Boeing A-13C Python (South Vietnamese AF)

[Spey_Phantom]

Back History:

in januari 1961, the conflict in South Vientam was starting to get out of hand. the US has sent a number of armed trainers to the area, such as the T-28 Trojan and armed CAS platforms like the AD-6 Skyaider. however the US forces were insufficient to fight the Vietcong on every front.

meanwhile South Vietnamese troops were fighting the cong in the deep jungles neer the north and south borders.
the US could not cross into North Vietnam since they're role was only aid and advisory. the young South Vietnamese Air Force saw that it had to counter the vietcong insurgents themselves, and started looking for a quick COIN aircraft. the US offered the A-1 Skyraider, but at the time, the US needed them for they're own forces, and could not deliver them in time. but the Boeing company recently lost to the skyraider in competion with its own A-13 Python, a licence build gound attack version of the spitfire Mk18. the VNAF examined the aircraft, and placed an order for 50 A-13's, the early A and B version were still powered by the Rolls Royce Griffon engine, but spares for the engine became so sparce after the spitfire was withdrawn from service that boeing installed a new Lycoming YT55-L-9A turboprop engine, witch was used on the Curtis/wright X-19 and the AH-1 cobra at the time.

the new A-13C Python was not as heavily armoured or armed as the skyraider, but was faster and more maneuvrable.
to extend its range, the A-13 was equiped with wingtip drop tanks. under each wing were 4 external hardpoints that could be fitted with with bombs, rockets, napalm tanks,...., the orriginal 2 20mm cannons from the orriginal spitfire was retained
the A-13C was first delivered in 1964 and was one of the finer CAS/COIN platfoms in vietnam. they served up to the end of the vietnam war, in total 40 were lost in combat, the rening 10 were scrapped after the north and south vietnamese air forces combined.

the model:

the model will be modified heller 1/72 spitfire mk.16 (witch was left over from the spitfire GB, but nevver was build) with tiptanks, mk.82 bombs, rockets...
decals will be leftovers from the airfix O-1 bird dog, witch comes with VNAF decals.
im gonna get started this afternoon.
its gonna be more of a Piper Enforcer like version of the spitfire 

[JayBee]

This is going to be worth watching!
Go for it Nils, and do not stop till you are finished.

[Spey_Phantom]

UPDATE:

the wings are done, its the standard Spitfire clipped wing fitted with tip tanks.
the pylons are from 2 hornfix Bird dogs, so are the rockets.
the 2 Mk84 bombs are leftover from a 1/72 matchbox F-5B and the 2 Mk82 with extended fuse are from a revell 1/72 F-105D kit.

im also gonna ad a bigger prop, witch comes from a scrapped P-47M (salvaged from the adonis, see junkyard GB).
for those who on the pic notice the drinking straw, you know thats gonna be used for the huge exsaust on the front of the engine  , a method previously used on my spitfire OA.60 in the spit GB.

[Spey_Phantom]

this morning i closed up the merlin exsausts in fron and i drilled a hole on 1 side of the fuselage to house a new fat exsaust pipe.
the cockpit has also been build, painted and fitted.

furthermore, i decided to go for that vietnam skyraider camo used by the VNAF 



below some pics 

[sotoolslinger]

Neato

[Spey_Phantom]

the first layers of paint have already been applied,
dont mind the shiney dust on the paintjob, before these pics were taken i sanded of the bottom after i filled up the area where the chargers were. for those who worry, dont, the paint is already dry 

clearly seen is the fat exsaust pipe made from a piece of drinking straw, with is based on that of the Piper enforcer.
the tailplanes have already been painted, camo on top and white on the bottom, these will be glued on after the final paint is applied on the tail tomorrow. the propellor still needs some detail, the canopy and the weapons are also gonna recieve some paint tonight.

the bottom picture clearly shows the area where the chargers were, ive now filled them up with putty and these have now been sanded with the dremel 
the underside will be white, like most skyraiders were. also, as an extra, i found a pair of snakeheads decals from a mastercraft AH-1, i thing after some cutting these would go great with the Python 

work is now progressing at kind of a fast pace, but im thinking im gonna build a second COIN aircraft based on the Hawk 100 or Hawk T.1 

[Spey_Phantom]

Small update (no pics)

the first layer of white paint has now been applied at the bottom and the tailplanes have been mounted.
the propellor is also fitted aswell as the canopy 

i already painted the Mk.82 and 84 bombs in they're green coat and they wil recieve the finishing touches tomorrow.
also pre-painted are the landinggear doors and the wheels.

im also having doubts about the cobrahead on the front, it appears to be a tad to big, so i might place a nose-art instead. everything is going smoothly, so im guessing she would be done by wednesday 

tonight im just gonna paint the guns on the wings, so expect some good pictures tomorrow 

[ChernayaAkula]

That's some pretty fast building right there! 

A cool project with a great choice of camouflage and markings that should look really nice on a Spit! 

[Captain Canada]

Now that's neat ! For sure it's one of those planes you want to pick up and fly around the room.

I think I'm going to steal your idea.....

[Spey_Phantom]

i havent made any progress in the last 2 days, but she's starting to look better then i expected.
the white paint still needs a second layer, guns still need to be painted.
the bombs already recieved the green paint, cit still need some yellow trim on the nose-ends 

the propellor has now been fitted, this afternoon i'll slap on some decals.
the next pictures im will post is when she's all finished 

and i added an extra pic of the exsaust pipe 

[Spey_Phantom]

EL FINITO 

she's finally finished, armed with 8 millypede rockets, 2 Mk82's with extended fuse and 2 Mk84 bombs.
a perfect COIN aircraft with a secondary FAC role 

the decals from the bird dog were very brittle, they break very easely, luckely i had 2 pair of bird dogs, so i had backup decals just in case this would happen.

the basecodes and serials kept breaking when i placed them on the tail, so these were moved to the nose

[Ed S]

Great idea.  Those Mk84's look awfully big on the Spitfire.

(I'm doing something similar with an F-4U for the ARC What If group build.)

Ed

[rallymodeller]

Love the TP engine and the spinnerless prop -- looks the part.

Great job!

[ChernayaAkula]

Yeah! That turned out very nice!

[John Howling Mouse]

It all came together so well!  A new breath of life for the old Spit.