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Desert Marlin
Yep, always been curious about this mod. I will watch how this goes! Cheers.

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. 👍

Rando
Hi friends three months later I'm finally painting the damn things. Here's my current take on preshading, blackbasing, what have you. Gave the white areas a white base that I preshaded with dark gull grey. Then mottled the black with white for some variation with the light gull grey. Elsewhere I built the missiles, launch rails, and painting the horizontal stabs.

Thomas Kolb
Coming along nicely! Your blackbasing tedhnique looks very effective, I am curious how they will turn out!

Rando
I've painted the undersides of the CVW-16 birds. Unfortunately I did something stupid, something I even decided against at first--I tried doing a "pour" into the intakes to get them painted. This was a bad idea for the RF-8 in particular. I thought that since they were glued together I could get away with no leaks, but I saw the paint level draining, and I knew the paint would appear inside the camera windows. Lo and behold I saw paint when I peeked under the masks.

Feels horrible that I did this, even if I have some ways I could fix them. I can pop the side windows out and clean the bottom side windows, but putting them back in will be a pain since the side windows are meant to be attached from the inside. UGH. Any clever ideas to fix this mess are welcome, this is definitely one of those "mojo killers."

Guy Rump
Following. 👍

bughunter
After a health problem, I stopped modelling for a short time. I didn't want to continue the projects I had started because I wasn't in the mood for scratch modelling. I wanted to make a quick project - almost oob. Of course with a wooden propeller, because building one is just fun.
Working on two Pfalz D.IIIa (one as a triplane conversion) a long time ago was great fun and there was still a special kit waiting in my stash: a Limited Edition Dual Combo Pfalz D.III. No, I haven't forgotten the "a", this really is the forerunner of the D.IIIa. Eduard has re-released the D.IIIa kit often, but this Edition is from 2005 and was never released again. I hear some voices: Limited Editions are for collecting, not building. Never mind, I'm building the kit now!

I'm building the machine from the cover picture - and because there's a heart on it, I'm dedicating the build to my wife, who always supports me!

John
Looks great!

Nathan Dempsey
Following. Welcome back!

Kyle DeHart
Excellent to see you Frank!! I can't wait to follow along with this. Which is sure to be another beautiful build. Any edition…Limited, or otherwise sounds like something to build to me!! But maybe I'm doing things wrong. Ha!!

Erik
Zum Glück bist Du wieder fit! 👍
Sieht mal wieder klasse aus, die kleinen Steuerseile sind geil. 🙂

gorby
Looks like an interesting project Frank. I must admit that I don't know much about WWI aircraft and your builds are often a lesson about the real machines as well as a lesson in modelling.

Robert Podkoński
Taking a seat, of course!

bughunter
Thank you very much mates! Great to know that you are following 👍
Yeah Kyle, all kits can be build. But some collects rare kits as investment and hope to sell it later for higher prices. Once started the value goes near zero. But we have fun building them and that is invaluable!
@gorby You will see later that the Pfalz fighters are elegant planes!

Kyle DeHart
Indeed. I take a great pleasure in opening up and building valuable kits. I would be a really horrible collector. Lol.

Martin Oostrom
I have a few rare ones. But I'll gladly build them when the time comes. That's what kits are for!

KyMustang
Charming little airplane and great job on the build so far.

David Taylor
Watching.

Marcel Klemmer
I am in

Zbynek Honzik
Taking a seat!

Ben M
watching!

bughunter
A warm welcome to the show also for the new visitors!
I hope to have it ready for our next club meeting, so it will be a quick build (for my standards).

Michael Kohl
Good to see you back at the bench. I consider the Pfalz DIII one of the most elegant WWI planes and have two in my stash too. So I won't miss this build.
Keep it coming.

Kyle DeHart
The Pfalz really does have a lovely shape.

Ludvík Kružík
I'm also glad you're back on the bench. I really enjoy watching you build models.

... by the way... I really like to buy Eduard limited edition models. They include lots of extras and often a publication with photos and information about the type whose model is in the box. I still have some of the limited edition models in my closet. Not because I just collect them, but because I haven't managed to build them yet. 🙂

Bruce Huxtable
I'm sorry to hear that you had a health scare, and hope that all is okay again for you. Your projects are always inspiring and a joy to follow. Have fun bringing this special one to life 🙂

bughunter
Thank you very much mates! Your nice comments are highly appreciated!
I hope to show later new pictures showing the elegant lines even more.
@Ludvik Since this is an older kit in this case not a single word about the type! Only a ink jet printed manual, and one colorful, nicely printed sheet showing the six markings including decal placement. Anyway, the kit parts and PE are nice, a mask is also included.
@Bruce Ageing is not for cowards! But at least the fun is back with this project so I made also good progress.

bughunter
Now some colour comes into play! I drew some masks and had them cut by the plotter.

Christoph Kunz
Happy you're back, but what the heck???
This is a speedbuild, never seen one made by you.
And it's going to be an elegant one 👍

bughunter
Yes Christoph, that was exactly the reason why I selected this kit/project from my stash! Due to my two Eduard D.IIIa I was fully aware of the kit and I know what have to be done where. For the paint I used here Alclad and Mr.Paint so I could do all the masking and painting on one afternoon 🙂 MrPaint is the "modelling turbo"!
Even the rigging is not very complicated, no crosses inside the struts, and a single-bay biplane 👍

Christian Bruer
Another masterpiece in the making 👍

Ludvík Kružík
The speed with which you have progressed on this model is admirable. The paintwork turned out great and the different shades of silver depending on the material the paint was applied to look very good.

Kyle DeHart
Beautiful progress!! You're marching your way right through this one!!

John
That is a lovely machine with a lovely scheme as well. I really do need to do a few WWI subjects. Camo was in its infancy and making a reputation seemed more important at the time so what better way than to add a garish (some would say "striking") paint job? Though, I do NOT need to add more to the stash, I will be 100+ before I finish what I have. As you note, getting older is not fun, but it's preferable to the alternative! Good to see you back. 👍

Skyhiker
Gosh, that's beautiful bughunter.

J35J
Amazing work again bughunter! You're builds are great inspiration👍🏻

bughunter
Thanks to all for your wonderful feedback!

@Ludvik That is only one thin common layer of Semi Matt Alu. The underground shines through, like a preshading.

@John There are many very nice schemes available in my Pfalz references, especially in the "Pfalz D.IIIa at war" books (I have another D.IIIa Profipack in my shash). Regarding the second kit of this Dual Combo: The six Eduard markings are nice, but I will try to replicate a beautiful blue/red four-view profile painted by Ronny Bar in the Kagero book.
Regarding camo and colorful markings: The German printed fabric known as Lozenge had to task to avoid the detection of the aircraft type from far away (blur contours). The colorful markings were needed during dog fights with many fighters for quick detection of enemy, friends and leaders, as there were no radios yet (ok, some air-to-gound radios with morse code in two seaters; but no communication between fighters).

@J35J Then I hope the further steps will fulfill your expectations!

Mr D
Nice ... very nice choice 👍👍👍 been considering one soon... Has it been a good kit ??

bughunter
Oh yes, the Eduard Pfalz D.III series are great kits! There are small things which can be fixed and I mention them in my build reports. If you click on my Pfalz Collection you can see also my other builds of this kit.
The kit has also optional parts, e.g. for the D.IIIa two lower wings in different shapes. There was also a PE sheet for the IIIa with many more nice parts than on the little Profipack PE.

Alec K
Taking a late seat. The subtle variation in aluminum color is excellent. I also like the painted-on insignia and markings 👍

Mr D
Thanks 👍👍 the kit does look really precise, will check out build,
I have an RC version from E-file, as always loved the look of the look of them..l put photo in my main Album.
Thanks for Advice 😁

bughunter
That huge RC bird looks nice, but is an Albatros and not a Pfalz 😉

Mr D
Thanks, 😃👍 calm weather flyer....looks great in the air.
Ok....your better informed on the WW1 stuff , l tend to watch vids n research an aircraft on and around the building ....for ref n learning.
It's mainly been ww2 n cold war I've built so far.
Best of luck with rest of build it's brilliant job so far.

bughunter
New pictures are uploaded with the prepared undercarriage. At first I wanted to use the kit parts, but I checked my other Pfalz in the cabinet: the legs are very flexible. In this new case my legs had also a mould offset (that is something I hate on filigree plastic parts!) so for fix this it would made the legs more weak.
As many of my newer models has metal legs now I decided to do it here too. As other advantage they are finer and looks more scale.

Ben M
Those offsets are so frustrating.

Pepe
as usual..... superb!!!!!

Ludvík Kružík
I was waiting to see how long your determination to build a model as an OOB would last. That's exactly how my builds are going. Every time I decide to build a model as an OOB, there is always some thing that needs to be adjusted. 😉

Kyle DeHart
Outstanding work on that undercarriage. It looks wonderful

Michael Kohl
Do you just wrap the stretched sprue around the struts of the suspension or do you soften it before by any means?

bughunter
Another set of nice comments - thank you very much!
Michael, I have different colored sprues for such tasks. Some short run plastic do not work, but typically the Eduard ones and some others works nicely. They are very flexible if thin so I no not soften them. You just have to be careful not to create a snare when wrapping, because then the material can break. I secure it with CA.

bughunter
The decals are applied. Only the wheels are not yet done, because I have to repaint them.

Alec K
Superb work. For the legs (pic 32), do you first bend the brass tube and then squeeze it to shape?

bughunter
Good question Alec! I squeezed at first and bend it after that, slowly and careful. I keep the brass between two plates and one leg in a vice to avoid that it moves outwards. See also pic 30.
Have not tried it, may be other way around works too?

Alec K
👍

bughunter
Small progress on different parts. Most of the rigging is prepared now 🙂

Jakub Fiala
Really great work, which is not surprising at all.😄 👍 Since I'm just starting my very first WWI project (Eduards Pfalz D.IIIa), your builds are a great inspiration for me.

bughunter
Thank you very much! Good decision - it is a great kit! I need some fixes to be correct, e.g. the engine is a different 180hp Mercedes.
My D.III here is now a biplane. May be I can show some pics later.

bughunter
Ok, today this build is running for exactly three weeks! I'm not yet finished, but many things are done already - including the rigging! Only two wires for control of the ailerons needs to be added. Also the airscrew and the spinner needs some attention.

Although this is a speed build by my standards, it remains incomprehensible to me how one is supposed to build such a model from an Eduard Weekend Edition in a weekend?

Kyle DeHart
Yes gorgeous work, as usual. Looks like it is getting closer and a very quick build for you. I'm really liking it.

Nick Dragone
Very nice work. A clean build with very nice details. WWI aircraft are a labor of love. This one is exceptional

bughunter
Thank you mates for your very kind words!
Nick I think others of my biplanes are more "exceptional", as this is here a near oob build without that much scratch work 🙂

Christoph Kunz
Happy, that you don't do real oob 🙂

Dietmar Bogatzki
Awesome build and paintjob so far, Bughunter 👍

bughunter
Dankeschön! 🙂
I slowly work towards the front to finish this project.

Ludvík Kružík
Pfalz with the added details looks very good. Also the tiny red arrows on the engine covers and the small lettering on the fuselage give the model a realistic look. Very nice progress. 👍

bughunter
Thank you very much Ludvík!
Now to the next pics ...

bughunter
With adding the last pictures the project is finished now 🙂 Thanks for watching and commenting!
After s little weathering I will try to take the final shots.

Mr D
Prop finish looks good, thanks for your uploads n sharing project... Much appreciated 👍👍

bughunter
Thank you Mr D! I forgot to take pictures of some details like the mirror and the aileron levers, but you can see those in the album of the finished model - don't miss it:
Pfalz D.III 4056/17 | Album by bughunter (1:48)

Alec K
This thing is a beauty, and you finished it in record time! 👍

Martin Oostrom
A great job Bugsy. I hope your recovery is complete now and we can enjoy loads more of your beautiful builds.

Kyle DeHart
Brilliant!! I shall go now to drool over the finished photos.

KyMustang
Wow. It's flawless.

Igor Zhuravlev
Oh, no, this level of details just can't be true. Admit you have domesticated ants to do this job. I'm speechless, anyway

David Taylor
Another lovely build Bughunter.

bughunter
Thank you very much mates for leaving such nice comments 😎
Don't miss the final pictures!

CaptGPF
Nice building weathering. Love the dust effects.

Rui
Very nice build!
I can almost sense the dry dust heat 👍

Gary Victory
Really nice work and love the weathering. Top Job.

Erik
Dusty Work! 😉 Like the Weathering and the realistic Groundwork.

gorby
Perfect! I love how it's displayed.

Treehugger
I am stuck with a similar project, afraid to make a mistake.

Q: How did you add the dust to the clear parts, and was the effect sealed in varnish or something afterwards?

Neuling
Top work. Everything just fine, terrain included.

coporado
Great job, I love the weathering and presentation!

F Matthews
For dust on the clear parts, I used a very diluted/thinned dust/buff acrylic misted with an airbrush on some surfaces and dust pigments on the front windscreens and in touch-ups to even out the effect.

Pietro De Angelis
Stunning subjet and dio, congrats!

Rui S
Beautiful Work ,indeed 👍

Doubtingmango
Should win an award if you show it

Simon Nagorsnik
That´s cool 👍

Mathias Decommere
Perfect!

Michael Kohl
Everything you show here looks very good. The little vignettes bring them to life.

Mr James
Beautiful desert weathering. Superb display

Desert Marlin
This one too! Very nicely done!

Alex Rakhimgulov
Looks awesome!

Neuling
I agree. At first glance I thought it`s 1/16 kit. Very good weathering and terrain!

Doubtingmango
Fantastic job on an uncommon subject. Don't see many IVAs

Mr James
Fantastic German grey weathering

Desert Marlin
Well done! Looks great!

bughunter
The weather was ok today to try some outdoor pictures of the finished Pfalz D.III.
The pictures were taken 65 kilometres away from the airfield of the "Bayerische Militärfliegerschule 5" in Gersthofen - the place where the original photo was taken.

Alec K
Beautiful! And what a cool historical tie-in. 👍

Martin Oostrom
Your biplane shrinking machine is working as well as ever Bugsy. Another one to be proud of.

Dieter Bihlmaier
Wunderbar! Great build and fantastic pictures.

Doubtingmango
Another masterpiece!

Zbynek Honzik
A true masterpiece! 👏👏👏

bughunter
Thank you very much mates!
Dieter, the pictures are taken outdoor with two tripods.
I just added some pictures made in light tent.

Dieter Bihlmaier
Thank you!

Pietro De Angelis
WOW!

Kyle DeHart
This is a stunner Frank!! A gorgeous airframe and I absolutely love the paint scheme as well. Your typical eye for beautiful detail in all the right spots push this to your usual next level build. It is truly always a pleasure to watch one of your builds

gorby
I may not know much about WWI aircraft but I know a beautiful aircraft and model when I see one. Another stunner Frank.

Joerg R.
Toll geworden!
Bin auch eine am Bauen, bin aber noch nicht soweit, wie du.
Will mir noch den Motor in 3D erstellen und drucken.
Gruss

Bruce Huxtable
Soo nice - what a delight to the eye 🙂

Ludvík Kružík
Bughunter, that's another great result of your work. Perfectly built model and well presented. Congratulations! 👍👍👍

Nathan Dempsey
Beautiful work as usual!

Jakub Fiala
Beautiful !!! I was following the build with pleasure and the result is amazing 👍
Excellent pictures, as well 👍

bughunter
Hello mates!
I went on a hiking holiday straight after the release of the final album of this project. That's why I haven't replied here yet. I can make up for that now: many thanks to everyone for the kind words! ❤️️
In case you have not seen it: there is also an Work-In-Progress album attached to the project.

scalemates
fixed