Luftwaffe Hawker Seahawk, Carrier Graf Zeppelin, April 1956

[nönöbär]

Hawker  F.101 Seahawk

This time, it is only a "half-What-If". The Bundesmainre used Seahawks in reality, but of course never on a own carrier. However, some planes did training mission on US carriers.

The Plane:

After World War II, the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin was among the few German ships that survived the war. With the rise of tensions between the east and the west shortly after the war and the rearmament of Western Germany in 1948, the Graf Zeppelin was one of the ships that formed the core of the Bundesmarine.
(See http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,37705.0.html)
Put into service again with only minor modifications (mainly a removal of the 15 cm guns), the Bundesmarine first continued to operate the Corsairs and FW190. But it soon got obvious that those old propeller planes were outdated.
As some tests were made with Me262T jet fighters in 1944, the potential of those kind of planes were clear, but this was not the right aircraft for carrier operations.

After the introduction of Grumman F9F Panther in March of 1950, the Bundesmarine aquired 36 Hakwer F.101 in November 1951. Like the Panthers, those planes were used as fighters and fighter bombers. Normally, up to 12 of those planes were stationed on the Graf Zeppelin simultaniously.

The Bundesmarine used those plane over 10 years on board of the carrier. But with the advancing technology, the aircraft were put ouf of service in 1965 and sold to India.

The model shows a F.101 Seahawk on the Graf Zeppelin in April 1956 during the NATO excercise "Sleepy Weasel" in the Arctic Sea.
 






Marineflieger planes on board of the Graf Zeppelin in the mid 1950s


The Model:
It is a Hobbyboss 1/72. Build OOB, the only variation is the color scheme, which is a modifed German Marineflieger paint as I used it for other Marineflieger "What-Ifs"

[NARSES2]

That looks really nice 

[sandiego89]

Great job, like this a lot. 

[Mossie]

Yeah, me too, subtle.   Lovely little kit, I've got one on the go at the moment.  I like it's partner too.

[Weaver]

Spooky: I've just been looking at that very kit in the attic....

Great build: the Marineflieger scheme always looks good.

May I ask how you did the base?

[nönöbär]

Spooky: I've just been looking at that very kit in the attic....

Great build: the Marineflieger scheme always looks good.

May I ask how you did the base?

Thanks

It is a Italieri kit called "Carrier Deck Section", see here: http://www.italeri.com/scheda.asp?idProdotto=2163&idCategoria=5&idSottocategoria=29

[Weaver]

Spooky: I've just been looking at that very kit in the attic....

Great build: the Marineflieger scheme always looks good.

May I ask how you did the base?

Thanks

It is a Italieri kit called "Carrier Deck Section", see here: http://www.italeri.com/scheda.asp?idProdotto=2163&idCategoria=5&idSottocategoria=29

Ah yes, I've seen it in the shops. Nice, but rather expensive, I thought.

[Captain Canada]

That came out very nice ! Lovely little aeroplane eh ? Looks awesome on your deck section, really brings it to life.