Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

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Curtiss Commando Mk.I - No.46 Squadron, RAF Transport Command, 1948 (Operation Plainfare)




The DAT Curtiss Commando comes with this aluminiun skin that just needs dressing up with some post-war RAF markings to become a Berlin Airlift bird.

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Curtiss Commando Mk.II - No.10 Squadron, RAF South East Asia Command, 1946 (Tiger Force)




Last C-46 Commando for now but I have enjoyed playing with it. There was an excellent article on Tiger Force markings in the Scale Aircraft Modelling Dec 2018 issue which I purchased online from 'Magster' but, of course, I can't get access to it  Anyway, I think this is OK and follows what I can remember of insignia on port upper wing and starboard lower wing only and no fin flash.

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Bell P-39D Airacobra - 2-VLG-V, Netherlands East Indies Air Force, 1942






The Airfix P-39 was one of the first kits I ever made (almost certainly in 1974) and there was just something about the unconventional layout that appealed to me and, indeed, still does. I'm lucky enough to have a template for one of the DAT's P-39's and this helped me knock-up this 'what if' NEI P-39 but the 3D model has a bit of decal bleed so I've edited the screenshots and I did a pretty crap job of painting the rear fuselage demarcation line.

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Aermacchi Magister T.1A - No.234 Squadron, 1 Tactical Weapons Unit, Royal Air Force, 1974






This lovely MB-326H 3D model comes with an equally nice RAAF camo that just needed a repaint of the fin and rudder and some RAF decals. Once I chose No.234 Squadron (part of 1TWU) I noticed many photo's of their Hunters show the distinctive yellow circles with two digit numbers inside so I knocked up a few and the serial numbers came from an RAF Impala done a few years ago.

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Curtiss P-42D Twin Warhawk - No.15 Squadron, Royal Dhimari Air Force, 1943





Just a couple of shots of the P-42 Twin Warhawk in Dhimari service with some 'distressed' insignia and code letters. The real XP-42 was a single-seat single-engined prototype with clear P-36 ancestry but it did not proceed as the P-40 was faster.

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Henschel Hs 123P - 12th Attack Regiment, Parani Army Air Force, 1941





Again, just a couple of shots. For some reason, I've overlooked the Henschel Hs 123 but it's a lovely 3D model that just required overpainting of the Balkenkruez and Swaztika markings and adding my own Parani WW2 era roundels and rudder. It should really have a desert camo so just pretend these have come straight from Henschel or from Luftwaffe stocks!

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Bell Aircraft Corporation P-52C Jet Cobra - 508th Fighter Air Regiment, Soviet Air Force, 1945






I've shown this "What If" P-39 Jetcobra (by 'veltro2K') before but it caught my eye again today so I thought I'd dress it up in WW2 Soviet markings. I overpainted the starbars and used decals for insignia electing to put stars on the upper wings. I'd made the yellow flash and Soviet numbers for something else so it didn't take long to knock this one up. There was a Bell XP-52 but this was a very short-lived paper project that was cancelled as soon as it was begun.

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Douglas A2D-1 Skyshark - No.7 Squadron, Royal Dhimari Air Force, 1953




Back in 2020 I was given the A2D to skin but there were quite a few issues with it not being correctly mapped which made it quite a ball ache to skin so I parked it up after doing an overall blue USN version and also a 'night black' USAF version. Sadly, the 3D model never did get finished and mapped correctly so this Dhimari version has the same problems and it's probably best to park it up again.

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This was an attempt to do a grey and white scheme but I've set the demarcation line too high. I think an overall USN Blue would work better.

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Douglas A2D-1 Skyshark - 2 Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Caza y Ataque, Comando de Aviación Naval, Armada Argentina, 1956







Tried something approaching USN Midnight Blue but with some weathering giving lighter patches. I quite like this but I've gone as far as I can with the Skyshark as the 3D model isn't correctly mapped meaning that you can't paint some areas, e.g. the exhausts for which I've had to apply a 'burnish effect' decal.

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Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XII - No.1 Fighter Squadron, Irish Army Air Corps, 1946





Quite a simple one this as it combines the skin for the Irish Army Air Corps Seafire Mk.III adapted to fit the Spitfire Mk.XII - my favourite Spit! It's not perfect but looks the part.

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FMA IAe 33 Pulqui II 'Arrow' - Escuadron Aereo de Pelea 200, Fuerza Aérea Mexicana, 1960






The FMA IAe 33 Pulqui II was brought to 'Strike Fighters' about 20 years ago by a talented Argentinian 3D modeller called 'Foxmonter' and he made a nice skin for the prototype. I've tried to skin it a few times now and found it difficult as some parts aren't mapped so after a failed camo scheme I settled on an easier NMF scheme for this Mexican Pulqui II and used my faux lines technique to add some detail. It's not a brilliant skin but gives an impression of how the Pulqui II might have looked in Mexican service. BTW the 8 Meteors made short work of the 2 Pulqui II's!

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Saab J21R 'Reaktion' - No.331 Squadron, Royal Norwegian Air Force, 1950






It's not often that I'll skin something from scratch but this Saab J21R took my fancy and I thought an early post-war Norwegian aircraft in NMF would be good (easy!) with a little flash of colour on the nose and tip tanks. The WW2 era squadron codes (FN for No.331 Sqd) lasted for quite a while and can be seen on RNoAF F-86's. The J21R was converted from the piston-powered J21 and I might give that a whirl some day.

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de Havilland Vampire F.1 - No.35 Squadron, RAF South East Asia Command, 1946





Twin booms FTW! Playing around with the Saab J21R made me consider the dear old Vampire and I thought I'd make a 'Tiger Force' bird (or should that be mammal?) using the Vampire Mk.I with the square tail fins.

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Curtiss-Wright P-55A Ascender - 380th FS, 363rd FG, United States Army Air Force, May 1944









Over a few hours yesterday and today I've knocked up a very simple skin for the XP-55 and put it into service with the 380th Fighter Squadron. I did skin this many years ago but lost my templates in a big data loss about 10 years ago. Most Airfix afficionadoes will recognise the markings as being from the old 'Fools Paradise' P-51D Mustang kit - my pocket money went on more than a couple of those simple kits in the 1970's! I've just simplified this tribute by avoiding the invasion stripes (hence May 1944).