Heres a Monogram 1/48 scale F-8E Crusader that I converted to a DF-8A drone controller/utility aircraft. The Crusader is my favorite aircraft, and while I had already built three F-8Es, I just had to have the earlier A version in my collection, and Ive always been a fan of the Navys colorful drone controller scheme. I started this project ten years ago, and shelved it for a few years before finally finishing it a couple years ago. The kit used was the venerable Monogram 1/48 F-8E, and a few parts from the Cobra Company F-8 backdate set. Monogram’s Crusader makes a decent F-8E out of the box, but there are many minor - and a few major - changes you must make to any F-8E kit to backdate it to the earlier A version. I’m sure I missed some things, but here’s what I did: I removed and filled in the dorsal avionics ‘hump’ on top of the wing, filled in the holes and slots for the afterburner cooling scoops and ventral fins, installed a fuel dump vent on the rear port side, removed the ECM fairing from the vertical fin, and filled in the vents just behind the nose cone (though I should have left the three vents on the right side!). I used a resin replacement cockpit from Black Box (but the insturment panel has a radar, which isn’t right for the A version). I used the main gear from the Cobra Company backdate set, along with the earlier spoked nose wheel. I also used the Cobra replacement nose cone, but heavily modified it. The hardest – and most crucial – part of the project was getting the shape of the earlier nose correct. Seen head-on, it’s more of a flattened oval. In profile, it’s almost flat on top, and slightly curved on the bottom. While nowhere near perfect, the shape I wound up with is at least in the ball park. The afterburner section on Monogram’s kit is incorrect – the burner nozzle is missing. I used a cut-down section of an old Monogram F-18 exhaust cone to replicate the nozzle. The antennas and pitot probe were taken from leftover parts from a Hasegawa A-4 Skyhawk kit. I also scratchbuilt the ejection face curtain pull rings, refueling probe light, tail hook, a canopy restraint strap, steps and a boarding ladder. I also added lots of plastic rod, scraps and wire to the main wheel wells to busy them up some. The markings are a mix of custom made decals and miscellaneous markings from my spare decals box. They depict a DF-8A Crusader based at the Naval Missile Center, Point Mugu, Califoirnia, in the late 1960s. Finally, many thanks to Tom Weinel, a former F-8 pilot, who provided me with the necessary information, photos and encouragement needed to do this conversion. It was a lot of work, but Im happy with the results.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 23:09:52 +0000
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