Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan MiG-41SM - 678 Squadron, Syrian Air Force, 2018

Following the second wave of strikes against suspected Syrian chemical weapons plants and storage facilities in late April 2018, Vladimir Putin (President of the Russian Federation) ordered the immediate transfer of 6 MiG-41's to the Syrian Air Force. Arriving at Abu-al-Duhur airbase on April 30th the aircraft were hastily given Syrian Air Force markings but were allegedly flown by Soviet pilots on attack missions in support of Bashar al-Assad's Syrian Government against targets in the A'zaz area north of Aleppo in May 2018. This move prompted President Trump to specifically authorise the deployment of F-22A Raptors to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey later in the same month.

SYRIA MiG-41SM FLATFISH-C.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SYRIA MiG-41SM FLATFISH-C.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SYRIA MiG-41SM FLATFISH-C.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SYRIA MiG-41SM FLATFISH-C.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SYRIA MiG-41SM FLATFISH-C.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

'drakkodj' (a new member of this Parish) recently sent me a template for his MiG-41F. It must have taken him ages to do all the panel lines and rivets but it does improve the end result. Thanks drakkodj! 

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell RF-101C Voodoo - 20th Recon Flight, Dhimari Air Force, 1970

DHIMAR RF-101C VOODOO.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMAR RF-101C VOODOO.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMAR RF-101C VOODOO.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMAR RF-101C VOODOO.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMAR RF-101C VOODOO.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMAR RF-101C VOODOO.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The Voodoo family is well represented in Strike Fighters with most variants expertly modelled by 'erikgen' about 10 years ago now and they are still among the finest add-on aircraft ever made. The tanks are a bit non-standard as they should belong to the Phantom but that's only because I can't be bothered to re-learn how to add weapons in SF1. When I move back to SF2 it will be so much easier! I'm quite proud of my 20th Recon Flight patch!

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell RF-101C Voodoo - 522nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Vietnam Air Force, 1971

VNAF RF-101C VOODOO.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VNAF RF-101C VOODOO.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VNAF RF-101C VOODOO.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VNAF RF-101C VOODOO.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VNAF RF-101C VOODOO.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The Voodoo comes with a SEA camo that just requires a bit of overspray to get rid of some USAF squadron markings but I'd really like it without 'slimers' - I'm really not too sure when they were first used? The VNAF sash looks the part but it's a decal that becomes hideously distorted the closer it gets to the top and bottom of the fuselage so my piccies have to be angled not to reveal the fugliness of the sash!

I'm away with work for a few days so see you on the weekend

[SPINNERS]

De Havilland Venom FB.5 - No.58 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1972

RAF VENON FB5.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF VENON FB5.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF VENON FB5.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF VENON FB5.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I've got a thing for the dear old Vampire and Venom at the moment and wondered what one would look like with 'B' type RAF markings but as the single-seat Vampire was retired from front-line RAF service in about 1956 and the single-seat Venom was retired in 1962 I thought I'd better plump for the latter. The Venom is quite an elderly 3D model that's been around for virtually the same time as 'Strike Fighters' but captures the shape although I think the dorsal intake was an export thing so I've used the FB.5 designation.

[SPINNERS]

De Havilland Vampire FGA.9 - No.612 (County of Aberdeen) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, 1972

RAF VAMPIRE FB9.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF VAMPIRE FB9.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF VAMPIRE FB9.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF VAMPIRE FB9.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF VAMPIRE FB9.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I haven't done an 'Aux' for a while now and No.612 Squadron did actually fly Vampire FB.5's until 1957. I don't think they would too happy with essentially the same in 1972!

[SPINNERS]

De Havilland Vampire F.8 - No.500 (County of Kent) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, 1956

The Vampire F.8 was developed to a 1949 Air Ministry requirement for an interceptor fighter for the home defence squadrons of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and was based on the airframe of the Vampire FB.5 but with the more powerful Goblin 35 engine of the Vampire T.11 trainer. The Vampire F.8 entered service with No.500 (County of Kent) Squadron in 1951 and served with eight auxiliary squadrons until the sudden disbandment of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force in March 1957.

RAF VAMPIRE F8.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF VAMPIRE F8.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF VAMPIRE F8.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF VAMPIRE F8.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I do like these classic No.500 squadron zig-zag markings as seen on their Meteor F.8's. Apparently the blue represents the English channel, the white represents the white cliffs of Dover and the green represents the green fields of Kent.

[SPINNERS]

Bristol Bullfinch FR.2 - No.611 (West Lancashire) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, 1963

In late 1953 a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) committee drafted NATO Basic Military Requirement 1 (NBMR-1) detailing the specification of a future requirement for a "light weight tactical strike fighter" capable of carrying both conventional or tactical nuclear weapons from dispersed or even rough airfields with minimal ground support. Intended to produce an aircraft that would become standard equipment across the air forces of the various NATO nations the competition stipulated many basic specifications on speed, range, weight and field length but also specified the preferred engine choice of the Bristol Siddeley Orpheus turbojet which was already funded by the US Mutual Weapons Development Program and which promised to meet the challenge of providing an engine that matched the requirements of lightweight, power, reliability and ease of maintenance.

After extensive testing and evaluation against it's competitors, NATO Defence Ministers met in April 1957 to announce that the Fiat Aviazone G.91 would be the first NATO lightweight strike fighter. But, almost immediately, there was considerable controversy surrounding the decision and all hope of unity and standardisation looked to be lost when the French government bailed out to pursue development of the Dassault Étendard whilst the UK government initially ignored the competition to concentrate on the continued production of the Hawker Hunter and the requirements of Air Ministry Operational Requirement 339 (OR.339) that would lead to the Hawker P.1121 project.

However, following the infamous 1957 Defence White Paper, the UK government began planning (plotting) to consolidate the remaining British aviation manufacturers into as few companies as possible and pulled Bristol Siddeley Engines back into Bristol Aircraft as a stepping stone to the early creation of the British Aircraft Corporation. Bristol's reward for a further merger involving English Electric, Hunting Aviation and Vickers-Armstrong was a production contract for 150 licence-built G.91's as the Bristol Bullfinch FGA.1 and Bullfinch FR.2. This order rejuvenated the entire G.91 programme leading to orders from Belgium, Holland, Greece, Spain and Turkey requiring Fiat Aviazone to expand their production facility at Piedmont and grant a licence production arrangement to the Flugzeug-Union Süd consortium consisting of Messerschmitt, Heinkel and Dornier. In return for the licence agreement with Bristol Aircraft, Fiat Aviazone were able to negotiate a comprehensive licence manufacturing agreement for the Orpheus engine for all non-British users of the G.91.

Entering RAF service in April 1961 the Bullfinch served with several front-line squadrons in RAF Germany and also with three squadrons of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force before finally being retired in 1988.

RAF BULLFINCH FGA1.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF BULLFINCH FGA1.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF BULLFINCH FGA1.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF BULLFINCH FGA1.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF BULLFINCH FGA1.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

My first thoughts for an 'Aux' Gina would be a silver/NMF finish but AFAIK there are no 'blank' silver skins available so I've had to use a camo skin which just required some work to make it a 'blank' including overpainting the red engine lines. How have our poor RAF ground crew managed without having this red line on their Hunters and Lightnings? Just a word on the 'Gina'. This superb 3D model was made by 'ErikGen' who also did the Voodoo and it really is top notch. He's made virtually the entire family and I've learned quite a bit about the G.91 family today by looking at the different versions.

[SPINNERS]

Aeritalia G.91YS - Fighter Squadron 20, Swiss Air Force, 1976

SWISS G91Y.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SWISS G91Y.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SWISS G91Y.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SWISS G91Y.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SWISS G91Y.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A bit of a lucky find this. This is the G.91YS that Aeritalia proposed to the Swiss Air Force at the time in the early 1970's when everyone was trying to sell aircraft to them (certainly Harriers and Corsairs were evaluated). Aeritalia added two extra pylons and some additional avionics (including "laser rangefinders" according to Flight magazine) but without success. This ready made Swiss skin was found in the dusty archives over at Combat Ace and I was able to carefully add in the shark mouth from an Italian Air Force skin so all credit to 'Kulbit80' for this.

[SPINNERS]

Bristol Bullfinch FGA.1 - No.234 Squadron, Royal Air Force, 1962

RAF BULLFINCH FGA1.08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF BULLFINCH FGA1.09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF BULLFINCH FGA1.10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF BULLFINCH FGA1.11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Looking through the archives at Combat Ace I've just found this grey Portuguese skin that makes a passable silver/NMF finish although I should have given it a bit more 'shinyness' (spell-check doesn't like that) and it is meant for the G.91R-4 with 4 x 0.5" machine guns which I'd replace with 20mm Hispano's. I do like these No.234 squadron markings and might do a 1970's Bullfinch with 'B' type markings.

[SPINNERS]

BAC Bullfinch FGA.1 - No.234 (Reserve) Squadron, Tactical Weapons Unit, RAF Strike Command, 1973

RAF BULLFINCH FGA1.12 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF BULLFINCH FGA1.13 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF BULLFINCH FGA1.14 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF BULLFINCH FGA1.15 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Chivenor or Brawdy? 

[SPINNERS]

Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat - No.26 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force, 1946

RNZAF F8F BEARCAT.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNZAF F8F BEARCAT.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNZAF F8F BEARCAT.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNZAF F8F BEARCAT.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNZAF F8F BEARCAT.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNZAF F8F BEARCAT.06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Whilst the Bearcat is quite an elderly 3D model the shape is good and I found a nice skin that I could add stripes (including some dirt!) to and then decal up to make an 'Operation Downfall' Kiwi Bearcat. WW2 RNZAF markings are quite tricky as various shades of blue are seen with an equally large variation in styles so I made my own in a medium shade of blue. The way I did my stripes means I can have a play with different colours  so I will give the SEAC stripes a go.

[SPINNERS]

Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat - No.1482 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy British Pacific Fleet, 1946

RN F8F BEARCAT.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RN F8F BEARCAT.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RN F8F BEARCAT.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RN F8F BEARCAT.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

These 'what if' SEAC invasion stripes use the blue tones from my SEAC roundels which I don't think I've ever got quite right despite using the prescribed blue and then 50% blue and 50% white for the centre... leading me to think that I've got the wrong shade of blue to start with 

[SPINNERS]

Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat - Task Force 38, US Navy, 1946

USN F8F BEARCAT.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F8F BEARCAT.05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F8F BEARCAT.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F8F BEARCAT.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USN F8F BEARCAT.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Apart from the D-Day stripes the markings are a bit generic so I've not named a unit although I've just read that VF-19 were on their way to the PTO with Bearcats aboard the USS Langley in 1945.

[SPINNERS]

Republic Aircraft Company (Công ty Máy bay Công hòa) VP-80A - Vietnam Peoples Air Force, 1950

VPAF VP-80A.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAF VP-80A.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAF VP-80A.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

VPAF VP-80A.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

When I was playing around with the Bearcat I found that there was no aerial opposition when using the Vietnam terrain so I thought I'd create an indigenous fighter for the Vietnam People's Air Force and chose the rakish looking IAR80. Apart from the red cowling I've not bothered with lines and rivets (it is a target after all) and it uses stock VPAF numbers.

[SPINNERS]

Supermarine Siskin F.1 - No.43 Squadron, RAF Fighter Command, 1956

The early 1950's was a difficult time for RAF Fighter Command. The obsolescent Meteor F.8 formed the mainstay of Fighter Command but it could barely catch the RAF's Canberra jet bombers and would have been hopelessly outclassed by MiG-15's if the Cold War had turned hot. But just at the time that Fighter Command should have been looking forward to receiving the modern swept-wing Hawker Hunter and Supermarine Swift fighters both programmes hit severe technical problems. especially the doomed Swift. Even before the decision to cancel the Swift fighter programme (taken in February 1955) the Air Ministry were looking for an 'off the shelf' purchase of an interim 'stop-gap' type and although the North American F-86 Sabre was procured in substantial numbers the desperately poor balance of payments situation with the US prevented further purchases.

Dassault had previously offered the Mystère IIC to the UK Government and had been turned down. But in November 1952 an RAF evaluation team were sent to Istres to evaluate the Mystère IV and submitted an enthusiastic report to the Air Ministry who decided to place an order for 200 Mystère IV's to be licence-built by Supermarine Aviation with Rolls Royce Tay engines. Entering service in March 1955 as the Siskin F.1 this fine aircraft was used by RAF Fighter Command until the early 1960's with the subsequent Siskin FGA.2 fighter-bomber serving in RAF Far East Air Force until 1970.

RAF SISKIN F1.01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF SISKIN F1.03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF SISKIN F1.02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAF SISKIN F1.04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I'm preparing to re-upload this one to Combat Ace having previously done it in 2009 but this time it will be with skins for three classic RAF Fighter Command squadrons.