Global Scale Modeller

Building this as part of a group build on̈ a Facebook group for vererans - theme of the group is"Between the Wars ,Vietnam to Gulf:" I was planning in doing the Airfix 1/48 Buccaneer but couldn't find it in the stash.!!



So - type history:
"The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U under the 1922 designation system) is a retired single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Vought.
It was the last American fighter that had guns as the primary weapon, earning it the title "The Last of the Gunfighters"
Development of the F-8 commenced after release of the requirement for a new fighter by the United States Navy in September 1952. Vought's design team, led by John Russell Clark, produced the V-383, a relatively unorthodox fighter that possessed an innovative high-mounted variable-incidence wing, an area-ruled fuselage, all-moving stabilators, dog-tooth notching at the wing folds for improved yaw stability, and liberal use of titanium throughout the airframe. During June 1953, Vought received an initial order to produce three XF8U-1 prototypes of its design. On 25 March 1955, the first prototype performed its maiden flight. Flight testing proved the aircraft to be relatively problem-free. On 21 August 1956, U.S. Navy pilot R.W. Windsor attained a top speed of 1,015 mph; in doing so, the F-8 became the first jet fighter in American service to reach 1,000 mph.
During March 1957, the F-8 was introduced into regular operations with the US Navy. In addition to the Navy, the type was also operated by the United States Marine Corps (replacing the Vought F7U Cutlass), the French Navy, and the Philippine Air Force. Early on, the type experienced an above-average mishap rate, being somewhat difficult to pilot.
American F-8s saw active combat during the Vietnam War, engaging in multiple dogfights with MiG-17s of the Vietnam People's Air Force as well as performing ground attack missions in the theatre. The RF-8 Crusader was a photo-reconnaissance model. It played a crucial role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, providing essential low-level photographs of Soviet medium range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) in Cuba that were impossible to acquire by other means at that time.. Several modified F-8s were used by NASA for experimental flights, including the testing of digital fly-by-wire technology and supercritical wing design.
The RF-8 operated in U.S. service longer than any of the fighter versions; the United States Navy Reserve withdrew its remaining aircraft during 1987."

The Instructions










The Sprues














Fuselage halves joined. Everything went together almost perfetly.

Off to a nice start. Cockpit looks tidy.

More work done. In the foreground are the 4 x Zumi missile pods that attach to the fuselage hard points. These weren't a bad fit although a little sanding was needed along the seams.


Next job were the leading and trailing edges. As this is being built with its signature variable incidence wing in the raised position the wing had to be assembled with the flaps and leading edges set at specific angles. The instructions show what these should be so I used an engineers protractor that was set to the angles in the drawing to set the parts in place.




What I assume is an ECM pod is being added to the top of the fin. So far this has been the worst fitting part of the kit. The two halves are supposed to meet in front of the fin.
They don't!!
I've had to use an off-cut of 1.0mm plastic sheet to fill the gap. This still needs sanding and possibly filling to finish.






Centre section (underwing) added to the fuselage.


Wing assembly test fitted to.fuselage. The rear faces needed a lot of sanding to fit over the fuselage.




Next step is painting. I think I'm going to paint the wing & fuselage as seperate items and apply the decals before assembling the two sections.

Nice work.

Good call on keeping the wings separate for painting. Should make things simpler all round.

Insignia white applied to underside of wings & fuselage, tops of flaps, both sides of the tail planes and various pylons and doors. Still got the rudder to do but I haven't finished shaping the front of that ECM pod.

Someone upstairs has it in for me!!
I applied the Light Grey to the upper surfaces yesterday and set the wings and fuselage aside to dry. Picked up the fuselage today to do the steel colour on the rear - and it had stuck to the turntable.




I've got no idea why - the white had had 24 hours drying time before I applied the grey - I can only assume the 35º heat yesterday softened something on the turn table..
Whatever ' I now need to feather these patches in and repaint.....

Oh and the heat today made the Tamiya X7 used on the nose go gloopy so that may need sanding too

Are you sure it's the heat ?
I've not had heat do that to my paint. I have had it where the paint was slow to cure resulting in finger prints or sticking to other surfaces, it felt dry yet wasn't. Some colours seem more prone to this. I've now resorted to leaving a longer cure time between coats.

digger303 wrote: Thu May 28, 2026 12:28 am Are you sure it's the heat ?
I've not had heat do that to my paint. I have had it where the paint was slow to cure resulting in finger prints or sticking to other surfaces, it felt dry yet wasn't. Some colours seem more prone to this. I've now resorted to leaving a longer cure time between coats.

To be honest - no. But I've used Hataka's "Insignia White" before on that TBM-3 build and this didn'd happen. The build room window face the setting sun and it does get hot in there (by UK standards).

Its a right PITA - I was hoping to get a gloss clear coat on today ready for decalling. Going to have to be a couple more days now as I sort this out.

RangerNeil wrote: Thu May 28, 2026 9:37 am

digger303 wrote: Thu May 28, 2026 12:28 am Are you sure it's the heat ?
I've not had heat do that to my paint. I have had it where the paint was slow to cure resulting in finger prints or sticking to other surfaces, it felt dry yet wasn't. Some colours seem more prone to this. I've now resorted to leaving a longer cure time between coats.

To be honest - no. But I've used Hataka's "Insignia White" before on that TBM-3 build and this didn'd happen. The build room window face the setting sun and it does get hot in there (by UK standards).

Its a right PITA - I was hoping to get a gloss clear coat on today ready for decalling. Going to have to be a couple more days now as I sort this out.

Weather is definitely cooling down and will be significantly cooler from tomorrow. Hopefully that's the end of the problems

Sorry to hear of your painting woes but I have to say it is all looking excellent

One thing that did surprise me from your opening post - you couldn't find a 1/48 Buccaneer in your stash?!?!? How big is your stash man!

Portman wrote: Fri May 29, 2026 11:41 am Sorry to hear of your painting woes but I have to say it is all looking excellent

One thing that did surprise me from your opening post - you couldn't find a 1/48 Buccaneer in your stash?!?!? How big is your stash man!

I have vague memories of building the old Airfix 1/72 Buc back in the 1970s. Am I remembering correctly in that it had a copper (or similar) colored nose cone? That seems to have stuck with me for some reason.

Stokesy44 wrote: Fri May 29, 2026 12:40 pm

Portman wrote: Fri May 29, 2026 11:41 am Sorry to hear of your painting woes but I have to say it is all looking excellent

One thing that did surprise me from your opening post - you couldn't find a 1/48 Buccaneer in your stash?!?!? How big is your stash man!

I have vague memories of building the old Airfix 1/72 Buc back in the 1970s. Am I remembering correctly in that it had a copper (or similar) colored nose cone? That seems to have stuck with me for some reason.

Now you've got me - were the early ones a tan colour..? Presumably from the material used to make a radome.

Underside is sorted - it was worrying because as I was sanding it to feather the edges the paint was peeling off. God knows why - everything was primed using Tamiya surfacer primer. The finish isn't wonderful but acceptable.

Stokesy44 wrote: Fri May 29, 2026 12:40 pm

Portman wrote: Fri May 29, 2026 11:41 am Sorry to hear of your painting woes but I have to say it is all looking excellent

One thing that did surprise me from your opening post - you couldn't find a 1/48 Buccaneer in your stash?!?!? How big is your stash man!

I have vague memories of building the old Airfix 1/72 Buc back in the 1970s. Am I remembering correctly in that it had a copper (or similar) colored nose cone? That seems to have stuck with me for some reason.

It did indeed - I built it around around the same time. Gloss white underside, dark blue uppers and a tan nose cone. Happy memories.

Portman wrote: Fri May 29, 2026 11:41 am Sorry to hear of your painting woes but I have to say it is all looking excellent

One thing that did surprise me from your opening post - you couldn't find a 1/48 Buccaneer in your stash?!?!? How big is your stash man!

Errrr - this big.......

LOL! Fair enough - it'll be in there somewhere!

Decals are going on - wings and tail planes are done, undercarriage legs are done, undercarriage doors are done.
Moving on to the fuselage next - still having paint issues here. Slightest tap is peeling paint off and I've no idea why. The primer is adhering to the plastic but the paint isn't adgering to the primer.... First time I've used Hataka paints on Tamiya surfacer primer. Probably the last. In future I'll stick to Ultimate because I know Hataka sticks to that.












There is a "small" problem coming up with the fuselage mounted missile rails - the holes were opened where indicated but ......

I don't recall you building a Supermarine Swift FR.5 and they were a important aircraft during the cold war with a chequered history.

digger303 wrote: Thu Jun 04, 2026 11:55 am I don't recall you building a Supermarine Swift FR.5 and they were a important aircraft during the cold war with a chequered history.

Correct - I haven't. Its on my "want" list though!!

Looking very nice indeed - interesting issue with the holes, they dropped the ball on that one a bit.

Work continues on the fuselage decals. All the major ones are now on and I've started on the numeroud stencils. Maybe another day will get to the point of a matt clear coat then the eing, tail planes annd jet pipe cane be fitted together with the canopies.
Test fitted these tonught and had to take about 1mm off the base of the ejection seat to get the canpy to close!!

I love it when the decals go on....preferably without a hitch and a lot of swearing.
It really starts to become what it's meant to be.

digger303 wrote: Sat Jun 06, 2026 2:30 am I love it when the decals go on....preferably without a hitch and a lot of swearing.
It really starts to become what it's meant to be.

Was about to post exactly the same thoughts

Thirded - it's one of the best parts of the build. That's looking excellent!

Yeah man. Looking good.

Decals are all on. Undercarriage doors etc. are on, just needs matt varnish on the underside now, the top is done. Then the wings and tailplane can be fitted.

Looking flash even without the wings.

digger303 wrote: Mon Jun 08, 2026 12:39 am Looking flash even without the wings.

Without the wings it looks like an F104 Star Fighter

(Obviously it doesn't but the joke is the F104 has such little wings )

Stokesy44 wrote: Mon Jun 08, 2026 6:55 am

digger303 wrote: Mon Jun 08, 2026 12:39 am Looking flash even without the wings.

Without the wings it looks like an F104 Star Fighter

(Obviously it doesn't but the joke is the F104 has such little wings )

One thing you can say about the Crusader - the wings are NOT small!!

I finished the build tonight - I think it turned out reasonably well in the end.

Well done.

That's a cracking finish. Beautiful clean lines

That's a cracking Crusader - very well done indeed. Nice choice of markings too!

Portman wrote: Thu Jun 11, 2026 11:22 am

That's a cracking Crusader - very well done indeed. Nice choice of markings too!

Many thanks - I must admit to bias when choosing that option - NP are my initials!!

RangerNeil wrote: Thu Jun 11, 2026 12:04 pm

Portman wrote: Thu Jun 11, 2026 11:22 am

That's a cracking Crusader - very well done indeed. Nice choice of markings too!

Many thanks - I must admit to bias when choosing that option - NP are my initials!!

LOL! Nice - that's the sort of thing I'd do!

Stokesy44 wrote: Tue Jun 09, 2026 6:41 am That's a cracking finish. Beautiful clean lines

What he said very well done