hsr Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 This is my rendition of Anigrand's Vought XF8U-3 Crusader III. This was a very good Anigrand kit, free of pinholes and with a surprisingly clear canopy. The only disappointment was the decals. These had yellowed and taping them to a sun facing window for a few weeks only slightly clear up the yellowing. They were also very glossy and thick. Other then that it was a pleasant 2 week OOB build. What appears to be a second stabilizer would fold down in flight to augment the vertical fin. Next up in the Hobby Boss UH-1B Huey. Enjoy 26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 an aircraft I am not familiar with - for resin, looks like a nice kit and you have finished it very nicely 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsr Posted January 11, 2019 Author Share Posted January 11, 2019 The F8U competed against the F-4 Phantom II in the Navy's all weather fighter competition in the late '50s Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 As I recall from the written references, it was the fastest accelerating aircraft NASA ever tested, and its top speed was limited only by the heat limitations of its canopy. Lost to the Phantom by nature of not being a two-seat, two-engine fleet interceptor. From all accounts it was an awesome performer. Maintrack also did a very nice 1/72 vacform in their Project X series. The two ventral fins were linked to the undercart and extended when the landing gear was retracted- they were for stability at high Mach numbers, IIRC/ I bet @Tailspin Turtle could tell us a lot more about it, or you could find the Naval Fighters monograph on it. Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tailspin Turtle Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 1 hour ago, 72modeler said: As I recall from the written references, it was the fastest accelerating aircraft NASA ever tested, and its top speed was limited only by the heat limitations of its canopy. Lost to the Phantom by nature of not being a two-seat, two-engine fleet interceptor. From all accounts it was an awesome performer. Maintrack also did a very nice 1/72 vacform in their Project X series. The two ventral fins were linked to the undercart and extended when the landing gear was retracted- they were for stability at high Mach numbers, IIRC/ I bet @Tailspin Turtle could tell us a lot more about it, or you could find the Naval Fighters monograph on it. Mike Ginter has a few of my F8U-3 monographs left and I have some available: http://www.ginterbooks.com/NAVAL/NF87.htm One question you might have is what happens when a ventral fin didn’t fold out of the way when the gear was lowered. It did happen at Edwards during the test program. The pilot landed on the lakebed and the fin broke off cleanly. I also described the competition and the result in my F4H-1 monograph just published by Ginter. The F8U-3 was superior in every way save one. Vought tried hard to prove that a pilot could successfully manage the intercept alone but the admirals decided that dedicating the radar search and detection to a second crew member was worth the additional cost and weight of having him along relative to the risk of losing an aircraft carrier because a threat was overlooked or just detected too late. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsr Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 5 minutes ago, Tailspin Turtle said: the admirals decided that dedicating the radar search and detection to a second crew member was worth the additional cost and weight of having him along relative to the risk of losing an aircraft carrier because a threat was overlooked or just detected too late. If I recall correctly, F-4 pilots in Vietnam complained of information overload even with the additional crew member so it seems the admirals made the right decision. BTW I have your book and found it very helpful. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Lovely build and all enhanced by some great back story info. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAAMAN Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Great build of a seriously cool beast Definitely in my "WANT" list, I've even considered scratch building this beast and a WHIFF or two 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Joyce Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Very nice build! I have several Anigrand kits, although not that one, and they are quite well molded but don’t seem to have as clear a canopy as yours. Again, very impressive work on the Crusader! Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsr Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 1 minute ago, Mark Joyce said: but don’t seem to have as clear a canopy as yours. Usually they are translucent at best, but this one was nice Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNAFU Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Very nice one, I like this ugly machine.......😁 Gerhard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsr Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 Ugly or not, it looks fast even when standing still Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNAFU Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 There were rumors that the Vought was even better than the F-4 in Air to Air combat. But the F-4 had two engines and a extra crew member for the weapons and that with a bigger payload the NAVY was going for the F-4...... Gerhard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsr Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 Also they both relied on missiles, neither had a gun, and the F-4 carried 4 and the F8U-3 carried 3. Of course both could be made to carry more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opus999 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 What a great build of an unusual aircraft! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapam Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Nice work indeed!! Looks like this type had a big influence on the carrier-based Corsair jet - or perhaps the other way round (I don't know which came first)? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsr Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 Both this and the A-7 Corsair II were derived from the F8U-1 Crusader. In this case it was a follow on next generation and in the case of the Corsair the Navy wanted something based on an existing design. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busnproplinerfan Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 (edited) I built that one to. This one turned out good. Edited March 22, 2019 by busnproplinerfan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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