Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas Phantom F.1 - No.1435 Flight, RAF Falklands Air Defence Component, 1982

At an early stage in the Falklands conflict of 1982 four Phantom F.1's, drawn from No.229 OCU and manned by pilots from No.29 Squadron, were deployed to Ascension Island to provide emergency air defence against any potential Argentinian airborne commando raids (using Hercules aircraft) or any strikes launched from the carrier Veinticinco de Mayo. Whilst the latter was only ever a very remote possibility the UK Government viewed the establishment of a basic air defence component on Ascension Island as being essential to their plans to retake the Falkland Islands.

Arriving on Ascension Island on April 14th, 1982 the four Phantom F.1's were allocated to a hastily reformed No.1435 Flight based at Wideawake airfield. The swift re-conquest of the Falklands then saw No.1435 Flight deploy to RAF Stanley during October 1982 to take over air defence duties from 809 Naval Air Squadron. No.1435 Flight was eventually built up to squadron strength operating Phantom F.1's initially from RAF Stanley and later from RAF Mount Pleasant until they were replaced by Eagle F.2A's in 1992.

RAF PHANTOM F1.14 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF PHANTOM F1.15 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF PHANTOM F1.16 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF PHANTOM F1.18 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF PHANTOM F1.17 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Faith and Hope!

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.2 - No.41 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1968

RAF PHANTOM FG2.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF PHANTOM FG2.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF PHANTOM FG2.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF PHANTOM FG2.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF PHANTOM FG2.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

One limitation in Series One is that the drop tanks are in a single colour for eackh aircraft and for the Phantom this means that they use USN textures in a sort of dirty white - it's so spoiling my RAF Phantoms! In Series Two the tanks are modelled as an integral part of the 3D model and each 'skin' has it's own texture for drop tanks. Genius! There is a workaround for Series One but as I plan to get back to Series Two I'll just live with it for now as I'm not the greatest at adding/modifying weapons in Series One.

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.2 - No.6 and No.54 Squadrons, RAF Strike Command, 1968

RAF PHANTOM FG2.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF PHANTOM FG2.10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF PHANTOM FG2.11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF PHANTOM FG2.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF PHANTOM FG2.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF PHANTOM FG2.12 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

All three 'No.38 Group' skins will be in this download soon to be available at Combat Ace.

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis - No.1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force, 1956

Despite Jordan gaining independence in 1946 it wasn't until 1950 that Jordan began to establish an embryonic air force with the assistance of the Royal Air Force. When Hussein bin Talal became King of Jordan (following the abdication of his father in August 1952) he was keen to see Jordan develop a more modern air force and looked to create balance in his relationship with the West and the Soviet Union by ordering military equipment from both. The already obsolete de Havilland Vampire and Gloster Meteor were selected for ground-attack whilst the MiG-15bis was selected for interception duties with the first examples arriving in September 1955 to equip No.1 Squadron of the newly formed Royal Jordanian Air Force.

RJAF MiG-15bis FAGOT-B.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RJAF MiG-15bis FAGOT-B.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IDF F-84I THUNDERSTREAK.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RJAF MiG-15bis FAGOT-B.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RJAF MiG-15bis FAGOT-B.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I was hoping to do checkerboard rudders but this proved beyond me on this occasion so I've gone for a simple checkerboard band across the fin and rudder but also applied to the fin/tailplane junction and fairing. The MiG-15bis was one of the very last stock aircraft to arrive in Series One as a non-flyable add-on but which can be made flyable in a jiffy. It already has Egyptian and Syrian markings so I looked at Israel's neighbours for a prospective 'what if' customer and plumped for Jordan although, of course, they operated Hunters. A pair of F-84I 'Sharav' fighters bounced me but were both quickly dispatched!

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom - No.1 Squadron, Royal Dhimari Air Force, 1970

DHIMAR F-4D PHANTOM.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMAR F-4D PHANTOM.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMAR F-4D PHANTOM.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMAR F-4D PHANTOM.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMAR F-4D PHANTOM.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan MiG-41F

SOVIET MiG-41F.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-41F.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Just a couple of teaser piccies of the dramatically shaped MiG-41F sent to me recently by drakkodj. I'll get a better photoset up asap with markings but what two-syllable 'F' word are we going to call it?

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan MiG-41F 'Flatfish-A' - Russian Air Force, 2018

SOVIET MiG-41F FLATFISH-A.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-41F FLATFISH-A.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-41F FLATFISH-A.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-41F FLATFISH-A.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-41F FLATFISH-A.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-41F FLATFISH-A.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Looks very Flatfish in that last piccie!

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan MiG-41SE - No.1 Squadron, Indian Air Force, 2022

IAF MiG-41SE FLATFISH-A.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IAF MiG-41SE FLATFISH-A.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IAF MiG-41SE FLATFISH-A.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IAF MiG-41SE FLATFISH-A.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan MiG-41F - Russian Air Force, 2020

SOVIET MiG-41F FLATFISH-A.11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-41F FLATFISH-A.12 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-41F FLATFISH-A.13 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-41F FLATFISH-A.14 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-41F FLATFISH-A.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-41F FLATFISH-A.10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is a long way from being a finished skin as it has no lines or rivets but looks OK in a rather sinister flat black. This photoset has been updated to include the 'Flatfish' with a gold-tinted canopy.

[SPINNERS]

Hawker Hunter FGA.61 - Dhimari Air Force, 1967

DHIMAR HUNTER FGA61.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMAR HUNTER FGA61.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMAR HUNTER FGA61.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMAR HUNTER FGA61.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMAR HUNTER FGA61.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMAR HUNTER FGA61.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas Eagle F.1 - No.5 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1978

RAF EAGLE F1.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF EAGLE F1.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF EAGLE F1.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF EAGLE F1.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF EAGLE F1.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Another revamp of an old upload - this time the Eagles of Binbrook. No.11 Squadron will follow as sure as night follows day.

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas Eagle F.1 - No.11 Squadron, RAF No.11 Group, 1980

RAF EAGLE F1.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF EAGLE F1.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF EAGLE F1.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF EAGLE F1.11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF EAGLE F1.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF EAGLE F1.10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I like mooching around the UK Serials site for spare serial numbers and it's quite sobering to think that XZxxx serials are 40 years old!

[SPINNERS]

Sukhoi Su-23 'Foxhunt-A' - PVO, Soviet Air Force, 1981

SOVIET F-15A EAGLE.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET F-15A EAGLE.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET F-15A EAGLE.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET F-15A EAGLE.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET F-15A EAGLE.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This lovely 'air superiority blue' USAF scheme by 'pappychksix' was unearthed at Combat Ace and I've simply added some Soviet dielectric green, tinted the wheels green, added Soviet decals and Soviet missiles. It does look the part!

[SPINNERS]

Hawker Hunter FGA.9 - No.1417 Flight, RAF Strike Command, Belize, 1970

RAF HUNTER FGA9.27 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF HUNTER FGA9.28 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF HUNTER FGA9.29 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF HUNTER FGA9.30 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF HUNTER FGA9.31 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The stock Vietnam terrain stands in for Belize!

[SPINNERS]

Hawker Hunter FGA.9 - No.1435 Flight, RAF South Atlantic Command, 1971

RAF HUNTER FGA9.23 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF HUNTER FGA9.24 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF HUNTER FGA9.26 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF HUNTER FGA9.25 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I do like this 'Malvinas' terrain!