F-8E Crusader (Shin Kazama + Boris)

The finished model:

In the manga:

Does the F-8E Crusader really need to an introduction? Turn the first page of the manga and BAM! Shin’s iconic blue Crusader almost slams into your face… in all it’s ever-lovin’ shark-mouth glory. Shin’s first plane only lasts three chapters before being shot down by a MiG-17, but that was enough to make it one of the most iconic planes in the whole series. While it’s fun to see Shin racking up some cash by blasting the hell out of the Anti-Government Forces’ T-62 Soviet-made tanks, the scene in the second chapter [Chapter 002 (v01c02) “A Man Named Boris”], is probably the high point among its short list of appearances. Flying in tandem with Boris, the only other pilot at Area 88 to fly a Crusader, the pair fold their wings and sail right through the anti-aircraft barrier known as “The Fang”. It’s a memorable scene and shows why the “last of the gunfighters” was worthy of being Shin’s first ride – in fact, it makes me wonder if Shintani gave Shin a Crusader for the first few chapters just so he could draw that scene. My post-Top Gun self was glad when the Crusader was shot down and Shin got the much sleeker F-5E Tiger II – a ride much more befitting his hero status. But over the years, I’ve come to appreciate that looks aren’t everything, and the Crusader had a lot to offer.

Of course a scene as icon as The Fang can’t help but be included In my Area 88 1/144 scale project. Stay tuned!

The kit(s):

USN F-8E VF-162 “The Hunters” (Kit x2) by Academy
F-8E Crusader “Shin Kazama” (Decals only) by Hasegawa
F-8E Crusader Photo Etch (Detail Set x2) by Eduard

The build:

Well… FINALLY!

I can’t believe I finally got Shin’s (well, and Boris’) F-8E Crusader done. It’s been a long time coming. I mean… isn’t that where almost every Area 88 modelling fan starts? It sure seems like it… after all, it is the first plane that appears in the manga and the anime.

So of course, this was my first Area 88 kit too… and it was nearly my last. When I got into scale modelling as a serious passion a few years ago, the Academy 1/72 F-8E Crusader was the first kit I bought. On the one hand, it had a lot of things going for it. First off all, I thought I should start by building Shin’s Crusader, but more importantly, getting the Academy kit at a reasonable price was a very easy thing to do. One thing about living in Seoul… it’s never hard to find reasonably priced Academy kits. After I opened the box though, I felt a bit intimidated. Man, that’s a lot of parts. I was actually a bit spoiled by this kit – the engineering, the detailing and the fit are all really top notch. But did I mention that there’s a lot of parts, and some of them are very small?

Anyway, I ended up getting partway through the build before the combination of paintbrush and rattle cans pushed my tolerance level over the edge. It just didn’t LOOK like I wanted it to look, so I shelved it. To be honest, I’m not sure what I did with the first kit. It’s long gone. Then, I bought another kit… and that one went equally wrong. I lost some parts, glued some on backwards – I’m sure you know the drill. So I started over, and over. Each time I got a little bit closer to actually finishing it, with the fourth iteration stalling out over the canopy masking and painting.

Finally, after a few years more practice under my belt. I decided to tackle Shin’s F-8E Crusader one last time. Although I had two already in progress of being built, it had been so long since I’d touched them, I decided to start over from scratch, so I went out and bought the kit for a fifth time (did I mention I’m glad Academy kits are easy to find and cheap in Seoul?). It seems the fifth time was the charm though, because I was able to see it through to the end finally. Along the way, I rescued the fourth attempt (which actually hadn’t been all that bad) and repurposed it as Boris’ Crusader. And, in fact, late in the game, I got the idea to do Shin’s Crusader after it had been shot down over the desert – so the still rough 3rd attempt actually got a new lease on destiny as well.

As for the build itself, it was relatively uneventful. As I mentioned, the Academy kit is far superior to the Hasegawa one, so I bought that one only intending to ever use the official Area 88 decals rather than the plastic itself. I should also mention that the build is based on the original manga story – so no unicorn marking, thank you very much!

I painted the fuselage and wings separately, and was careful to mask off each section properly. Not much drama though… the black undercoat panel line darkening paid off, the masking was straight and didn’t bleed, the white, grey and blue coats all went on without much of a hitch (although the blue coat did highlight a sanding gap I missed and needed to be repaired), and the panel line wash actually went INTO the panel lines for once.

The photo-etched parts gave be a bit of a headache, but nothing major, so the part I’m probably the most proud about is the decals. I’m not usually big on decals, they’re the last step keeping me from being able to finish a project, so they often don’t get the love they deserve (or require!). So I kept telling myself not to rush them, and I’m glad I listened to myself. I used some of the unique Hasegawa decals to maintain Area 88 accuracy, but I also used a lot of the “general” Academy decals as well. They were smaller and more precise (much like the rest of the kit) so the fit and overall look was better.

All in all, I’m very happy that I now have a couple of F-8E Crusaders as part of my Area 88 1/72 scale project because I can now honestly say I’m an Area 88 model builder and not have to feel like a pretender

I think it turned out, but feel free to lend me your comments below: