Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

[SPINNERS]

Lockheed F-104E Starfighter - 198th TFS, Puerto Rico ANG, 1970

USAFF-104ESTARFIGHTER02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-104ESTARFIGHTER03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-104ESTARFIGHTER04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-104ESTARFIGHTER05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-104ESTARFIGHTER06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Puerto Rico F-4E's feature on the current Page 25 (as do Florida ANG Drakens and Michigan ANG Fiddlers - lol) so this 'what if' slightly conflicts with that alternate timeline - hey ho.

[SPINNERS]

Convair F-102A - 2 Squadron, Belgian Air Force, 1972

BAFF-102ADELTADAGGER01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFF-102ADELTADAGGER02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFF-102ADELTADAGGER03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFF-102ADELTADAGGER04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Apart from the Third Wire products the only 'payware' I've ever forked out for is some stuff by RAZBAM and it includes the F-102A Delta Dagger, which is odd because it's never been a favourite of mine but it's undeniably an important milestone in aviation history and it's troubled development story is a good read. Anyway this is the RAZBAM F-102A with Belgian national markings painted onto the skin bitmaps and then with stock decals from the Third Wire Mirage 5BA.

[SPINNERS]

Convair F-102K - No.29 Squadron, RAF South East Asia Command, 1963

RAFF-102KDELTADAGGER02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-102KDELTADAGGER01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-102KDELTADAGGER03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-102KDELTADAGGER04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Douglas Skyhawk FG.2 - 899 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy, 1982

RNSKYHAWKFG201 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNSKYHAWKFG202 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNSKYHAWKFG203 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNSKYHAWKFG204 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNSKYHAWKFG205 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I do like 'B' type roundels on EDSG FAA aircraft and I especially like the 899NAS Fist emblem.

[SPINNERS]

Douglas A-4E Skyhawk - MFG1, Marineflieger, 1971

MARINEFLIEGERA-4ESKYHAWK01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MARINEFLIEGERA-4ESKYHAWK02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MARINEFLIEGERA-4ESKYHAWK03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MARINEFLIEGERA-4ESKYHAWK04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MARINEFLIEGERA-4ESKYHAWK05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Douglas A-4ES Skyhawk - F21, Swedish Flygvapnet, 1969

FLYGVAPNETA-4ESKYHAWK01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETA-4ESKYHAWK05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETA-4ESKYHAWK03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETA-4ESKYHAWK06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETA-4ESKYHAWK04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Grumman F-14A Tomcat - VF-805 Royal Australian Navy, 1977

The unfortunate HMAS Melbourne suffered two tragic incidents during the 1960's (sinking two friendly warships in seperate collisions, both with high loss of life) that led to it gaining a reputation as a jinxed ship and the Royal Australian Navy decided against a proposed refit scheduled for 1972. By early 1973 a replacement carrier and associated advanced aircraft were openly being sought with the Australian Government initially looking at the soon to be retired HMS Eagle but, in a surprise move, the US Government offered USS Ranger (CV-61) as a thank you for Australia's participation in the Vietnam war. Grumman were quick to see an opportunity and offered an 'export version' of the F-14A (without AIM-54 Phoenix capability) to Australia who ordered 16 in January 1974, the same month that Iran ordered 30 F-14A's (later increased to 80). USS Ranger emerged from refit in May 1975 to enter Australian service as HMAS Australia and received it's first F-14A's in February 1976.

RANF-14ATOMCAT01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RANF-14ATOMCAT02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RANF-14ATOMCAT03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RANF-14ATOMCAT04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RANF-14ATOMCAT05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Grumman F-14S Tomcat - F21, Swedish Flygvapnet, 1979

Whilst delighted with the newly introduced AJ37 attack version of the Saab Viggen, Flygvapnet officials soon expressed concerns over the range and capability of the forthcoming JA37 interceptor version and made tentative enquiries to Grumman, McDonnell Douglas and Panavia for an interceptor tailored to their rather unique requirements. Grumman (who desperately needed more orders for their F-14 to help offset the burden of the onerous fixed-price deal with the DoD) quickly proposed an export version of the Tomcat by dusting off their earlier Spey-engined F-14S previously offered to the UK.

The new F-14S ('S' now standing for Sweden) was ordered in 1975 and whilst Swedish content in the airframe and avionics was very low the Swedish government had secured offset deals with Rolls-Royce to licence produce the Spey turbofan engine by Volvo Flygmotor and the F-14S was designed to use the 'Swedish' RB-71 (Skyflash) and RB-74 (Sidewinder) missiles as it's primary armament. The F-14S entered service with F21 in 1979 with initial deliveries being made in the 'splinter' scheme which was soon replaced by the two-tone grey scheme still seen today.

FLYGVAPNETF-14STOMCAT01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETF-14STOMCAT02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETF-14STOMCAT03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETF-14STOMCAT04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETF-14STOMCAT05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

My regard for SAAB's wonderful series of post-war combat aircraft is so high that I feel like a traitor in pushing the F-14 Tomcat into Flygvapnet service at the expense of the Viggen but it had to be done and it doesn't look too bad.

[SPINNERS]

Grumman F-14S Tomcat - F21, Flygvapnet, 2001

FLYGVAPNETF-14STOMCAT06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETF-14STOMCAT07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETF-14STOMCAT08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETF-14STOMCAT09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETF-14STOMCAT10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Dassault Rafale FG.1 - 800 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy, 2003

RNRAFALEFG102 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNRAFALEFG103 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNRAFALEFG104 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNRAFALEFG105 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The single-seat Rafale C was released a few days ago by 'CadetteBRA' a Brazilian 3D model maker over at Combat Ace and it's an absolute cracker. Using his templates I've knocked up a simple grey skin and added some RN decals. I haven't had time to add the serials and the all-important 'R' on the rudder  but I hope you like it nevertheless.

[SPINNERS]

Douglas Dauntless IIA - No.26 (Army Air Co-Operation) Squadron, RAF Fighter Command, 1940

RAFDAUNTLESS2A01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFDAUNTLESS2A02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFDAUNTLESS2A03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFDAUNTLESS2A04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

An absolutely delightful Douglas Dauntless and an A-24 Banshee was released recently and it is the latter that I've used here to create an RAF 'AAC' aircraft just by adding some decals. Perhaps in 1941 they were escorted by Spitfires to dive-bomb German coastal radar installations...

[SPINNERS]

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Murangal Mk.II - Royal Australian Air Force, 1942

RAAFDAUNTLESS01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFDAUNTLESS02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFDAUNTLESS03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFDAUNTLESS04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is a quick lash-up (don't look too close ) just to give an impression of what a Dauntless would look like with RAAF markings and the classic white tail. BTW 'Murangal' is the aborigine word for Thunder.

[SPINNERS]

Chance-Vought Corsair - No.5 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, 1945

RAAFCORSAIR01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFCORSAIR02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFCORSAIR03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFCORSAIR04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I find the white-tailed Aussie aircraft of WW2 quite attractive so thought I'd put the bent-wing bird into RAAF service in that scheme.

[SPINNERS]

Hawker Hunter Mk.54 - No.87 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, 1956

RAAFHUNTERF5401 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFHUNTERF5402 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFHUNTERF5403 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFHUNTERF5404 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFHUNTERF5405 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Combining SF2:Europe and Strike Fighters 2 Expansion Pack 2 gives you access to most versions of the single-seat Hunter in European service including Denmark and their Hunter Mk.51's has the drab green skin seen late in their service and I've used this skin for an Aussie Hunter Mk.54 with WW2 roundels. For simplicity, I've kept the white tail to the fin and rudder only. The nose marking is fictitious but does use No.87's real badge and reading up a bit on this squadron and the origins of their badge has revealed to me that I should have given them a 'photo' bird to operate*. Surprisingly, the 'Mk.54' designation appears to be unused in Hunter variants.



* From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._87_Squadron_RAAF

Explanation of the No. 87 Squadron badge

The Sun

The sun represents the Squadron's role in maintaining knowledge and understanding of its adversaries

The Quill

The quill represents the Squadron's analytical and communications capabilities, as the ability to impart knowledge is as important as the ability to acquire it

The Sword

The sword represents the Squadron's role in the conduct of warfare

Squadron Motto

'We See and We Fight' (originally 'Videmus Militamus' on the previous badge) – highlights the importance of intelligence in detecting, locating and identifying the enemy in the successful conduct of air operations and the Squadron's role in both the offensive and defensive aspects of air warfare.

[SPINNERS]

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Boomerang Mk.1 - No.243 Squadron, RAF Far East Command, January 1942*

RAFBOOMERANG01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFBOOMERANG02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFBOOMERANG03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFBOOMERANG04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

* Thank goodness we're in WHIFLAND as CAC would have really needed to have got a wiggle on to have had this RAF Boomerang in service during late 1941 as the first prototype didn't actually fly until May 1942. Apologies for the Japanese aircrew's bone domes!