Background
B-26s were operated in Southeast Asia (Laos AOR) from December 1960 to February 1964. The aircraft were withdrawn from service in February 1964 following two accidents related to wing spar fatigue, one during combat in Southeast Asia in August 1963 and one during an airpower demonstration at Eglin AFB, Florida in February 1964.
In response to this, the On Mark Engineering Company of Van Nuys, California was selected by the Air Force to extensively upgrade the Invader for a counterinsurgency role. The first production flight of the B-26K was on 30 May 1964 at the Van Nuys Airport. On Mark converted 40 Invaders to the new B-26K Counter-Invader standard, which included upgraded engines, propellers, and brakes, re-manufactured wings, and wing tip fuel tanks, for use by the 609th Special Operations Squadron. In May 1966, the B-26K was re-designated A-26A for political reasons (Thailand did not allow the U.S. to have bombers stationed in country at the time, so the Invaders were re-designated with an "A", for attack aircraft) and deployed in Thailand to help disrupt supplies moving along the Ho Chi Minh trail. Two of these aircraft were further modified with a Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR system) under project Lonesome Tiger, as a part of Operation Shed Light.
The 609th Special Operations Squadron “NIMRODs” were primarily tasked with the night time interdiction of enemy troops and truck convoys transporting supplies down the Ho Chi Minh Trail to the communist forces in South Vietnam. Their A-26s proved to be a deadly truck-killing aircraft. These aircrews and their redesigned WWII propeller-driven aircraft had a destructive effect far out of proportion to their numbers. Awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for “extraordinary gallantry in connection with military operations in Southeast Asia,” the NIMRODs were recognized as the best truck killers of the War!
The B-26K (A-26A) “Counter Invader”, affectionately known as the “NIMROD”, was the most effective night attack aircraft used on the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos between June 1966 and November 1969. Flown out of Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai AFB, the success of this WWII vintage attack bomber was extremely embarrassing to the “jets can do everything” USAF leadership. For example, of 3,000 sorties flown against the Ho Chi Minh Trail in December 1966, Nimrods flew only 6.5% but accounted for 64% of the 195 trucks killed!
3-View
SOURCE: http://napoleon130.tripod.com/id119.html illustration by Harry Whitver
Some Vietnam era Imagery
SOURCE: http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.o ... 5&start=30
SOURCE: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... _start.jpg
SOURCE: http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.o ... start=2415
The image above is of the plane I'll be modelling. A-26A/B-26K Serial 64-17677 was flow by Al "Batman" Shortt (pilot) and Larry “Robin” Counts (navigator)(pictured).
Revell 1:48 A-26B Invader kit
Some of the Required Kit Modifications
- Tip Tanks (A-26A/B-26K had 165 gallon tip tanks installed, not part of this kit)
- Rudder (A-26A/B-26K rudder chord was increased, kit rudder will need to be enlarged)
- Canopy (A-26A/B-26K canopy was late type "clamshell" canopy, kit has early type "flat" canopy)
- Cockpit (A-26A/B-26K had dual controls and an expanded instrument panel, kit has single controls and half width panel)
- Antenna (A-26A/B-26K has numerous antenna for special operations, kit has no antennas)
- Gun Turrets (A-26A/B-26K has no upper/lower gun turrets, kit turrets will need to be removed/closed)
- Nose (A-26A/B-26K used the 8-gun nose, kit nose will need to be modified from 6-gun nose)
- Propellers (A-26A/B-26K used square tip DC-6 propellers chopped by 10", kit props will need to be modified or replaced)
- Cowlings (A-26A/B-26K used "Congo" cowlings later in the war, kit has early cowlings) - this mod is optional
My objective is to do the mods on a budget if at all possible. The goal here is to find options for those who don't want to spend a mint building this aircraft in 1:48 scale. There are two mod kits I'm aware of, the first and most accurate/complete is that previously offered by Cutting Edge. The Cutting Edge kit is excellent but very pricey, today going for $120-$200. The second is by OzMods and is much less complete/accurate and sells for around $30. If 1:72 is your scale of choice, Italeri offers a nice kit of this aircraft.
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Troy
Will be watching this one. 
