F-8E Crusader
QuickLook Preview

Hasegawa

Previewed by Brett Green

Hasegawa's 1/48 scale F-8E Crusader will be available online from Squadron.com

Hasegawa continues its commitment to post-war US naval aviation with their brand-new 1/48 scale F-8E Crusader.

Opening the box this morning prompted a feeling of deja vu. The large sprues, the pale grey plastic and the parts breakdown betrayed a strong family resemblance to earlier Hasegawa releases such as their F-4 Phantoms, F-14 Tomcats and F-18 Hornets. The Crusader is clearly part of an evolutionary process.

105 parts are supplied in light grey plastic, 14 parts in clear and an additional 3 sprues of 4 poly caps also come with the kit. The large sprues are packed in too few bags, resulting in scuffing on the surface of major parts including the fuselage.

Hasegawa has provided plenty of useful choices for the modeller including optional position wing (up or down), separate flaps and slats, Zuni rockets and mounts for additional ordnance (but the ordnance itself is not supplied).

Detail in the cockpit and landing gear is good, but there seems to be plenty of potential for superdetailing in the wheel wells and in the front office. Hasegawa has left the choice of whether to use small, clear detail parts to the modeller. Fuselage and wing mounted navigation lights are moulded solid on the grey plastic, but clear parts are supplied if the modeller wants to drill out, or carve off, the solid plastic lights.

Surface detail is generally excellent. Vents, hatches and panel lines are crisp and fine. Some of the detail is a little soft on the bottom of the fuselage, but even in this area the features are acceptable.

There are a very large number of ejector pin marks, both raised and recessed, in visible areas of many of the smaller parts. I do understand that ejector pin marks are a necessary evil of the moulding process, but the sheer number of marks on this kit suggests imperfect planning.

Engineering of the kit is very good. I wanted to check out the parts breakdown and fit of the kit in a number of key areas, so I snipped the main parts from the sprues and dry-fitted them.

My initial impressions are very favourable. Without glue and even without tape, the fuselage halves match up without steps or gaps. The wing sits nicely over the fuselage, lining up well with the top of the fuselage at both the front and the rear (the image below shows the front of the wing slightly raised).

The intake ducting was another potentially tricky area. In fact, Hasegawa has done extremely well here. The ducting is positively located with two square lugs inside the fuselage. The lip of the duct fits flush against the back of the intake. Only the most fastidious modeller (and one with a lot of time on his hands) will bother with filler here.

While we are still on the subject of the nose, there is a mould break visible on the inside of the nose. This suggests the possibility of earlier variants and photo reconnaissance versions being released by Hasegawa in the future.

The wing is secured with three poly caps in the top wing well of the fuselage. Similarly, the horizontal tailplanes are movable due to their connection via poly caps. I am a little concerned that this method of construction may not be secure enough for these large parts. If this turns out the be the case, it will be relatively simple to underpin these areas with stronger glue and/or reinforcement rods.

Although a two-part canopy is supplied, it can only be displayed closed. This is due to the deeply recessed locating positions in the fuselage. The canopy hinges are moulded as part of the clear part. These hinges click securely into the locating recesses in the fuselage, but they do not permit the canopy to be displayed in any position other than closed. It might have been nicer for Hasegawa to supply two inserts for the fuselage area immediately behind the canopy - one with the recesses in the closed position, and one positioning the canopy open.

I have not decided the best solution to fix this problem; but at a minimum it will involve thinning the hinges and the rear top lip of the canopy, filling and sanding the locating recesses in the fuselage and maybe more work. Let's hope that a vacform canopy is on its way!