Upcoming models

[MichaelS]

Originally Posted by umtutsut

I'm sure Aaron will do a great job on the BFC-2, but I'd point out there already are versions of the aircraft in 1/33 and 1/48, many different markings. Why duplicate what's already out there?

Les (The Voice of Authority)

On reflection I have to agree. What is needed is a US Army P-12. There are none out there that I am aware of.

[murphyaa]

Here's what's on the butchers block for this week.

[willygoat]

Woohoo!!!!!

[The Mole]

One of my favors. Count me in on all of them. Thanks.

[yukonjohn]

Originally Posted by murphyaa

Here's what's on the butchers block for this week.

Yippee! Oops, wrong colour . Looking forward to seeing this upgraded offering. How are things going toward the new laptop?

John

[MichaelS]

Got his old version but will gladly get this new one.

[murphyaa]

Finally got it finished. This one is way different than the original version I designed: larger (1:32), more details (landing gear bays, more scoops & fiddly bits). Plus it has drop tanks, and 5-inch Holy Moses rockets. I'm working on getting it and some of it's friends up on my site right now.

[Butelczynski]

If I can get copy of F-5 version I'll do it in colors of likely most famous of F-5s piloted by author of "Little Prince" among other great books.

There is still an ongoing debate just how was his last F-5 painted but that's not the point.Memory of him is.Good pilot,good writer and great partiot.

[murphyaa]

I need a little help. I was recently commissioned to design an A-1E Skyraider.
He wants a specific version that's very special to him.

Here's the dilemma:

"The plane I want to model is US Navy Skyraider A-1E, tail number 33894, assigned to the Naval Weapons Evaluation Facility (NWEF) at Kirtland AFB. My father served in the Navy for 3 years and was stationed at NWEF for his entire tour. He was an engineer, and worked on a variety of projects, including the nuke weapons arming & firing electronics for the F-111 Aardvark. My dad was a passenger (along with the pilot and another passenger) on Skyraider 33894 when it crashed right after takeoff on December 18, 1963.



Attached are 2 photos of 33894, but they are both crash photos. One photo is from the newspaper article about the crash (and it’s a bad scan), the other is a photo my dad has had for years. That photo is dry & cracked, but the scan is decent.



Unfortunately, my father does not remember the exact paint scheme of “his” Skyraider. In fact, I think his recollection is somewhat skewed by photos & images of other USN A-1E’s he has come across over the last 50+ years. So I’ve had to apply some detective work & logic to try to figure out what 33894 actually looked like.



I found 2 additional photos of NWEF A-1E’s; they are attached. The photo of 33905 is a black and white profile; the wings are folded and the traditional Skyraider oil stains run down the side. The difference in shading in the B&W photo leads me to believe the tail was solid orange, and the wing tips were orange. I don’t think this represents how 33894 was painted, however, I think it does show the lettering fairly well. I don’t know the date of this photo, but I do know that this airplane was transferred to the USAF at some point, and was shot down over North Vietnam in April of 1967.



I think the photo that probably represents how 33894 was painted is the photo of 32503. It is in color and shows the orange/white color combination on the tail/rudder, horizontal stabilizers, and on the wings from the fold to wingtip. It also shows some orange & white on the cowling and extending to the fuselage a bit. I have no idea if the white extends to the underside.



So I’m assuming 33894 was painted like 32503 for the following reasons:



According to the photo source, the photo of 32503 is from May 1963. My father arrived on base in June of 1963, and remembers that there were at least 2 A-1Es, and maybe as many as 4 during his time there. I think we have no choice but to assume that the A-1E’s at NWEF in the spring/summer of 1963 were painted the same. I know that’s a big assumption, especially for a research unit like NWEF.
When I compare the tail of 33894 in my father’s crash photo to 32503, I think they match:
It looks to me like the rudder is white, as are the elevators.
It looks like the horizontal stabilizers are a darker shade (orange?) than the fuselage (Navy gray?).
On the vertical stabilizer, the dark charring has a sharp horizontal line, consistent with the orange paint shown on the tail of 32503. Perhaps the orange day-glo paint was more flammable than the standard gray? If I zoom in on the photo and follow the char line towards the rear, I think I can detect a continuation of the orange paint running through the upper third of the “894” portion of the tail number. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part.
I think the newspaper crash photo provides a different angle of the tail section, and somewhat supports my comments above. The cowling & engine was sheared off in the crash, so we can’t see that in the newspaper photo.


So I think all of this leads us to use the paint scheme from 32503, but with tail number 33894 (and BuNo 133894 under the stabilizer). I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this conclusion.



My father does remember that the Skyraider had an external fuel tank attached that day, as it was a long flight from Kirtland to Moffett. I don’t think 33894 would have had wing pylons attached that day, and if so there certainly would not be a weapons load. You can see a bit of the right wing in the newspaper photo, but I can’t tell definitively whether or not wing pylons are present (perhaps you can)."

I told him I'd ask the group here for help in determining what the exact paint scheme is.

Plus he included a list of other versions I can include.


Another question is what differences are there between the A-1E and EA-1F? Pima has an EA-1F model, and would be helpful to study if their close.

[RyanShort1]

Do you need good reference photos?

https://www.cavflight.org/index.php?...=60&Itemid=119

That's not that far away from me.