Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

[SPINNERS]

Grumman F-29F Polecat - HävLLv 31, Ilmavoimat, 2008

ILMAVOIMATF-29FPOLECAT01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

ILMAVOIMATF-29FPOLECAT02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

ILMAVOIMATF-29FPOLECAT03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

ILMAVOIMATF-29FPOLECAT04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Grumman/Atlas F-21C Cheetah - VMFA-541, United States Marine Corps, 1996

USMCCHEETAH01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USMCCHEETAH02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USMCCHEETAH03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USMCCHEETAH04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USMCCHEETAH05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The Atlas Cheetah add-on for Strike Fighters is a very clever conversion that grafts on the many extra bits to a Mirage IIIE in much the same way that we plastic modellers would tackle the job. It comes with the grey skin with SAAF markings but I've put it into service with the USMC and used the 'F-21' designation as, in my timeline, it predates the Kfir!

[SPINNERS]

Shenyang F-8IIMK - 21st Fighter Aviation Regiment, Kazakhstan Air Force, 2004

KAZAKHSTANF-8IIMKFINBACK01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

KAZAKHSTANF-8IIMKFINBACK02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

KAZAKHSTANF-8IIMKFINBACK03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

KAZAKHSTANF-8IIMKFINBACK04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I've always liked the Finback and this is the F-8IIMK - a fictional export version for Kazakhstan (I bet that went down well in Moscow). The skin is the one that comes with the original PLAAF version and I've created new decals including a 'nosebar' decal that's a complete work of fiction but includes elements of the Kazakhstan flag. If anyone knows if there are rules for how the roundels stars should face then please let me know as I'll probably do some more Kazakh 'what ifs' in the near future.

[SPINNERS]

Chengdu F-10 'Vanguard' - 1st Aviation Fighter Regiment, Tajikistan Air Force, 2012

TAJIKISTANJ-10T01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

TAJIKISTANJ-10T02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

TAJIKISTANJ-10T03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

TAJIKISTANJ-10T04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I've shown the 'Vigorous Dragon' before but this time decided to use another new (for me) country and another former Soviet state - Tajikistan. I'm not sure whether they use stars on their fin but I've elected to use their flag as a fin flash, just a personal preference of mine. In the real world, their air force is primarily helicopters with literally a handful of L-39C trainers.

[SPINNERS]

Sukhoi Su-17C - 2nd Aviation Regiment, Kyrgyzstan Air Force, 1993

KYRGYZSTANSu-17C01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

KYRGYZSTANSu-17C02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

KYRGYZSTANSu-17C03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

KYRGYZSTANSu-17C04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I love the Fishpot and Fitter series of aircraft there's something so basic and crude about them - tube, wings, tail, brute force engine - let's fly! Su-7's are stock aircraft in game (non-flyable but that's easily fixed) whilst the Fishpot's and swing-wing Fitters are well-catered for as add-on aircraft. This is Amokfloo's Su-17C in service with the embryonic air force of Kyrgyzstan and, again, the 2nd Fighter Aviation Regiment is totally fictional as is their nose marking but it does pick up on elements of their flag (used as a fin flash).

[SPINNERS]

MiG-27K 'Flogger-M' - 279th Shipborne Fighter Aviation Regiment, Soviet Naval Aviation, 1990

SOVIETMiG-27KFLOGGER01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETMiG-27KFLOGGER02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETMiG-27KFLOGGER03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETMiG-27KFLOGGER04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETMiG-27KFLOGGER05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Strike Fighters 2: North Atlantic has made it so much easier to get aircraft onto carrier decks and this is Gepard's MiG-27K aboard the Kiev.

[SPINNERS]

MiG-23MK - Ukraine Naval Aviation, 1996

UKRAINEMiG-23MKFLOGGER01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UKRAINEMiG-23MKFLOGGER02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UKRAINEMiG-23MKFLOGGER03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UKRAINEMiG-23MKFLOGGER04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UKRAINEMiG-23MKFLOGGER05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Panavia F-19A Tornado - 79th TFS, 20th TFW, USAFE, 1986

USAFTORNADO01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFTORNADO02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFTORNADO03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFTORNADO04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFTORNADO05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is Florian's ('Amokfloo') Luftwaffe Tornado and it comes with this cracking three-tone skin. I was going to 'Tornadoski' it (imagine it with a big red star on that fin) and I might well come back and do just that but for now it's in service with USAFE.

[SPINNERS]

Grumman-Dornier F-11D 'Super Tiger' - MFG1, West German Marineflieger, 1964

Grumman's disappointment with the Wright J65 engine in their promising F11F (Tiger) led to them following a similar path to Lockheed and designing an improved aircraft based around the outstanding General Electric J79 engine. As an interim measure, and mainly at their own expense, Grumman modified two F11-F1's and fitted J79-GE-3A engines to them and the performance and reliability was so greatly improved that Grumman were soon issuing brochures to anyone in the US Navy who would listen.

However, with the F8U-1 Crusader running on a similar timescale and the McDonnell F4H-1 in the pipeline, the US Navy politely declined Grumman's offer. Undaunted, Grumman studied the market that was opening up in Europe and looked beyond any possible small-scale orders from the Royal Navy and the French Aeronavale. In particular, West Germany appeared to be a whole and potentially lucrative market in itself with the Luftwaffe and Marineflieger possibly requiring 600+ aircraft. Grumman knew that their design was a more flexible aircraft than the compromised 'straight-line' Lockheed F-104 and the under-developed English Electric Lightning whilst Dassault did not appear to want to hang bombs on his beautiful delta-winged Mirage III!

Grumman's 'Super Tiger' proposal to the Federal German Government was for a multi-role fighter with good air-to-air capability. During late 1958 their proposal was keenly studied by Federal German officials but against Lockheed's F-104G the Super Tiger looked a bit austere and appeared to be out of contention. However, in January 1959 the Federal German Government stirred the pot by suggesting that they were considering authorising the purchase of two ex-British aircraft carriers for the Marine which allowed Grumman to remind Federal German Government officials that their proposal was carrier capable whereas the others were decidedly not. Sensing a breakthrough, in February 1959 Grumman teamed-up with Dornier to develop the Super Tiger and manufacture any Federal German orders. In March 1959 an order was placed for 400 Super Tigers to be jointly built by a Grumman-Dornier consortium.

MARINEFLIEGERF-11DTIGER01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MARINEFLIEGERF-11DTIGER02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MARINEFLIEGERF-11DTIGER03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MARINEFLIEGERF-11DTIGER04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Another off the shelf 'what if' this one and it comes with a JG71 skin and the MFG1 skin seen above. Right, time to catch a bit of Euro 2012.

[SPINNERS]

Grumman F-11D Super Tiger - 154° Gruppo 6° Stormo, Aeronautica Militare, 1966

AMIF-11DSUPERTIGER01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMIF-11DSUPERTIGER02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMIF-11DSUPERTIGER03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMIF-11DSUPERTIGER04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I've added a customised 'Diablo' fin to the Super Tiger and overpainted AMI roundels over the Luftwaffe markings. I reckon it looks like a 1960's AMX!

[SPINNERS]

MiG-27G 'Flogger-D' - 1st Fighter Aviation Regiment, Georgian Air Force, 1993

GEORGIAMiG-27GFLOGGER06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

GEORGIAMiG-27GFLOGGER02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

GEORGIAMiG-27GFLOGGER03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

GEORGIAMiG-27GFLOGGER04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

GEORGIAMiG-27GFLOGGER07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I did this skin for my Republic F-7M Thunderpig by adapting the stock MiG-23P grey skin to fit the different shape of the MiG-27. For this Georgian 'Flogger-D' I decided to use 50% opacity roundels to give them a more lo-viz look and elected to use the Georgian Air Force Flag (not the national flag) as a fin flash instead of repeating the roundel on the fin.

[SPINNERS]

Sukhoi Su-47 'Berkut' - Ukraine Air Force, 2009

UKRAINESu47BERKUT01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UKRAINESu47BERKUT02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UKRAINESu47BERKUT03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UKRAINESu47BERKUT04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I decided to make a 'quick' template for the 'Berkut' (still took a few hours though) and had hoped to show this in my 'Aggressor Splinter' scheme but the way this model is mapped makes it nigh on impossible so I've had to settle for a plain grey.

[SPINNERS]

Hawker Harrier GR.1 - Europa Air Force, Iceland, 1981

EUROPAHARRIERGR101 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

EUROPAHARRIERGR102 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

EUROPAHARRIERGR103 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Over at Combat Ace mention was made of what a European Air Force roundel would look like. This is my initial thought...

[SPINNERS]

MiG-23P2K 'Flogger-G' - 62nd Fighter Aviation Regiment, Uzbekistan Air Force, 2002

UZBEKISTANMiG-23PFLOGGER-G01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UZBEKISTANMiG-23PFLOGGER-G02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UZBEKISTANMiG-23PFLOGGER-G03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

UZBEKISTANMiG-23PFLOGGER-G04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Back on track with my meander around the former Soviet states. AFAIK Uzbekistan never operated the MiG-23P and the fin marking is out of me own head as I can't bring myself to put a roundel on the vertical tail of any aircraft.

[SPINNERS]

Aermacchi MB-339A - Armenian Air Force, 1994

ARMENIAMB-339A01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

ARMENIAMB-339A02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

ARMENIAMB-339A03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The MB-339A is an excellent add-on aircraft for Strike Fighters and includes skins for most of the operators of this shapely looking trainer that's taken quite a few export orders since it's first flight in the 1970's. This is the Dubai skin with new Armenian decals and some Soviet weapons.