Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

[SPINNERS]

Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Panther - Marinefliegergeschwader 2, 2009

GAF KF2 HAMMER.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

GAF KF2 HAMMER.10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

GAF KF2 HAMMER.11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

GAF KF2 HAMMER.12 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I just love that retro MFG2 badge and seem to remember it being included in the Airfix MRCA in the late 1970's (the one that had loadouts never actually seen in service).

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas F-15A 'Baz' - Aggressor Flight, 133 Squadron, Israeli Air Force, 1992

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

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

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

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

This 'Ferris' scheme for the F-15A Eagle was done many years ago by 'Sony Tuckson' (one of the stalwarts of a group of modders called 'The Mirage Factory') and released without markings of any kind so I've simply added the stock Israeli markings from the F-15A 'Baz' that's included in 'Wings Over Israel'. I first saw a 'Ferris' scheme in Scale Aircraft Modelling sometime in the late 1970's and I thought it was the coolest scheme since seeing the Viggen in splinter camo in the early/mid 70's.

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan MiG-21PFM 'Fishbed-F' - Ukrainian Aggressor Flight, 2002

UKRAINE MiG-21PFM FISHBED-F.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UKRAINE MiG-21PFM FISHBED-F.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UKRAINE MiG-21PFM FISHBED-F.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UKRAINE MiG-21PFM FISHBED-F.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UKRAINE MiG-21PFM FISHBED-F.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UKRAINE MiG-21PFM FISHBED-F.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I thought I'd try my hand at a 'Ferris' scheme and used the stock silver scheme which looks light grey when 'matted down' by screwing down the specular, glossiness and reflection settings and then I added a layer with black triangles and zig-zags but at 50% opacity to look like a medium-dark grey which allows the lines and rivets to still show through.

[SPINNERS]

Northrop Grumman F-37A Talon - 2nd Squadron, Belgian Air Component, 2009

BAF F-37A TALON.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAF F-37A TALON.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAF F-37A TALON.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAF F-37A TALON.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAF F-37A TALON.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Apart from Jessica Biel the F/A-37 Talon was the undoubted star of the 2005 film 'STEALTH' (a huge turkey and loss-maker) and the aircraft found it's way into 'Strike Fighters' almost immediately thanks to a very good 3D model by 'Zuranski' which featured the main engines and 28 additional scram jets! It flies like sh1t off a shiny shovel and I toned it right down to make it less arcade-y but still huge fun. This USAF SEA Camo skin was released by 'HrntFixr' back in the day and I've just oversprayed some painted-on markings and added Belgian decals.

[SPINNERS]

Anderson Industries Talon Interceptor - Spectrum Air Corps, 2067

SPECTRUM F-37A TALON.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SPECTRUM F-37A TALON.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SPECTRUM F-37A TALON.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SPECTRUM F-37A TALON.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SPECTRUM F-37A TALON.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SPECTRUM F-37A TALON.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Fab. Groovy.

I've added a few more shots of the Spectrum Talon (and removed a couple) with the new piccies showing a revised 'A' decal on the tail with the 'A' given a fair bit of sweepback. I've also had a play around with the swing-wing settings getting it to fully deploy on the ground (before it was fully swept on the ground) and sweep forward at just below the speed of sound. I couldn't resist watching the film 'STEALTH' last night... Mach 4 my ar5e!!!

[SPINNERS]

Ilyushin IL-109 Bronto - Soviet Air Force, 1989

SOVIET IL-109 BRONTO.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET IL-109 BRONTO.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET IL-109 BRONTO.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET IL-109 BRONTO.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET IL-109 BRONTO.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Apparently, this is something out of 'Stargate' but I'm seeing it as the jet successor to the IL-2! You'll have to forgive the unfinished appearance as it's a 3D model virtually without a skin and, of course, there are no lines and rivets. I was hoping to use a nice camo pattern but there's absolutely no reference as to what the skin bitmap is called and I've even used the two main tools we have to open up the LOD (the 3D model) but no joy.

[SPINNERS]

Sukhoi Su-61 'Bullfrog-C' - Soviet Air Force, 1990

SOVIET Su-61 BULLFROG.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET Su-61 BULLFROG.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET Su-61 BULLFROG.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET Su-61 BULLFROG.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Another one from 'Stargate' given the Spinners treatment but at least I could skin this one using a photograph of perforated stainless steel with a 50% opacity layer of black to flatten things down a bit. I was hoping to put another Soviet star in the area behind the cockpit but the 3D model has a little tear in it causing the decal to bleed through all over the rear so I've left it off. In the game you have a choice of guns ranging from Browning .303's right up to 125mm howitzers and I've chosen something Soviet at the bigger end... it's been huge fun in a Harry Callaghan kind of way!

[SPINNERS]

Gloster Garrison B.I - 101 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command, 1937

In 1932, the Air Ministry issued Specification B.9/32 for a twin-engined day bomber with a challenging demand for "higher performance than any preceding bomber aircraft" and, among others, the Gloster Aviation Company responded with a mid-wing cantilever monoplane featuring all-metal stressed-skin construction, retractable landing gear, flaps, a powered dorsal gun turret, a ventral bomb bay and variable-pitch propellers. Like most of the companies tendering to B.9/32, Gloster's design featured the politically-favoured Rolls-Royce Goshawk 'evaporative' (steam cooled) engine but by the end of 1933 Gloster could see that the Goshawk engine would seriously degrade flight performance due to the larger then expected size of the condensors required to turn the steam vapour back into liquid.

Gloster's chief designer, Henry Folland, turned to his long-time friends at the Bristol Engine Company who were planning a new 14-cylinder twin-row sleeve valve radial engine as a development of their existing single-row Aquila engine by adding another row of cylinders and transforming it into the Bristol Taurus twin-row radial engine. With an anticipated power output of 1,000 hp and with very low weight, Folland quickly redesigned his bomber around two of the proposed Bristol Taurus engines and boldly reduced the crew from four to two by removing the defensive armanent and the bombardier's station. Folland briefed RAF and Air Ministry officials on his unarmed fast bomber and mainly due to the support of Edward Ellington, the Chief of the Air Staff, Folland was rewarded with a new Specification B.40/34 to cover his new design soon officially named as the Gloster Garrison. Ellington soon followed up this support with a production contract for 250 Gloster Garrison aircraft as part of 'Scheme F' an ambitious plan to increase the size of the Royal Air Force to 187 squadrons within three years to counter the threat from Hitler's Germany. Such was the dominance of "the bomber will always get through" strategy at the time that Ellington demanded five bomber squadrons for every two fighter squadrons and he saw that this unarmed fast bomber could play an important role in his expansion plans.

With development of the airframe running slightly ahead of the Taurus engine, all Garrison prototypes were powered by two 840 hp Bristol Mercury VIII radial piston engines and these were good enough to demonstrate the aircraft's performance and handling and also that the design was a good bombing platform. With continued delays in the development of Taurus engine the first production aircraft retained the Bristol Mercury VIII engines and following the completion of handling trials, conducted at the Central Flying School at Upavon in Wiltshire, the Garrison B.I entered RAF squadron service with No.49 Squadron at Scampton in August 1937 and No.101 Squadron at Bircham Newton in October 1937.

RAF GARRISON B2.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF GARRISON B2.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF GARRISON B2.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF GARRISON B2.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF GARRISON B2.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF GARRISON B2.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Can you guess what is masquerading as the pre-war Gloster Galliant Garrison?

It's been a while since I made a skin from scratch and this was quite an easy one though still time-consuming. This looks like someone has made the K-21 'Sally' and converted it into the Ki-57 but left the wing in the mid-fuselage position perhaps to make a quick stand-in or placeholder but at least it has a bomb bay that I've left restricted to 6 x 250lb-ers. The model could do with pilot seats but I like the overall shape and reckon it looks authentic as a pre-war RAF bomber. Perhaps the troublesome Taurus could power the B.II with an attack nose full of '303's or Hispano's?! I love the pre-war Nivo Green schemes and can remember painting my Frog Whitley in that scheme.

[SPINNERS]

Northrop F-5AP Freedom Fighter - Combat Commander's School, Pakistan Air Force, 1971

PAF F-5A FREEDOM FIGHTER.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PAF F-5A FREEDOM FIGHTER.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PAF F-5A FREEDOM FIGHTER.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PAF F-5A FREEDOM FIGHTER.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PAF F-5A FREEDOM FIGHTER.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PAF F-5A FREEDOM FIGHTER.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The F-5A is well covered in 'Strike Fighters' (and the F-5E even more so) and even though this 3D model is from way back it really is a good one and encouraged modders to cover all F-5A users and this excellent skin by 'ravenclaw' just needed some overspray over the painted-on markings and I recoloured the previously black intakes. I made these decals for a real world PAF Mirage and have re-used them here. As I'm still on SF1 (and haven't bothered to master the weapons editor) I've had to use Hunter tanks and the Sidewinders are not quite aligned with their rails which I'll fix if I ever use this F-5A again.

[SPINNERS]

Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter - MFG2, Marineflieger, 1973

MFG F-5A FREEDOM FIGHTER.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MFG F-5A FREEDOM FIGHTER.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MFG F-5A FREEDOM FIGHTER.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MFG F-5A FREEDOM FIGHTER.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MFG F-5A FREEDOM FIGHTER.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This uses a nice Greek skin and the decals I made for my Marineflieger Panther (FSW) get a second airing because I just love that MFG2 unit marking! The following website shows that Greece were a very early adoptee of the F-5A initially getting them instead of more F-104G's.

http://www.the-northrop-f-5-enthusiast-page.info/AirForces/GreeceAF.html

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan MiG-22 'Fishpan-A' - Soviet Air Force, 1966

SOVIET MiG-22 FISHPAN-A.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-22 FISHPAN-A.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-22 FISHPAN-A.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-22 FISHPAN-A.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET MiG-22 FISHPAN-A.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A nice simple one this as it uses a nice blank silver skin and stock Soviet decals (insignia and bort numbers) with just the 'unit of excellence' marking needing to be created by me. I did also re-colour the anti-glare panel from black to olive drab and tint the wheel centres the same colour. MiG-21 tanks on the wing tips complete the Soviet look! I should add I was tempted to use the MiG-23 designation as that aircraft does not now exist so if 'Top Gun' can use an even number for the 'MiG-28' so can I!!

[SPINNERS]

Grumman F11F-1F Super Tiger - MFG2, Marineflieger, 1963

MFG SUPER TIGER.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MFG SUPER TIGER.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MFG SUPER TIGER.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MFG SUPER TIGER.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MFG SUPER TIGER.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MFG SUPER TIGER.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The 'Super Tiger' is available with USN skins but fictional German Air Force and Marineflieger skins are also available and I've used one of the latter by 'ravenclaw_007' with different tail markings, added weathering and a recoloured radome (as a nod towards 1960's era Marineflieger Starfighters).

[SPINNERS]

Sud-Aviation Vautour IIA - No.24 Squadron, Indian Air Force, 1965

IAF VAUTOUR 2A.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IAF VAUTOUR 2A.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IAF VAUTOUR 2A.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IAF VAUTOUR 2A.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IAF VAUTOUR 2A.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IAF VAUTOUR 2A.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IAF VAUTOUR 2A.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is the Third Wire Vautour IIA from 'Wings Over Israel' a lovely 3D model of a most handsome aircraft. It's a non-flyable 'AI' type but easily made flyable with a suitable cockpit (I've used the Meteor F.8 as it's also twin-engined). I've used No.24 Squadron as I've previously made these fictitious nosebar markings and thought they'd look good on the Vautour.

[SPINNERS]

Northrop Scorpion F.1A - No.5 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1982

RAF F-5K FREEDOM FIGHTER.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF F-5K FREEDOM FIGHTER.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF F-5K FREEDOM FIGHTER.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF F-5K FREEDOM FIGHTER.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF F-5K FREEDOM FIGHTER.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF F-5K FREEDOM FIGHTER.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Another RNLAF F-5A skin by 'ravenclaw_007' given a bit of overspray, new 'eject' triangles and No.5 Squadron decals.

[SPINNERS]

Gloster Griffin B.II - No.35 Squadron, RAF Far East Command, 1946

RAF HE-177A-6 GREIF.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF HE-177A-6 GREIF.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF HE-177A-6 GREIF.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF HE-177A-6 GREIF.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF HE-177A-6 GREIF.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF HE-177A-6 GREIF.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Whether this is a Gloster design of whether the RAF used captured He-177's (GOOD GRIEF) I'll leave up to the reader's imagination. A quick and dirty skin this so don't look too close but I think I'll definitely come back to the 'Tiger Force' theme in the future. BTW it's interesting to see the variations on roundel used by various folk (Google 'Tiger Force Lancaster' for example).