VOUGHT F-8C

CRUSADER
ANDREA VIGNOCCHI converts
the Academy kit
and sets sail

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PART
TWO
1:72

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 ALL HANDS ON DECK
The design of this diorama was particularly complex: to make a
change from the usual concrete runways or grassy meadows on
which aircraft are placed, I wanted to reproduce a section of the
carrier USS CV11 Intrepid. The choice of subject was also linked to
the possibility of finding good quality photos of this ship, since it is
now anchored in the port of New York as a floating museum. Not
having the space and the ability to create very impressive parts of
the aircraft carrier, I looked for a photo where you could see an
area not particularly complicated and full of recesses: immediately
behind the island, towards the bow, you can see a series of
walkways that go up and go down along the side of the ship, near
the flight deck, a perfect location!
The first obstacle I had to overcome was the difficulty of
positioning the scene at an angle, otherwise it would have created
too many empty spaces; I don't like irregularly shaped dioramas,
so I decided to angle the F-8 in order to break the parallel lines
that give a unnatural look to dioramas, as the late Shepard Payne
taught many years ago. Once I had decided how to proceed, I
started by engraving the flight deck on a 2mm plasticard sheet; in
1968 the flight decks were made of wood as in the Second World
The whole base is built in 2 mm plasticard, with internal
reinforcements for stability. This choice was made in order to be
able to build the front of the ship by gluing the various plastic
profiles without difficulty. I started by drawing the position of the
doors and walkways; I obtained the oval recessed doors by drilling
the plasticard and joining the two holes, then I inserted the door
and obtained the embossed frame by gluing a 0.5 mm profile
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War, but the Intrepid had some peculiarities, as some areas were
in metal and others in wood. In the photos of the time it can be
seen that the wooden parts were painted a lighter grey than the
metal areas, covered with non-slip bitumen. Another visible
difference after the post-war modification (that introduced the
angled flight deck) is the abolition of the grids between one
section and the other of the deck boards, replaced by circular
anchoring wells for aircraft; a White Ensign photoetched fret
provides these details with the right shape for the period: cross
and non pentagonal like on modern ships. With a pencil I marked
the points in which to drill the holes that will house the wells: I
used two drill bits of different diameters to create the hole in which
to insert the photoetched parts, preventing them from falling into
the holes. The bridge portion of my scene also includes part of the
left catapult; to obtain a recessed part in which to insert 1 mm
square plasticard sections that will simulate the metal grid, I first
perforated the base, inserting a 1mm rectangular profile inside.
Other panels were engraved on the bridge, inspired by the photos
of the real ship.
around the door. All the various ducts, electrical boxes,
reinforcement ribs, etc. are obtained from various Evergreen
profiles, bending and modifying them according to the required
shape. At the end of the work, the appearance is realistic; I had to
adapt reality to the small size of my scene, bringing some details
closer and eliminating others.
Another big problem was how to protect the catwalks from
moving and transporting the finished scene; the solution was to
construct a wooden extended frame to drop the deck section into
so that all the more delicate parts remain inside the second
frame. Having found the solution to all the construction problems, I
can finally start painting the flight deck: even in these steps I will
have to follow a particular method, painting one part of the scene
at a time.

I started with the deck, trying to get an uneven look and using a
faded grey for the wood planks. After applying the basic colours, I
made the various strips by masking, trying not to over-saturate
the tone and always considering the next weathering steps.

After removing the masks, the bridge does not yet

have the dirty and worn look that can be seen in the
pictures of the real thing; a series of oil washes and
shades with very diluted acrylic colours recreates this
aspect in a realistic way. When the upper part of the
bridge was finished, I masked it and then painted the
side of the Intrepid with a light grey; a long
weathering process similar to the upper part of the
bridge recreated the operational aspect of an aircraft
carrier during that conflict.

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 A critical step is the construction of the
walkways, whose grids are reproduced
using an Eduard photo-etched fret; the
various sections were cut from the
sheet, while the structure was built in
plasticard, using profiles of various
shapes and thicknesses. The steps are
covered with another photoetched part
that reproduces the anti-slip, also cut
and bent to size for each step. The
gangways fit into the C-shaped profiles
glued to the bulkhead of the ship and
which allow a solid gluing after painting.

After painting and weathering the

gangways and the ship's side, I can
finally assemble the gangways and
connect the three sections with
handrails cut to size. The result is
spectacular and you can also see the
two balconies where the long folding
rods arranged along the front of the
Intrepid are positioned; I have only
reproduced a section of it, in the
lowered position. I guess these are
antennas that were upright during
normal navigation, but that were
lowered during flying ops.

Weathering is created with fluid stains and some minimal traces of rust and
is concentrated on the steps and in the areas most subject to wear. Some
boxes, sheets and drums are piled close to the railings; it might seem
strange to see such large drums in this area, but I that’s what I saw in a
picture of Intrepid in Vietnam.

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TRACTOR TIME
A deck would not be the same without the ubiquitous
tractors and various vehicles that were painted yellow
at that time; together with the figures they will
provide some coloured spots on the dominant grey of
the scene. The largest tractor comes from an old
Verlinden set; to begin with, I airbrushed a white base
coat, then I applied the yellow and black of the upper
areas. The codes and stencils come from salvaged
decals; washing and profiling with acrylics completed
weathering. The driver comes from a set produced
by Fujimi many years ago; he is certainly not up to
par with the others in 3D print, but he is sitting inside
the tractor and is barely visible. The standard flexible
hose, wheel blocks and a chain complete the vehicle.

The second vehicle is more interesting because it is

the NC-1A, a strange hybrid with the nose of a jeep
coupled to a platform with a double central wheel
and with side brackets to prevent it from overturning
when cornering; on the floor are installed various
equipment to produce energy and this vehicle was
used as a starter truck on all aircraft carriers until the
end of the ‘60s. The model is an expensive resin set
from F-4 Models, and I must say that the quality is
rather disappointing: for a good result you have to
work hard on it. I replaced many parts: fenders, seat
mounts, anti-tip brackets, dashboard and
instrumentation details, steering wheel and
headlights. After all the modifications this vehicle is
really nice and will be an interesting spot on the
deck.

FIGURED OUT
The figures are by Reedoak who have a vast range of US Navy pilots
and support personnel with clothing suitable for various eras. These
are 3D reproductions of real people wearing the uniforms worn by the
men of the Navy; we are talking about figures of the highest quality
and detail, to the point that it becomes difficult to paint them, at least
for my poor skills as a figure painter! The pilots and a couple of
specialists are from the correct time period, but I admit that the other
two are from the current period because I didn't find anything else
suitable; however, we are talking about differences on figures a
couple of centimeters high and by painting them with the right
colours the difference is not very discernible.

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 The pilot with the helmet under his arm looks a lot like Anthony
Nargi, the lieutenant who shot down the last Mig 21 of the
Crusader's career in Vietnam; I'm not sure if his helmet wore the
Sundowners decoration, but I couldn't resist painting it...
A feature of that era’s clothing is the colour and shape of the
trousers, which are blue and quite tight; vests also look less bulky
than modern ones. It might be interesting to remember the
various colours worn by crew members on aircraft carrier decks,
in fact each colour corresponds to a very specific task: brown vest
for aircraft handling personnel; blue for vehicle drivers; green for
crew chiefs, catapult personnel, etc; red for armourers; purple for
refueling personnel; yellow for catapult directors. Therefore, the
figures cannot be coloured at random, but each figure must be
consistent with its function in the scene.
The pilot who is about to board the plane talks to the crew chief,
the tractor driver talks to one of the F-8 captains before
connecting the tow bar to the nose gear while the other two
personnel are completing the operations to free the aircraft from
the chains securing it to the deck; the Crusader is already armed
and the ladders to access the cockpit are extracted, the second
pilot who observes the scene is the wingman who flew with Nargi
on September 19, 1968.
It is the amount of small details that make a scene realistic and
when we make a diorama it is essential to ask these questions:
What is the action? Why are certain figures in certain positions?
What condition is the plane in? Sometimes we see fully armed
aircraft models with all doors open, even with the engine during
maintenance, or with weathering beyond any reality; before
starting a new project, we need to study a lot of documentation
and create the scene we want to reproduce in our head, drawing
inspiration from reality, perhaps adapting it to the needs of the
small portion of a base, but always keeping in mind what is
possible and credible to represent.

IT’S A WRAP
It was a very enjoyable and stimulating project and it’s
been a long time I waited to build this model; the
Academy kit is excellent, even if the modification of the
nose turned out to be more complex than expected.
The construction of the aircraft carrier section was a
demanding task, more for it’s design than for the
assembly. It didn’t take biblical time to finish this F-8C,
everything went smooth, leaving a lot of room for fun; it
was much needed in the recent dark pandemic period!

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VOUGHT F-8C

CRUSADER

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