1/72 RF-8A or G

[Plumbum]

Hello---I would like to tackle either a 1/72 RF-8A or RF-8G but there is no such animal in styrene.

What is option B? I saw a vac kit from I think Airmodel for a conversion. I never attempted a

vac kit but it can't be all that hard. I had a Mattel vacuform back in the 60s as a kid, had a creepy

crawler machine too. Any other options?---John

[CT7567]

It's a mystery why no manufacturer has done an injection RF-8 kit in 1/72.  Unfortunately even the alternatives for "Option B" are less than ideal.

 

Conversion kits have been done by Airmodel and Falcon (vacform), RVHP (resin), and Ventura (limited-run injection). Of the above, only the Falcon set is still in current production, for the others you'll have to search the secondary market. 

 

More importantly, none of the conversions are entirely accurate - to varying degrees they all represent a mix of RF-8 and F-8E features (probably due to the latter being the type represented in all of the intended donor kits by Hasegawa or Academy).

 

As far as the specific variant, most if not all the conversions are nominally for the RF-8G.   Since the RF-8G is - more or less - an RF-8A with select upgrades common to the F-8E airframe, backdating to the RF-8A is really less work than correcting the basic flaws in the conversions.

 

Decals for the G are easier to obtain than for the A, but options for the G are quite limited.  RVHP's set included decals, there was a set for the Ventura conversion, and Wolfpak has one of tbe last RF-8Gs in USN Reserve service on a recent sheet.

[Plumbum]

Thanks. Who handles Falcon products? Any U.S. hobby shops?---John

[Nigel Bunker]

11 hours ago, Johnv said:

Who handles Falcon products? Any U.S. hobby shops?

From Falcon's website:

 

Where to buy Falcon products

United Kingdom

Hannants - www.hannants.co.uk

 

Germany

Modellbau und Technik Agentur (MOTAG) – www.motag.de

Modellbaustudio Rhein Ruhr – www.classic-plane-mrr.de

 

Italy

Misterkit – www.misterkit.com

Pronto Model – www.prontomodel.com

 

Australia

Just Planes – www.justplanes.com.au

High Planes Models – www.hiplanes.com

Jays Hobby Products – www.jaysmodelkits.com

 

New Zealand

Jays Hobby Products – www.jaysmodelkits.com

 

So it looks like no US stockist. In the past I have ordered from New Zealand as they normally have them in stock and the postage is not too prohibitive.

 

Following this link  shows the price to be NZ$24 which is about US$16, plus postage.

[Plumbum]

Thanks, ordered the Triple Conversion for Corsair II/ F-100F/ RF-86G. I am guessing it is for

the 1/72 Hasegawa F-8E Crusader kit.---John

[Plumbum]

This could be interesting, weren't the Misty planes in Vietnam F-100Fs?---John

 

[theplasticsurgeon]

There was - if you can find one, a conversion set from Final Touch.

Looking at other posts, I now believe it was a copy of the Ventura conversion.

 

Here is a link to my build of an RF-8G using an ESci kit.

http://modelingmadness.com/review/viet/mansrf8.htm

 

Edited June 16, 2019 by theplasticsurgeon
more

[CT7567]

5 hours ago, Johnv said:

Thanks, ordered the Triple Conversion for Corsair II/ F-100F/ RF-86G. I am guessing it is for

the 1/72 Hasegawa F-8E Crusader kit.---John

Yes, the RF-8 conversion is designed for the Hasegawa kit.  The much better Academy kit didn't exist yet when Falcon created this set.  I've never seen/read of anyone trying to use this on the Academy kit so can't verify how it might fit (I do know Hasegawa's kit has some established shape/dimensional issues).

 

I mentioned above that this is an "imperfect" conversion because it uses an F-8E as donor. In addition to carrying over the Hasegawa issues (most notably the too-wide cockpit & canopy), the most notable accuracy issue is Falcon's re-use of the Hasegawa F-8E nose. In reality the RF-8A and RF-8G had a similar nose shape to the early Crusaders (up to F-8C), roughly oval in cross-section at the base of the windscreen with a conical profile.  The F-8E nose was slightly larger and a symmetrical ogive shape due to the radar fitted.  To do an accurate recce bird you'll need to reshape the Hasegawa nose significantly (or find an early Crusader conversion, which is much more rare than the RF-8 sets).

 

There are a number of other (comparatively minor) detail differences between the F-8E and RF-8 you may want to incorporate - as well as differences from the original F8U-1P to the final RF-8G, depending what variant and what point in its service life you want to represent.  @Tailspin Turtle has an outstanding summary of these features on his blog site:

 

http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2013/12/?m=1

 

[CT7567]

1 hour ago, Johnv said:

This could be interesting, weren't the Misty planes in Vietnam F-100Fs?---John

 

Yes, the F-100Fs were used on the Misty Fast FAC role in Vietnam (as well as being the original Wild Weasels). Obviously if you've ordered the triple conversion you'll have the set anyway, but this is another case of later kit(s) superseding the need for conversion work. 

 

AMT released an F-100F based on the earlier ESCI F-100D, and Italeri did the same for theirs (the two are of very similar engineering and quality, but not the same despite reports otherwise).

 

Much later Trumpeter did the F-100 family with a substantial improvement in detail (notably separate slats) but unfortunately their two-seater is one of their biggest let-downs in accuracy - the forward fuselage is long enough for a 3-place cockpit! 

 

I've got the Trumpeter F-100F in my stash and have toyed with the idea of using the Falcon parts as a correction kit, but if someone wanted to build an F-100F my recommendation is definitely to go with the AMT or Italeri kits.

[Julien]

The RHVP conversion is expensive. Its also not great. They provide a complete fuselage whic in mine was bent like a bananana, I had to cut the front section off and graft it onto a Hasegawa kit.

 

The decals were mostly bad as well.

 

This subject really needs kitting in all scales.

 

Julien

[Julien]

On ‎14‎/‎06‎/‎2019 at 05:02, CT7567 said:

 

Conversion kits have been done by Airmodel and Falcon (vacform), RVHP (resin), and Ventura (limited-run injection). Of the above, only the Falcon set is still in current production, for the others you'll have to search the secondary market. 

 

The Airmodel set is still for sale on their website;

 

https://www.airmodel.de/product_info.php?info=p48_rf-8---tf-8-crusader.html

 

The Ventura set can still be found, though injection the plastic is very hard and brittle and contains no interior you have to take that from the doner kit.

 

[Murph]

On ‎6‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 12:02 AM, CT7567 said:

… and Wolfpak has one of tbe last RF-8Gs in USN Reserve service on a recent sheet.

They have done two RF-8Gs so far.

 

 

[CT7567]

72-061 with the early RF-8G is sold out from Wolfpak but still available from Fantasy Printshop:

https://www.fantasyprintshop.co.uk/shop/wolfpak-72-061-red-eye/