Navy Bird

By the way, here is a photo that shows the "double drooped" (double hinged) leading edge flaps very nicely: Cheers, Bill

A bit of a confusing post. First you say the larger stabilizers are on the French versions only, and then later you say the French stabilizers were the same as the "J" (the latter is true). The ECM fairing on top of the wing (which I've learned was called the "Shoehorn" fairing) was used on the E, H, J, and the French planes, and retrofitted to others. I have the Detail & Scale book you mention and it has 1:72 scale drawings by Dana Bell of the E model. The stabilizers from the Academy J kit are considerably larger than those on the scale drawing for the E. I think it's a fair assumption that the Academy kit has the larger stabilizers that are correct for the J, so it's probably not just the Heller kit that has them. The Steve Pace book is the first volume (of four) on the Crusader that are part of Steve Ginter's Naval Fighter series. I've always found books in that series to be quite valuable reference material. I think the link referenced in post #23 is a definitive look at the differences between all of the Crusader variants. Cheers, Bill

Almost perfect was what I was aiming for! After all, only the big guy upstairs is completely perfect, right? Yeah, busted on the scissors. I didn't have any fresh #11 blades and didn't want to wait. Silly old man. Some folks commented on the photos, I think they came out OK, but they don't seem to show the slight blue colour that is in the fuselage band and front of the spinner. That may be because I've posed the model on that bright blue paper, and my camera may be doing some auto white balance thing. I had Memsahib get some neutral grey paper and I'll try some photos using that and see if it makes any difference. I also have to check to see if the camera allows me to manually set the white balance. My photo lights use those fancy new fluorescent lamps, but they are "Daylight" rated. I don't think they are messing up the colour. My camera is nothing fancy, it's one of those super-zoom cameras that look like an SLR but they don't have interchangeable lenses. I shoot in Aperture Priority mode so I can set the f/stop as high as I can (f/8 seems to be the best it will do) and I use ISO100. I must dig deeper and see what the white balance settings are. Cheers, Bill

You bet! That's one of the goodies I just ordered from Sprue Brothers. The kit parts are very lame - maybe the worst part of the kit. I'm addicted to resin, by the way. I think it's because I've breathed in so much resin dust while cutting and sanding - it's a chemical dependency. Great link, thanks for posting. I missed that one when I was searching. That Superheat guy, being a former F-8 jock, knows what he's talking about. Now I know that all of the other on-line sources that claim the hump is for Bullpup electronics are wrong! It's the "Shoehorn" hump! Thanks, Giorgio! I believe that Academy designed the kit so that they could box several different versions using the same sprues. Unfortunately, that means that some marks, like the "E", end up with some parts that aren't correct. Not an uncommon problem in the model industry. I forgot to look last night to see if the main gear is for a "J" (without the packing seal flange) or for an "E" (with the flange). I ordered some resin tyres, because it looks to me like the kit tyres are a bit anemic. However, that may be right as I've read that the "J" had smaller tyres than the "E". I discovered the interference issue with the flaps and the fuselage earlier. The Obscureco wing has the same problem. Having a look in the box, it seems that I will also have some extra Magic missiles for the spares box. One of these days I should get the Academy kit of the French Crusader, just to add some diversity to the collection. I like the China Lake markings. There is a profile in the Squadron book of a DF-8F Crusader that is said to be Glossy Sea Blue with a yellow tail and upper wings - now that is interesting and would definitely be a head turner. It's stated to be from VC-8 at NAS Brooklyn in 1967. Since it is a DF-8, I'd bet the fuselage is not Glossy Sea Blue, but rather Engine Gray, the standard colour seen on the drone controllers. Cheers, Bill PS. I have chemotherapy round number 5 this week on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This will take me out of commission for most of next week, so I don't know when I'll get more work done on the Crusader. Once I've finished this round, there is only one more to go! Woo hoo!

Interesting. Doesn't sound much like a jet does it? Cheers, Bill

Well, Whalley and Kilmer divorced in 1996, so maybe she's available? Cheers, Bill

Just found this, looks like a good summary (with pictures!) of the differences between an "E" and a "J" - scroll down a bit for the good stuff: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=127141&st=0 EDIT: Having a quick look at the nose gear in the Academy F-8J kit, it would appear that it's the correct nose gear, as it has the bridle launch "horns" on the front. I also just ordered some goodies from Sprue Brothers - more in good time! Cheers, Bill

Thanks, Giorgio! Just today I found my old copy of the F-8 Crusader Detail & Scale book (volume 31) and the F-8 Crusader In Action book (no. 70). I had these packed away so soundly I didn't think I was ever going to find them! Anyway, I did not know of the different nose leg in the "J" - the Academy kit is supposed to be a "J", is it wrong then? I'll go through those two books and see what I can find to guide me on the landing gear. And I think you are absolutely right, I should save the Obscureco wing for an "E" model someday. Although I will have to boil it in order to get some anhedral in it... Thanks, JR! I like the VF-302 markings simply because I think yellow and black look real nice on light gull gray. I don't think VF-302 was even a front line squadron at the time, maybe a reserve squadron? Believe it or not, the decal sheet that came with the kit is printed by Cartograf, so probably not as bad as the typical Academy decals. I will end up using some of the stenciling etc. from the kit sheet. Thanks, I've just begun to poke around my favourite online shoppes looking for Crusader aftermarket. Since I've already closed up the fuselage halves, anything I find at this point will have to be external details. We'll see. I was fooling around with the wings today, and neither the kit wings nor the Obscureco wing will actually mount in the up position because the inner edges of the flaps hit the fuselage. Odd. This simply means I have to modify the flaps, but just the same both wings were designed to be mounted in the up position. Thank goodness I kept my sanding sticks from my recent adventures in short-run modelling! EDIT: Sprue B seems to contain parts that are unique to the "J", like the double droops, ECM fairings and the horizontal stabilizers. May I assume these are the larger stabilizers that were fitted to the "J" and the French birds? Cheers, Bill

Hi mates, Moving forward a few decades from my last build, I'm going to attempt to make a model of an airplane that doesn't have a propeller! My choice of subject is my favourite plane from the Vietnam War era, the Vought F-8 Crusader. What's not to like about this plane? Big honking J57 engine, a variable incidence wing, and a radome underneath its radome. And it just so happens that this baby first flew a few days prior to me being born, so you can kind of say we've been through life together. Not really, I'm not in the bone yard yet! I chose the Academy F-8J kit because, um, er, it was in my stash. I've heard it's the best in 1:72 scale and by looking in the box, it is certainly several light years ahead of my old Revell (Ace) 1:72 Crusader. The Academy kit is so nice, I immediately threw my build of the old Revell kit in the bin so I'd have room to display this new kit. I want to build this specific aircraft (note the typical F-8J fairing on the vertical tail): And it just so happens that Xtradecal provide this scheme: Xtradecal would have you believe that good old 150654 was an F-8E, which it was, but not when it had these markings. It was built as an F8U-2NE (F-8E) and assigned to VF-62. In 1965 the aircraft was transferred to the USMC and became part of VMF(AW)-212 as “WD-107.“ Note the lack of fairing on the top of the vertical tail. In 1966, 150654 was transferred to the USN and assigned to VF-111 as "AH-107." It was then upgraded to F-8J at some point before being assigned to VF-302 where it was ND-206 from 1971-1972 at Miramar. In July of 1975, the airframe was put into storage at the AMARC bone yard. I've read on-line that 150654 was then salvaged from the bone yard in 1984, but I don't know what's become of it. Probably in someone's garage. I started building the model and now I realize that I didn't take one of those shots that show the sprues and aftermarket goodies prior to starting the build. Oops. I don't have much aftermarket (nor does this kit need much) - I'll be using the Aires resin cockpit, the Master pitot, and the Xtradecal sheet. I'll have to "tweak" the decals a bit, as Xtradecal has "F-8E 150654" which will need to "F-8J 150654." (That's the decal that goes below the horizontal tail.) I want to model the wing up, the flaps down, and the slats "drooped." Like this: That photo appears to be an earlier mark of the Crusader as it seems to have the oval-shaped nose, and it doesn't have the fairing on top of the wing (which I think was for the ECM electronics). To make the job a little easier, I purchased the Obscureco Crusader wing with has all of that done for you. Unfortunately, when I bought that I was believing Xtradecal that the markings were for an F-8E, and that I was going to have to convert the kit. The Obscureco wing is for an F-8E. What's the difference? The biggest difference is with the leading edge flaps. Where the deployed flaps on the F-8E were "drooped," those on the F-8J were "double drooped." That means the flap actually hinged in the middle so that the forward half is at a different angle than the aft portion. Vought called these leading edge flaps "droops." Also, the Obscureco wing has no anhedral to speak of. The actual Crusader had quite a bit of anhedral (although not as much as the above photo suggests - that's an interesting optical effect caused by the sweep of the leading edge, the angle of attack of the wing, and the actual anhedral. Tailspin Turtle calls it "apparent anhedral.") I guess I'll have to cut out the flaps and ailerons from the Academy wing, and cut the droops (they're already separate) into two pieces so they can be double drooped. Let's get started, shall we? The Aires cockpit fits without much sanding, but the instrument panel coaming must be removed so it can be replaced by the Aires piece. Here is the cockpit all painted up with Gunze H317 Dark Gull Gray FS36231 and detailed with whatever other paint colours were on my bench: If you look close enough, you can find Mr. Fumble Thumbs has broken off the top of one of the launch rails for the ejection seat. I'll have to see what I can find to fix that. After removal of the kit coaming, and installation of the intake trunking, gear wells, and the top of the engine tunnel (which is visible when the wing is up), the cockpit can be added and the fuselage closed up. I think the fit is pretty good. You can see that I've blended the top of the side walls between the resin and the plastic. Let's add the main gear and the ventral fins while we're at it: Next, I'll clean up any seams where the fuselage join, and add the antenna fairing to the tail, removing the F-8L style antenna in the process. I had to drill some small holes for the fairing pegs to fit into, and Academy provided some starter holes on the inside to make sure they're in the right place. So, we're off to a good start I think. I'm not looking forward to cutting the flaps and ailerons from the Academy wing, and cutting the droops into two pieces, but it must be done. Cheers, Bill

Did you miss this old kit? I don't know if it was magic, but I think it came out OK: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234956097-revell-172-consolidated-pb4y-1-liberator/ I think I need more Australian subjects, Ed. What do you think? Cheers, Bill

Can you shrink all that stuff to 1:72 so I can use it in my Revell build? Amazing! Cheers, Bill

My wife got the good news/bad news story from her doctor. The good news is that the MRI didn't show any tumors, or other conditions that might have caused the hearing loss. The bad news is that the hearing loss is permanent. It's especially frustrating when no one knows what happened. They do think the "white noise" that she is getting will go away, and that she might improve the situation with a hearing aid, but that remains to be seen. Getting old - you gotta love it! Cheers, Bill

Hi mates, I've finished the Buffalo. The RFI thread can be found here. Before we leave this thread, though, here is a picture that I took of the landing lights. This is most likely inauthentic, as I doubt that the American Buffalo would use British landing lights, but I figure what the heck, they're on the bottom. No one will see them! It's hard to tell from the photo, but what I did was encapsulate the photoetch piece in Future. These lights were on a hinge, and flipped down pointing forward upon approach. In flight, they were flush with the bottom of the wing. I think the photoetch adds some interest, even if it's not completely authentic. I added a yellow diamond shaped decal for the gas patch, and I also added a small grey decal to represent the covering of the gun camera aperture. The aerial wire and lead-in were my usual 0.005" Nitinol wire. So, the first Buffalo takes its place in my collection. I have several more, F2A-2 US Navy, F2A-3 US Marines, B-239 Finnish, and B-339D Dutch. Those builds should go easier now that I know what to expect. I'll leave you with this photo of my two Snifters: Cheers, Bill

Hi mates, here is my latest project, the Brewster B-339E Buffalo Mk.I as seen in November of 1941 at Sembawang, Singapore. This is essentially an out-of-the-box build, but that's because Special Hobby provides a beautiful set of resin detail parts so you really don't need much aftermarket. The only parts that weren't in the kit are the photoetch seat harnesses, photoetch landing lights, aerial wire, and a vacuform sliding canopy. Although I didn't plan it this way, it turns out that the markings for this kit contain "Snifter" - the same patriotic cartoon dog that adorned the Beaufort which was my most recent build. The paint scheme I chose - Dark Earth and Dark Green over Sky/Night with a Sky Blue fuselage band and Dark Green/Sky Blue spinner - is but one interpretation of how these aircraft were painted in Singapore. There are other interpretations that are equally valid. At this point in time, we really don't know for sure what was done. Project: Brewster B-339E Buffalo Mk.I Kit: Special Hobby Brewster Model 339B/E Buffalo Mk.I (kit number 72131) Scale: 1:72 (are there others?) Decals: From the kit (with some corrections) representing W.8209, TD-E, 453 Squadron at Singapore in November of 1941, pilot RAAF Sgt. Mac Read Photoetch: True Details generic British seat harnesses set no. 2504; Marabu Design British landing lights set no. 72002 Vacuform: Falcon Brewster Buffalo Canopy Set no. 9132 Paint: Gunze H38 Steel Red, H72 Dark Earth, H73 Dark Green, H309 FS34079, H90 Clear Red, H94 Clear Green, H314 Israeli Light Blue FS35622, Custom Mix for British Interior Grey Green; Tamiya XF-21 Sky, XF-69 NATO Black; Testors 1149 Flat Black, 1168 Flat White; Floquil 10004 Crystal-Cote; Alclad 101 Aluminum, 102 Duraluminum, 314 Klear Kote Flat Weathering: Some post shading to simulate paint fading, but generally not much weathering as the aircraft was relatively new during this time period. Light pastel work for some subtle panel line accenting. Improvements/Corrections Filled an interesting gap on top of the forward fuselage Used styrene card stock to represent seat and head armour Modified the seat to have square top as used in British Buffaloes Small diameter hypodermic needles used to represent wing machine guns Scratch-built reflector gunsight Replaced kit wing pitot tube with one made from small diameter plastic rod Applied the photoetch parts for the landing lights and seat harnesses Cut open the Falcon canopy and used the sliding portion Removable panel in the sliding canopy (port side, front panel) depicted with decal Camouflage pattern was hand masked (not a template) Build thread here. This is the first Special Hobby Buffalo kit that I've built and the experience will be quite helpful as I've several more in the stash. The build thread explains some of the "nuances" I encountered and how I dealt with them. At the end of the day, this is probably the most detailed Buffalo kit you can buy. The fuselage shapes match the Hasegawa kit nicely, so I don't think there are any shape issues. So, let's have a look at the pictures! Snifter reunion: Some in-progress shots: Cheers, Bill PS. Oh, here's that interesting little gap I had to deal with:

Don't forget Benny Hill and Little Jackie! Over here on this side of the pond, we also had The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine in the early 70s. Very bizarre. That may have been the first time I saw Terry Gilliam's animations. Cheers, Bill

Thanks, mates! The Crusader should be fun, I haven't built a jet in a while. I've read that the Academy kit is pretty good, both fit and accuracy, so it shouldn't be a big project. Unless I get carried away with something...but that never happens, does it? Cheers, Bill

Thanks, Stan! I love the photos that Quickboost make of their aftermarket resin. So crisp - it just makes you want to go and buy them! For this project, though, I have the Aires cockpit which includes the same ejection seat that you've shown, so you're right about that. I also have the Obscureco wing (an entire resin wing assembly) which has the flaps and slats (double drooped - the Quickboost slats are single drooped so not appropriate for an F-8J). The problem is that the Obscureco wing has no anhedral to speak of, whereas the Academy wing looks to be about right. So I will be taking the Obscureco flaps and slats and using those on the Academy wing. That's the plan, anyway. Who knows what will happen in real life! Cheers, Bill

All right, here is what I'm thinking for my next project: 1:72 Chance Vought F-8J Crusader US Navy, VF-302 Stallions Academy kit Aires cockpit Master pitot Decals by Xtradecal (who erroneously state this is an F-8E) Squadron markings are yellow and black Flaps down, wing up, slats double-drooped Here is the real thing: Gotta love this view (source): Cheers, Bill

Yup, that was mentioned in post #209. Buffalo BW-364 had 42.5 kills with several pilots. That tally was determined after checking claims against actual Soviet losses so it seems to be a good number. The source for this is Finnish Aces of World War II by Stenman and Keskinen. I believe one of the Hasegawa kits has these markings in it. Cheers, Bill

There you go talking about me again when I'm not there to defend myself! It's a true fact that I use a Paasche Model "H" single-action, external mix airbrush. But may I suggest that it's not the man, it's not the tools, it's the paint, stupid! Cheers, Bill (officially sponsored by Mr. Hobby hisself) PS. Did I just paraphrase Bill Clinton? Oh dear... PPS. I think your mottling looks very good, young man. If that was your first try, then carry on! You passed the audition.

Now what have I done? Oh yeah, some more Buffalo-ing. I painted the navigation lights on the wings, added the probe on the starboard wing, added the small post on top of the tail for the aerial wire, added the control stick (forgot all about that!), and attached the sliding part of the canopy. All that's left now is to finish the landing lights on the bottom of the wings, and lastly add the aerial wire and lead-in. Cheers, Bill

Thanks, mates! The wife got through the MRI with no problems (this was her first adventure in the torpedo tube) now we sit and wait for the report to come back. I can think of other things I'd rather do... The next one will be completely out of character! Well, maybe not completely as it is a Navy bird. Fritag wins by default since he always makes two models at the same time! He cheats! Cheers, Bill

Another fact of colour reproduction that seldom gets mentioned is that there are colours that quite simply cannot be reproduced in RGB colour-space because they are outside of the gamut. So an on-screen display of such a colour will never be true no matter how accurately your system is calibrated. Cheers, Bill PS. This is probably what drove people to use old B&W photos as their primary reference source for colour.

Very nice workmanship - beautiful! You have to love an overachiever like the Wildcat! Cheers, Bill

They've stopped denigrating each other on Internet forums, and decided not to make new tools of the same subjects at the same time? I missed that. What happened? I almost bought the AZ Hart once, but changed my mind at the last minute and bought something I can't remember. But I remember what I didn't buy.... Cheers, Bill