A-1K Skyraider, -Desert Storm- USMC ***FINISHED, Pg. 9***

[comrade harps]

Something to remember on creating your load-out is that the
temps in the area had a negative effect on the performance
of aircraft, which would possibly be even worse for a piston
engined machine like the Skyraider limiting what it could
actually get off the ground.

One way around this might be to make at a nocturnal operator. Have any spare LLLTV or FLIR pods?

[TheChronicOne]

I see nips!!   

Don't think I have any night equipment without fishing it out of another kit and I'm not up to the task of searching.  Not only that, but they did just fine in Vietnam which has much the same temperatures but with the added detriment of high humidity; if anything, Skyraiders would have it better in the dry air, not worse. Also, elevation. SEA had plenty of areas with mountains or hills (Montagnard got their name from it) and I do believe most of the Persian Gulf region was much closer to sea level and thus another reason why performance could be better there, not worse. 

Finished off the last of the painting and whatever on the small parts. Started construction of the rest of it. Also found me a nice reference picture for the camo. 





Missed a couple things but that's most of it. 

[kitnut617]

Also found me a nice reference picture for the camo. 

That's was what I used too, when I did my Agusta CH-151 Thunderbird.  Interesting story I was told about that camo scheme, apparently it was developed in one of the western USA deserts, and when it was used in the middle east, all the troops stood out like a sore thumb. Something to do with the "chips" -----

[TheChronicOne]

I believe it! I never thought it looked very effective. I remember thinking even way back then when I was still a kid, "That's some pretty flashy stuff, who came up with that idea?!"  The stuff they made for the 2000's seemed much better but it wasn't half as cool.    That choco didn't last more than 6-7 years or so, right?  Waste of little Brad's tax dollars is what it was!     


Plans for today... well....  uhhh...    I need to clean up the seams on the fuselage I guess then I can glue the wings on. Could be painting by later today depending on motivation and energy level. 

[zenrat]

A desert is a desert is a desert isn't it?  What do you mean they come in different colours?
D'oh!

[kitnut617]

A desert is a desert is a desert isn't it?  What do you mean they come in different colours?
D'oh!

I worked that into my backstory for the CH-151 Thunderbird. It goes along the lines that Agusta were told the scheme was to be desert camo, and that's what they painted it as, not checking to see what the spec was ----      Then it was too late to change it 'cause the Canadian Forces needed the aircraft badly in the middle east.

[TheChronicOne]

I'd "malicious compliance" it paint it all-over white. "You said paint it like the desert, you didn't say which one!"   One of the largest deserts on Earth is/ is in Antarctica. 


Hopefully the seams are dry on this today so I can get back to work on it. I've pretty much done all I can until they dry up. Found a pile of transfers to use as marking, too, I just need to figure out the best ones to try to get everything as close to "plausible" as I can but I'm not buying any new stuff for this so if something is "off" then so be it.

[kitnut617]

I'd "malicious compliance" it paint it all-over white. "You said paint it like the desert, you didn't say which one!"   One of the largest deserts on Earth is/ is in Antarctica. 

And most of the Canadian Arctic is designated a desert, it receiving less precipitation each year than the Sahara desert. It's just that what snow that does fall, stays around for a very long time ---- 

[TheChronicOne]

About ready to prime and start painting.




"Quickie" update I guess... 


Until next time! 

[TheChronicOne]

Glued on the last pylon for the bomb after the belly was finished being sanded smooth and have now primed it. Looks pretty decent to me... although I'm rather distracted right now. Cooking tons of food all day but that's besides the point.   



She'll sit there on the chop stick attached to vise grip (not pictured, it's clamped to the bottom). .......  Chop-Grip! 

Time for paint, I guess. I've been contemplating whether or not to try to color-match as close as possible to my camo example or just pick 6 colors that are close and would work together. One requires spending money and I am very short on that. I think I'll get some paints together and do a test run and see what it looks like and if need be I can consider buying some new paint (or mixing, but I don't care much for that because storing it is problematic for me).

[zenrat]

Looking good.

[TheChronicOne]

I'm not so sure about them hinges there ......      But uhhhhhh....  I don't seem to be bothered. 


Might be painting this today. I need to get my colors together again. I had them all picked out then put some away again now I need to fish them out again to attempt a quick test run of the colors to see how they work together.

[TheChronicOne]

Paint trials. I think this stuff will work just fine. This is very rough, ratios wrong, and not properly applied, so it's a little more difficult to tell but the colors work together and they aren't overwhelming each other. They might not match my example perfectly but they don't need to. This is the Corps' version, not the Army.

So, I think these will work and I won't have to spend any new money, yeah? Feedback welcome again.....   

\

That's it on this one for for a couple days.

[zenrat]

Colours look right mate.

[NARSES2]

Yup a desert is any landscape that receives less than 10" of precipitation a year. Although I have a vague memory of "O" Level Geography and learning a definition of "a desert climate is a climate in which there is an excess of evaporation over precipitation" although I struggled with that one.

I'll go away now