CVW-16 Crusaders double build: RF-8G with F-8E escort

1
May 16, 2024
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February 26, 2024
3
February 26, 2024
BuNo. 146871. This jet survived flights over Cuba and Vietnam, including some over very hostile territory. It was flown by some noteworthy RF-8 pilots, including William Ecker, Andre Coltrin, and Tom Tucker. Remarkably it survived great battle damage, serving into the 70s when it met its fate in an accident.
4
February 26, 2024
One of the F-8Es assigned to VF-111 during the 1966 USS Oriskany cruise. I find photos of F-8Es in Sundowner livery are not as common as F-8Cs, maybe because not as many were assigned to VF-111. This is the aircraft that can be built straight out of the Academy box.
5
March 30, 2024
An example of RF-8Gs assigned to CVW-16 during 1966. They had the blended "AH" that VF-111 also wore on the tail, which was an uncommon practice for recce attachments, who almost always had their own tail code. These RF-8s also had no distinctive unit livery at the time--nothing on the strakes, tail, fuselage, nothing.
6
March 29, 2024
A view of 146874, another Det G RF-8. I cannot find any photos of the upper starboard wing, which is where they often had codes. CVW-16 F-8s from VF-162 and VF-111 however did not carry them on this cruise, so I can probably omit the wing AH code for the RF-8 as well.
7
March 29, 2024
Originally I planned to use the Academy decals for the VF-111 jet, but I have an issue with the red wingtip decals that come with the kit--they're way too wide looking. In every picture I see of VF-111 F-8s, the wingtips are much more narrow. So Furball decals it is.
8
March 29, 2024
Kind of a nitpick but it just doesn’t look right to me being that wide, and the red color is too bright, probably because it was printed the same shade as the Marines jet. Also, the blended "AH" tail code is really “thin” and doesn’t look right either. Fortunately I now have two Furball sheets with the AH so both planes codes can look the same next to each other.
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May 15, 2024
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May 15, 2024
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May 15, 2024
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May 19, 2024
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May 19, 2024

Comments

34 26 February, 14:43

Rando
Been cooking up this idea since I got the 1/72 RF-8. My original plan was to build the plane in the cover of the Osprey RF-8 book, flown by Lt Andre Coltrin over Vietnam. With a little help from a 1/72 version of the Furball MiG Master sheet, I will rearrange the nose and tail numbers to make BuNo 146871 as it flew in Vietnam during its 1966 cruise off the USS Oriskany.

I also found an Academy F-8E, which has decals for a VF-111 jet that flew on the same cruise, so decided I will build it as the RF-8's escort, which they often had during their photo runs. I also figured, why not build them together? They will be displayed in flight.

26 February, 22:47

Oleg Bogolei
Nice idea and intersiting projeact. Also have two of them in a stash)

27 February, 07:32

Freak
Great idea for a double build. Following!

27 February, 11:56

Rando
Good to have you gents, looking to start this one soon! I like researching and adding reference photos, so I just added some in the meantime.

29 March, 13:32

Urban Gardini
Now this seems like a build that I've to follow!

29 March, 13:34

Rando
Welcome Urban, happy to have you! "It's only a model!"

29 March, 13:50

Sergej I
Following 🙂 👍

3 April, 20:08

Rando
Hi Sergej! I'm very very excited to get started on this one

3 April, 22:26

Casey Beckett
Following - got 3 of those nice new Sword RF's in the stash.

3 April, 22:31

Jos Jansen
Normally I don't follow 1:72 scale models...for this one I'll make an exception...😅😉, grab myself a seat here! Love those Crusaders...

23 April, 12:53

Patrick Hagelstein
Got intrigued by Rando's comment on Jos' build, so I popped over here. Looks like a very interesting build as well!

23 April, 13:10

Rando
Happy to have you gents here, I'll be getting to this one just as soon as my elaborate P-51 build is done...

24 April, 14:14

Rando
Here we go, double Crusader build. Gonna be comparing the short-run Sword RF-8 with Academy's F-8, which has been the go-to in 1/72. I have extra Academy kits so I'm swapping out the RF-8 kit's nice resin seat, I'll use it for a future open canopy build. The pilots will be obscuring seat detail in a closed canopy anyway.

15 May, 03:54

David Fuller
Following

16 May, 12:04

Rando
Welcome David!

I assembled the PJ pilots and started nipping off parts to assemble the fuselage. Getting the pilots to fit in their seats is tricky so far. Fit on the Academy kit parts is pretty nice. Sword kit is not as easy since there's no locator pins but they align well

19 May, 04:25

Project info

VFP-63 Vought RF-8G & VF-111 F-8E escort

13 images

1:72

In progress

1:72 F8U-1P/RF-8A over Cuba (Sword SW72149)

1:72 MiG Masters (Furball Aero-Design 72-002)

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