Luftwaffe A7-Corsair II

nönöbär · May 20, 2012, 08:40:33 AM

Hi,

after reading here for quite a while and not have build a scale model for 10 years or so, I thought it would be a good idea to start again.

So after the first non-what-if's here is the first result, the Luftwaffe A-7 Corsair:

The model is a 1/72 matchbox kit. And every what-if needs a story, so here it is:

When the Luftwaffe introduced the F-104G Starfigher, the aircraft was also used by the Marineflieger Staffeln. But with all the problems of the F-104, it soon got obvious that the F104 was not the right plan for the naval attack role.

On March 10th, 1970, Olt. z. S. Joachim von Hassel, the son of the Bundestagspräsident, got lost in a Marine F104 crash. After this, politics demanded an alternative for this plane.

It was soon found. With the successful operation of the A7 Navy Bombers in Vietnam, the Verteidigungsminsterium decided to buy a total of 64 A7 Corsair II to replace the F-104 until the next generation Luftwaffe attack plane - what would become the MCRA Tornado - would be delivered.

With to increasing air war in Vietnam, it took until 1975 until the first A7 could be delivered to the Luftwaffe and they were actively used until 1985 when they were replaced by the Tornado.
In the early 1980s, Luftwaffe A7 operated on US carriers for training several times.

After removed from active service, the remaining A7s (4 were lost in the 10 years of operations) were sold to Greece, another operator of the A7.

Right now, I am working on some other stuff, but the next what-if is on its way soon.

Radish · May 20, 2012, 08:45:32 AM

Always looks clean, that scheme.
Love it

Ed S · May 20, 2012, 09:16:15 AM

Great looking plane in those markings. Gotta love the SLUF however it's done.

Ed

PR19_Kit · May 20, 2012, 09:36:44 AM

That's different too, an A7-D flying carrier ops. Nice one!

Aircav · May 20, 2012, 09:37:26 AM

Cool scheme.

kerick · May 20, 2012, 10:05:50 AM

Very plausible. Nice paint and decals. Where did you get the markings?

ysi_maniac · May 20, 2012, 10:23:15 AM

Perfect concept indeed!

nönöbär · May 20, 2012, 11:29:35 AM

Quote from: kerick on May 20, 2012, 10:05:50 AM
Very plausible. Nice paint and decals. Where did you get the markings?

Thanks, I always liked the A7 and the Marineflieger painting. So I tried to combine both...

The deacls are from "Microscale Decal" and they were quite good to work with. Got a few sets from ebay recently.

Spey_Phantom · May 20, 2012, 11:52:03 AM

nice build, looks slick and clean

Weaver · May 20, 2012, 01:43:21 PM

Very nice job - the Marineflieger scheme really suits it.

Army of One · May 20, 2012, 10:30:22 PM

Great build n nice back story......well done n welcome

Mike Wren · May 21, 2012, 07:02:20 AM

the Corsair looks great in that scheme, well done

NARSES2 · May 21, 2012, 07:16:23 AM

Looks really good in that scheme

bearmatt · June 04, 2012, 10:30:57 PM

Very nice! Is there perhaps some documentation (esp photos) about the german A-7, flying carrier ops....?

nönöbär · June 05, 2012, 08:37:13 AM

Quote from: bearmatt on June 04, 2012, 10:30:57 PM
Very nice! Is there perhaps some documentation (esp photos) about the german A-7, flying carrier ops....?

The German A-7 operated from land bases, as the German Navy did not operate any carriers. The model was part of the "Marinefliegergeschader 2", operating from Schleswig-Jagel. I have not seen any photos of them so far....

However, a German carrier of the 1970s would also be a nice what if....