This is my other entry, it will take along time. The aircraft that I have just shown you will be depicted flying and attacking a vc hut (supporting the soldiers on the ground that have called in the attack. There is the airfix 1/72 sky hawk, tamiya 1/72 phantom and intruder and the academy phantom in 1/48 scale.
I am using more than one scale to give a false illusion of distance, basically the small planes look as If they are further away. This should be an enjoyable build and I will show you a range of techniques that I use including scratch building, weathering, diorama building ect...
sorry, i've not done anything on this for a while because i have been focusing on my other build, but now i'm doing this.
lets start with some history: first the phantom
n 1953, McDonnell Aircraft began work on revising its F3H Demon naval fighter, seeking expanded capabilities and better performance. The company developed several projects including a variant powered by a Wright J67 engine, and variants powered by two Wright J65 engines, or two General Electric J79 engines.The J79-powered version promised a top speed of Mach 1.97. On 19 September 1953, McDonnell approached the United States Navy with a proposal for the "Super Demon". Uniquely, the aircraft was to be modular—it could be fitted with one- or two-seat noses for different missions, with different nose cones to accommodate radar, photo cameras, four 20 mm (.79 in) cannon, or 56 FFAR unguided rockets in addition to the nine hardpoints under the wings and the fuselage. The Navy was sufficiently interested to order a full-scale mock-up of the F3H-G/H, but felt that the upcoming Grumman XF9F-9 and Vought XF8U-1 already satisfied the need for a supersonic fighter.
The McDonnell design was therefore reworked into an all-weather fighter-bomber with 11 external hardpoints for weapons and on 18 October 1954, the company received a letter of intent for two YAH-1 prototypes. On 26 May 1955, four Navy officers arrived at the McDonnell offices and, within an hour, presented the company with an entirely new set of requirements. Because the Navy already had the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk for ground attack and F-8 Crusader for dogfighting, the project now had to fulfill the need for an all-weather fleet defense interceptor. A second crewman was added to operate the powerful radar
On 30 December 1960, the VF-121 "Pacemakers" at NAS Miramar became the first Phantom operator with its F4H-1Fs (F-4As). The VF-74 "Be-devilers" at NAS Oceana became the first deployable Phantom squadron when it received its F4H-1s (F-4Bs) on 8 July 1961. The squadron completed carrier qualifications in October 1961 and Phantom's first full carrier deployment between August 1962 and March 1963 aboard Forrestal. The second deployable U.S. Atlantic Fleet squadron to receive F-4Bs was the VF-102 "Diamondbacks", who promptly took their new aircraft on the shakedown cruise of Enterprise.The first deployable U.S. Pacific Fleet squadron to receive the F-4B was the VF-114 "Aardvarks", which participated in the September 1962 cruise aboard USS Kitty Hawk.
By the time of the Tonkin Gulf incident, 13 of 31 deployable navy squadrons were armed with the type. F-4Bs from Constellation made the first Phantom combat sortie of the Vietnam War on 5 August 1964, flying bomber escort in Operation Pierce Arrow. The first Phantom air-to-air victory of the war took place on 9 April 1965 when an F-4B from VF-96 "Fighting Falcons" piloted by Lieutenant (junior grade) Terence M. Murphy and his RIO, Ensign Ronald Fegan, shot down a Chinese MiG-17 "Fresco". The Phantom was then shot down, probably by an AIM-7 Sparrow from one of its wingmen. There continues to be controversy over whether the Phantom was shot down by MiG guns or, as enemy reports later indicated, an AIM-7 Sparrow III from one of Murphy's and Fegan's wingmen. On 17 June 1965, an F-4B from VF-21 "Freelancers" piloted by Commander Louis Page and Lieutenant John C. Smith shot down the first North Vietnamese MiG of the war.
On 10 May 1972, Lieutenant Randy "Duke" Cunningham and Lieutenant (junior grade) William P. Driscoll flying an F-4J, call sign "Showtime 100", shot down three MiG-17s to become the first American flying aces of the war. Their fifth victory was believed at the time to be over a mysterious North Vietnamese ace, Colonel Nguyen Toon, now considered mythical. On the return flight, the Phantom was damaged by an enemy surface-to-air missile. To avoid being captured, Cunningham and Driscoll flew their burning aircraft using only the rudder and afterburner (the damage to the aircraft rendered conventional control nearly impossible), until they could eject over water.
The Blue Angels flew the F-4J, 1969–74
During the war, U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom squadrons participated in 84 combat tours with F-4Bs, F-4Js, and F-4Ns. The navy claimed 40 air-to-air victories at a cost of 73 Phantoms lost in combat (seven to enemy aircraft, 13 to SAMs, and 53 to AAA). An additional 54 Phantoms were lost in mishaps.
In 1984, the F-4Ns had been retired, and by 1987 the last F-4Ss were retired in the US Navy deployable squadrons. On 25 March 1986, an F-4S belonging to the VF-151 "Vigilantes," became the last active duty U.S. Navy Phantom to launch from an aircraft carrier, in this case, Midway. On 18 October 1986, an F-4S from the VF-202 "Superheats", a Naval Reserve fighter squadron, made the last-ever Phantom carrier landing while operating aboard America. In 1987, the last of the Naval Reserve-operated F-4S aircraft were replaced by F-14As. The last Phantoms in service with the Navy were QF-4 target drones operated by the Naval Air Warfare Centers at NAS Point Mugu, California. These airframes were subsequently retired in 2004.
now the skyhawk
The Skyhawk proved to be a relatively common United States Navy aircraft export of the postwar era. Due to its small size, it could be operated from the older, smaller World War II-era aircraft carriers still used by many smaller navies during the 1960s. These older ships were often unable to accommodate newer Navy fighters such as the F-4 Phantom II and F-8 Crusader, which were faster and more capable than the A-4, but significantly larger and heavier than older naval fighters.
The Navy operated the A-4 in both Regular Navy and Naval Reserve light attack squadrons (VA). Although the A-4's use as a training and adversary aircraft would continue well into the 1990s, the Navy began removing the aircraft from its frontline attack squadrons in 1967, with the last ones (Super Foxes of VA-55/212/164) being retired in 1976.
A U.S. Navy TA-4J Skyhawk of TW-3 on the deck of USS Lexington, 1989
The Marine Corps would not take the U.S. Navy's replacement warplane, the LTV A-7 Corsair II, instead keeping Skyhawks in service with both Regular Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve attack squadrons (VMA), and ordering the new A-4M model. The last USMC Skyhawk was delivered in 1979, and they were used until the mid-1980s before they were replaced by the equally small, but more versatile STOVL AV-8 Harrier II.
VMA-131, Marine Aircraft Group 49 (the Diamondbacks) retired its last four OA-4Ms on 22 June 1994. Lieutenant Colonel George "Eagle" Lake III (CO), Major John "Baja" Rufo (XO), Captain Dave "Yoda" Hurston, and Major Mike "Struts" Volland flew a final official USMC A-4 sortie during the A-4 standdown ceremony. Trainer versions of the Skyhawk remained in Navy service, however, finding a new lease on life with the advent of "adversary training", where the nimble A-4 was used as a stand-in for the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 in dissimilar air combat training (DACT). It served in that role at "Top Gun" until 1999.
A-4F Skyhawk of the Blue Angels US Navy aerobatic team in 1975.
The A-4's nimble performance also made it suitable to replace the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II when the Navy downsized its aircraft for the Blue Angels demonstration team, until McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets were available in the 1980s. The last U.S. Navy Skyhawks, TA-4J models belonging to the composite squadron VC-8, remained in military use for target towing, and as adversary aircraft, for combat training at Naval Station Roosevelt Roads. These aircraft were officially retired on 3 May 2003.
Skyhawks were well loved by their crews for being tough and agile. These attributes, along with their low purchase and operating cost as well as easy maintenance, have contributed to the popularity of the A-4 with American and international armed forces. Besides the United States, at least three other nations have used A-4 Skyhawks in combat (Argentina, Israel, and Kuwait).
service during the Vietnam War
VA-146 A-4Cs over the Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964. USS Kearsarge steams below.
Skyhawks were the U.S. Navy's primary light attack aircraft used over North Vietnam during the early years of the Vietnam War; they were later supplanted by the A-7 Corsair II in the U.S. Navy light attack role. Skyhawks carried out some of the first air strikes by the US during the conflict, and a Marine Skyhawk is believed to have dropped the last American bombs on the country. Notable naval aviators who flew the Skyhawk included Lieutenant Commanders Everett Alvarez, Jr. and John McCain, and Commander James Stockdale. On 1 May 1967, an A-4C Skyhawk piloted by Lieutenant Commander Theodore R. Swartz of VA-76 aboard the carrier USS Bon Homme Richard, shot down a North Vietnamese Air Force MiG-17 with an unguided Zuni rocket as the Skyhawk's only air-to-air victory of the Vietnam War.
From 1956 on, Navy Skyhawks were the first aircraft to be deployed outside of the U.S. armed with the AIM-9 Sidewinder. On strike missions, which was the Skyhawk's normal role, the air-to-air armament was for self-defense purposes.
In the early to mid-1960s, standard U.S. Navy A-4B Skyhawk squadrons were assigned to provide daytime fighter protection for anti-submarine warfare aircraft operating from some Essex-class U.S. anti-submarine warfare carriers, these aircraft retained their ground- and sea-attack capabilities. The A-4B model did not have an air-to-air radar, and it required visual identification of targets and guidance from either ships in the fleet or an airborne Grumman E-1 Tracer AEW aircraft. Lightweight and safer to land on smaller decks, Skyhawks would later also play a similar role flying from Australian, Argentinean, and Brazilian upgraded World War II surplus light ASW carriers, which were also unable to operate most large modern fighters.[16][17] Primary air-to-air armament consisted of the internal 20 mm (.79 in) Colt cannons and ability to carry an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile on both underwing hardpoints, later additions of two more underwing hardpoints on some aircraft made for a total capacity of four AAMs.
The first combat loss of an A-4 occurred on 5 August 1964, when Lieutenant junior grade Alvarez, of VA-144 aboard the USS Constellation, was shot down while attacking enemy torpedo boats in North Vietnam. Alvarez safely ejected after being hit by anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) fire, and became the first US Naval POW of the war;[18] he was released as a POW on 12 February 1973. The last A-4 loss in the Vietnam War occurred on 26 September 1972, when USMC pilot Captain James P. Walsh, USMC of VMA-211, flying from his land base at Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam, was hit by ground fire near An Lộc. An Lộc was one of the few remaining hotly contested areas during this time period, and Captain Walsh was providing close air support (CAS) for ground troops in contact (land battle/fire fight) when his A-4 was hit, catching fire, forcing him to eject. Rescue units were sent, but the SAR helicopter was damaged by enemy ground fire, and forced to withdraw. Captain Walsh, after safely ejecting, had landed within NVA (North Vietnamese Army) positions, and had become a POW as soon as his feet had touched the ground. Captain Walsh was the last U.S. Marine to be taken prisoner during the war, and was released as a POW on 12 February 1973.
Although the first A-4Es were flown in Vietnam in early 1965, the A-4Cs continued to be used until late 1970. The Seabees of MCB-10 went ashore on 7 May 1965. On 1 June 1965, the Chu Lai Short Airfield for Tactical Support (SATS) was officially opened with the arrival of eight A-4 Skyhawks from Cubi Point, Philippine Islands.[19] The group landed with the aid of arresting cables, refueled and took off with the aid of JATO, with fuel and bombs to support Marine combat units. The Skyhawks were from Marine Attack Squadron VMA-225 and VMA-311.
Armed A-4Fs on the USS Hancock in 1972
On 29 July 1967, the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal was conducting combat operations in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. A Zuni rocket misfired, striking an external tank on an A-4. Fuel from the leaking tank caught fire, creating a massive conflagration that burned for hours, killing 134 sailors, and injuring 161. (See 1967 Forrestal fire.)
During the war, 362 A-4/TA-4F Skyhawks were lost due to all causes. The U.S. Navy lost 271 A-4s, the U.S. Marine Corps lost 81 A-4s and 10 TA-4Fs. A total of 32 A-4s were lost to surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and one A-4 was lost in aerial combat to a MiG-17 on 25 April 1967.
And finally the intruder
The Intruder received a new standardized US DOD designation of A-6A in the Autumn of 1962, and entered squadron service in February 1963. The A-6 became both the U.S. Navy's and U.S. Marine Corps's principal medium and all-weather/night attack aircraft from the mid-1960s through the 1990s and as an aerial tanker either in the dedicated KA-6D version or by use of a buddy store (D-704). Whereas the A-6 fulfilled the USN and USMC all-weather ground-attack/strike mission role, this mission in the USAF was served by the Republic F-105 Thunderchief and later the F-111, the latter which also saw its earlier F-111A variants converted to a radar jammer as the EF-111 Raven, analogous to the USN and USMC EA-6B Prowler.
A U.S. Marine Corps A-6 Intruder destroyed by a rocket and mortar bombardment on Danang Air Base during Vietnam war
A-6 Intruders first saw action during the Vietnam War, where the craft were used extensively against targets in Vietnam. The aircraft's long range and heavy payload (18,000 pounds or 8,200 kilograms) coupled with its ability to fly in all weather made it invaluable during the war. However, its typical mission profile of flying low to deliver its payload made it especially vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire, and in the eight years the Intruder was used during the Vietnam War, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps lost a total of 84 A-6 aircraft of various series. The first loss occurred on 14 July 1965 when an Intruder from Attack Squadron 75 (VA-75) from the carrier USS Independence, flown by LT Donald Boecker and LT Donald Eaton, commenced a dive on a target near Laos. An explosion under the starboard wing damaged the starboard engine, causing the aircraft to catch fire and the hydraulics to fail. Seconds later the port engine failed, the controls froze, and the two crewmen ejected. Both crewmen survived.
Of the 84 Intruders lost to all causes during the war, ten were shot down by surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), two were shot down by MiGs, 16 were lost to operational causes, and 56 were lost to conventional ground fire and AAA. The last Intruder to be lost during the war was from Attack Squadron 35 (VA-35), flown by LT C. M. Graf and LT S. H. Hatfield, from the carrier USS America; they were shot down by ground fire on 24 January 1973 while providing close air support. The airmen ejected and were rescued by a Navy helicopter. Twenty U.S. Navy aircraft carriers rotated through the waters of Southeast Asia, providing air strikes, from the early 1960s through the early 1970s. Nine of those carriers lost A-6 Intruders: USS Constellation lost 11, USS Ranger lost eight, USS Coral Sea lost six, USS Midway lost two, USS Independence lost four, USS Kitty Hawk lost 14, USS Saratoga lost three, USS Enterprise lost eight, and USS America lost two. Although capable of embarking aboard aircraft carriers, most U.S. Marine Corps A-6 Intruders were shore based in South Vietnam at Chu Lai and Da Nang and in Nam Phong, Thailand.
The first cockpit of the 4 I built was the academy phantom, I have seen many of these built, but it looks much better in real life. It went together reasonably quickly with little fuss. I will be keeping the pilots in the plane because it will be depicted flying. They were ok but I will be adding seat belts to them with miliput ( and I will sculpt the figures for the other phantom and the intruder).
I left the seats, pilots and dash board off to be painted separately
The airfix one was a nice fit but featured no raised details as it would be done with decals, I also thought that the pilot was in a rather odd pose, but it was still good
The phantom was the oldest kit and was not great, but it still featured raised detail and ok seats ( if you forget the prominent seam lines down the middle
The intruder,however, was on a different level. It was a work of art, a true master piece with Finely moulded detail and excellent seats with moulded seatbelts (I covered them up with pilots from airfix though)
I decided that I wanted to add seat belt to the seated pilot for more realism
Using the Haynes phantom owners manual I decide to simplify the seat belts as you wouldn't see it very well, but I still follower the guide as closely as possible
After I rolled the milliput, I flatted it out and cut into thin strips
I then picked it out and placed it on the back (there were incredibly helpful holes on the back that I place it in. I then pulled it Down, trying to keep a realistic tension as possible
I then finished it, it was a bit bulkier than I would have liked it, but if you look at someone in an ejection seat, you finally realised how big they are and it's often quite funny how it looks
Time to paint the cockpit, I started by giving the cockpit pieces with vma us ghost grey
2. I painted all the cockpit pieces now: the dials and dashboard details were picked out with black and white (some were given a gloss varnish to give the effect of glass), the pilots uniforms were given vmc cam dark green, the seatbelt vmc cam dark green and vmc English uniform in a 50:50 ratio, the helmets in white, flesh with vmc basic flesh tone and gloves and ejector handles in black (the latter including yellow). I then gave the whole models with a wash from black and Ultimate thinner (in a ratio of 20:80). Then the were highlighted with the base colour and then the base mixed with a bit of white (if needed). The details were latter painted like the markings on the helmets and the gloss varnish on the visor. This was the elements of the phantom cockpit
This was the skyhawk
And the intruder
This is a sneak peek of what's to come for the dio (a tropical hardwood)
Time to assemble the intruder, the model was very good and went together very easily but the only issue was the large gap between the fuselage halves, but this was easily sorted as you will now see
1.first I got the gap and packed it full of tamiya extra thin (I mean a lot of glue)
2.i then squeaked as hard as possible which made the glue act as a filler, then I sanded it down to a smooth finnish
The rest of the build went quick but the only problems were fitting the landing gear and the wings, but this was understandable because the kit was obviously designed to be on the ground (so the wings would be folded)
The last thng to do was the weapons, I left on of the bomb racks empty and the other with two out of the four to give the impression it has realeased most of its load, I armed it with the two sparrows and single drop tank
Sorry I haven't updated this for a while, but I'm back now and I have been preparing the diorama. I have refined it greatly from the original and I have decided that rather than including all of the planes, I will leave it so they can be place individually and changed. It was going to be huge and include a M113, but this is a naval aircraft sig, not a Vietnam one, so I have included only two figure sets 1/35 dragon SEAL and masterbox 1/35 "Charlie on the left" only the Vietnamese figures.
Well anyway the senario is, a U.S special forces team went to attack a Vietcong base in the jungle but decided to call an airstrike. The VC members ran out but the bomb missed and the plane is coming back. The explosion has blown some of the walls of the hut off and injured/killed one of them and the other is confused. The US soldiers are hiding (in what will be) thick vegetation, waiting for an attack [IMG]http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag8 ... lejpqz.jpg[
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The figures were ok, so I decided to upgrade some of the figures using little accessories like wire for the radio and tape for straps. The hut took several hours, but it was worth it, I even added a little table with a hat, gun and chain on it.
I painted the figures with vallejo and weathered them with humbrol weathering powders. The hut was given several different oil washes, I will post individual pictures of the figures in a minute
I use the model colour range and it handles well, but I always prime my models for the best effect.
I always use mode air when airbrushing, but the metal colours work better in model air form.
I use the model air if I'm making a wash.
So next on the build list was the skyhawk, and I must say what a cracking little kit it turned out to be. I started by assembling the model and there were a few gaps that required a bit of filler. The filler was also used on the napalm bomb that I found out was cast iron so I added a texture, the seams were sanded down. I thought that it still looked at little bleak, so using the new trumpeter riveting tool, lee reviewed it a while back. After doing this I decided it was fine.
The final stage of assembly was of course the phantom ("the phantom"). It was a smooth and quickest build thanks to some great engineering by the academy team. The only problem I found was thank the upper fuselage piece was a bit too small so there were a few gaps, but it was nothing a little filler couldn't fix. For this gap, I heavily diluted the filler because I didn't want to have to rescribe all the fine details
I built many sub assemblies mostly due to the vast number of ordanance and weapons( of which some I left off to give the impression it has encountered enemies already
I put the kit in my hand to give a sense of scale, this kit wasn't small, and neither are my hands
Now, it was time to paint, I masked the canopies with a mix of maskol and tamiya tape
I tried two techniques for persuading this time, the usual as well as painting the whole model black,
I was happy with the outcome as I had never done it well before
I carried n with what could well be the best airbrushing session I have ever had, I got a bit ambitious by masking off and painting the bare metal area with vma gunmetal, I was so happy with this that I even added some soot with black paint at a very low pressure. I don't know how good the picture is
For this model there were very large decals for black markings, that I believed that these would just cover all the detail or lead to very bad silvering, so the result was the most intense masking session I have ever experienced
Here you can see the current stage I am at with the dio and it is beginning to look more hopeful that I might finish this in time for the end of the sig
Well it took me a whole day, but I have done it, the decals are on, all of them went on fine apart from the sharks teeth on the phantom, they just wouldn't fit. I also left a lot of the stencilling off to give the impression that the moist sea air has worn them off, to keep with the airbrushed finnish.
Awaiting tools of the trade 1:32 Trumpeter Messerschmitt Bf109E-4 In the closet waiting 1:96 Revell USS Constitution 1:96 Revell 1964 Cutty Sark, H-395
"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." ~ Lao Tzu
The final steps are being completed(even though I have already finished it at the time of writing!) I use wilko brown filler and then I used materials that I go from a model railway shop, including lichens and grasses from a local company that is actually very good.
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I started to weather the planes using the basic oil spots and then using white spirt I created a streaking effect. I also used humbrol smoke to create soot on the exhausts and I also used a bit of brown oil on the bottom
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