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Vought RF-8 Crusader project, 2018

Used to visit Moffett field in the 50’s as a kid and saw lines of crusaders in the the big hanger. I was really impressed when my friend said that they cost one million dollars each. Wow, has the price of things changed!
 
Found this on an RF-8 site.. Thought some of you might get a chuckle, and some might have memories.. Hope you enjoy..

O8FwQTW.png
 
That patch is probably from one of VMAQ-2's EA-6A detachments assigned to USS Midway. By that time they were strictly electronic warfare, no photo birds.
 
Nice pic. As composite squadrons J-1 and J-2 flew both photo and EW. Here's a pic from my stash. Back to front: EA-6A, RF-8A, EF-10B, RF-4B.
 

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Bumping this thread folks as it's almost time to start modelling the Vought RF-8G Crusader. I'm working on the Millennium Falcon as a "fun" learning project for sounds and effects, but with the basic model complete and in Pam's hands for the FDE I can continue work on that in the background and start focusing on the Crusader.

Work will begin next week in earnest, but this afternoon I got the airplane set up and started shaping the basic fuselage. Looks absolutely nothing like a 'Sader yet but as I know there's a lot of fans of the type here I thought you'd like to know that work was now underway :)

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Outstanding news.

Have lots of ref data if required - pm if you need - if I have it, it's yours.

Regards,

dl
 
warchild said:
Quick question!
Does the RF-8 in the above photo have a flat belly??
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The outline is an F-8E via Vought's own plans - the front shots show the RF-8's flat belly as an addition to the standard shape. I have a separate Vought plan drawing for the RF-8's nose outline and other details. Just getting the basic shape down right now.
 
DC1973 said:
The outline is an F-8E via Vought's own plans - the front shots show the RF-8's flat belly as an addition to the standard shape. I have a separate Vought plan drawing for the RF-8's nose outline and other details. Just getting the basic shape down right now.
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Thanks Dean! Thats what i thought.. I'll catch you on discord sometime after you have the fuselage laid out. I'm going to need some measurements i dont have on the flat area. Specifically the two thin strips that werent part of the original fuselage.. Notice in the top picture how the rf-8 is in formation and slightly nose high?? He's trimmed right for level flight, so, yeah.. I need to do some homework..
 
Very nice! After your superb work with the Reporter and Black Widow, I'm sure this will be an excellent addition to the hangar!
 
Switchblade408 said:
Very nice! After your superb work with the Reporter and Black Widow, I'm sure this will be an excellent addition to the hangar!
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Thanks! Amazing what a couple of hours' spent smoothing out the geometry can achieve - much more like it should be now. A few more hours on it and I should be ready to start plotting out Boolean cuts and splitting polys for undercarriage bays and camera openings. The Crusader sure had an unusual shape!

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Sorry for the long wait for an update folks. Real life work has kept me away from this project, and I wanted to get the Millennium Falcon finished for Pam ( Warchild ) even though it was just a for-fun project.

Some work done, mostly cleaning up, cutting out and adding the basic canopy and frames etc, wing built and general shaping underway. I'll update here now and again as progress continues :)

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Thanks for the great update! :applause:

As per my pm of a few months back, let me know if you need anything by way of materials. I lost a bunch in a big move since the Alphasim / Carl Edwards F-8 days, alas, but what I have is still available for you.

Nice you're doing the G, as it had more longevity than the A. Not that anyone should begrudge you doing either. That we're seeing a photo-Crusader is massive "pinch me to make sure this is real!" material.

The wing "hump" looks a hair too pronounced - dead on for the fighter "E" model, but the RF was milder. Early shots, I know, I'm sure you'll get there.

For the nose, being the small version, and not a tall oval (not a perfect circle) in cross section, these might help:

http://www.vfp62.com/IMAGES_11/RF8_pics/RF8_146898.jpg
http://www.vfp62.com/IMAGES/youngblood.jpg
http://data3.primeportal.net/hangar/weichao_chen/rf-8g_146860/images/rf-8g_146860_13_of_30.jpg
http://data3.primeportal.net/hangar/weichao_chen/rf-8g_146860/images/rf-8g_146860_14_of_30.jpg
https://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/f-8/pages/ishmael_rf-8g_81.shtml

Have more at home - this is just a quick search online.

Take your time, this will be worth the wait. My oldest daughter (12 y.o) is stoked about the Falcon, so you've got fans cheering you on in our family! :wiggle:

dl
 
delta_lima said:
Thanks for the great update! :applause:
Take your time, this will be worth the wait. My oldest daughter (12 y.o) is stoked about the Falcon, so you've got fans cheering you on in our family! :wiggle:

dl
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Wow, I hope the Falcon lives up to your daughter's expectations! So cool to know that there are fans of my work out there, especially children, makes me feel young again! :)

Thanks for the images and the offer. I'm collating data as I go along. I did consider buying a professional mesh, as per Alphasim's ( now-freeware ) F-8 offering, but none of them are quite accurate in shape for the RF-8G and use about 40x more polygons than is necessary, so I'm working from scratch. The shape's a tricky one for sure, it looks simple enough at first glance but then when you get into the nitty-gritty it's got curves all over the place. Still, it's coming along nicely with a clean mesh so I'm happy enough. I reckon a couple of weeks worth of work to get the fuselage finished off, then it's onto wings, wheels and extraneous bits and bobs.

2048 x 2048 textures all over planned for this bird, with the fuselage maps split half-way to double the resolution. The great thing about 'Saders is that they carried so many colour schemes, so there are repaint options galore with this one, a nice change from the Widow's and Reporter's limited options.
 
I suspect the transition from the rounded shape of the fuselage to the flat sides and bottom of the camera bay area will be a challenge. Fortunately there are a lot of RF-8 pics online that show that area at different angles. I did two tours in VFP-63 and have shipmates who know the airplane inside and out. If I can be of any assistance by all means contact me. :encouragement:
 
TARPSBird said:
I suspect the transition from the rounded shape of the fuselage to the flat sides and bottom of the camera bay area will be a challenge. Fortunately there are a lot of RF-8 pics online that show that area at different angles. I did two tours in VFP-63 and have shipmates who know the airplane inside and out. If I can be of any assistance by all means contact me. :encouragement:
Click to expand...

Thanks!! I just found the VFP-62 web page with lots of stuff in it, but it would be awesome to know how the RF-8 Crusader handled in terms of rate of roll, pitch, general flight characteristics etc as I'm having trouble finding anything along those lines.

Speaking of lines, moving from the rounded fuselage to the square edged photo-section and then onto the intake has indeed been a vertex-shifting challenge but I've got it roughly about right. Just fiddling ( endlessly ) with the shaping at the moment... :)
 
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