1/72 Academy F8E Crusader

by Tim Groombridge

--------------------

 

Straight out the box! (As you'd expect from me :-)  But boy!  I loved building this kit. It's really tidy, with far more detail than you'd expect from a 72 kit.  Not that I'm saying I did anything special with it; but I simply can't take my eyes off it - it's sat on my mantlepiece right now and has already made me late for work once ;-)  It's a heck of a graceful bird. I have a bit of a thing for carrier based jets and the Crusader has to be one of my favourites.

The build was fairly easy, though I tried to integrate some techniques that had been practiced on earlier builds (all of which on ARC).  This kept me on my toes.  However, purists will note that the plane lacks the bare metal finish that should surround the area where the elevators meet the fuselage, but I swear  - the reference pics I was working from did not show this.  On completion of the build I discovered another pic that showed them... *cue dismal silence from me*

...one day I'll get it right ;-)  Anyway, I aint gonna beat myself up, I feel like this build was a proving ground for me and most of it turned out pretty handsome.

Tim 

Click on images below to see larger images

  

 

Photos and text © by Tim Groombridge