Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

[SPINNERS]

Supermarine Spitfire F.Mk.22 - No.322 Squadron, Royal Norwegian Air Force, 1949

RNAF SPITFIRE F22.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNAF SPITFIRE F22.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNAF SPITFIRE F22.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNAF SPITFIRE F22.10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Late model Spit's (Marks 14, 18, 22 and 24) are well covered by Third Wire (the game developer) but all have the cut down rear fuselage. The Mark 22 has standard RAF camo and NMF (silver paint I guess) and for this No.322 squadron machine I've added my rudder strips, recoloured the spinner and given it some more traditional RNoAF markings.

[SPINNERS]

Supermarine Spitfire F.Mk.24 - No.403 Squadron, Royal Air Force, 1948

RAF SPITFIRE F24.15 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF SPITFIRE F24.17 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF SPITFIRE F24.16 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF SPITFIRE F24.14 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Let's just call it a scratch I had to itch!

I probably should have stuck with the Type C1 roundel (yellow outline) on the fuselage but I've always liked that picture of Douglas Bader's post-war Spitfire with the Type C roundel on the fuselage. There seems to be much debate on whether the maple leaf should be red or green but I reckon Airfix got it right! I must of had at least six of those JE-J kits when I was a teenager.

[SPINNERS]

Panavia Tornado IDS - No.6 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, 1984

RAAF TORNADO.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAF TORNADO.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAF TORNADO.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAF TORNADO.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAF TORNADO.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAF TORNADO.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAF TORNADO.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is essentially an early Italian skin made from the awesome template provided by the 3D modeller and I've added some RAAF markings including my No.6 squadron tail marking that I've rotated to better suit the sweepback of the Tornado's tail and also added the Aussie flag (but not the normal 'RAF' fin flash).

[SPINNERS]

BAC Thunderstrike GR.7 - No.10 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1984

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR7.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR7.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR7.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR7.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR7.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR7.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR7.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is Sundowner's ultimate TSR.2, the awesome GR.7 - an advanced TSR.2 with canards! I've included a top shot to show the configuration a bit better and the last shot shows how murderous the anti-aircraft defences are when attacking a Soviet carrier and that's after you've punched through the Yak-38 Forger's. It's also a lovely WW2 style skin!

[SPINNERS]

North American F-100D Super Sabre - F 6, Svenska Flygvapnet, 1976

FLYGVAPNET F-100D SUBER SABRE.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNET F-100D SUBER SABRE.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNET F-100D SUBER SABRE.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNET F-100D SUBER SABRE.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNET F-100D SUBER SABRE.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNET F-100D SUBER SABRE.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNET F-100D SUBER SABRE.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

More or less a repeat this one but with refined decal positions and a switch to black fin numbers.

[SPINNERS]

North American F-100D Super Sabre - Aeronautica Militare, 1970

AMI F-100D SUPER SABRE.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI F-100D SUPER SABRE.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI F-100D SUPER SABRE.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI F-100D SUPER SABRE.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

F-100D_AMI_LOADING by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A bit of a repeat this (almost seven years to the day!) but I've been revising my upload to Combat Ace and thought I'd show some new piccies.

[SPINNERS]

North American Shark FGA.2 - No.54 Squadron, No.38 Group, RAF Air Support Command, 1968

RAF F-100D SUPER SABRE.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF F-100D SUPER SABRE.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF F-100D SUPER SABRE.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF F-100D SUPER SABRE.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF F-100D SUPER SABRE.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF F-100D SUPER SABRE.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Naughty No.1 Squadron also getting in on the act!

This is another of my revised uploads and to ring the changes I've added No.54 Squadron who were No.1 Squadron's partners in crime for most of the 1960's and I do like doing 'paired' squadrons. In fact of all the Hunter FGA.9 squadrons only these two were truly home-based with No.8, 43 and No.208 based Near East and No.20 and 28 based Far East.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._38_Group_RAF

[SPINNERS]

BAC Thunderstrike GR.4 - 'Operation Granby', Royal Air Force, 1991

RAF TSR2 THUNDERSTRIKE GR4.12 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF TSR2 THUNDERSTRIKE GR4.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF TSR2 THUNDERSTRIKE GR4.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF TSR2 THUNDERSTRIKE GR4.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF TSR2 THUNDERSTRIKE GR4.10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF TSR2 THUNDERSTRIKE GR4.11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF TSR2 THUNDERSTRIKE GR4.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Sorry I'm late. Very busy enjoying the weather today! This is sundowner's 'Desert Storm' skin but with new decals by me including nose art on XZ200.

[SPINNERS]

English Electric Lightning F.1B - No.151 Squadron, RAF Fighter Command, 1963

RAF LIGHTNING F1B.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF LIGHTNING F1B.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF LIGHTNING F1B.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF LIGHTNING F1B.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF LIGHTNING F1B.11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF LIGHTNING F1B.10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

It's surprising how many Gloster Javelin squadrons were disbanded never to reform or re-roled away from fighter/intercept. No.151 squadron was one such unit so I've given them the Lightning F.1B - essentially an F.1A with one or two little tweaks to help with nocturnal use... and camo!

[SPINNERS]

RAF LIGHTNING F1B.12 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Just a one-off shot of a No.72 Squadron machine. Moody dark clouds don't happen that often so I like this shot! No less than 12 RAF squadrons operated the Javelin in the UK and only 2 went on to operate the Lightning so imagine if they had all re-equipped! BTW if you're wondering where the Firestreak missiles are then this Lightning is carrying the Microcell rocket pack.

[SPINNERS]

Supermarine Attacker Mk.51 - 860 Squadron, Netherlands Naval Aviation Service, 1954

RNLNAS ATTACKER FB51.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNLNAS ATTACKER FB51.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNLNAS ATTACKER FB51.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNLNAS ATTACKER FB51.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNLNAS ATTACKER FB51.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNLNAS ATTACKER FB51.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is a Fleet Air Arm skin by 'paulopanz' with some new MLD (Marineluchtvaartdienst) decals by me. I have previously skinned the Attacker myself (to make a real-world Pakistan Air Force Attacker) but whilst that silver skin exists my templates are one of the many things I've lost on that pesky external hard drive. Nevermind. Anyway, I need to get some other nation carriers sorted as I like the on-deck shots myself.

[SPINNERS]

Gloster Meteor F.Mk4 - 4° Stormo, Aeronautica Militare, 1950

With the establishment of the Italian Republic on June 18th, 1946 (following a national vote to end the Kingdom of Italy) the former Regia Aeronautica became the Aeronautica Militare. Whilst the Peace Treaty of Paris of 1947 had placed considerable restrictions on all of the Italian armed forces, rising early post-war tensions between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies (soon to culminate in the Berlin Blockade that started in the Summer of 1948) led to the formation of NATO in 1949 with Italy as a valued founding member. The Aeronautica Militare urgently needed modernizing and whilst the transfer of P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang piston-engined fighter planes gave them an immediate boost it was clear that more modern aircraft were required. Such was the importance of Italy to NATO's south-eastern flank that the US President Harry S. Truman ordered that 100 Gloster Meteor F.Mk4 fighter-bombers should be purchased for the Aeronautica Militare as part of the Offshore Procurement Policy associated with the wider Mutual Defense Assistance Program.

Because of the increased demand for the Meteor (for the RAF and export customers) the Gloster Aircraft Company had already introduced a second source of production by using the Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company at their Bitteswell and Baginton factories and the Italian order was easily slotted in. The Gloster Meteor F.Mk4 entered Aeronautica Militare service with 4° Stormo in February 1950 who later that year used them as part of the attacking enemy force in 'Operation Balkan Rise' (the first ever NATO military air exercise) with their Meteor F.Mk4's displaying black recognition colours and they scored highly in both Gunnery and Bombing competitions.

AMI METEOR F4.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI METEOR F4.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI METEOR F4.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI METEOR F4.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI METEOR F4.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI METEOR F4.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

An absolutely spiffing Meteor F.Mk4 was released recently and I've kindly been given a couple of blank skins to play with - one silver and one camo. I was always going to do an Italian one to start with and chose 4° Stormo but it looked a bit plain to be honest mainly because the Italian's don't use a fin flash so I thought I'd add some recognition colours like the bands around the intakes and a black tail. I quite like this!

[SPINNERS]

Gloster Meteor F.Mk4 - Staffel 17, Swiss Air Force, 1951

SWISS METEOR F4.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SWISS METEOR F4.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SWISS METEOR F4.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SWISS METEOR F4.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SWISS METEOR F4.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SWISS METEOR F4.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I had to do a quick search of this thread to check if I've previously done a Swiss Meteor and it turns out I did a Swiss NF.14 nearly six years ago now. I've used all new decals for this including new serial numbers and had to modify a font to get the odd 'J' prefix. The standard 'Germany, Central Europe' terrain does have some snowy peaks way down at the edge of the map so it's a long old flight down there but worth it!

[SPINNERS]

Lockheed F-104C Starfighter - 'Getti Tonanti', 5th Aerobrigata, Aeronautica Militare, 1960

Entering service in February 1958 with the 83rd Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Hamilton AFB, California the F-104A interceptor served only briefly with the USAF Air Defense Command but this was soon followed by the multi-role F-104C which entered service with USAF Tactical Air Command in September 1958 when the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing at George AFB, California began to re-equip with the type. Despite setting a new world altitude record of 103,395 ft (31,515 m) just a few months later in December 1958 the USAF sharply reduced their orders for the F-104 leading Lockheed to urgently seek export orders and they soon gained an export order from the Italian Government in January 1960 for 40 F-104C's for the Aeronautica Militare.

With Italy hosting the Olympic Games in the late summer of 1960, the Italian President Giovanni Gronchi personally asked the US President Dwight D. Eisenhower for the earliest possible delivery date as he wanted to use the F-104C's as part of the opening ceremony. Not only did 'Ike' graciously agree but he also authorised the immediate transfer of 10 F-104C's from USAF stocks which were airlifted to Europe during February and March being reassembled at Ramstein Air Base before being flown to Villafranca Air Base by USAF pilots and officially handed over to the 5th Aerobrigata of the Aeronautica Militare. The F-104C's replaced the F-84F Thunderstreaks of the 'Getti Tonanti' aerobatic display team and this elite unit performed a sensational display at both the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games of the XVII Olympiad held in Rome from August 25th to September 11th, 1960.

AMI F-104C STARFIGHTER.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI F-104C STARFIGHTER.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI F-104C STARFIGHTER.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI F-104C STARFIGHTER.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI F-104C STARFIGHTER.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI F-104C STARFIGHTER.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI F-104C STARFIGHTER.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Do you know? The F-84F Thunderstreak was probably the perfect canvas for the 'Getti Tonanti' markings with a nice deep fuselage for the team name, a nice spine and fin for the individual Olympic ring colours and nice swept wings for the 'il Tricolore' colours. Only the swept fin requiring the angling of the Olympic rings was a compromise.

Anyway, this is the Starfighter done as best as possible and rather than use six different skins I've used coloured decals for the fins effectively acting as serial numbers with the colour going right to the edge of the decal meaning that the colour spreads out across the whole of that mesh (an individual part of the 3D model). I was hoping to do the same for the tip tanks but it wouldn't work so I had to resort to using red and green tanks on all six aircraft. The wing colours are painted directly onto the skin bitmap. As to the Olympic rings I realised that the official Olympic rings logo would present a difficulty as the ring colour would not show up the same colour fin. I did try a thin outline first but it looked horrible so I've used a white ring that moves around the logo with only the white fin (Number 6 in the team) having the full colour rings.

Rather than upset my friends in Mexico I've kept the 1960 Olympics in Rome but used a hairy old backstory to get the Starfighter into Italian service on time. The US in service dates are quite correct. Fair play.

Arrivederci fino a domani!

AMI F-104C STARFIGHTER.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

BAC Thunderstrike GR.3 - Royal Saudi Air Force, 1986

RSAF TSR2 THUNDERSTRIKE GR3.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RSAF TSR2 THUNDERSTRIKE GR3.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RSAF TSR2 THUNDERSTRIKE GR3.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RSAF TSR2 THUNDERSTRIKE GR3.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RSAF TSR2 THUNDERSTRIKE GR3.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RSAF TSR2 THUNDERSTRIKE GR3.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

No input from me here except to strap into Sundowner's GR.3 (export model) and go fly! Just as well really as I'm pushed for time today.