Quote from: Gekko_1 on August 24, 2012, 10:41:42 AM
Loving the Phantoms!

Any chance of getting an RAAF Phantom in the C-130H camo scheme, like this?

RAAFF-4EPHANTOM14 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFF-4EPHANTOM15 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFF-4EPHANTOM16 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFF-4EPHANTOM17 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Hi Richard! Best I can do in a long afternoon's work and you'll have to forgive the mapping issues. I didn't want the tail looking too bare so did new toned-down No.3 squadron markings without the white disc and with -75% saturation and replaced the slanting Aussie flag with toned-down -50% saturation versions.

Avro Canada CF-105A Arrow 

CAFCF-105AARROW01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

CAFCF-105AARROW02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

CAFCF-105AARROW03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

CAFCF-105AARROW04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A very nice CF-105 was released today by 'Fast Cargo' over at Combat Ace and here are some screenshots of the two skins that it comes with.

Avro Canada / Saab J-36C 'Pilen' - F21, Flygvapnet, 1975

The first flight of the Avro Canada CF-105 on March 28th, 1958 was a complete success even on the lower power of the Pratt & Whitney J75 engines and during subsequent evaluation flights company test pilot Jan Zurakowski encountered no major problems. However, the programme received a major blow in September 1958 when the American Bomarc surface-to-air missile system was bought and this seemed to signal the end of the line for the Arrow although the Canadian government insisted that a decision would be deferred until the following March. This deadline gave Avro Canada the impetus to seek a development partner but there was no interest from UK companies (whose government had declared that manned aircraft were obsolete the previous year in the infamous Sandys White Paper) whilst American companies knew that the chances of the Arrow entering USAF service were virtually nil as the F-106 was just beginning to replace the F-102 on the Convair production line and, beyond that, the future lay with Weapon System 202 (F-108) - a Mach 3 interceptor programme running parallel with Weapon System 110A (B-70).

In desparation, Avro Canada looked further afield and in January 1959 approached Saab on the basis that Sweden seemed to have similar requirements to Canada in terms of range and performance. With the outstanding Saab Draken entering production and scheduled to enter service the following year this seemed unlikely but, behind the scenes, senior Flygvapnet officials had expressed concerns over the Draken's single-engined overwater safety performance and unrefuelled range and hastily drafted a specification for Project 1299 for a twin-engined, radar-equipped, long-range all-weather fighter capable of reaching Mach 2.0 in level flight whilst operating from existing Swedish runways and designated sections of 'motorväg'. By early March 1959 a formal partnership backed by both Governments had been formed and although the development timescale was slowed down by the merger the Arrow was saved.

Within months, the American F-108 programme was cancelled and the USAF suddenly became interested in the Arrow as a follow-on programme to the F-106 eventually ordering 300 as the F-112A. Arrow production commenced in 1963 with the first aircraft off the Malton production line going to the Royal Canadian Air Force whilst the first aircraft off the newly-built Linköping production line went to the Swedish Flygvapnet in February 1965.

FLYGVAPNETCF-105SARROW01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETCF-105SARROW02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETCF-105SARROW03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETCF-105SARROW04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETCF-105SARROW05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETCF-105SARROW06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Avro Canada Arrow F.2 - No.111 'Treble One' Squadron, RAF Fighter Command, 1966

RAFARROWF201 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFARROWF202 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFARROWF203 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFARROWF204 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

For future RAF Arrow 'what ifs' I need to add some serial numbers and create a better shaped fin flash.

Avro Canada Arrow F.2 - No.64 Squadron, RAF Fighter Command, 1966

RAFARROWF206 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFARROWF205 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Avro Canada F-112A Arrow - 186th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Montana Air National Guard, 1973

USAFCF-105ARROW01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFCF-105ARROW02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFCF-105ARROW03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFCF-105ARROW04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFCF-105ARROW05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFCF-105ARROW06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFCF-105ARROW10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Last Arrow for now but I think I'll keep coming back to this one!

McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.5 - No.6 Squadron, RAF South East Asia Command, 1985

RAFSEACPHANTOMFGR501 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSEACPHANTOMFGR502 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSEACPHANTOMFGR503 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSEACPHANTOMFGR504 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSEACPHANTOMFGR505 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A new 'USAF Phantom Skin Pack' was released today and includes this sweet Euro One scheme which makes a very nice RAF SEAC bird! Apart from the decals I've added toned-down Skyflash and Magic missiles (stock missiles but with new skins by me).

McDonnell Douglas F-4EZ Phantom - No.2 Squadron, South African Air Force, 2003

During the mid-1970's the South African Government made tentative enquiries regarding purchasing the McDonnell Douglas Phantom for the South African Air Force (SAAF) with no success but in February 1977 the incoming Democrat President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, and the South African State President Nicolaas Diederichs agreed to the purchase of 30 F-4EZ's for delivery in 1979 and these were among the very last St. Louis-built Phantoms produced.

Entering service with No.2 Squadron 'The Flying Cheetahs' of the SAAF the F-4EZ's initially operated from Hoedspruit AFB before moving to Louis Trichardt AFB in early 1993. With SAAF Impalas, Buccaneers and Mirage F.1CZ's operating in the ground-attack role the Phantoms saw limited action in the Border War but at least four Angolan MiG-21's and two Mi-17 helicopters were shot down by No.2 Squadron. The surviving F-4EZ's were finally retired in 2012 when they replaced by Eurofighter Typhoons.

SAAFF-4EZPHANTOM07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SAAFF-4EZPHANTOM08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SAAFF-4EZPHANTOM09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SAAFF-4EZPHANTOM10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SAAFF-4EZPHANTOM11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The SAAF camo skin given to me recently led me to do one in post 'Springbok' markings and finally this all grey scheme using current lo-viz markings.

USCGRA-5CVIGILANTE04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USCGRA-5CVIGILANTE05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USCGRA-5CVIGILANTE06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I wasn't too happy with the insignia and 'USCG' overlapping onto the red on the wings so revisited them and cut panels out at 35^o to match the angle that they slant and did the stabs and lower surfaces. I'm happy now

English Electric Canberra S.5 - No.617 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command 1960

RAFCANBERRAS501 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFCANBERRAS502 by Spinners1961, on Flickr
RAFCANBERRAS503 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFCANBERRAS504 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

What if 'Red Beard' had an earlier in service date (than 1962) and a couple of Canberra squadrons were given a special variant of the Cranberry to carry it?

I toyed with using the desinations B.5 or B.6(SD) [Special Duties] but prefer S.5 even though it's not contemporary. Interestingly the 'Rainbow Codes' Wiki lists 'Red Cat' as being "unknown - trialled on Canberra in the 1950's". It was probably a nav-aid or countermeasure but it just could have been a small tactical nuclear bomb.

Martin B-57A Canberra - US Coast Guard, 1973

USCGB-57ACANBERRA01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USCGB-57ACANBERRA02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USCGB-57ACANBERRA03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USCGB-57ACANBERRA04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USCGB-57ACANBERRA05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

My 'V-Bomber' Canberra was merely a stepping stone to a US Coast Guard Cranberry! It's a little bit unfinished but I'm keen to move onto something else (you know what I'm like  )

Grumman A-6E Intruder - No.1 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, 1972

RAAFA-6EINTRUDER01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFA-6EINTRUDER02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFA-6EINTRUDER03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFA-6EINTRUDER04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFA-6EINTRUDER05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFA-6EINTRUDER06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A whole range of 'what if' RAAF A-6's was released today over at Combat Ace by 'Homes Fries' (a real A-6 afficionado) covering a wide selection of variants and schemes with the 'greys' being especially nice. I'm delighted to showcase his F-4E style scheme with my own decals but using his serial numbers. I now have a strange urge to watch 'Flight of the Intruder' 

Grumman A-6E Intruder - No.6 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, 1974

RAAFA-6EINTRUDER07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFA-6EINTRUDER08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFA-6EINTRUDER09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SAM-2 launch in the background!

Ling-Temco-Vought A-7H Corsair II - 27 smaldeel, 'The Black Panthers', Belgian Air Force, 1983

BAFA-7HCORSAIR01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFA-7HCORSAIR02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFA-7HCORSAIR03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Another DLC aircraft was released recently - the A-7H Corsair for the Greek Air Force. I've used that as the basis for my Belgian A-7H but must own up to cocking up the serials by planning to use 'AC' but for some reason typing 'BC' when making the decals. Doh!

Grumman Intruder S.2B - No.15 Squadron, RAF Germany, 1972

RAFINTRUDERS2B01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFINTRUDERS2B02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFINTRUDERS2B03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFINTRUDERS2B04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFINTRUDERS2B05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFINTRUDERS2B06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

OK, just pretend that RAFG practised aerial refuelling and at quite a low-level! This uses the Victor K.1 from the DAT site with new decals by me and the 'what if' RAAF Camo from 'Home Fries' wonderful A-6 RAAF anthology, again with decals by me and a bit of overspray around the intakes. The Victor is a majestic aircraft, isn't it?

RAFINTRUDERS2B07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr