F-8S "Super Crusader" - Ultimate USN Dogfighter - Done P. 6

[PolluxDeltaSeven]

Yes it's got 3x Sparrow and 2x Sidewinder, I see no need to add the wing pylons.  Besides, I'm out of Sidewinders for the moment.  I can understand where you're coming from with erasing the Convair, but that airplane gave me the excuse I needed to get rid of the F/A-18 Hornet.  I know this is what-if and I can pretty much do what I like here, but I feel compelled to try to keep it somewhat realistic.  I suppose it's not out of the question to erase both the Convair and the Hornet, maybe I'll rework the backstory a little.  Although, then I might be tempted to print another one and build it as an ultra-modernized variant with AIM-120s or something!

How, if you erase the Hornet, it does make sense. The Convair could enter service slowly in the early 80s, maybe first in the STOVL configuration, so the Crusader III still has "room to live", moreover if the Convair program suffers some delays, pushing the Crusader III into longer service life time. And then later the CATOBAR Convair could partially replace the Super Crusader I suppose ?

Honestly, it's not easy to imagine the 80s and 90s US Navy without the Hornet, giving the fact that it replace so many types of aircraft ! If you get rid of F-18, you may have room for two or three different light aircraft, I suppose.

[Spino]

Yes it's got 3x Sparrow and 2x Sidewinder, I see no need to add the wing pylons.  Besides, I'm out of Sidewinders for the moment.  I can understand where you're coming from with erasing the Convair, but that airplane gave me the excuse I needed to get rid of the F/A-18 Hornet.  I know this is what-if and I can pretty much do what I like here, but I feel compelled to try to keep it somewhat realistic.  I suppose it's not out of the question to erase both the Convair and the Hornet, maybe I'll rework the backstory a little.  Although, then I might be tempted to print another one and build it as an ultra-modernized variant with AIM-120s or something!

How, if you erase the Hornet, it does make sense. The Convair could enter service slowly in the early 80s, maybe first in the STOVL configuration, so the Crusader III still has "room to live", moreover if the Convair program suffers some delays, pushing the Crusader III into longer service life time. And then later the CATOBAR Convair could partially replace the Super Crusader I suppose ?

Honestly, it's not easy to imagine the 80s and 90s US Navy without the Hornet, giving the fact that it replace so many types of aircraft ! If you get rid of F-18, you may have room for two or three different light aircraft, I suppose.

That was my thinking originally, and honestly the more I think about it the more inclined I am to stick with it.

I've got an extra AIM-7 left over from the F-15X build (only needed three for this Super Crusader), so if I can figure a way to make a canopy for another one I'll probably do an F-8H at some point.

[Captain Canada]

Beautiful. Love the way she looks with the missiles !

[Spino]

I know this is sort of like putting the cart before the horse, but I really wanted to see what it looked like with decals on.  All that's left now is the canopy and instrument panel.

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My VTAS pilot model still has issues printing, so for now I substituted one of my modern pilot figures with the Scorpion HMS (or something similar).  I'm either going to use him or a leftover pilot figure from a Revell F-14.

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[HarryPhishnuts]

That is turning out awesome.   

[Spino]

Canopy is on now, just waiting for the paint to dry and then I'm calling this one done.

[kerick]

Awesome! Lots of work putting this together.

[Spino]

That is turning out awesome.   

Awesome! Lots of work putting this together.

Thank you both!  I'm not the greatest modeler by any means, but this is probably one of the best I've done so far.  I'm extremely pleased with how it turned out!

[Spino]

All right gents, I'm calling this one done.  Here are the photos.

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[PR19_Kit]

Looks like it'd doing M 3.0+ just standing still! 

[DogfighterZen]

Cool stuff!  

[zenrat]

 

[Spino]

Looks like it'd doing M 3.0+ just standing still! 

Supposedly the Vought engineers projected a theoretical top speed of Mach 2.9, but they would have had to use a lot more titanium (and a different material for the windscreen/canopy) to avoid running into thermal limits.  Also I'm fairly sure they would have needed the rocket booster that the Crusader III had provision for to get anywhere near that speed.