F8 Crusader Children's Toy

[Model Maker]

I missed the Christmas toy drive last year with the A-10 Warthog, so thought I'd better start earlier this year.

Have started a couple of F8 Crusader based models for this year's toy drive. Scale is 1:48. The wood is pine. I've modified the wing to eliminate the leading edge step (don't want any sharp edges or points) and of course made the wings, tail and elevators much thicker than the scale thickness. Since the wing is mounted on top of the fuselage, I am going to try a fancy lap joint which covers the full width of the fuselage to minimize any chance of breakage. As usual, I have incorporated the tang at the front end of the fuselage for holding it in the clamping vice during shaping. It will be removed once the model is near completion.

After the model is finished, I'll post a copy of the plans for those who may be interested in building one. For some reason, I've always been fascinated with this plane. Maybe it's the front end air scoop combined with the sleek fuselage and delta wings. In any event, once I have the toys complete, I may start a proper scaled model while I have all the templates out.

[lastvautour]

Going to be a good one.

Lou

[buccfan]

Looking forward to progress reports Ken, regards Paul J.

[Model Maker]

Not sure how good it will be, but I will keep the progress postings going. As always, it's a chance to improve my skills.

Cut the fancy lap joint for the wings tonight using the bandsaw. If the plane was to be painted, I would create a simple lap joint for the wing joint and then glue them to the fuselage. However, since the plane will have a natural finish I wanted to have the visible split where the wing sections joint in the middle of the fuselage. This caused me to come up with a 3 level lap joint where the two bottom layers cross the full width of the fuselage and the top layers meet in the middle of the fuselage. The wing joint is currently roughed out. I'll fine tune the fit up once the fuselage is shaped and the slot for the wings cut in.

Wing dihedral were also rough cut on the bandsaw

[Boomerang]

Ken,
Watching with interest.

Cheers

Gordon

[lastvautour]

Looking good.

Lou

[Model Maker]

Dado for wing insert into fuselage started by creating a series of thin strips using the bandsaw. The strips were then broken by hand and the root of the dado smoothed using a chisel.

The horizontal stabilizers have a dihedral, so I put together a jig sloped at the appropriate angle to facilitate drilling the slots at the correct angle. The bottom profile previously cut from the blank was taped to the fuselage to assist in drilling the horizontal and vertical stabilizer.

[buccfan]

Great progress Ken, thanks for the update and pics. Regards Paul J

[lastvautour]

I need to try that method of adding stabs to fuselage. Thanks for the tip.

Lou

[Boomerang]

Love watching these.

Gordon

[Model Maker]

Have started to perform the rough shaping of the fuselage and final wing fit up. I don't have the "Mark X Eagle Eye" of the more experience members so I try to shape two or three stations along the fuselage using the templates and then use these to blend in the other stations, checking their template fits as well. This helps me to establish the stream lines along the fuselage.

Used the Microplane for the first time. Although they make a version for wood, I couldn't find it, so I settle on the food version. I bought it at a local kitchen utensil store. It cuts great although the cut is on the pull stroke rather than the push stroke. But it doesn't take long to adjust to this and I found I had great control. It really sliced through the pine. Much faster than using files and because it generates shavings, there is much less dust. Also it doesn't seem to be affected by the grain pattern. It's probably too large and course for the smaller scales, but it's great for 1:48 and larger scales. After the rough shaping using the Microplane, I went over the profile with a file to smooth the surface. This combination worked great.

I am please with the lap joint of the wings. The joint seems very strong in an unglued state and the grain patterns are almost a mirror of each other. I hadn't anticipated the sap streaks as the uncut top surface of the board did not display any. However, that's the joy of pine. Will have to wait and see how it looks when the natural finish is applied.

[buccfan]

Excellent update as usual Ken, the Microplane looks a useful tool. Thanks for posting. Regards Paul J.

[Model Maker]

The Microplane is certainly a great tool! It's what I always wished the Stanley surform rasp would cut like but never did, even with a new blade.

Ran into some problems with the wings. Upon blending the wing into the fuselage, I discovered the wing lap joint was too wide and became exposed. As well, the sap kept bleeding out of the wood which wouldn't make for a great toy. So I opted to start from scratch and cut 2 new sets of wings. The best laid plans of mice and men .......

I've shown the fixture which I used to hold the wing while cutting the double lap joint sections. A digital vernier was used to assist in defining the cut lines. The fitted joint on one wing set was a little sloppy but a little extra glue filled up the gaps. But the second wing set joints were very tight. I guess practice makes perfect. Cutting and fitting were performed using a razor saw, file and sanding block.

The wing dihedral was shaped using a couple of low angle block planes. A heavy one for the rough shaping and a lighter one for the final shaping. The wing edges were shaped using the micoplane and sanding block.

[Model Maker]

Most of the fuselage has been shaped and sanded. The wings and stabilizers are dry fitted to check for symmetry, etc. The microplane was used for most of the fuselage shaping. It worked like a charm creating shaving rather than dust like a file does. The shavings clean up quickly.

[lastvautour]

Magnificent workmanship.

Lou