Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

[SPINNERS]

Republic F-105D Thunderchief - No.6 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, 1968

RAAFF-105D01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFF-105D02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFF-105D03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFF-105D04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAAFF-105D05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I think V-Bomber style Roo's and pale F-111C style fin markings look pretty good on the mighty Thud!

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas A-4K - Jagdbombergeschwader 31 "Boelcke", German Air Force, 1983

The heavy attrition suffered by West German Starfighter's during the early-mid 1960's was of real concern to the Bonn Government eventually leading to a decision in 1966 to replace some of the German Air Force Jagdbombergeschwader wings with the McDonnell Douglas Skyhawk (which entered service with JG31 in 1968) and some with the F-4E from the same company to a slightly later timescale. Despite a heavy sales effort by McDonnell Douglas the Marineflieger doggedly stuck with the Starfighter until they were replaced by Panavia Tornadoes in the 1980's.

LUFTWAFFEA-4KSKYHAWK01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

LUFTWAFFEA-4KSKYHAWK02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

LUFTWAFFEA-4KSKYHAWK03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

LUFTWAFFEA-4KSKYHAWK04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

LUFTWAFFEA-4KSKYHAWK05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan MiG-21bis - No.2 'Leinster' Squadron, Irish Air Corps, 1980

IACMiG-21bisFISHBED01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IACMiG-21bisFISHBED02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IACMiG-21bisFISHBED03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IACMiG-21bisFISHBED04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The Leinster Flag has given me inspiration for the fin marking and rudder checks and the colour for the Leinster serials (Munster's Sukhoi's had 'MN' serials  )

[SPINNERS]

Hawker Hunter F.5 - No.3 'Munster Squadron', Irish Air Corps, 1958

IACHUNTERF501 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IACHUNTERF502 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IACHUNTERF503 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IACHUNTERF504 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A fully merged install of the game has virtually all the single-seat Hunters covered but I've used the Sapphire-engined F.5 here for this 'Munster Squadron' Hunter. I'm thinking of creating markings for 4No. IAC air defence squadrons to match the modern rugby regions (Connacht, Leinster, Munster, Ulster) and the eagle-eyed among you will have noticed the 'LN' codes on the MiG-21bis and the 'MN' codes on this Hunter. Unfortunately, an unexpected 'other hobby' admin problem has landed in my lap meaning I'll have to take another short break - see you next week.

[SPINNERS]

Breguet Br.1150 Atlantic - No.1 (Connacht) Squadron, Irish Air Corps, 1978

IACATLANTIC01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IACATLANTIC02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IACATLANTIC03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IACATLANTIC04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IACATLANTIC05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I knocked up this Nimrodesque skin for a RAF Atlantic a while back and have used it here with new Irish markings with Pictures 1 and 2 show a Connacht squadron marking.

[SPINNERS]

Grumman F-14C Tomcat - 417th Tactical Fighter Squadron, USAF, 1976

USAFF-14CTOMCAT05-1 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-14CTOMCAT06-1 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-14CTOMCAT07-1 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-14CTOMCAT08-1 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

English Electric Lightning Mk.VI - 244 Wing, Desert Air Force, 1969

RAFLIGHTNINGF601 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGF602 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGF603 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This desert skin was released a while ago by James Fox with modern RAF markings. I've always liked it but decided to go retro and create some WW2 decals based on Wing Commander Ian Gleed's Spitfire - one of the most photographed Spitfires ever and deservedly so. A small omission by me is the lack of 'Figaro' the cat - the charming mascot that adorned most if not all of his aircraft.

[SPINNERS]

Dassault Super Mystère - 522nd Fighter Squadron, Vietnam Air Force, 1975

VNAFSUPERMYSTEREB201 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VNAFSUPERMYSTEREB202 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VNAFSUPERMYSTEREB203 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VNAFSUPERMYSTEREB204 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VNAFSUPERMYSTEREB205 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A nice French camo exists for the Super Mystère (one of my favourite aircraft - real good looker) and I've created some South Vietnamese decals including the fictional nosebar marking for the (real) 522nd Fighter Squadron who operated the Northrop F-5A. You'll have to excuse me for the dodgy fuselage band/sash as it's not easy to control the perspective on curved areas.

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan MiG-23MF - 921st Fighter Regiment, Vietnam Peoples' Air Force, 1976

VPAFMiG-23MF01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAFMiG-23MF02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAFMiG-23MF03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAFMiG-23MF04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This lovely base skin is by the appropriately named 'Flogger23' and I thought I'd try it in VPAF markings.

[SPINNERS]

Miles Martin PRVII - 5 PRU, Royal Air Force, 1943

RAFMiG-17FFRESCO01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMiG-17FFRESCO02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A nice Mozambique skin was released recently and it reminded me of PRU Blue so I've decked it out in appropriate RAF markings. The shade is way off but it does give an impression of what a PRU 'Fresco' would look like.

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas Phantom FR.4 - No.13 Squadron, RAF South East Asia Command, 1971

RAFPHANTOMFR401 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFPHANTOMFR402 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFPHANTOMFR403 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFPHANTOMFR404 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Hawker Harley IV - RAF Fighter Command, 1950

RAFMiG-17FFRESCO03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMiG-17FFRESCO04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMiG-17FFRESCO05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Battle of Britain 1950!

[SPINNERS]

Hawker Hurricane IA - Dhimari Air Force, 1944

DHIMARIHURRICANE1A01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMARIHURRICANE1A02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMARIHURRICANE1A03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A really sweet Hurricane was released recently with one version having this RAF WW2 desert scheme turned into Dhimari's first monoplane fighter. For some reason, whenever I see a Hurricane in desert camo I think of those wonderful 'Commando' comic books - many of which involved Hurricanes battling against the Regia Aeronautica and/or the Luftwaffe! Happy days!

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas F-4E 'Kurnass' - No.69 Squadron, 'The Hammers', Heyl Ha'Avir

After the 1973 'Yom Kippur' war an uneasy truce settled on the Middle East but this was shattered when combined Soviet-backed Syrian and Jordanian forces launched a massive offensive against the West Bank in November 1979.

At a time when American minds were focused on the Iranian hostage crisis the severity of the Arab drive across the Jordanian border into the West Bank was not realised until Menachem Begin made an impassioned appeal for support and the USA duly obliged with the immediate transfer of 36 F-4E Phantoms from USAFE to the Heyl Ha'Avir. Under 'Project Karpada 2' these aircraft were hastly fitted with a fixed inflight refuelling probe by Israeli Aircraft Industries but retained the standard USAFE wraparound camo scheme and entered service in late December 1979. After the end of hostilities in January 1980 the aircraft were gradually upgraded to full Kurnass standards with most eventually losing their USAF camo scheme.

IDFF-4EKURNASS01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IDFF-4EKURNASS02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IDFF-4EKURNASS03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IDFF-4EKURNASS04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IDFF-4EKURNASS05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I've just added the distinctive IDF style yellow upperwing walkway markings to the stock late USAF scheme.

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas F-4E 'Kurnass' - No.69 Squadron, 'The Hammers', Heyl Ha'Avir, 1984

The transfer of 35 ex-USAF to the Egyptian Air Force under the September 1977 'Peace Pharaoh' agreement saw the Heyl Ha'Avir introduce a dedicated Kurnass Aggressor Flight to give frontline F-15 and F-16 pilots DACM training and an opportunity to develop tactics against potentially hostile F-4's. Entering service in 1981 (as part of an enlarged No.69 squadron) the Kurnass aggressors flew in a variety of schemes and took part in attacks against Syrian anti-aircraft missile batteries in 'Operation Peace for Galilee' in 1982 destroying several SAM sites whilst suffering no losses to enemy action.

IDFF-4EKURNASS06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IDFF-4EKURNASS07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IDFF-4EKURNASS08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IDFF-4EKURNASS09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is one of the F-4J 'DLC' skins adapted for the long nose F-4E and adding the yellow upper wing walkway markings and IDF markings.