Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

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I couldn't resist doing one more! Texas FTW!

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North American A-5D Vigilante - No.6 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, 1974





A short photoset to finish the year. This one dates from 2009 and the camo is a bit dodgy in colour and it's also totally symmetrical when viewed on plan! The 3D model (by 'Julhelm' - a member of this site btw) is of the RA-5C but I've removed the ventral 'canoe' which somehow enhances the hump-back look.

See you in 2024!

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North American F-109A Retaliator - 101st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Massachusetts ANG, 1977




Another short photoset this but I'll cover another ANG squadron tomorrow. I did this back in 2010 but this time around I've managed to add Sidewinder launch rails to the wing pylons to supplement the semi-recessed Sparrows. Of course, the 3D model doesn't have missile troughs so the missiles are sunken in and the front pair just about fit. A Vigilante with a Tornado F.3 forward fuselage would be quite a looker!

[Weaver]

Oh that someone would do a resin conversion for a 1/72 'hump-less' A-5. I tried it with chopping and filling ages ago, but it was a disaster. 

Even better if someone were to do a third engine + Phoenix conversion for the Retaliator proposal:



The other thing I thought of for a 'Vigiceptor' is to put a rocket booster and oxidiser tanks in the former bomb bay.

[chrisonord]

Wow, those F-109's
Looks like I need another vigilante kit then doesn't it  

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North American F-109A Retaliator - 159th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Florida ANG, 1978




Another short photoset and this time showing a six Sparrow configuration (like the old Airfix Phantom).

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North American F-109C Retaliator - 186th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Montana ANG, 1975






The cone at the rear of the linear bomb bay can easily be removed and whilst it leaves a gaping hole when viewed from the back it enables a third engine to be installed. The edit to do this takes about the same time that it's taken me to type this short paragraph. For this, I've had to call it a rocket engine as there is no way that I can add the extra intake area to the existing intakes or add a dorsal intake but I did give the afterburner flame a different hue to make it look different from the regular J79's. Yes, it is very, very fast!!

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During early 1970 a USAF review of America's air defence assets highlighted the increasing obsolescence of several aircraft including the F-101, F-102 and F-104 and whilst early F-4C Phantoms were trickling down to the ANG units McDonnell Douglas could see an opportunity to sell an optimised 'Air Defense' version of the F-4E to the USAF to swiftly and cost-effectively modernise a large proportion of Aerespace Defense Command. During this time McDonnell Douglas had studied various single-seat or stripped-down versions of the F-4 for the German Air Force but for the USAF they proposed a version of the slatted F-4E with all air-to-ground capability removed, slightly more powerful 'clean burn' J79 engines, simplified air-to-air only radar and the new solid-state AIM-7F Sparrow missile offering longer range with its two-stage rocket motor.

By this time the massive production run of the F-4 had meant that the fly-away unit cost for this simplified version of the F-4E made it one of the cheapest Phantoms ever and such was the confidence that the USAF had in McDonnell Douglas that in March 1971 they simply asked for a fixed-price quotation for 300 F-4E 'ADC' aircraft and ordered them in April 1971! First flown in June 1972 the F-4E 'ADC' were delivered in a smart and glossy 'air defense' grey scheme and entered service with  the 198th Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the Puerto Rico ANG in February 1973 replacing the F-104C's and F-104D's of that unit. Sadly, eight of the 198th's Phantoms were destroyed in a terrorist attack at Muniz ANGB in January 1981 and the unit operated several 'standard' F-4E's until 'ADC' versions could be allocated to them.

Another revised upload I'm preparing and originally posted here in 2010. Only a mild 'what if' as the USAF's Aerospace Defense Command did operate grey F-4E's with the 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Keflavik, Iceland (piccie below) but I don't think any ANG units operated grey F-4E's and certainly not my dedicated 'ADC' versions.

[SPINNERS]

Northrop/McDonnell Douglas F-23E 'Karish' - 119 Squadron, Israeli Air Force, 2011

With the success of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom and F-15 Eagle in Heyl HaAvir service the Israeli's were hoping that the Northrop/McDonnell Douglas F-23A 'Black Widow' would win the USAF's ATF competition to continue their successful relationship with the McDonnell Douglas team at St. Louis but unfortunately Lockheed Martin's victory in the ATF competition looked like bringing an end to a long and enduring partnership.

However in a brave move, in May 1991 the Northrop/McDonnell Douglas team secured permission from Congress to actively market the F-23 to (State Department) 'approved' nations and offered a single-seat multi-role version called the F-23E (Export) to Germany, Japan, Israel and the UK. With Germany looking for any excuse to get out of the Eurofighter consortium and facing high reunification costs they persuaded the UK to team up in a combined purchase of 200 F-23E's. In return, this led to the German and UK Governments persuading Northrop/McDonnell Douglas to make BAe and MBB prime sub-contractors for any further export sales.

However, with only 200 F-23E's on order Northrop/McDonnell Douglas were not convinced that it was enough to start a viable programme but the breakthrough came in January 1994 when the USAF agreed to purchase 100 F-23A's for PACAF (the air component of United States Pacific Command) and this move finally saw Japan and Israel also join the programme with 100 F-23E's each.







One that I originally did back in 2009 but it's a bit more refined this time and with lo-viz insignia including the 119 'The Bat' Squadron tail marking also in lo-viz. I'm not really into the 'glass cockpit' era but I do like the shape of the YF-23 and this 3D model is an absolute cracker.

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Republic Thunderjet FB.2 - No.33 Squadron, RAF Germany, 1952









I'm a fan of the long-line of Republic fighter-bombers and the F-84 Thunderjet has been getting some attention recently and specifically in Danish service. One RDAF camo skin got me thinking as to how it would look with classic RAF camo and I was kindly given such a skin to which I've applied RAF insignia, contemporary serials and No.33 Squadron markings although by this time they were out in the Far East as part of Operation Firedog.

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Hawker Hunter Mk.55B - No.14 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force, 1966






Whilst there are quite a few 'spare' Hunter designations the problem is that I've either used them aleady or they don't fit the timeline so I've elected to pretend that New Zealand bought new build Mk.6's back in the mid-50's (as the Hunter Mk.55) and then upgraded them to FGA.9 standard. Note the Hunter from No.75 Squadron photo-bombing Piccie 2.

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Hawker Hunter Mk.55B - No.2 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force, 1969






I could have sworn there was a SEA skin with three-colour uppersurfaces available for the Singaporean Hunter but I'm either mistaken or I'm probably looking in the wrong place. So this two-colour uppersurface camo will have to do for now. I had to make new skins for the drop tanks and overpaint the main skin in a couple of areas but it's come out OK. Anyway, this is a really old 3D model from a time when the Third Wire Hunter did not exist (before 2006). It is showing it's age a bit but I think the overall shape is OK perhaps except for the 'Sabrina' link collectors which look slightly long?

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North American F-107C Ultra Sabre - 101st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Massachusetts Air National Guard, 1974







I've been planning this one for a while and my recent flirtation with 'ADC' interceptors has given me the incentive to go ahead and make a suitable ADC Grey skin for this smashing F-107C 3D model by 'FastCargo' who made the F-107A (with it's striking colour scheme below) and then let his imagination run riot with his F-107C with a different nose, stores pylons and a modern turbofan engine. I had to make a template which took the best part of yesterday and I took the coward's way out by only doing panel lines and not bothering with rivets. The 101st FIS tail marking came straight off my recent F-109A Retaliator (Vigilante) and apart from the ANG Shield and the lightning flashes on the drop tanks I've used stock decals because the game/sim has literally hundred's of contemporary 5-digit USAF serials. For me, whilst I like the fact that the F-107 looks different I really can't say that it looks good.

F-107A

[SPINNERS]

I much prefer the 'pure' shape of the original F-107A...

North American F-107A Ultra Sabre - 101st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Massachusetts Air National Guard, 1964






My new F-107C skin can be tweaked to sort of fit the earlier F-107A but the rear end needs more work. The underside of the F-107A has a 'hollow' for either a semi-recessed drop tank or a tactical nuke but I've placed a Genie in there just for shits and giggles really because it would be a very draggy installation but potentially ideal for a snug-fitting larger missile. I've also used the contemporary AIM-4C Falcon missile to mop up any Soviet bombers that survived the blast of the Genie.