1/72 Hasegawa F-8J Crusader

by Jeroen Berkvens

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I have always liked the Crusader or 'the last of the gunfighters' as it is often called. The French navy only got rid of the last Crusaders some years ago, I guess because it took them a very long time to enter the Rafale to the service and there was simply nothing better. I had this Hasegawa kit for a while but wanted to do a special version with very colourfull markings. So after a while I found the Eagle Strike production decals: 'Crusaders part 1' and built it. The Hasegawa Crusader is an old kit in a new box. It is rather basic but  fits very well and I had no trouble building it 'out of the box.' The only thing I added were a pilot figure and a larger ECM fairing on the vertical fin which I made of stuff I found in my scrap box. Paint was regular Humbrol enamel and was done by using several types of brushes in stead of airbrushing.

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Pilot of this Crusader was Commander Bob Coffey, unit was C.A.G CVW-19 which operated from the Carrier Oriskany in the Vietnam war. The unit was nicknamed 'Satans Kittens' and was painted on the front of the wing, only visible when the aircraft has the wing in the 'up' or braking position. The markings are special C.A.G markings.

Jeroen

Photos and text © by Jeroen Berkvens