FAA Skyhawk - near Cuba 1962 FINISHED!

[Weaver]

Radome painted:



And for reference:



It's a coat of Hu.148 Radome Tan, brush painted with my smallest brush over the gloss coat so it would streak, then a band of Hu.98 Chocolate around the back. It looks messy in the pic because of the magnification, but seen at normal distance it's fine.

[DogfighterZen]

Looks good to me! 

[Weaver]

Argghhh, last minute problems!

When I sprayed the main model with the clear gloss that turned temporarily yellow, I didn't spray the unattached bits like the u/c doors, the l/e slats and the tanks, which are now a noticably different shade of white. Mostly this doesn't matter, but it really shows on the slats because they sit in contrast to the wing and there's no plausible reason for them to be a different colour. So, last night, I gave then a coat of the same gloss lacquer, which boasts on the tin "dries in minutes!".

This morning, picked them up, and within seconds there was a fingerprint on one and dust stuck to the other. Dries in minutes my........  Now I have to get them dry enough to sand back, paint them white AGAIN, gloss them AGAIN to get the same colour tone, then fit them, then matt coat everything...hang on...

Actually, that's not true: I could nick the slats from another Skyhawk kit and go straight to the white stage, then recycle the screwed up ones into the other kit (which will be cammo anyway) at my leisure.

This is why it sometimes helps to write problems down: seeing them on a screen or paper gets your brain moving....

[Weaver]

So near the end, these last-minute hitches are maddening!

[Howard of Effingham]

  excellent stuff! 

[NARSES2]

It does look right 

[Martin H]

looks a tad white and pasty to me........................Just like most brits when they arrive at a sunny destination

Looks right in the anti flash Harrold

[Supertom]

Looking great. Love the fiberglass-y looking nose. You're almost there, keep pushing!

[Captain Canada]

Wicked. The fibreglass nose came out really well. Love the look of this one....

[KiwiZac]

Despite the issues this is still looking damned good! Bravo Weaver!!

[Army of One]

Look forward to seeing this on the stand one day.........

[tc2324]

Looking very very smart. 

[Captain Canada]

I was just reading this over again, and after seeing the other thread, I really want to build one and see what's on the go ! They look sooo good in the box !!

[Weaver]

The '62 Sunshine Cruise
FAA Squawks & the Cuban Missile Crisis
Model by Weaver
Profiles by Cliffy B
Story by Weaver & Cliffy B

By the mid-1950s, the Royal Navy's strike requirement had changed almost completely from that which applied in World War II. The advent of relatively small tactical nuclear weapons, the perceived threat from the Soviet Union's Sverdlov class cruisers, and the decision to abandon large carriers in favour of the more affordable 35,000 ton Colossus/Majestic class, created a requirement for a fast, compact strike aircraft that could deliver the projected Red Beard nuclear weapon to a land or sea target. In keeping with the principles of the 1947 Brokensha Report, which recommended that the UK buy it's naval aircraft from the USA rather than developing it's own, the Royal Navy examined the various options, and it quickly became apparent that Douglas and Blackburn, who had already worked together on a variety of projects, had the perfect aircraft for this requirement in Douglas's A4D Skyhawk. This remarkable little aircraft seemed perfectly tailored to the RN's 'small carrier' doctrine, since it managed to carry a substantial payload in a small airframe by virtue of ruthless weight-saving rather than technical sophistication. It also used an American version of a British engine (Wright J-65/AS-Sapphire) which kept the UK content acceptably high. Most of the competing proposals were either too big or too slow, the only serious competition coming from North American and Supermarine's project based on the FJ-4 Fury.


Douglas-Blackburn Skyhawk S.2 carrying a live Red Beard tactical nuclear bomb. The aircraft would carry two drop tanks, but the nearside one has been omitted to show the bomb clearly. 

RN orders for the Skyhawk were placed in 1956, but unfortunately, politics now intervened. The US government, highly displeased by the joint British/French Suez operation, demonstrated the leverage which the UK's dependence on American hardware now gave it by suspending all British orders for US aircraft and weapons, this being a major factor in the UK's decision to abandon the adventure. Both Tiger and Skyhawk programmes were affected and it wasn't until relations had been patched up that orders could be formally reinstated in 1958. However cooperation between the various UK and US companies quietly continued during this period, and in some ways the delay actually proved beneficial, since many technical issues could be explored and addressed properly without the pressure to start production as soon as possible. The Grumman-Gloster Tiger had been struggling with afterburner problems on it's J-65/Sapphire engine, and during the hiatus, a proposal to replace it with Rolls Royce's Avon was developed and accepted. Since commonality of logistics was particularly important on the small British carriers, a proposal was therefore made to re-engine the Skyhawk with a non-afterburning version of the Avon, and similar arguments were made for the  adoption of the British ADEN 30mm cannon by both aircraft as well. After all these proposals had been accepted, the Avon-engined, ADEN-gunned production aircraft were designated Skyhawk S.2s, the eight Sapphire-engined aircraft used for testing and trials being S.1s.


The same aircraft as it would appear after dropping it's bomb. Note the closed flash hood, designed to protect the pilot from being blinded by the nuclear explosion. This feature was highly unpopular with FAA pilots and was removed for Vietnam service since it was felt to obstruct rear quarter vision, even when open.



The Douglas-Blackburn Skyhawk S.2 entered service with the Fleet Air Arm in 1960 and was immediately christened the 'Squawk'. FAA pilots and engineers took to it from the start, and for the next decade-and-a-half it was possibly the service's most well-loved aircraft. It's probably best remembered by the public for it's sterling service in the Vietnam War, however that conflict was entirely different from the Cold War nuclear scenarios it was purchased for, and in the early years of it's service, they dominated planning and training. Thankfully the Skyhawks never got to deliver their Red Beard nuclear bombs for real, although it's now generally believed that they came uncomfortable close within months of taking delivery of them.



The training unit for the Skyhawk was 736 NAS, which also incorporated the Intensive Flying Trials Unit (formerly 800B Flight) and the responsibility therefore fell to them to develop procedures for the new weapon, the first examples of which were delivered in mid-1962. Initial trials took place ashore, but it was then decided that  a full-scale exercise at sea was necessary to test the new procedures under realistic conditions. HMS Albion had just completed the necessary refit to enable her to store the weapons safely, so at the start of October, six Skyhawks from 736 NAS deployed to the carrier, and she put to sea with Red Beards in her magazines for the first time.



After an initial work-up period in home waters, Albion ventured out into the North Atlantic for further exercises in rougher weather. However just days later, the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted without warning, and the US urgently requested help from all it's allies. HMS Bulwark was on-station in the Caribbean already, but she was just about to end her deployment and had no nuclear capability, so the Admiralty decided to send Albion to replace her, since it was felt that flying the nuclear bombs from ship-to-ship was too risky. The two carriers rendezvoused off Bermuda, and with much cross-decking of aircraft and stores, Albion was made ready for war. The carrier spent the next month operating with the US Navy off Cuba to enforce the American blockade, eventually returning to home waters in mid-December.



To this day, the British Government flatly refuses to declassify details of Albion's operations during the crisis, however by piecing together recollections from former sailors and airmen, and cross-referencing with American accounts, it is now generally believed that the carrier went to full nuclear alert on at least two occasions, with Skyhawks armed with live, 15 kiloton Red Beards ready on deck with engines running. However what has also become clear in recent years is just how limited this capability really was, since records that have been declassified make it clear that Albion cannot have had more than three Red Beards on board at the time, and the actual number may have been even smaller.



Albion's cruise during the Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the RN has ever come to using nuclear weapons in earnest, and has gone down in Royal Navy legend as The Sunshine Cruise, a gallows-humour reference to the term 'bucket of instant sunshine' which is  British forces slang for a nuclear weapon. In the absence of official information, anecdotal accounts of what happened have grown more dramatic as the years have passed. One oft-repeated story is that two of the Red Beards, or two of the Skyhawks (different versions exist) were unofficially christened 'Eric' and 'Ernie' after comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, who's theme song was 'Bring Me Sunshine'. However this is certainly a later invention, since the song wasn't written until 1966 and not used by the comedians until 1969.




Model : Airfix 1/72nd A-4B/P Skyhawk

A-4C nose & Red Beard : Freightdog Models resin

Flash hood and gun barrels : scratchbuilt

Paint : car undercoat white, Humbrol enamels & varnishes

Decals : roundels from an Flightdec sheet 4001 (1/144th scale), bomb stripes & warning triangles from Modecal set no. 57, 'ROYAL NAVY' from Xtradecal X72136, rest were self-printed

Thanks to Cliffy B for the profiles and story ideas and Geoff (Thorvic) for finding the Flightdec sheet.

[Captain Canada]

Perfect ! How did you get the finish so perfect ? I absolutely love this one !