covered or partially covered---have to decal first then assemble in those areas. Definitely worth mentally prepping for tiny and slow but effective. BTW: the lower fins are a bear to keep on and the pitot tube is designed for self-launching. These are among the save-for-last items. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted September 18, 2015 Author Share Posted September 18, 2015 Thanks for the tips Rich! I'm definately taking my time and prepping for this one. Some of the guys on the forums have already told me about the flaps so I got that one covered. The only thing I'm still a little rusty on is the difference in the size of the horizontal stabs. Is the diference in size significant? Some scale drawings would be great if you have any... Thank again mate! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CorsairMan Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 I love the crusader.. good luck with it and keep posting! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jgrease Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 I'm not much of a Crusader guy, but I'm liking your choice of markings as well as your thinking on assembly - enjoy! John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted September 18, 2015 Author Share Posted September 18, 2015 Thanks for the comments lads. Searching for photos of F-8's last night I ran across this pic from the VF-162.org website. It's a pic of all the flight officers from the 67-68 cruise. Lt. Wyman is the 4th guy from the left standing up. He's signed as "MiG Killer Wyman"...Love it... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rich in name only Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Well, I'm bummed---can't find any pictures or drawings that show the difference in the UHTs. Even the manuals don't show the difference. Wonder if the texts that say there's a difference are incorrect? I'll keep looking for photos but that might take a while. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted September 20, 2015 Author Share Posted September 20, 2015 Thanks Rich. One ARC'er sent me this link... http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com.au/2009/10/f8u-crusader-variations.html?m=1 If you scroll down a bit, it shows two different UHT's but it says the smaller one is for the early models while the bigger one is for the E and the J. Confusion reigns! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted September 21, 2015 Author Share Posted September 21, 2015 Hello there chaps, The build continues in earnest. I'm enjoying the fit and engineering of this kit. Havent come up against any major issues as yet. After the 2 halves were mated and had cured sufficiently I popped on the wings. Went on like a glove. Only minuscule amounts of Mr Surfacer 500 was used throughout just to clean up the seam lines. Cockpit and seat all went in perfectly... Glued together the leading edge flaps. I will have to fill the centre seam line as the F-E's do not have the double hinged flaps like the J. Panel line wash just to see where I need to rescribe/rerivet... Cleaned up... Leading edge flaps filled and installed.. First problem encountered. Looks like the pilot will have to get the chop. I couldn't fit him in even after the amputation. The AM seat is the deal breaker...damn you Aires...Dicky Wyman's going to have to sit this one out... Trailing edge flaps installed and wind shield masked and installed. Masking that was a pain... Thanks for looking...more to come. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thadeus Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 Gotta love the lines of an F-8 :) Great work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted September 30, 2015 Author Share Posted September 30, 2015 Got back from holidays on Monday and right back into it. Paint on! Masked the canopy section and first decals are on... Now for some 100+ more... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stefan buysse Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Thanks Rich. One ARC'er sent me this link... http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com.au/2009/10/f8u-crusader-variations.html?m=1 If you scroll down a bit, it shows two different UHT's but it says the smaller one is for the early models while the bigger one is for the E and the J. Confusion reigns! Nice work on the Crusader, Andrew. The drawing on the tailspintopics blogspot does not really say that the bigger one is for the E. It says "E(FN)", that was a designation for the French Crusader, FN stands for French Navy. The French Crusaders had the bigger UHT like the J. Although your model would really need a smaller UHT, very few onlookers would notice that it has the big UHT unless there is a model of an E with the small one right next to it. Even then, they'd have to be pretty observant to spot it. Cheers, Stefan. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 More decals on. The Furball numbers are awesome but they require care when putting on as movement after application can be tricky given the size and the thinness. Totally forgot about the sensor part on the front. Installed and painted up. You can't really tell from the pic but the front part is in clear purple (mix of clear red and clear blue): Of course a build for me is not complete without a f@&k up. Here the Mr Softener melted the decal and damaged it. Not sure if i should sand off and re-apply or try and repair this one by painting over the damage. Painful. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rich in name only Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Looks good overall! Interesting about the decal. Putting another one on over this one might be okay if the white is opaque. Good job on the white/gray angle in back, forward of the AB. Decals for the gun troughs? I dreaded them from the Furball decal sheet but knew they'd be better than painting. They ended up surprisingly easy to place! The IR head was kind of a surprise. After carefully painting the rear part, the forward part only looked clear from dead-on sideways! Memories! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 Thanks Rich. Yeah I had the same thing with the sensor. Thought about leaving it as it looked good but in the end went with the purple. As for the decal...still not sure what to do. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Netz Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 (edited) You need to "Duck camo" that flight suit. Curt Edited October 18, 2015 by Netz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VMFA314Knights Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 Crusader is coming along nicely. I'd paint repair that decal as removing it is going to be even more work. (besides a repair paint patch-up in a few places would be fitting with a war-time aircraft) Good luck, David Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Superheat Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Andrew, Nice work! And great choice of markings, too! Some notes from a 162 alum. All versions of the F-8 had the small UHTs (horizontal stabs) except the E(FN) and J. The J was essentially an E rebuilt to E(FN) specs to achieve its lower approach speeds. Wind tunnel tests had demonstrated that the existing stabs had too little control authority at the lower speeds (126 KIAS vs 142 KIAS at max trap weight), so the area of the stabs was increased to regain that needed control authority. If you remove 3 scale inches from the leading and trailing edges of the stabs as well as 6 scale inches from each tip and reshape the airfoils, you will have the small stab. Also, one of the more common errors I see on F-8 models is mounting the UHTs incorrectly, ie left on right and vice versa, so that they viewed from in front or behind they are parallel to the wings. Mounted correctly the UHTs have dihedral, where the wings have anhedral. The IR sensor on the windscreen was basically the seeker head of an AIM-9B and the lens was half-mirrored - transparent from the inside, but a mirror on the outside (like the sunglasses on the guard in Cool Hand Luke, if you've seen that movie). Vf-162, like most fleet squadrons, had a standard helmet decoration applied to all pilot's helmets. Ours was black with yellow stars and chevrons, as you can see in the photo you reposted from the 162 site or in my avatar, but below are some photos of a helmet to show the whole pattern. The yellow was reflective tape, but that's a bit difficult to replicate in scale! The Furball sheet has a couple markings errors. One is Snoopy, who is depicted as black and white. He wasn't, just black. We had a simple stencil for the graphic and it used only black, so all the white areas of Snoopy should be light gull gray. The other is the chin stripe, which is represented as a curved chevron shape, but it should have straight lines, not curved. His new 72nd sheet appears to have corrected these errors, don't know if the 48th reprint did as well. Probably too late to do anything about this, but you have dipped the white separation line down to the ventral fin which is incorrect. The white separation was at the same level all the way back on aircraft with unpainted tailpipes, leaving about 6 inches of white above the ventral fin. A small detail, missed more often than not, is the IFR probe light on the left side of the nose just under the left wide windscreen panel. You can see it in the last photo you posted: a small round "panel" on a small square panel. The round bit is the light and it should be red, here is a photo of the light on a French Crusader: On your insignia decal, you might try to remove it with tape, it usually works, but there is a danger it will pull up paint with the decal. Furball doesn't give you a name for the black canopy rail stripe, but I'm sure there was one and equally sure the name was Lcdr Stu Harrison, the maintenance officer. If you have the capability to print it, or know someone who does, the name would be in yellow and on both sides. Probably more info than you really wanted, and I am not trying to make life difficult for you, so feel free to ignore any or all of it. I am sure it will still be a great model. Cheers, Tom Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted October 30, 2015 Author Share Posted October 30, 2015 (edited) Thanks guys! Progress is VERY slow as I've just started a new job and it's really pulling me away from the build. I hope to get some work done on the weekend. Curt, Cheers for the photo mate! Unfortunately I couldn't get the pilot to fit even after I cut the legs off, so I'm giving him a miss. David, I did just that! I painted the smudged areas. Turned out ok. It does have a bit of a touched up look to it :) but all in all I'm ok with the way it turned out. Tom, Thanks for stopping by mate! Honoured that a 162 Alumni has commented on my humble build! Pressure's ON!!! Thanks heaps for the tips. I'll try and incorporate some of them, however some are beyond my skills so I'll just have to leave them out. Appreciate the clarification on the UHT's; makes sense now. With the chin stripe, it is curved unfortunately and it didn't seem to fit right when I tried to place it on the end of the red "DANGER" triangle (excuse my lack of proper terminology :) ). As such it comes in a little earlier on the triangle. I'll try and post some more pics tonight to show you what I mean. Thanks again lads for all the tips. Edited October 30, 2015 by Crazy Snap Captain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 Finally done. I was losing mojo at a rapid rate on this build. Managed to get it done. Still need to chuck on the Sidewinders and the Pitot tube (which went flying out of my tweezers and is somewhere on the floor), but otherwise done. More pics on the completed builds page. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sebastijan Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Cool build! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stefan buysse Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Probably too late to do anything about this, but you have dipped the white separation line down to the ventral fin which is incorrect. The white separation was at the same level all the way back on aircraft with unpainted tailpipes, leaving about 6 inches of white above the ventral fin. Hi, Great build, Andrew. Tom, Are you saying that this Crusader should have had the white area painted like the one I have circled in blue on the image below? The one I circled in orange is the instruction for "AH204", is that not a correct instruction? 6 of the Crusaders on the Furball instructions are like the one circled in blue, the others are like the one in orange. Crusader white area by StefanBuysse, on Flickr Cheers, Stefan. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kurnass77 Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Good Crusader Andrew! You've planned to add the very characteristic and notable Vought's canopy and windshield seal or not? Not a critique,just a curiosity! Gianni Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted November 15, 2015 Author Share Posted November 15, 2015 Thanks guys. @ Gianni, no...that is too hard for me! :) Besides, one of the memebers here (Superheat) who is an ex Crusader pilot advised me against it... Works for me!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.