Done @p.3 +++ 1:72 Rockwell A-8B ‘Destrier’, USMC VMA-311 ‘Tomcats‘, 1981

[Dizzyfugu]

Probably last project for 2025 and might run over into 2026: a kitbashing whif for a CAS aircraft for USAF and USMC, as a replacement for the A-1 and a "step down" from the A-7 as well as an alternative to the A-4. No pics to show yet, but it will be a recycling work of North American hardware. 

Stay tuned.

[PR19_Kit]

Run over into 2026? You've got ten whole DAYS to go yet!     

[Old Wombat]

Ah, yes, but Dizzy's time machine doesn't seem to be functioning as well as it used to, lately.   

[Dizzyfugu]

Well, the last year has not been very uplifting, and I markedly lost some energy and mojo.

[kerick]

A new year brings new opportunities.

[Dizzyfugu]

BTW. the project makes good progress - I just havent' found time to edit WiP pics or write down the building process.
The thing already stands on its own feet and painting phase is closing in. Looks ...interesting! 

[Dizzyfugu]

First thing to actually show: the main ingredients! 


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

[PR19_Kit]

That Revell Fury is the old Emhar kit, isn't it?

I've still got a couple of the originals in The Loft somewhere.

[Captain Canada]

Both cool aeroplanes in their own right.....

[Old Wombat]

Interesting combination. More interesting to see how you bash them together. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Here we go, with pics now.    The inspiration came (actually long ago) when I found some design proposals for USN/USMC attack aircraft from the Sixties in literature, e.g. Vought's V-406 and V-433. Additionally I had always thought about a strike version of the T-2 Buckeye, even though the latter turned out to be very unpractical. However, there remained the fact that the T-2 used "recycled" the wings from the vintage FJ Fury jet fighter, and maybe North American or its successor, Rockwell International, had followed that concept again for a light attack aircraft submission, as a A-1 successor for the USAF or a cheaper alternative for the A-7, esp. for the USMC?

This led to the T-2 and the FJ-4B as body donors (yes, Kit, it's the Emhar kit), and the concept of changing propulsion to a turboprop for a compact single-seater for CAS duties.

Work started with the Matchbox T-2 wings, which were taken OOB but had their flaps cut out and lowered (because it was easy to realize and simply makes the static model look more interesting).


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Another thing that required lots of attention is the Fury's cockpit (yes, its fuselage is used, but see below). The OOB offering is... doubtful, so I decided to implant a completely different/new cockpit tub and dashboard, including scratched side walls and a new MB bang seat. This new tub also had the benefit that I was able to put lots of lead beads under it as support and to keep the nose down. At this stage I also started to modify the nose for a (massive) propeller implant, with a chin intake (using the FJ-4B part) and a dead duct behind it with blackened foamed styrene inside to block sight/light.


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

As already mentioned, the FJ-4B fuselage was used, but the tail called for a fundamental decision. Originally I just planned to use the whole hull, add the prop and close the jet exhaust at the tail, relocating the turboprop exhaust to the right flank (à la V-433 to counter torque). But I found that... boring, and I wanted a more original side profile. So, the idea was born to transplant the T-2 tail wholesale, too!
That, however, called for more and massive surgery, because fuselage wdith and depth hardly match. One measure was to cut away wedges from the FJ-4's fuselage halves to narrow them down by 3mm, but the intersection with the T-2 tail still called for about 1mm PSR. Messy! The FJ-4B's spine also had to disappear.

1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

At that point I also started wo work on the prop and its attachment to the nose. The prop comes from a Quickboost set with resin props for a P-3 Orion - all blades separate and attached only with tiny/thin/fragile pins to the spinner, which thankfully comes with appropriate holes for them. To hold the prop and create an adapter I used a section from a Tornado drop tank, added a styrene tube inside and a metal axis to the prop.


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Eventually, things looked like this:


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Once the wing surfaces were attached the PSR orgy started... The area around the tail hook als required more attention than expected, because of the raising ventral line of the T-2 tail vs. the "flat" FJ-4B bottom. Thanks to the Emhar kit's separate tail hook compartment I was able to bridge that area and create something plausible.


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Next problem: the canopy. It is not only utterly thick (1.5mm, I guess), it also hardly matches the fuselage. So, more PSR, in an attempt to sculpt the cockpit area that it matches the clear parts, at least better than OOB...


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Once the overall shape was settled a hole for the new exhaust was drilled, a plastic straw will become the new jet pipe.


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

After more PSR it became time for the smaller external bits and pieces, e .g. the landing gear (taken wholesale from the T-2 and the FJ-4B - looks a bit stalky but we will need the ground clearance!), hardpoints, and cannon gondolas under the wing roots. These were a conceptional fight - I wanted guns (to suppress enemy fire during an attack), but the wings outside the propeller disc did not offer a suitable place to mount them. Underwing gondolas were ruled out because they's block space for other external ordnance. Most interestingy, designs like the V-433 were supposed to carry a synchronized M61 Vulcan gun in the belly to fire through the propeller - I found that to be too complex and just settled for a pair of 20mm Mk. 12 guns, also synchroniezd, though. Anachronistic, but the best available place and space.

With the ability to stand on lits of feet it was time to check the prop, its size and clearance. That turned out to look better than expected, I just clipped the prop tips (to a square shape) later because the original P-3 prop appeared slightly oversized.


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Additionally, the canopy was cut into twom pieces and attached, too. And at the moment I am about to paint this abomination and have settled upon its weapon load. 

[PR19_Kit]

Magic stuff Thomas! 

I DO like the way this is going, I've always liked both the FJ-4 and the T-2, and have kits of both of them in The Loft but have never built either as yet.

Mixing them looks to be a great idea, and it's going very well. 

[Dizzyfugu]

It's messy! 

[Dizzyfugu]

Another update! At this stage I also settled upon external ordnance beyond the guns. I went for iron bombs, LOTS of them, exploiting the potential payload capability of the A-8. The result: a total of eighteen M. 81 "Firecracker" 250 lb bombs, on two MERs under the fuselage and two twin launchers under the outer wings.


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

However, these parts/bombs came from a Hobby Boss A-7 kit, and all the bombs had to be assembled from two halves plus the fuzes - a building nightmare! Due to the Hobby Boss sprues I had to outfit four of the bombs with elongated soft ground fuzes, these went under the streamlined twin ejector racks (left over from an Italeri F-18 kit), and single bombs were hung under the outmost pylons. An impressive load, but the aircraft would have been able to haul it around - highly effective for its intended CAS role!

Additionally, the USMC livery, lent and adpted from early AV-8Bs (FS 34064, 36099 and 36440), is in the making.


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Rockwell International A-8B 'Destrier'; aircraft 'WL 03' of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) VMA-311 'Tomcats'; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (USA/Arizona), 1981 (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

[Captain Canada]

Thst looks incredible ! Nice work.