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1:72 Vought F-8J Crusader VF-302 "Stallions"


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On 3/7/2015 at 14:26, POTKC said:

The suspense...

 

Sorry, I just had my chemotherapy round five and I'm a little out of it. I try not to do too much modelling if there's a chance I might muck it up more than usual! :)

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Been thinking of getting this kit, your work has inspired me to take the plunge - not that I will match this!

Matt

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Good luck with the chemo Bill. It seems our ides as to what constitutes a good post bag coincide completely!

Martin

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Huge amount of clarifying. I figured I'd stopped talking till i saw all this. I read up on the F-8 with much of what's been mentioned for resources here already. Been a couple of months so I'm a bit rusty. I'm reading it all again, I tend to get deep into most projects, maybe that's why I can't build just from the box. Thanks for all the info and putting it into perspective, really helps. Good luck Bill and make sure y'all degrease yer hands after eatin' the popcorn.

Edited by busnproplinerfan
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OK, so I'm late again Bill, but at least I get to enjoy a whole load of updates in one go! Hope the chemo went well & hasn't made you feel too bad.

Looking forward to the rest of the build!

keith

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If the question about the best tail regarded the horizontal tailplanes, for some reason I believe the Heller bits to be more correct... but I don't seem to have the academy bits anymore unfortunately, so can't compare them directly.

Bill, good selection of new resin there ! The Wolfpack bits will sort the various flaps without the need for surgery. And yes, the leading edge bits are flaps, not slats... not going into the boring details here, let's say that slats leave a gap when deployed and flaps don't. Not 100% correct of course, my old aerodynamics teacher would probably kick my bottom parts if he reads this... :lol:

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On 3/9/2015 at 05:37, Giorgio N said:

If the question about the best tail regarded the horizontal tailplanes, for some reason I believe the Heller bits to be more correct... but I don't seem to have the academy bits anymore unfortunately, so can't compare them directly.

Bill, good selection of new resin there ! The Wolfpack bits will sort the various flaps without the need for surgery. And yes, the leading edge bits are flaps, not slats... not going into the boring details here, let's say that slats leave a gap when deployed and flaps don't. Not 100% correct of course, my old aerodynamics teacher would probably kick my bottom parts if he reads this... :lol:

 

Thanks, Giorgio. The Academy stabilators (stabilisers + elevators) have more leading edge sweep than the drawings in the Detail & Scale book, not a lot, but that may be the difference between theirs and Heller's. It's not enough for me to worry about, anyway.

 

Last night I drilled out the cannons, added the instrument panel coaming, mounted the air scoops, and attached the ECM fairing on the fin. Not a lot of work, but chemo is knocking me down. Only one more treatment to go (I hope!)

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Great details as usual! The final result will be another stunner!

Take it easy and just relax! I am sure you'll be fine.

JR

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Wow, you learn something every minute. This Interweb thing is pretty cool. :)

 

What I learned is that there is a fairing or bulge on each side of the forward fuselage on the F-8E/J and their ilk (where the cooling vents are). These blend the "round" radome into the more oval fuselage shape of earlier marks of the Crusader. These are very subtle, and don't always show up in photos.

 

This may not be a fairing per se, probably just a bulge. Something is there, though. Note the line just above and aft of the cooling vents on the starboard side in this photo of a French Crusader:

 

post-4217

 

Fortunately, Academy has reproduced this on the model - and they are very subtle, just like the real thing. Good eye, Academy!

 

Does anyone have any good photos of what is on top of the engine tunnel? In other words, what we get to see when the wing is raised. All I have is the photos in the Detail & Scale book.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Does anyone have any good photos of what is on top of the engine tunnel? In other words, what we get to see when the wing is raised. All I have is the photos in the Detail & Scale book.

Best I can do: http://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2015/03/f8u-underwing-details.html

Edited by Tailspin Turtle
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Outstanding work, as always. US aircraft, particularly Navy, have never been my thing (just personal taste, I suppose). But here I am really enjoying this build and doing an old 1/72 Hasegawa F9F-2 Panther myself at the moment!

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What I found useful are images of resin aftermarket products for the area below the wing. Accuracy is of course dependent whether the aftermarket companies did a good job, but it gives an indication.

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On 3/10/2015 at 09:34, Tailspin Turtle said:

Oops - I pasted the wrong link for the underwing details: http://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2015/03/f8u-underwing-details.html

 

Tommy, you pasted the right link for the question I asked - and you've anticipated my next question! In addition to being the SSME (Supreme Subject Matter Expert) you are clairvoyant, too!

 

I find it amazing that the wing (and all of the stresses that go with it) is lifted by just that one rod (presumably hydraulic - or is it a ball screw?). Once the wing is in position (either up or down) does it lock in place somehow?

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Hi mates,

 

The meds seem to be working today, so I can post a couple of pictures. I mentioned earlier that I mounted the resin air scoops from Quickboost. The air scoops are such a prominent feature of the Crusader that I would say these are a required purchase. The kit scoops don't even try to offer a cut-out area up front, but the resin set looks just right to me.

 

100_5538

 

Next, I've started the dreaded "flap cutting out" session. Believe it or not, when I was young and, well, stupid, I used to cut out flaps with the little circular saw blade on my Dremel tool (and I didn't have variable speed). Talk about stitches waiting to happen - yikes! I don't know if I do it properly now, but I use an assortment of scribers, guided by Dymo tape.

 

Here is the upper wing with the port flaps cut out, and the starboard flaps as they come with the kit. Thanks to Academy the leading edge flaps are already separate. Why they didn't also do separate flaps is a mystery - it seems that most photos show if the leading edge is lowered, then the flaps and ailerons are too.

 

100_5539

 

Cheers for now,

Bill

 

PS. Another question for Tailspin Turtle: Did the Crusader have Corogard on the leading edges of the flying surfaces? I have to say that it's not real clear from photos. Sometimes I think I can see a very thin strip on the wing leading edges, but not on the intake, stabilators, or vertical tail. Could just be my eyes, too...

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I'm starting to think that someone doesn't want me to make this kit. At least with the flaps down... :(

 

After cutting out the areas on the kit wings, and removing the Wolfpack resin flaps from their pour stubs, I noticed a problem - the resin flaps are bowed. But not in the direction you would normally think, the direction that is somewhat easy to fix. No, these babies are bowed 90 degrees to that (think of sighting along the trailing edge, or along the hinge surface - should be straight, no?). I decided to test fit and see just how bad they are, and issue number two showed up. They're too short!

 

100_5542

 

The bow is about 1.5mm, I tried to line up one end and the center so you could see how much the other end is off. (Yes, I know that exaggerates the effect, if I lined up both ends, then the middle would only be out by half what is seen here). Worse is that the flaps are 2.5mm short. No matter how I position this on the wing, there is going to be a big gap. This one is not so easy to fix.

 

I've only tried to use Wolfpack resin one other time (F-4 Kai wingtips, I think). I ended up not using those, either. Strike Two.

 

The leading edge flaps also have a bit of a bow, but they're not too short. I think I can deal with the small bow up front. For the flaps, I went online and bought the Quickboost flap set, at least the review is good! Last option is to use the flaps I cut out of the wing - heaven forbid! I probably should have done that in the first place...

 

Cheers,

Bill

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