Vought F-8C Crusader, VF-111 "Sundowners," BuNo. 146961

Rando Author
Got a Muroc conversion kit today so I can make a Sundowners MiG Killer a reality! Super excited to be able to build this one.

Jos Jansen
I'll definitely reserve a seat in the front row!

Rando Author
Welcome Jos! Definitely know I want to build this specific jet, probably won't be starting on this one for awhile—going to first build the Hasegawa F-8E OOB so I get familiar with the build before cutting it up. Haven't quite decided which one that will be, maybe a VF-211 or 162 MiG killer, or a Marines jet from the Furball sheet.

Sergej I
Following, this is going to be a nice project

Jos Jansen
Oh nice Rando, I'm currently building an F/A-18E, but after that I'll start the project below. I have the same Furball decal sheet to make an F-8E Mig killer. The plan for the time being is to make the only Marines version that is available, that of VMF-212, the Lancers. I'll definitely want to follow the OOB from you...👍🏻
US Navy | Vought F-8E Crusader VMF(AW)-212 Lancers | Project by Banshee13 (1:48)

Maciej Bellos
This will be interesting. Watching.

Rando Author
Yeah that's the one Jos, very cool design. I like the pineapple on the rudder too. Ahh I'm leaning towards building Tim Hubbard's MiG killer, would have an interesting load out with Zunis, and I gotta make a Checkmate Crusader at some point. Thanks everyone for the follows!

Rando Author
So, I've been wanting to build an early F-8 ever since I got the Muroc kit. The Muroc nose cone however is actually too long, in fact longer than the F-8Es(!?). A year ago, CAT4 released an early nose F-8 conversion kit, which seemed awesome, except it was poorly molded halves and shaped wrong. Months later, CAT4 released an improved nose, pictured here compared to an actual F-8 nose, and as you can see it still comes up short--literally. It's about 1-1.5 mm too short, and looks a little tall. It will definitely need a spacer and a shave down on the top half. Disappointing, I just wish someone could make an accurate early Crusader nose.

Rando Author
Here we go with the nose job: glued in a 1.5 mm spacer of plastic between the nose cone and the forward fuselage piece. Carefully aligned the nose cone. Now shaving down the profile. Particularly important is to eliminate that "hitch" that currently sits in front of the windscreen. It should form a much more contiguous slope. So I am now shaving down the angle of the nose. The CAT4 resin seems hard but it's brittle and delicate, I will have to fix a couple of chips on the intake.

Adam Gudynowski
Hard work ahead of You. Good luck.

Rando Author
Thanks Adam, a labor of love indeed.

Rando Author
I keep waffling over whether or not I should accept the current nose length, it's difficult to measure since I should be using calipers instead of a ruler. The shape looks pretty damn close, at least as much as I can get it. I'm enlisting the help of a modeler with a 3D printer to make a correct nose for future builds and other modelers who want to use CAT4's parts

Tom Spiegelberg
Wow!
The conversion set from CAT looks very good. I'll take a seat to follow your build.

Rando Author
Hi Tom, great to have you. Unfortunately the revised CAT4 nose is still too short. This little adventure in trying to correct that has ended in failure, as from a couple angles I can see I totally ruined the shape. Fortunately I'm working with a 3D printing expert who will help make a correct nose. I'll be relaunching this project when that's ready.

Rando Author
Hi all, I'm putting the VF-111 F-8C on hold, but I am forging ahead with building a CAT4 F-8D using their VF-32 decals. Came up with a 3D printed solution that's much better than the botched nose job! Posting those photos in a different album.