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Byzantine Crusader


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I have always been a fan of the F-8 Crusader and A-7 Corsair.  Something about that nose & intake.  Always looked purposeful.  I am sure A-7s used to sometimes appear at Mildenhall air shows on static display in low viz grey schemes.  One day I will have a go at one of those.  Until then I have a cheap eBay buy of an old Lindberg F-8J that looks to be an imposing beast, if not the most detailed kit going.

 

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You don’t get the amount of parts in a kit like this that you do in a newer kit.  And I am sure some filler may be neede at some point.

 

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Its got some gimmicks i wuld have loved as a teenager but feel wary of now.  Like push in retractable undercarriage and open / closing wheel well doors.  And moving flaps and tail elevators and rudder.

 

Now spending on resin & etch isn’t in budget (unless you know of very cheap options) but I don’t rule out some scratch bits.

 

The kit comes with one decal option 

 

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Nothing against this scheme, although I do have a hankering for low viz, French navy, NASA or something else.  Cheap option would be kit decals & try out some toned down weathering & salt effect

 

Whatever she is a sizeable beast - 2 part body to fit in the box for a start.  Here next to a Jag for comparison

 

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So any advice / hints / tips gratefully received.  Only thing for sure is she will get built not binned!

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The F-8 is one of the few iconic jets of the US Navy, and who doesn't love it?

Thereafter we differ: anything that is not USN, bright and colorful, is not for me! But I will still watch your build, as I am curious about the quality of this kit!

Have a lot of fun!

 

JR

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Hi @jean not anti USN colours - may be the logical choice for this kit.  But having opened the box it’s going to be a while before I get to that stage.  I thought it would be basic, but that doesn’t really tell the whole tale here.....

 

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This is is the whole cockpit and ejector seat detail.  I guess the seat should have been hidden under a pilot.  But still, it’s bad.  Need to scratch some top end to the seat plus pull handles.  The cockpit needs a floor and a back, plus the odd toylike hook up the back.  It’s designed to hold the canopy as a hinge.  But that isn’t where the canopy hinges, it’s on the sides.

 

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And the intake under the nose has a huge locating pin strip across it an is blanked off less than an inch in.  So curved tube intake, floor and back for cockpit, seat & cockpit detail add, canopy hinge rework.....  oh, and I had a crazy idea to cut the wing section to lift the wing up in slow speed landing mode.

 

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Well at least she looks like a Crusader

 

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Only cut out & held held together with masking tape to test fit.  Will be a while, even with the limited number of parts, to get this fuselage sealed up

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Tried out the undercarriage to check its centre of gravity.   It might just sit but with the whole tail assembled it may well be a tail sitter

 

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I have been building up a cockpit tub out of plasticard - it’s a start but there is a lot more needed.  The orange bt is pat of an old pen lid to extend the nose curve back into the intake.

 

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The tail is together - just a plastcard backing behind the arrest or hook.  Can now add more on to that section

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Various bits of the F-8 are coming together.  The tail is a sub assembly and is glued up, the seat is, well, the seat, and some of the wheel wells are getting sorted

 

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Spent some time cleaning up the intake as there was a nasty fixing point that made it look bad. Bit of filler around the inserted orange plug makes it all look a little better.  Poor photo though 

 

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The cockpit now has a back section behind the seat & ahead of the pit wall, plus some side panels.  The seat has a new plasticard top section & pull handles plus card cushions

 

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Seat now has some colour and the massively deep front wheel well has been cut down in size.

 

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the toy style opening wheel well doors & closing undercarriage are, well, interesting to ft!

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The cockpit is coming along.  Won’t win any awards but it looks better now than it did.

 

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The main fuselage halves are together, as is the main tail assembly and the wings

 

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Been keeping busy today - work on the Crusader, paint on the Phantom and a matt  spray coat on the Warthog

 

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17 minutes ago, AdriaN (MLT) said:

its not THAT OLD...1993 kit. but the molding is 1969 ;)

Well the molding is older than me & I'm no spring chicken.  Cost me lass than a tenner, so I guess you get what you pay for

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Body is together and fillered (well one lot of body filler & one lot of liquid green stuff anyway) and now wings and ventral fins are on.

 

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need some new & in the right place hinges for that canopy next.  Undercarriage is in place but wheels are just blutaced on.  A little nose weight sorted out the centre of gravity so she won’t tail sit.

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Cheers @mike romeo - there is now something there that doesnt look too abismal.  Nice resin pit would have been good but out off my price league.  Bit of filler around the wing roots & will be getting on for paint the.  Thinking of giving salt weathering another go on the grey areas & maybe light grey dust with salt over the white.  Don’t want it looking too crisp

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The Crusader is basically together, so now has a primer coat of grey on.  The wing flaps are white & masked off, as is the rudder in black, ready for its black decal to go on.  Time now for some pre-shading of main panel lines etc then maybe some salt on before the next coat for some variation.  Same with the white underside.  Really just painting now

 

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But the Crusader has been on the back burner while the F-4 has moved on a bit

 

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Edited by bar side
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Top coat paint on & masking off.  Needs lots of touching up, plus a black nose & tail top.

 

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cockpit glass is just balanced on, but the new hinges on the canopy look better

 

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onced tidied up the decals need to go on, then maybe dirty it down a bit

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Tonight’s edition - black nose done, quick touch up & varnish coat on.

 

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So let’s get some decals on.  Going kit decals, so they are a bit old & breaking up, so will do it over a couple of nights.  The tail decals will need to dry & get hit with softener to stick down & wrap nicely, so I am leaving the rest of the tail for tonight.

 

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Letting her her dry off now so no more tonight or I will ruin something!

 

 

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All of the decals are now on the F-8 - now need to sort some sidewinders & rails, plus any other load out.  Plus FOD cover for the intake & any rbfs 

 

Posing withe her USAF cosins

 

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10 hours ago, massimo said:

 

Nothing in mind yet?

 

Always something in mind, but not a lot in the stash at the moment.  I do fancy an esci viggen if one turns up at the right price.  Also an airfix bucc.

Only one in the build pile is an esci kfir. But I do fancy a new Revell tornado f3.  Or maybe another scratch build.

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Couple of updates - got outside in the sunshine this morning for a quick shot 

 

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Then had a go this afternoon at some sidewinder, walkway marking by the tail and FOD cover n the nose

 

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