Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

[SPINNERS]

Yakovlev Yak-75 'Fireball' - Various Soviet Air Force Schemes

SOVIETYAK-7501 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETYAK-7502 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETYAK-7503 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETYAK-7504 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETYAK-7505 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETYAK-7506 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETYAK-7507 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETYAK-7508 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETYAK-7509 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETYAK-7510 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETYAK-7511 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I've shown this very futuristic looking aircraft before (all I know is that it's known as the KF-2 Hammer) which comes with loads of various schemes and I've chosen three for a Soviet version, for which I'm calling the schemes 'Desert', 'Euro' and 'Blue'. Unfortunately, I keep getting constant CTD's whilst flying this so I'm going to park it up.

[SPINNERS]

Hawker Hunter FGA.9B - No.54 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1974

RAFHUNTERFGA9B07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9B08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9B09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9B10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9B11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Not too much of a 'what if' except for the six pylons and some French weapon options (Matra 530 missile and SAMP 400Kg retarded bomb).

[SPINNERS]

Hawker Hunter FGA.9B - No's.45 & 58 Squadrons, RAF Strike Command, 1974

RAFHUNTERFGA9B12 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9B13 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9B14 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9B15 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9B16 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9B17 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9B18 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Only a partial 'what if' and an affectionate nod to the Matchbox Hunter of my youth! I wish we had a T.7 in Strike Fighters!

[SPINNERS]

Hawker Hunter FGA.9A - No.19 & No.92 Squadrons, RAF Germany, 1973

RAFHUNTERFGA9A01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9A02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9A03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9A04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9A05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9A06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9A07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9A08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9A09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Final Hunters for now but you know I'll always come back to this beautiful British thoroughbred! This skin is another 'cut and shut' derived from the Swedish Mk.50 with standard RAF undersides and the drop tanks were given similar treatment with the larger 230-gallon tank requiring a bit more work as that tank was not used by the Swedes. Perhaps four Firestreaks (substantially heavier than Sidewinders) would be a bit too heavy for the Hunter with tanks and those tanks are really needed!

[SPINNERS]

Republic F-84K Thunderstreak FB.2 - No.60 Squadron, RAF South East Asia Command, 1955

RAFF-84KTHUNDERSTREAKFB101 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-84KTHUNDERSTREAKFB102 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-84KTHUNDERSTREAKFB103 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-84KTHUNDERSTREAKFB104 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-84KTHUNDERSTREAKFB105 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-84KTHUNDERSTREAKFB106 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Some much needed swept-wing muscle for RAF SEAC!

[SPINNERS]

BAC Stiletto F.2A - No.92 Squadron, RAF Germany, 1973

RAFMiG-21BISFISHBED01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMiG-21BISFISHBED02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A few pages back I did a No.19 squadron RAFG 'Fishbed' but a snazzy new fin intake has been created as an add-on 3D part by 'logan4' to copy what 'dizzyfugu' did with his MiG-21!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dizzyfugu/7895266196/

I'm going to call it the dizzyfugu inlet!

[SPINNERS]

Avro Arrow F.2 - No.111 Squadron, RAF Fighter Command, 1967

RAFARROWF201 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFARROWF202 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFARROWF203 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFARROWF204 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFARROWF205 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A really nice 'RAF Arrow' was released yesterday and included a nice grey/green camo scheme to which I've added No.111 Squadron markings. More Arrows over the weekend.

[SPINNERS]

Avro Canada CF-105J Arrow - 302nd Hikotai, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, 1988

JASDFCF-105JARROW01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

JASDFCF-105JARROW02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The recent 'Arrow FGR.3' release included this experimental blue camo scheme which screamed out for JASDF markings, well it would have been rude not to...

[SPINNERS]

Avro Canada CF-105N Arrow - 6° Stormo 'Diavoli Rossi', Aeronautica Militare, 1970

In early 1954 'Aviation Week' published the disturbing news that the Soviet Union was developing a new swept-wing jet bomber capable of delivering a nuclear bomb to the United States from bases in Russia. A subsequent article referred to this aircraft as the Myasishchev M-4 'Bison' and such was the concern over these articles (and rumours of other Soviet jet bombers) that the issue was debated publicly, both in the press and in the United States Congress. During the Tushino air display in July 1955 Western observers saw 28 'Bison' aircraft fly past in two groups leading to to the mistaken belief that the bomber was in mass production and a Central Intelligence Agency estimate that 800 jet bombers would be available to the Soviet Air Force by 1960. Whilst we now know that this impressive flypast was a hoax (created by just one group of ten aircraft repeating the flypast once before a third flypast with eight aircraft) the CIA's estimates led to the American press announcing a 'bomber gap' which was seized upon by politicians and military planners alike.

During this time, both the USAF and RAF were showing interest in the Avro Canada CF-105 project, regarding it as being the world's most advanced interceptor and a far more practical and affordable alternative to the North American F-108 Rapier project. At a government level the US and UK negotiated with the Canadian government to adopt 'observer' status on the CF-105 programme with a view to purchasing the aircraft but the public outcry at the perceived 'bomber gap' led to an urgent rethink and during late 1955 the three governments reached full agreement on a collaborative programme to manufacture the Arrow as the standard interceptor for the air forces of all three nations. Avro Canada would continue to lead the project and develop the airframe whilst Hughes would develop a new radar and weapon system (based on their outstanding MA-1 integrated fire-control system) leaving the propulsion system to Bristol Aero Engines (later Bristol Siddeley) with an advanced afterburning version of their Olympus two-spool axial-flow turbojet for the production aircraft with the prototypes continuing to use the Pratt & Whitney J75. Each country would have it's own production line with Avro Canada manufacturing aircraft for the RCAF, North American Aviation manufacturing aircraft for the USAF and Hawker Siddeley manufacturing aircraft for the RAF and also for other European air forces. Whilst the Iroquois engine was cancelled in favour of the Olympus, Orenda would manufacture all Olympus engines for RCAF and USAF Arrows.

The prototype CF-105 Arrow first flew in October 1957 and development moved smoothly with production aircraft entering service in August 1960 when No.425 Squadron at Bagotville, Quebec re-equipped with the CF-105B. By the time the aircraft entered service the 'bomber gap' myth had been well and truly debunked but Avro Canada proposed several variants of the Arrow including the CF-105N as a NATO standard multi-role fighter that was soon adopted by the Italian Air Force (entering service with 6° Stormo in 1963) and subsequently by the Marineflieger and Netherlands Air Force. The final export order was for the CF-105J (essentially a CF-105N with reduced air-to-ground capability) for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.

AMICF-105NARROW01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMICF-105NARROW02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMICF-105NARROW03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMICF-105NARROW04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMICF-105NARROW05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMICF-105NARROW06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I just love the green/white/red AMI roundels and the Arrow has a fin that suits the classic 'Diavoli Rossi' markings and I spent a bit of time getting the fin chevron to match the shape of the fin. I've added 'FRANCE' to the weapons stations to access Matra 530 missiles but, in game, their uselessness is legendary!


Edit: Backstory added!

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17SB 'Fresco-C' - Vietnam Peoples Air Force, 1968

VPAFMiG-17SBFRESCO01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAFMiG-17SBFRESCO02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAFMiG-17SBFRESCO03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAFMiG-17SBFRESCO04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAFMiG-17SBFRESCO05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Sometimes a new release over at Combat Ace will set me off on a tangent and the release of a new Egyptian MiG-17F with locally produced body pylons and Sakr rockets (picture below) led me to consider 'what if' there was a mainstream fighter-bomber version that was supplied to the North Vietnamese? I've called this version the 'SB' simply because the MiG-15 fighter-bombers had this suffix. The skin is one of four excellent stock VPAF skins buried away within the game but I like this one the best.

EAFMiG-17FFRESCO by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17PF - Vietnam Peoples' Air Force, 1971

VPAFMiG-17PFFRESCO02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAFMiG-17PFFRESCO03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAFMiG-17PFFRESCO04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAFMiG-17PFFRESCO05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAFMiG-17PFFRESCO06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAFMiG-17PFFRESCO07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Whilst the North Vietnamese did use the MiG-17PF I'm not too sure if they used this particular camo, simply created by adding the 'PF' radome to the 'F' camo scheme with a further tweek to get paint onto the inner-wing pylons. Whilst I've recoloured the drop tanks there is a slight problem in that the 3D model (for the tank) has in-built 'shininess' that makes it look anodised and detracts from the overall look. Once again, due to my dislike of bare fins I've added the Vietnamese Coat of Arms just to place something there.

[SPINNERS]

Gloster Grebe Mk.51 - Esk726, Royal Danish Air Force, 1962

RDAFMiG-17SBFRESCO01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RDAFMiG-17SBFRESCO02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RDAFMiG-17SBFRESCO03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RDAFMiG-17SBFRESCO04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RDAFMiG-17SBFRESCO05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Decisions, Decisions. Do I go for a Communist Denmark or have my Gloster Grebe adopted by the RDAF? Well, as you can see from the title, I've plumped for the latter. Anyhoo, this is a green Nigerian skin taken from a new 'Fresco' anthology by the prolific 'Paulopanz' over at Combat Ace and I've just slapped some RDAF decals on it. You'll notice that this is the Egyptian modified Fresco-C which I'm really enjoying and might just try to squeeze a Firestreak on the body pylons.

[SPINNERS]

Gloster Grebe Mk.58 - 17 Staffel, Swiss Air Force, 1968

SWISSMiG-17SBFRESCO01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SWISSMiG-17SBFRESCO02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SWISSMiG-17SBFRESCO03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SWISSMiG-17SBFRESCO04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SWISSMiG-17SBFRESCO05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Not much time tonight so I've used the Cuban MiG-17F skin for this Swiss 'Grebe' requested by Weaver. The camo is not quite the right shades but with Swiss markings (including 'handed' versions of the 17 Staffel badge) it does a reasonably good job.

[SPINNERS]

Saunders Roe Valentina B.1 - No.617 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command, 1961

RAFVALENTINAB101 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFVALENTINAB102 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFVALENTINAB103 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFVALENTINAB104 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFVALENTINAB105 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I've shown this one before but a slightly revised 3D model was released so I've knocked up a very simple skin for it. I hate drawing panel lines so just did the bare minimum and added some simple weathering plus the all-important V-Bomber markings. Yes, it does look more like a Vickers product but they were busy making Valiant B.2's 

[SPINNERS]

Saunders Roe Valentina B.2 - No.7 Squadron, No.8 (Pathfinder) Group, RAF Bomber Command, 1962

RAFVALENTINAB201 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFVALENTINAB202 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFVALENTINAB203 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFVALENTINAB204 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFVALENTINAB205 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A bit of a 'speed build' this and an affectionate nod to the Vickers Valiant B.2