Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

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Curtiss P-42D Twinhawk - 181st Fighter Aviation Regiment, Soviet Air Forces, 1944

SOVIET P-37S TWIN WARHAWK.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET P-37S TWIN WARHAWK.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET P-37S TWIN WARHAWK.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET P-37S TWIN WARHAWK.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET P-37S TWIN WARHAWK.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIET P-37S TWIN WARHAWK.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is the P-40 Twin Warhawk, an aircraft that was proposed by Curtiss, designed and mocked-up but never flown - probably a blessing. The prolific 'Veltro2K' did the 3D model and I've adapted one of the superb USAAF skins by 'Charles' to portray a lend-lease Soviet P-42D - the designation would surely have changed for a Twin Warhawk and Curtiss were rather wasteful in using up no fewer than five US pursuit fighter designations for variations of the P-36 and P-40 (XP-37, XP-42, XP-46, XP-53 and P-60). The only true gap is the unused P-74... but I've used that one several times over!

[SPINNERS]

BAC Thunderstrike GR.2D - No.112 Squadron, RAF Near East Strike Wing, 1977

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR2D.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR2D.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR2D.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR2D.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR2D.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR2D.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR2D.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR2D.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR2D.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Back to a simpler TSR.2 this week and I've been dying to show this Desert Camo by 'sundowner' which I've tweaked to show 'B' type national markings and added some white serial numbers.

[SPINNERS]

Curtis P-42B Twinhawk - Portuguese Arma da Aeronautica, Base Aérea de Ota, 1943

PoAF P-42D TWIN WARHAWK.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PoAF P-42D TWIN WARHAWK.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PoAF P-42D TWIN WARHAWK.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PoAF P-42D TWIN WARHAWK.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PoAF P-42D TWIN WARHAWK.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PoAF P-42D TWIN WARHAWK.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I've based this on the P-38G Lightning that flew with the Portuguese Air Force during WW2 after being interned - actually one of three but the only one to be regularly flown. Unfortunately, the P-40 Twin 3D model has a couple of tears in it so I've pasted all markings directly onto the skin which already had the lovely sharkmouth on it. In game, the 'Twin Warhawk' flies really well and packs quite a punch with the 2 x 37mm cannon and 6 x 0.5" machine guns.

[SPINNERS]

Lockheed Lightning Mk.IV - No.60 Squadron, RAF South East Asia Command, 1944

RAF P-38G LIGHTNING IV.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF P-38G LIGHTNING IV.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF P-38G LIGHTNING IV.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF P-38G LIGHTNING IV.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF P-38G LIGHTNING IV.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF P-38G LIGHTNING IV.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF P-38G LIGHTNING IV.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF P-38G LIGHTNING IV.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF P-38G LIGHTNING IV.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A trio of P-38's was released recently by the DAT group and I thought I'd put a NMF P-38J into RAF SEAC service, choosing No.60 Squadron who actually operated P-47D's. Again, I've overpainted the national markings and added some black bands to the fin and rudder and also to the wings (but not the ailerons). The black bands are painted directly onto the skin and are actually inverted silver panels which preserves the lines and rivets but takes a bit of fiddling where these bands break across any moving surfaces. the fin and rudder took me ages and I lost the appetite to do the wings and ailerons. The rest of the markings are new decals I've knocked up but with stock serial numbers from the Third Wire Spitfire 14.

[SPINNERS]

BAC Thunderstrike GR.6A - No.6 Squadron, RAF Middle East Command, 1985

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR6A.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR6A.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR6A.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR6A.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR6A.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR6A.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF THUNDERSTRIKE GR6A.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I'd completely forgotten that last weeks 'TSR Tuesday' was also a later version in a desert camo (albeit wrap around) so forgive the similarity to this weeks TSR.2 - I just look at the awesome TSR.2 anthology that 'sundowner' has created and pick something that takes my fancy. Anyway, this is a lovely desert camo skin by 'sundowner' on which I've overpainted the original No.208 Squadron markings and added No.6 Squadron's famous flying tin-opener and Gunners Stripe markings and re-used some white Tornado serial number decals I made a few weeks back. The JP233's look quite lost beneath it!

BTW I think I might have started a trend with 'TSR Tuesday' as in the last few weeks Combat Ace now has screenshot threads called MiG Monday, Whirlybird Wednesday, Thunder Thursday, Phantom Phriday, Swing-Wing Saturday and Sukhoi Sunday.

[SPINNERS]

FMA 'Halcón' - Grupo 6 de Caza, Fuerza Aerea Argentina, 2012

The cancellation of the Fábrica Militar de Aviones (FMA) SAIA 90 after the company failed to attract a development partner was a heavy blow to Argentinian national pride. But the requirement for a future multi-role combat aircraft to supplement and eventually replace the Fuerza Aérea Argentina's Skyhawks and Mirages still remained and by early 1984 Fuerza Aérea Argentina officials began to issue specifications for SAIA-96 a multi-role fighter with a planned in-service date of 1996. Almost immediately, the project gained the support and approval of the recently elected President Raúl Alfonsín - although Alfonsín instructed the SAIA-96 joint committee (consisting of Fuerza Aérea Argentina officials and representatives of FMA) to consider a smaller design than the previous SAIA-90 and accept a slightly later in-service date. President Alfonsín then contracted General Dynamics to assist FMA on a consultancy basis to assist with design and the joint FMA/GD project team studied several design layouts during 1985 and by early 1986 these had crystallized into the SAIA-2000 Halcón - a small, single-seat fighter with F-16 style blended wing roots and a single fin but powered by two engines instead of the anticipated single engine.

As the 1980's progressed the Argentinian economy declined sharply due to severe inflation and the threat of cancellation was never far away. However, President Alfonsín and then President Carlos Menem continued to allow funding and the project continued into the 1990's with sensible economies and compromises meaning that the project cost was never allowed to gallop away. Representative of the economies was the selection of the Honeywell F125-GA-100 low-bypass turbofan engine derived from the civilian Honeywell TFE731 and developing 6,100lbs dry thrust and 9,500lbs with afterburning. In a similar fashion, off-the-peg avionics were chosen including the General Electric AN/APG-67 multi-mode pulse-doppler radar initially developed for the Northrop F-20 Tigershark and the Honeywell H423 inertial navigation system.

The first of three Halcón prototypes flew on September 30th, 1994 and the first two-seater followed it into the air on December 24th, 1994 and good progress was made by both prototypes before they were joined by the third prototype during the summer of 1995. At this time, the SAIA-2000 Halcón project was deemed so essential for national security that it was deliberately excluded from the privatization of FMA in 1995 resulting in the formation of FMA-DAC (Fábrica Militar de Aviones - División de aviones de combate) at Córdoba so as to continue development and production of the Halcón project but with Lockheed Aircraft Argentina SA (a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation) authorized by the government of President Menem to pursue any exports orders. Entering service in May 1999 with Grupo 6 de Caza the Halcón continues to serve with the Fuerza Aerea Argentina and the air forces of Mexico, Ecuador, Finland, New Zealand and Austria.

FAA FMA-2000.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAA FMA-2000.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAA FMA-2000.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is the Republic of China's AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-Kuo - a recent release by the DAT group of modders. I was able to convert the 'specular' map skin into a passable grey skin by tinting it and adding the parts back in after taking some time to cut them out of the original ROC camo skin. Something about the skin suggested an Argentine Air Force machine and I knocked up some Lo-Viz national markings. Having roundels on both wings is just a personal preference!

Ching Kuo by Spinners1961, on Flickr

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Hawker Sea Fury FB.52 - INAS 300, Indian Navy, 1957

INAS SEA FURY FB52.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

INAS SEA FURY FB52.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

INAS SEA FURY FB52.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

INAS SEA FURY FB52.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

INAS SEA FURY FB52.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A really sweet Sea Fury FB.11 was released a few weeks ago, again by the DAT group, and it covers all the carrier countries who operated this thoroughbred British fighter. The easiest road for me to take was to overpaint the British roundels with Indian roundels and add some appropriate decals including stock F-4K 3-digit numbers. You might notice some snow on the fourth piccie and this is because I've had to use the 'Iceland' terrain as it's the only one to fully support carrier op's. The carrier is actually the Vikrant which didn't actually enter service with the Indian Navy until 1961 - the same year as INAS 300 were formed... in west Wales!!

[SPINNERS]

Hawker Sea Fury FB.52 - 300 RNIAS, Royal Indian Navy, 1949

INAS SEA FURY FB52.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

INAS SEA FURY FB52.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

INAS SEA FURY FB52.10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

INAS SEA FURY FB52.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

INAS SEA FURY FB52.11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I've managed to clone the (WW2) HMS Eagle to become HMIS India, the Royal Indian Navy's first carrier.

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Republic Lancer FB.2 - No.146 Squadron, RAF South East Asia Command, 1943

RAF P-43A LANCER FB2.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF P-43A LANCER FB2.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF P-43A LANCER FB2.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF P-43A LANCER FB2.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF P-43A LANCER FB2.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF P-43A LANCER FB2.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Both the Seversky P-35A and very similar Republic P-43A are both available from the DAT group and I've used an Aussie P-43A skin overpainted with SEAC markings, white fin and wing bands and I also knocked up some 'NA' codes. No.146 Squadron were one of the Brewster Buffalo squadrons but only for a few weeks before they received Hurricanes. I don't either the P-35 or P-43 received any interest from British Purchasing Commission but a 'what if' backstory would take that direction.

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BAC Thunderstrike GR.52 - 70 Stormo, Aeronautica Militare, 1991

AMI THUNDERSTRIKE IDS.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI THUNDERSTRIKE IDS.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI THUNDERSTRIKE IDS.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI THUNDERSTRIKE IDS.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI THUNDERSTRIKE IDS.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMI THUNDERSTRIKE IDS.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is an RAF Desert Storm skin by 'sundowner' given a bit of tinting to look more like the AMI Tornadoes that took part in 'Operazione Locusta' - more of a sandy-mustard colour that desert pink. All decals are new, not that many were needed as many pictures of the Operazione Locusta Tornadoes show no national markings and no squadron markings - sometimes just a two-digit number on the fin.

[SPINNERS]

Convair B-58C Hustler - 17th Light Bombardment Wing, United States Air Force - Tactical Air Command, 1969

USAF B-58C HUSTLER.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAF B-58C HUSTLER.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAF B-58C HUSTLER.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr


USAF B-58C HUSTLER.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAF B-58C HUSTLER.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAF B-58C HUSTLER.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A new B-58A was released recently by the prolific 'Veltro2K' and I was able to make this 'night' scheme for it as a template is included. Yay!! I think this 'black' scheme looks quite badass and it's a bit of a nod towards the Douglas B-26C's used in Korea. I knocked up a new red starbar and USAF decals in that dark shade of red and a couple of serial numbers. I've deliberately chosen Tactical Air Command as Convair did propose several B-58 developments for SAC, TAC and ADC... but not the US Navy!

[SPINNERS]

BAC F-112C Thunderstrike - 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, USAF, 1972

USAF TSR2.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAF TSR2.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAF TSR2.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAF TSR2.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAF TSR2.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAF TSR2.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

With limited time on my hands at the moment I treated this as a bit of a speed-build and used the anti-flash white skin by 'sundowner' from the original TSR.2 release (from 2008 I think) inverted the colours to give a black skin but then added a 60% black layer to dampen down the brightness and added new ejection triangles and the national insignia directly onto the skin bitmaps. I thought red codes would look cool on the fin and then I made a schoolboy error with the 497th TFS 'nosebars' by having a black outer ring which is, of course, the same colour as the skin. More haste less speed!

[SPINNERS]

Lockheed F-104CA Starfighter - No.5 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, 1970

RAAF F-104CA STARFIGHTER.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAF F-104CA STARFIGHTER.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAF F-104CA STARFIGHTER.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAF F-104CA STARFIGHTER.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAF F-104CA STARFIGHTER.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAF F-104CA STARFIGHTER.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAF F-104CA STARFIGHTER.07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Whilst I've never really been a fan of the F-104 Starfighter it is quite a cool-looking jet and it's featured in Strike Fighters ever since the game/sim hit the market in 2001 and apart from the ubiquitous 'G' model the 'A' and 'C' have also been covered as well as the CF-104 used here to create a WW2 style white-tailed RAAF bird.

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Northrop Grumman F-14Z Stealth Cat - VF-31, United States Navy, 2019

USN F-14Z TOMCAT.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F-14Z TOMCAT.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F-14Z TOMCAT.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F-14Z TOMCAT.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

No input from me except to take these screenshots of the spiffing F-14Z Stealth Cat by the 1 25 Studio from South Korea. I can see that it's been shown before on the forum but this is the first time I've got my hands on it. It's very impressive and comes with weapons and tanks that also have that chiselled look.

[SPINNERS]

Grumman-Panavia Tomcat FGR.6 - No.17 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 2002

RAF TOMCAT FGR6.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF TOMCAT FGR6.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF TOMCAT FGR6.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF TOMCAT FGR6.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF TOMCAT FGR6.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF TOMCAT FGR6.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I'm very impressed with the F-14Z and couldn't resist an RAF multi-role Tomcat created by overpainting the USN markings and adding suitable decals. On my previous RAF Tomcats (using the conventional F-14A) I've used large fuselage 'bars' (like Treble-One squadron's lightning flash for example) but the facetted nature of the fuselage means that's not practical and a simple roundel works best. There's much to admire with this 'payware' add-on from 2016 - it really is an awesome package and I do hope the developer has forged a career for himself (or herself) in 3D modelling or gaming.

BTW eagle-eyed viewers will notice a Sidewinder that appears after take-off as I've used two missions to gather these screenshots.