Academy 1/72 F-8E Crusader
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Overview
In a nutshell, the F-8 Crusader was the U.S. Navy's last single-engined
fighter aircraft which saw extensive usage in Vietnam. The type also flew
with the French Navy and with the Philippines armed forces. There are
a great number of books and websites out there that deal with the Crusader,
so if you find yourself wanting to know more about the plane, I highly
recommend seeking those out.
The Kit
 Okay,
we all heard the rumors for quite some time that Academy was coming out
with an F-8 kit in 1/72, but as the months turned into years many thought
it was never going to happen. Well, it happened. And how. Academy has
been steadily improving their kit quality over the last few years to the
point where their newest kits like the P-38 are simply stunning. This
kit is no exception. There has been some very careful thought put into
this kit, both in engineering and in future potential. More on that later,
though.
The kit is molded in the typical Academy light gray plastic, with finely
recessed panel lines throughout. Additionally there is a single tree of
clear parts providing the windscreen and separate canopy as well as the
gunsight, landing lights, and nose IR sensor. The decal sheet is just
as impressive as the kit itself, with two options included. Additionally,
the decal sheet features a hefty amount of stenciling, a welcome touch.
A quick breakdown of the construction starts with the interior. While
some will want to replace this with aftermarket resin, the kit parts are
actually quite nice and can stand on their own. The seat is made up from
four parts and the only thing left for the modeler to add is the seatbelts.
The main tub incorporates the sidewalls and part of the rear decking,
with a separate top rear bulkhead, instrument panel and control stick
finishing out the cockpit assembly.
 Moving
underneath the cockpit, this kit provides you with a nice and long intake
trunk that also incorporates the nose gear well. The main gear well is
beautifully done as well, with no less than five main assembly pieces
and several small additional details. A separate air brake well is also
provided, as is the upper fuselage bay for underneath the wing and a tailhook
bay. All of this really goes a long way to making this Crusader model
look right. Interestingly, the instructions don't say if this model will
need weight in the nose or not, but a little bit can't hurt.
The wings are next, and here is the first hint at future variants. The
slats are molded separately, which could indicate different marks down
the road, as some Crusaders had single slats and others had dual slats.
Also, the spine bulge is a separate piece that fits atop the wing, again
indicating the possibility at an earlier Crusader variant, one which did
not have this hump. The wing is engineered to be set in the up position,
which definitely adds character to the Crusader. Unfortunately to make
this truly realistic some surgery will be required for while Academy has
made the slats separate, for some reason they left the flaps molded in
the up position. The Crusader should have both the slats and flaps down
when the wing is up. This shouldn't be too much of a challenge, though.
 Looking
at the undercarriage, again Academy has gone the distance. This landing
gear really captures the look of the Crusader, with the nose gear consisting
of four pieces and the main gear no less than six. On the main gear, Academy
has molded the bottom of the fuselage between the wells with the main
gear doors as a separate piece, making it easy to get the stance right
without knocking the doors off repeatedly. The rest of the assembly is
simple, with one-piece stabilizers and separate underfuselage strakes.
Again, having these separate indicate the potential for additional variants
down the road, as some Crusaders had different-sized strakes.
Academy also includes a full set of ordnance in the kit, including Sidewinders,
Mk. 82 Snake-eye bombs, and Zuni rocket pods. Additionally, marked as
'do not use', are two Matra Magic missile, again hinting at a French Crusader
release sometime down the road.
 The
decals offer a couple of U.S.Marines Crusaders, one from VMF(AW)-333 and
one from VMF(AW)-232. Both are camouflaged in the standard U.S. Navy scheme
of gull gray over white. The VMF(AW)-333 plane is the one on the boxtop,
while the VMF(AW)-232 has the tailcode WT with the unit's red devil emblem
on the tail. The decals are beautifully printed and in excellent register.
What is truly striking about this decal sheet is the windscreen decals.
Academy has included two sets of these, one with the black surround and
one with just the yellow outlines. There is no film on the inside, a very
impressive result indeed. This will do wonders in finishing the model,
as that yellow outline is quite prominent and a pain to paint in 1/72.
Conclusion
This is easily the best 1/72 F-8 kit out there, and one that should
prove to be quite popular with 1/72 modelers. The potential for future
variants bodes well, too, and we will undoubtedly see a French release
soon. Hopefully after that we will see an early F8U-1 as well, and perhaps
even an RF-8. I guess it's time for me to start collecting F-8 decals....
My thanks to MRC for the review sample.
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