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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.

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

Freak
Great idea for a double build. Following!

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.

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

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

Sergej I
Following 🙂 👍

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

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

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...

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

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...

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.

David Fuller
Following

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

Rando
Pilots are fully painted now. The F-8E pilot is based on Dick Schaffert, who was a pilot on this 1966 cruise. While I don't know of any specific plane he flew, F-8 pilots often flew jets that were assigned to others, so he's flying 149180 on this escort mission. In order to accommodate them, I had to remove the rudder pedals and front of the cockpit tub on the F-8E. It won't really be visible when the cockpit is buttoned up anyway.

Rando
I didn't like how the Sundowner helmet turned out so I stripped the paint and airbrushed it this time with tiny wedges of tape, then shaped and touched up everything. Just need to add a black stripe for the visor groove.

J35J
Great attention to details Rando! Following👍🏻

Rando
Thanks and glad to have you J35J! Pilots, seats, ejection handles, and joysticks are all in place. Time soon to start putting the jets together.

Rando
All the interior parts are in, soon time to put the fuselages together 👍

Guy Rump
Looking good, following. 👍

Rando
Hello Guy, welcome 😊

Fuselages are together. Now getting all the panels and gear bay doors to sit flush.

Calvin Gifford
Very nice! How is the Sword kit so far??

Rando
Thanks Calvin! It's quite nice if you remember it's a short run kit and you prep and test fit parts a lot before gluing anything. Has been a far from perfect first effort by me but I like how it goes together. It's shape is pretty accurate too. The Academy kit is very plug-n-play in comparison

Calvin Gifford
👍

S M
Double build! Following!

Rando
Welcome S M! I have been painstakingly installing the gear doors closed. Stuffing blutack in the wheel wells helps with frustration. Both F-8s have tiny aft gear doors on the main bays that took a lot of time to line up. The RF-8's nose doors were also very tricky. Happy to say I'm done getting the gear doors on.

Casey Beckett
Backup RF-8 inbound Rando ! Shipped Friday!

Rando
You the man Casey! Did some scratchbuilding tonight

Casey Beckett
Me too - Bonanza gear struts. God bless Albion Alloys. Great stuff if you've not used any of their items.

Rando
I have not but am always looking to add new things in this hobby, I'll check them out! I actually have an old Minicraft 1/48 Bonanza that I might do something with one of these days.

Rando
Took a big long tour on the clear parts struggle bus this past week. Got glue smudges on a camera window, the windscreen, and canopy on the RF-8, which all had to be buffed out. Hopefully I get the canopies attached snug without issues tomorrow night. Finding that carefully lining the attachment point with Revell Contacta on a toothpick is less risky than TET.

Calvin Gifford
👍

S M
Clear parts look good 👍

Michael Kohl
Like the planes. Like to see them in flighr. Like the effort you put in.
Feel you when putting pilots properly in and closing wheel well doors.
Anxious for the paint job.

Rando
Thanks all, getting closer to painting. A ton of work has gone into smooth out and scribe the lines around the gear bays on both jets, not to mention persistent seams. Also turned my attention to sanding down and rescribing the fictitious bumps on the folding joints, which the RF-8 has as well. The RF-8 also has wedge-shaped plates on the droops, which were only present much later, so those were sanded down as well. There's still a few things I want to try to perfect before I begin painting. I also have to decide if I want to paint the wings separately, in all likelihood I'm going to glue them on first because I want the fuselage section to be flush.

Rando
Alright, wings are on. I feel like this will make masking more complicated, but better for making sure they conform to the fuselage. I am so ready to paint these jets

Calvin Gifford
Whoot!

Nicolas
I missed this one, following. I love these side by side builds.
Great progress so far. 👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
In view of the start of this build, I was tempted by the following motto: "From ugly duckling to swan": the kit offers a number of interesting challenges, but gives an idea of the potential both as a model and as a representation of a true aircraft beauty! I will try my best to make the swan appear....
A first challenge: roughly moulded parts, poor fit and a wing that wants too much in a positive V-position.... A second challenge will follow in the form of a Vacu canopy that has turned yellow with age; this will give me the opportunity to try out the doing in Vac-canopy myself. More of that next time...

Robert Podkoński
Taking a seat here, too 🙂

Roland Sachsenhofer
It's a pleasure!

Transall NG
Nice aircraft !
One was used in the last phase of the New Guinea gold rush in the 30's...
Good luck !
@+

Cuajete
Great, Roland!
I would like to see the steps you follow when making the Vac-canopy.

J35J
Very intresting project! Taking a seat.

Alex K
In...

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you for your interest, I appreciate it!
Cuajete, I'd be happy to show you a few photos of the progress of the construction and application of the self-moulded Vac canopy. It seems to have produced a reasonable result so far....

Roland Sachsenhofer
These pictures start a build that gives me my first experience with 'Clear Prop' - and they are good ones! The fineness of the shapes, the accuracy of fit and the meaningfulness of the construction steps seem to combine to create a pleasurable building experience!
This plane is also highly interesting: originally derived as a drone for shooting practice from a small civilian predecessor model, hundreds were pulverised in the air. Some of those that survived this use went on to have an amazing career as light sports aircraft and enjoyed great popularity in the 1940s.

bughunter
Oh, a brand new kit?
It is hard to keep track all your parallel running builds! You speed of building all those birds is simply unbelievable and a great mystery to me!

Robert Podkoński
I have the same impressions as Bughunter, frankly speaking 🙂 Following this build for sure.

Michael Kohl
Me too

Roland Sachsenhofer
Hello mates! How nice that this small but lovely project has your interest and positive feedback! Indeed, a brand new kit that immediately caught my interest when I stumbled across it - so it ended up on the workbench straight away.
To answer the question about the current density of my projects: on the one hand, I sometimes wonder myself 🙂 On the other hand, I suspect that it has something to do with running three or four, maybe even five (at the moment, for example) projects in parallel . Something is 'always' being finished or started.

Roland Sachsenhofer
I made the following preparations for the bright red of the final surface: first I applied yellow followed by a layer of white to the model. After drying, I sanded this base, which should make the following red "glow", with 1000, 1200 and 2000 grit sandpaper to make the colour layers more transparent again, to get a smooth surface and to find any flaws - you can see a few exposed on the fuselage and tail unit. I am surprised by the very high quality of the kit and look forward to finishing it!

Roland Sachsenhofer
It looks like the Culver PQ-14 is ready! This was a most enjoyable project from start to finish. I am delighted with my first "clear prop" kit and I enjoyed the unusual history of the original. I made the seat belts and the aerial wiring, everything else can be found in the beautifully finished kit.
Thank you for your interest and your helpful and motivating comments!

Robert Podkoński
Simply beautiful!

Neuling
Yes! And good photos.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you very much, mates- very appreciated!!

gorby
Lovely!
I've not seen this aircraft before.

Alex K
Beautiful! Great work as always... 👍 And also: thanks for showing this - it gave me the opportunity to revisit Culver's lineage: the Culver Dart, Cadet, Model V... the role played by Al Mooney... the PQ drones... Lovely!

Guy Rump
Great job of yet another unusual aircraft. 👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you for your motivating comments and your interest in a not often seen aircraft, mates! Alex, your list was an inspiration for me to have a look - and to find some interesting aircraft and interesting references - Culver: an amazing manufacturer! thanks!

Vincent
Great result. This is indeed a great subject!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Vincent, thank you for your kind reply, appreciated!

Roland Sachsenhofer
I would like to realise two of the three markings from the kit, one of which is an F.13 celebrity of the first hour: "Annelise" (without the long "I") 🙂
The first round of the build is currently progressing without any problems... although I am already aware of some fitting difficulties! I enjoyed the seating: open air in the front and the fight for survival, in the good little parlour in the back, old-school leather interior and a ticking wall clock while sipping tea!

Dieter Bihlmaier
As always, Roland looks very good up to here. How is the fit of the wing trailing edges?

gorby
Lovely work on the interior.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you both very much! Dieter for your kind reply, I can't say yet, as I'm still busy assembling the hull - but I'll keep you and you up to date!

Roland Sachsenhofer
The construction of the two Junkers machines is progressing! The nice thing is that the sanding of the glued seams on the fuselage and surfaces will be very limited, at least where corrugated sheet metal edge meets corrugated sheet metal edge. But their " grooves" have to be well continued - also quite entertaining!
Here you can see the whole unvarnished truth of a freshly glued raw state: nothing has been cleaned up yet, just the worst areas have been filled or filled with plastic card.

Robert Podkoński
Taking a seat, of course!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Feel very welcome, Robert! 🙂

Ludvík Kružík
Great choice! Junkers corrugated sheet aircraft are very interesting. Definitely a nice machine to add to your collection.

By the way, I kind of automatically assumed the cockpit was enclosed and the cockpit "portholes" were glass. The shape of the fuselage directly invites this idea. Only your comment and subsequent study of the documentation for this aircraft made me realize that I was wrong.

Thomas Espe
👀 !

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you mates! Yes, the Junkers F.13 is so unusual and uncommon that it never ceases to amaze!