Well I just got a ford trimotor and it needs to be whiffed so anybody got any ideas?
Thanks
Joshua
Confederate Air Force colours in Harry Turtledove style.
British Empire "Dominion of North America" markings, as the personal aircraft of the Governor General, Viscount Roosevelt. It should boggle the JMNs for a start!!
stick another motor in the boot and put rockets under the wings :thumbsup:
Our OGL did the Ultimate Tri-motor by pivoting the wings and making it a VTOL! :thumbsup: ;D
A gunship of course! Maybe a bunch of Vickers machine guns out the side, some searchlights, camoflage. Ratty looking. Nicaragua or El Salvador 1930's.
spanish civil war republican AF bomber?
In-line engines! Streamlined and with spatted landing gear for the wing engines.
Or use engines powerful enough to power the aircraft with the wing engines alone. Ditch the nose engine and place a turret there. Another machine gun in a dorsal position.
The Spanish Republican theme sounds good. Maybe have the engines come from an unserviceable SB-2.
Quote from: sandiego89 on February 13, 2013, 01:12:25 PM
A gunship of course! Maybe a bunch of Vickers machine guns out the side, some searchlights, camoflage. Ratty looking. Nicaragua or El Salvador 1930's.
That sounds REALLY cool! :thumbsup:
Ski's and orange panels all over as an Antarctic supply bird.
steam punk it?
interwar ASW aircraft or maybe early WW2 ASW trainer.
Bushmaster 2000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stout_Bushmaster_2000
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2Ff%2Ffe%2FStout_Bushmaster_2000.jpg%2F800px-Stout_Bushmaster_2000.jpg&hash=d872f5335d7f7eaa8aca135df92b48fe53de20fc)
Ford 8-AT
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F1000aircraftphotos.com%2FContributions%2FShumaker%2F9140L-1.jpg&hash=d9a8e005b934c48ab1f498def861ad23397300f7)
Hisso V-12 configuration the same aircraft was also flown with P & W Hornet A and
Hornet B, Wright Cyclone and Cyclone GR, and a Bristol Jupiter. With spats, w/out spats
and on floats. ;D
XB-906 bomber conversion from 5-AT
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aerofiles.com%2Fford-xb906.jpg&hash=1c0a256ebb3c73a8081c3a34baca4e00779999e7)
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=3246
Boy, planes were so neat/ ugly back then..... :thumbsup:
PS-if I had to vote, I'd go gunship !
:cheers:
Quote from: ChernayaAkula on February 13, 2013, 02:35:46 PM
The Spanish Republican theme sounds good. Maybe have the engines come from an unserviceable SB-2.
That sounds and would look good
Flying boat/floatplane/amphibian a la Grumman Duck or Blackburn B.20, and/or a water bomber.
Martin
Quote from: Captain Canada on February 13, 2013, 02:47:55 PM
Ski's and orange panels all over as an Antarctic supply bird.
That paint job could be nicely done with the Monogram kit:
http://www.avkits.net/kit50/monogram/trimotor/trimotor_skis.jpg
http://www.ipmsusa3.org/gallery/v/box_art_album/Manufacturers/MNOP/Monogram+Box+Art/Aircraft+-+Commercial+and+Private/Ford_Trimotor_Monogram_6056_77th.jpg.html
Martin
A couple of floats?
Quote from: McColm on February 14, 2013, 01:00:20 PM
A couple of floats?
There were some RW examples - note that the video essentially describes the use as a crop (respectively forest) duster:
http://www.aerofiles.com/ford-5atcs.jpg
http://www.fordtri-motor.com/images/photos/pg1_img3.jpg
http://www.grandcanyonairlines.com/files/large/414h_on_floats3__gallery-on-page.jpg
http://www.grandcanyonairlines.com/files/large/414h_on_floats2__gallery-on-page.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5rpdHE_HWk&list=UU5uxEwss1RLRft4OXgPutLQ&index=8
Martin
Guys thank you for the ideas so far i have it half way planned out and it will be awesome.
Thanks
Joshua
Make a heck of a ASW aircraft or close support and/or Bird Dog aircraft.
1930's FAA with folding wings. ;D ;)
Have you thought about doing it as an ASR bird for the US Coast Guard? Dan
Or another one of these: http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,33915.msg534632.html#msg534632
Quote from: crudebuteffective on February 13, 2013, 01:38:59 PM
spanish civil war republican AF bomber?
That isn't a whiff: http://www.zi.ku.dk/personal/drnash/model/spain/did.html
Of course, you could take it further as a whiff, with more guns, and/or the engine swap suggested by ChernayaAkula.
As an alternative, how about having them nick a pair of Hispano HS 12s off one of the dire Potez 540s and replace the Ford's nose engine with a bomb-aiming position? The Hispanos are already podded and come with retractable gear, although it might not be long enough as it stands. The two Hispanos are slightly more powerful than the Tin Lizzie's three Wasps.
The gunship idea occurred to me too. The original idea was counter-insurgency in Mexico with three old water-cooled Brownings but I couldn't find models of the latter. However I then picked up one of those Quad Maxim AAA mounts the Russians used, so the setting has now moved to an extended Russian Civil war going on into the late 1920s. The guns are 1/76th white metal, but since my trimotor is the old Revell "classic" in approximately 1/77th, they'll do nicely.... ;D Orion do the guns in 1/72nd plastic which will go with other kits, and I dare say there are white metal/resin ones too.
Of course, the same combination of aircraft and weapons would be just as credible for an SCW scenario......hmmmmmm...........
Quote from: Weaver on February 15, 2013, 04:39:39 AM
so the setting has now moved to an extended Russian Civil war going on into the late 1920s.
You could argue that it did in the far flung regions of the Far East. Fascinating and extremely complicated subject with very little available in English that I'm aware of
Mine will be a Miskatonic University machine, used on their 1931 Antarctic expedition.... :wacko:
Quote from: NARSES2 on February 15, 2013, 07:01:35 AM
Quote from: Weaver on February 15, 2013, 04:39:39 AM
so the setting has now moved to an extended Russian Civil war going on into the late 1920s.
You could argue that it did in the far flung regions of the Far East. Fascinating and extremely complicated subject with very little available in English that I'm aware of
Vietminh/Vietcong bomber/transport aircraft (think Vickers Valentia/Bristol Bombay) at Dien Bien Phu.
According to Howson, Ford 4-AT-71, the last 4-AT built and the only 4-AT-F, was not used for anything
other than a transport during the war. It was powered by three 300hp Wright Whirlwind J-6 and the outer
two were in NACA cowlings.
So an extemporized bomber conversion along the lines of what was done with the similar Fokker airliners
would probably be a What-if.
Note that during the war both factory built Fokker bomber versions (F.VIIb3m/M) and converted airliners
(F.VIIb3m, F.IX, F.XII, F.XVIII, and a single F.XX) were in use on both sides, so there is a lot of possible
inspiration for the potential look and equipment of a modified Ford. The F.XX had its outer engines
replaced with the M25 from an I-16 on one side and the Walter Merkur from a Letov S 231 on the other,
which made an aircraft already unpopular with its Republican crew into an absolute pig. Much relief was
expressed when it crashed in 1938. So while engine swaps were made, the result wasn't necessarily good.
- Info from Howson, Aircraft of The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939, Putnam 1990
As to the layout of a period gunship something along the lines of the Junkers-Larsen JL.12
'armored attack plane', a Junkers F.13 with a belly-full of Thompson SMGs, is far more likely than
the Vietnam-era Spooky configuration.
http://www.ju-f13.de/F13/F13K38/F13K38.html
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ju-f13.de%2FF13%2FF13K38%2FF13K38_03.jpg&hash=5b15ff5150160a3e3e4d4b779f1e45eee20d0580)
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ju-f13.de%2FF13%2FF13K38%2FF13K38_05.jpg&hash=d8dd2610706c3ba848cedbf416eb3ed3c1b8dfde)
Above from Angelika Hofmann's outstanding Junkers F.13 website, German only but that's a minor nit ;) :
http://www.ju-f13.de/index.html
Flight article from 1922, which incorrectly states it as being larger than the JL.6/F.13:
http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1922/1922%20-%200073.PDF
Profile from airwar.ru:
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airwar.ru%2Fimage%2Fidop%2Faww1%2Fjl12%2Fjl2-c1.jpg&hash=b63d5cc604e1363d00d584e1c5cd7ae2b4896f92)
Quote from: joncarrfarrelly on February 15, 2013, 09:58:29 AM
The F.XX had its outer engines
replaced with the M25 from an I-16 on one side and the Walter Merkur from a Letov S 231 on the other.....
Which rather begs the question 'WHY?' :o
Quote from: PR19_Kit on February 15, 2013, 10:00:42 AM
Quote from: joncarrfarrelly on February 15, 2013, 09:58:29 AM
The F.XX had its outer engines
replaced with the M25 from an I-16 on one side and the Walter Merkur from a Letov S 231 on the other.....
Which rather begs the question 'WHY?' :o
Probably because that's all they had available, logistics and spares were always the biggest headaches
for the Republicans.
Rocket assisted takeoff a la Ju-52 glider tow plane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOfOAG0T7Js
Martin
From seeing all the ideas. I'd have to say it'd be way cooler as a gunship.
Wow...did anybody watch the tri-motor aerobatics video #1 ?! Holy cow !
:wub:
big jet in the wings crude smokey fuel guzzlers, with the nose engine replaced with a bundle of rockets following an alien invasion as a last ditch defense for an isolated resurch station thats our last hope?