Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

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SEPECAT Panther GR.1 - 899 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy, 1990

RN KESTREL GR1.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RN KESTREL GR1.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RN KESTREL GR1.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RN KESTREL GR1.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RN KESTREL GR1.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RN KESTREL GR1.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RN KESTREL GR1.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I like having a trawl through the downloads section of the two main websites (Combat Ace and DAT) and this is quite an old one but it's an excellent 3D model by 'Julhelm' who christened it 'Kestrel' as a nod towards it's basic Harrier configuration but I can see a bit of Alpha Jet and (humped) Skyhawk in there too. 'Julhelm' has created quite a few masterpieces for 'Strikefighters' including the Vigilante.

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Shenyang F-8MII 'Finback-B' - Mongolian Air Force, 2000

MONGOLIA F-8M2 FINBACK-B.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MONGOLIA F-8M2 FINBACK-B.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MONGOLIA F-8M2 FINBACK-B.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MONGOLIA F-8M2 FINBACK-B.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MONGOLIA F-8M2 FINBACK-B.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Quite a nice 3D model this by the 'Insky' group of modders. The real F-8MII was a proposed export version of the 'Finback-B' that saw no takers so is ripe for 'what iffery'.

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Avro Canada CF-103 Archer - No.420 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, 1965

RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Boy oh boy! Plenty of man hours have gone into this one - mainly in trial and error of decal positions! The 'Finback-B' comes with a fairly dark grey skin so I lightened it so that the skin can now be used for RCAF Grey (as above) or shiny NMF by boosting some settings. As an affectionate nod to the Avro Arrow I've left some black on the intakes. The distinctive RCAF fuselage 'cheat line' is a decal scaled up by x15 (in context, the roundels are scaled at x1) and then has a cut-out to accommodate the 3-digit nose number and some 5-digit serial numbers adorn the fin. Sadly, the 'Odd Rods' are part of a bigger mesh and cannot be removed but, despite that, I think it looks pretty 'Westernised' in RCAF markings.

[SPINNERS]

Avro Canada CF-103 Archer - No.423 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, 1965

RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.12 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.13 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.14 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.15 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I thought I'd do a second RCAF squadron and also show it with AIM-4D Falcons. Best bet would have been for the Canadian pilots to have climbed above the Badger/Bear/Bison getting just out of gun range and then to have then simply dropped their Falcons onto the Soviet bombers. BTW the 'Bald eagle' tail marking is out of me own head.

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RCAF CF-103 ARCHER.16 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I thought I'd try 'normal' grey paint on the intakes with an unbroken fuselage stripe. It looks good but the stripe then follows the inside contours of the intake, not a huge problem I guess. The 'Alouettes' badge is all my own work (I've created port & starboard versions of it) and I'd never realised that, in Britspeak, the bird is a humble Lark.

The CF-103 will be entering RCAF service with the following squadrons;

No.409 Squadron (Blue & Yellow Rudder Stripes)

No.410 Squadron (Red & White Rudder Stripes)

No.414 Squadron (Black & Red Rudder Stripes)

No.416 Squadron (Black & Yellow Rudder Stripes)

No.425 Squadron (Black & Silver Rudder Stripes)

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Avro Canada CF-103 Arrow - Royal Canadian Air Force

Serving with no less that nine front-line RCAF squadrons at its peak in the mid-1950's, the Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck provided all-weather defense against Soviet intruders and the four Canuck squadrons based in Europe from 1956 to1962 were, for some time, the only NATO fighters capable of operating in zero visibility and poor weather conditions. However, recognising the fact that the Soviet Union was working on newer jet-powered bombers the RCAF began looking for a missile-armed replacement for the CF-100 even before it had entered service and in January 1953 the RCAF's All-Weather Interceptor Requirements Team submitted a report to the Canadian Government outlining their requirements.

In response, Avro Canada came up with three distinct proposals;

1. A subsonic CF-100 development with a thinner swept wing and tail surfaces and with external missile stores (CF-100S).

2. A single-seat supersonic delta-winged aircraft with twin engines and external missile stores (CF-103).

3. A large two-seat supersonic delta-winged aircraft with twin engines and an internal missile bay (CF-105).

After a full year of reviewing Avro Canada's proposals the RCAF announced in February 1954 that they considered that the CF-103 represented the optimum balance between cost, efficacy and in-service date and requested that Avro Canada should be awarded a production contract for 200 CF-103's. To keep costs down the RCAF stipulated the use of two key 'off the shelf' items; the Hughes MA-1 fire control system (from the Convair F-102A) and the Rolls-Royce Avon afterburning turbojet (from the English Electric Lightning). Whilst both items were actually still under development themselves, they were considered to be a safer choice than any home-grown paper project and likely to reach maturity for the projected in-service date of 1960. The only area of risk was the decision to arm the CF-103 with the radical British ADEN 230 twin-barreled cannon in a streamlined semi-conformal installation carrying the cannon and with a 500 round ammunition drum stored immediately above and inside the fuselage.

The CF-103 used the then fashionable delta-wing configuration but with slab tailplanes and, in order to house a large radar set, the CF-103  used a solid nose with variable geometry air intakes on the fuselage with intake ramps and splitter plates which proved to be a perfect match for the Avon RB.146 turbojet engines each rated at 12,500 lbs thrust dry and 16,500 lbs thrust with afterburner. The aircraft was intended to be built directly from the production line thus skipping the traditional hand-built prototype phase and luckily very little re-design was required as testing progressed. On October 4th 1957, the same day as the launch of Sputnik 1, the first CF-103A was rolled out at Avro Canada's facility at Malton, Ontario eventually making it's first flight on December 30th, 1957 with Chief Development Test Pilot Janusz Żurakowski at the controls. Flight testing quickly demonstrated excellent handling and overall performance, reaching Mach 2.1 in level flight. Development was slowed slightly due to problems with the Hughes MA-1 Fire Control System and the ADEN 230 twin-barreled cannon but the first two CF-103A's entered service with No.425 Squadron on August 15th, 1961 in a ceremony at RCAF Namao, Alberta becoming fully operational by the end of the year.

CF-103A_Loading by Spinners1961, on Flickr

CF-103B_Loading by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Just to round off the CF-103 but I will come back to using the F-8MII for other stuff. Of course, the missiles I've forgotten to use are the Firestreak and RedTop and they will see service on the RAF 'Finback' in the future... or is it the past 

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Nanchang Q-5A 'Fantan' - Mongolian Air Force, 1989

MONGOLIA Q-5A FANTAN.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MONGOLIA Q-5A FANTAN.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MONGOLIA Q-5A FANTAN.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MONGOLIA Q-5A FANTAN.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MONGOLIA Q-5A FANTAN.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MONGOLIA Q-5A FANTAN.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MONGOLIA Q-5A FANTAN.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The MiG-19S is an ever present in the 'Strike Fighters' line-up and it's nice to see it's developed Chinese cousins well represented with at least four versions of Fantan's modelled and whilst not at the same quality level as the stock 3D models they are quite passable. This PLAAF green skin required just a bit of touching up and some new decals to put it into service with the Mongolian Air Force and I didn't want to use my real world Mongolian 001 to 012 serials (from my MiG-21) again so I've created some new 4-digit 'stencilled' decals using the yellow from their national markings and also used the same yellow to create the 'alignment' markings seen on the wing fence and fuselage. I assume these are for formation keeping purposes??

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McDonnell Douglas F-4F Phantom - JG74 Mölders, German Air Force, 1975

GAF F-4F PHANTOM.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

GAF F-4F PHANTOM.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Just a couple of shots (whilst I had my green crayon out  ) as I'll probably come back to this when I get a better F-4E/F template and can use the better features in SF2 including being able to re-colour drop tanks to your hearts content.

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Folland Gnat FGA.55 - 1st JaVa Netherlands East Indies Army Air Division, 1963

NEI GNAT FGA56.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

NEI GNAT FGA56.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

NEI GNAT FGA56.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

NEI GNAT FGA56.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The Ajeet comes with this excellent Indian Air Force Camo scheme to which I've added an orange rudder including the black border which I've previously avoided and then some NEI triangles, serial numbers and white mice as seen on their Fokker D.XXI's.

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Grumman F-109A Wildcat - VC-7, United States Navy, 'Red Star' Fighter Weapons School, 1966

During the first USN Carrier Deployments to the Gulf of Tonkin during 1963 and 1964, the USN top brass were appalled by the results of its F-4 and F-8 fighter aircraft during their initial engagements with the Vietnam Peoples Air Force. Whilst the F-8 was a competent enough dogfighter the handful of F-8 kills were scored with the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile mainly due to the 20mm Colt cannons jamming during high-G manoeuvers. USN F-4's were far less agile than the F-8's and were also handicapped by the official 'Rules of Engagement' requiring visual identification of enemy aircraft before firing the beyond visual range radar-guided AIM-7E Sparrow missiles.

Whilst an urgent study into rectifying the situation was launched a senior Royal Navy pilot, Lt Commander Dick Lord, whilst on secondment to the USN's VF-126 squadron at Naval Air Station Miramar, California introduced the USN to methods and tactics he had learned as a graduate of the Royal Navy's intense Air Warfare Instructors School in Lossiemouth, Scotland. First and foremost was structured air-to-air combat manoeuvering training using, wherever possible, dissimilar aircraft and with 'red' aircrew purposefully flying the mission in the style of the enemy. With limited funding, the United States Navy 'Red Star' Fighter Tactics Instructor Program was launched to teach ACM tactics and techniques to selected Naval Aviators and Naval flight officers who would, in theory, return to their operating units as surrogate instructors. 'Red Star' initially used USN A-4 Skyhawks and borrowed USAF T-38 Talons to simulate the flying characteristics of the MiG-17 and MiG-21 and in early 1966 received eight Hindustan Ajeet aircraft directly from Hindustan's Bangalore production line. Entering service as the F-109A Wildcat, the Ajeet's were supported and maintained in USN service by the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation. In service, the Wildcat's were flown by instructors pilots whose objective was to develop, refine and teach ACM tactics and techniques using the concept of dissimilar air combat training with the Wildcat pilot's replicating the performance of the Russian-built transonic MiG-17 'Fresco'. The eight F-109A's operated as part of VC-7 based at Naval Air Station Miramar from 1966 to 1980 and it's five surviving Wildcat's were scrapped when the squadron was disbanded on September 30th,1980.

USN F-109A GNAT.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F-109A GNAT.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F-109A GNAT.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F-109A GNAT.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F-109A GNAT.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F-109A GNAT.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F-109A GNAT.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The silver IAF Ajeet skin has been modified by adding white control surfaces plus some stock USN decals with a simple 'crosshairs' tail marking that I knocked up. BTW I hear that Top Gun 2 is being filmed at the moment.

[SPINNERS]

Grumman F-109A Wildcat - VC-7, United States Navy, 'Red Star' Fighter Weapons School, 1968

USN F-109A GNAT.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F-109A GNAT.10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F-109A GNAT.11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F-109A GNAT.13 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F-109A GNAT.12 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

To finish my 'Red Star' Ajeets here are a couple of shots in two different camo schemes.

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Douglas A-4C Skyhawk - 340 Mira Hellenic Air Force, 1966

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I found this lovely Singapore Air Force Skyhawk skin done many years ago by a very talented Brazilian skinner, Marcelo Silva, who sadly is no longer active but his work survives in a little hidden corner of cyberspace. I gave the skin a little bit of TLC and applied it to the A-4C but forgot that it only had three pylons and I usually like my aircraft fully loaded! I don't know what multi-mode radar sets were around in the mid-1960's but I like the look of the radar nose on this and removed the refuelling probe before giving it some pretty generic Hellenic Air Force decals. I quite like this!

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McDonnell Douglas A-4E Skyhawk - 339 Mira, Hellenic Air Force, 1990

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.12 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

After digging around the SF1 archives over at Combat Ace I found an A-4 template but it was only used for the lines and rivets (still a useful time-saver mind) and I had to cut out all the parts and add weathering etc.  I had a crack at a 3-tone wrap around camo using a USN scheme as a pattern. It looks OK but, hands up, the colours are off. Sometimes it's better to 'mix by eye' as I looked at FS numbers until my head was spinning and the variation is shocking. I made the national insignia a bit smaller and knocked-up a bit pretty crappy shield for 339 Mira.

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McDonnell Douglas A-4E Skyhawk - 330 & 340 Mira, Hellenic Air Force, 1968-1989

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.13 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.15 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

HAF A-4C SKYHAWK.14 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I'm really loving the Skyhawk and will come back to it when I get back to SF2 later this year.

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General Dynamics Falcon FG.1 - No.41 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1984

RAF FALCON FG1.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF FALCON FG1.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF FALCON FG1.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Don't look too close as there are some hideous joints but it does give an impression as to what a splinter camo would look like on a mid-80's RAF Falcon. I think I've already done the more obvious Swedish Flygvapnet F-16!