What to do with a ford trimotor?

[martinbayer]

Ski's and orange panels all over as an Antarctic supply bird.

That paint job could be nicely done with the Monogram kit:

http://www.avkits.net/kit50/monogram/trimotor/trimotor_skis.jpg

http://www.ipmsusa3.org/gallery/v/box_art_album/Manufacturers/MNOP/Monogram+Box+Art/Aircraft+-+Commercial+and+Private/Ford_Trimotor_Monogram_6056_77th.jpg.html

Martin

[McColm]

A couple of floats?

[martinbayer]

A couple of floats?

There were some RW examples - note that the video essentially describes the use as a crop (respectively forest) duster:

http://www.aerofiles.com/ford-5atcs.jpg

http://www.fordtri-motor.com/images/photos/pg1_img3.jpg

http://www.grandcanyonairlines.com/files/large/414h_on_floats3__gallery-on-page.jpg

http://www.grandcanyonairlines.com/files/large/414h_on_floats2__gallery-on-page.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5rpdHE_HWk&list=UU5uxEwss1RLRft4OXgPutLQ&index=8

Martin

[coolpop6307]

Guys thank you for the ideas so far i have it half way planned out and it will be awesome.

Thanks
  Joshua

[Go4fun]

Make a heck of a ASW aircraft or close support and/or Bird Dog aircraft.

[wagnersm]

1930's FAA with folding wings.   

[Cobra]

Have you thought about doing it as an ASR bird for the US Coast Guard? Dan

[kitbasher]

Or another one of these: http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,33915.msg534632.html#msg534632

[Weaver]

spanish civil war republican AF bomber?

That isn't a whiff: http://www.zi.ku.dk/personal/drnash/model/spain/did.html

Of course, you could take it further as a whiff, with more guns, and/or the engine swap suggested by ChernayaAkula.

As an alternative, how about having them nick a pair of Hispano HS 12s off one of the dire Potez 540s and replace the Ford's nose engine with a bomb-aiming position? The Hispanos are already podded and come with retractable gear, although it might not be long enough as it stands. The two Hispanos are slightly more powerful than the Tin Lizzie's three Wasps.

[Weaver]

The gunship idea occurred to me too. The original idea was counter-insurgency in Mexico with three old water-cooled Brownings but I couldn't find models of the latter. However I then picked up one of those Quad Maxim AAA mounts the Russians used, so the setting has now moved to an extended Russian Civil war going on into the late 1920s. The guns are 1/76th white metal, but since my trimotor is the old Revell "classic" in approximately 1/77th, they'll do nicely.... Orion do the guns in 1/72nd plastic which will go with other kits, and I dare say there are white metal/resin ones too.

Of course, the same combination of aircraft and weapons would be just as credible for an SCW scenario......hmmmmmm...........

[NARSES2]

so the setting has now moved to an extended Russian Civil war going on into the late 1920s.

You could argue that it did in the far flung regions of the Far East. Fascinating and extremely complicated subject with very little available in English that I'm aware of

[pyro-manic]

Mine will be a Miskatonic University machine, used on their 1931 Antarctic expedition....

[kitbasher]

so the setting has now moved to an extended Russian Civil war going on into the late 1920s.

You could argue that it did in the far flung regions of the Far East. Fascinating and extremely complicated subject with very little available in English that I'm aware of

Vietminh/Vietcong bomber/transport aircraft (think Vickers Valentia/Bristol Bombay) at Dien Bien Phu.

[jcf]

According to Howson, Ford 4-AT-71, the last 4-AT built and the only 4-AT-F, was not used for anything
other than a transport during the war. It was powered by three 300hp Wright Whirlwind J-6 and the outer
two were in NACA cowlings.
So an extemporized bomber conversion along the lines of what was done with the similar Fokker airliners
would probably be a What-if.
Note that during the war both factory built Fokker bomber versions (F.VIIb3m/M) and converted airliners
(F.VIIb3m, F.IX, F.XII, F.XVIII, and a single F.XX) were in use on both sides, so there is a lot of possible
inspiration for the potential look and equipment of a modified Ford. The F.XX had its outer engines
replaced with the M25 from an I-16 on one side and the Walter Merkur from a Letov S 231 on the other,
which  made an aircraft already unpopular with its Republican crew into an absolute pig. Much relief was
expressed when it crashed in 1938. So while engine swaps were made, the result wasn't necessarily good.
- Info from Howson, Aircraft of The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939, Putnam 1990

As to the layout of a period gunship something along the lines of the Junkers-Larsen JL.12
'armored attack plane', a Junkers F.13 with a belly-full of Thompson SMGs, is far more likely than
the Vietnam-era Spooky configuration.

http://www.ju-f13.de/F13/F13K38/F13K38.html




Above from Angelika Hofmann's outstanding Junkers F.13 website, German only but that's a minor nit  :
http://www.ju-f13.de/index.html

Flight article from 1922, which incorrectly states it as being larger than the JL.6/F.13:
http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1922/1922%20-%200073.PDF

Profile from airwar.ru:

[PR19_Kit]

The F.XX had its outer engines
replaced with the M25 from an I-16 on one side and the Walter Merkur from a Letov S 231 on the other.....

Which rather begs the question 'WHY?'