As I go through my modelling journey, I find that I get onto "themes"; I'll go hog-wild over various familes of planes, and scoop up all of what I can locate like a Roomba eats dirt. Sometimes it's a specific type of plane, like a float plane, or one-seaters that were made from two-seaters. Other times, I get fixated on a service, like the WWII IJN or Royal Navy jets. One such tear saw me dive into the world of US Navy and Marines jets. My Twogar is a result of that particular episode.
However, it's likely no surprise that even when "under the influence" of a particular fetish, I still have a nose for the weird and often best forgotten. Surely, one such aircraft must be the Vought F6U1 Pirate, the first attempt by that storied company to produce a jet. Dumpy, barely capable of flight and deemed unfit for service, it was a long way from its later siblings the Crusader and Corsair II.
Of course, when I came across the Admiral kit of this portly aeronautical dead end, I had to have it. Since it's the 11th Anniversary of the Sprue Lagoon, I thought this would be a fun way to celebrate.
Not only that, but just think of all the things you can do with this: Korean War fighter-bomber, 'Nam-era cammo (maybe black underside?) or even foreign service, like RN or even Argentinian Navy? While the jet was a dead end, the whiffing potential is almost endless!
Check out this half-baked and half-wooden faltering first step at the link below. Don't tell me you don't think it has a certain loveable charm!
https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/admiral-1-72-vought-f6u-1-pirate-early-oob/ (https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/admiral-1-72-vought-f6u-1-pirate-early-oob/)
(https://adamrehorn.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/admiral-pirate-oob-001.jpg?w=425)
Sometimes you just have to go with the Coolness Factor and ignore such petty real-world concerns as the ability (or otherwise) of the thing to actually fly! ;D
In Whiff-World of course, anything can be adjusted to be effective and viable...
Maybe it could be a twin side-by-side engined beast like the Cutlass?
I wouldn't call the Attacker a 'loser' in the same vein as the Pirate. True, it didn't live up to its expectations but it flew well enough for one to try and kill me in 1957 or so. :(
A tale for another occasion maybe, although I may have mentioned it here before.
I've built that kit, and yes it does have a certain simplicity which some might call charm about it :thumbsup:
I had one of those kits for a while, but I sold it on to somebody (probably on here) who had a definite plan for it whereas I'd just picked it up on spec. Mine was theAZ What-If boxing which had decals for El Salvador, British Raspberry Ripple and Japan.
And I still think it could be quite easily converted into a Korean War A-10 analogue. :wacko:
;D
(https://live.staticflickr.com/7424/9226991015_0806fe7df9_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/f4mJXZ)
1:72 Chance Vought F6U-1 'Pirate', aircraft '3-A-103'/1224, Comando de Aviación Naval Argentina, (COAN), Fuerza Aeronaval 2; ARA Independencia, summer 1960 (https://flic.kr/p/f4mJXZ) by Dizzyfugu (https://www.flickr.com/photos/dizzyfugu/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/2831/9229837282_b1b565f6a6_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/f4Bk4y)
:72 Chance Vought F6U-1 'Pirate', aircraft '3-A-103'/1224, Comando de Aviación Naval Argentina, (COAN), Fuerza Aeronaval 2; ARA Independencia, summer 1960 (https://flic.kr/p/f4Bk4y) by Dizzyfugu (https://www.flickr.com/photos/dizzyfugu/), on Flickr
I read Admiral as in the rank not a kit manufacturer. ;D
So, I thought you were talking about painting a Vought Pirate in a Blue Goose command aircraft colour scheme. Here's an example of one of the many variations, some had the entire fuselage in blue. IMG_2426.jpeg