'Tis the Season---It's Our Christmas Special Edition Which Contains Some Tasty Transports, Some Colorful Jet Fighters, Odd Neptunes, Jugs, A Bird That Barely Flew, and a Blast From the Past

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Around Here

So, let's get right to the point of things. This is our Very First Special Christmas Issue and there are some particularly spiffy things inside, or at least I think there are. Fact is, this little ol' blog of mine seems to catching on with folks, at least if the Google stats can be believed, and that's a present to me for sure. Whether Christmas is your thing or not, look on this issue as my way of giving back to you with a couple of things you might not have expected to see.

I Don't Know Anything About It But I Sure Do Like It!

When last we met I mentioned that valued friend Jim Sullivan has a new book coming out on the Corsair, which I firmly recommended that you buy. Jim's been working on that particular volume for quite a while and hasn't been the frequent contributor to these pages that he once was, but the book is now done and Jim's back with us with a vengeance.

You may recall that we ran a shot of a Coastie C-123 a while back. It's a neat airplane, and I'd sure like a decent kit of the type in a scale larger than 1/144th. There isn't one, of course, but we've got a couple of photos from Jim to spark your interest in building one should such a miracle ever come to pass. I can't tell you much about the photos, but here's what Jim knows:

When I saw the Kodiak C-123 in your latest edition, it made me think of a series of shots that I took of C-123B 54-0683 landing at Shaw AFB, SC on 26 SEP 68. When I sent the shots to Don Jay, he commented that it was a rare bird with the IE markings and that the Provider belonged to either the 319th ACS or SOS. I'm sure there must be some interesting stories about the 'catcher' device mounted on the nose. Hope you enjoy the shots. Jim

Well, folks, I know I enjoyed them. I think you will too.

Here we are on short final, all throttled back and with everything hanging. This isn't your everyday Provider, and is equipped with some pretty unusual stuff. What appears to be a scratch in the negative, running from the nose to the startboard wingtip, is actually a cable and part of the catch apparatus. Note that opened cockpit window; the C-123 was an absolutely deafening airplane if you were in the cockpit, and was loud even when throttled back. Bet those guys are deaf as a post!  Jim Sullivan

54-0683 was built as a C-123B but was converted to C-123K configuration later in life. As a transport the type has enjoyed a fairly high survival rate, primarily because it's such a useful little airplane; 0683 wore an N-number for a while and is presently on display at the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum at Edwards AFB. This shot gives us a slightly better view of the recovery system attached to the nose.  Jim Sullivan

Here's a really good view of the structure of that recovery system. (If that's actually what it is...) It would be really easy to replicate it from this photo. Of particular interest, at least to me, is the way the upper wing camo wraps around the leading edge of the wings. This is a Strange Bird any way you cut it.  Jim Sullivan

And here she is going away, and displaying that "IE" tailcode to advantage. The upper cargo door is opened up, although I have no idea why. These four shots give us more than enough detail to allow the construction of a pretty good model, but only in 1/144th (unless you want to argue with a really old vac-form kit, which I personally don't.).  Jim Sullivan

We Haven't Run Any Sort of Jet Fighter Material Lately, Have We?

So maybe it's time to do that today. There's a lot to choose from, but we've got a few more FJ Fury images that haven't been run yet, at least not by us. That must surely mean It's Time.

Fighting Fifty-One was an early user of the FJ-3. Here's a fine profile shot of 136008 all decked out in glossy sea blue. Slats are deployed, not because someone left them that way but because the FJ is, after all is said and done, an F-86 variant, and those slats droop when the airplane is on the ground. Sharp-eyed modelers may notice the difference in surface finish inside the gun ports---it's definitely not GSB in there!  Tailhook Association via Doug Siegfried

Let's make the point about those manual slats one more time! Here's a fine study of FJ-3 135831 from VF-33 taxiing out, and those slats are deployed just as they should be at this low speed. They'll retract on their own once the aircraft begins to launch and gains a little airspeed. This particular photo also provides us with a really good look at the Corrogard treatment on the leading edges of all the flying surfaces. In my world the FJ series is one of the most beautiful aircraft the Navy ever operated, even though it wasn't all that effective as a fighter and could be a little sporty around the boat. Wish we had a kit...   Tailhook Association via Doug Siegfried

VF-33 started out with what could only be called bland squadron markings, but that didn't last for very long. Here's one of their FJ-3s all tarted up in full squadron regalia---pretty neat, huh? Note that those slats are separate (they ran almost full-span on the Sabre, remember?) and droop in all sorts of ways when the wings are folded. The FJ was very much a product of North American Aviation; there's no power on the aircraft so all the gear doors have dropped as hydraulic pressure bled out of the system. If you look closely you can see the port access cover for the gun bay has been lowerd to allow easy access to the cockpit. The approach light is well-depicted heretoo, and note that the landing gear struts are not GSB!   Tailhook Association via Doug Siegfried

How about a form shot to end this segment? Here's a four-ship from VF-51 all tucked in nice and tight for the camera. There's not much to be said here except that it's a really pretty photo. Fly Navy!  Tailhook Association via Doug Siegfried

Mark Called Them Land-Locked Neptunes, and That's Good Enough for Me!

Mark Nankivil was doing a little housecleaning in his photo collection last week (Lordy, I just love it when he does that!) and found these really choice images of the Lockheed P2V Neptune. VO-67 operated a little-known variant of the type, the OP-2E, in combat in Southeast Asia during the late 60s. Do you think you might have some interest in that sort of thing?

Is this special or what? The Lockheed P-2 was originally designed as a long-range land-based patrol bomber, and gave sterling service in that role from the late 1940s until the type was finally phased out of the inventory in the 1980s. To say it was a useful airframe would be an understatement! A pristine example of the species, 128416 was photographed at NAS Alameda during 1968. VO-67 operated them in a largely nocturnal environment; note how the full-sized national insignia have been dramatically toned down with overspray. This would be a relatively simple conversion on the old (but still quite decent) 1/72nd scale Hasegawa kit.  Tom Doll via Mark Nankivil

Me, I like that Field Green treatment on the P-2 we looked at a minute ago, but some of VO-67's birds wore a slightly different camo scheme. Here's 135620 sitting on the ramp, also at Alameda in 1968. There's a pretty special sensor array to be seen in this photo, and the tail treatment is different too. Note that virtually every marking on this airframe has been oversprayed with camouflage. Wonder what those guys were doing at night...  Tom Doll via Mark Nankivil

OK, so it's not a great photograph. In fact, it really isn't even a very good photograph, which is what happens when you use a plastic-lensed Kodak Instamatic to take a picture of your airplane. Still, this shot is well worth reproducing, just because of those, shall we say "different", markings. 131485 belonged to the Army's 224th Btn/509th Radio Research Group and was assigned to Cam Rahn Bay, RVN, during 1969. The AP-2E was an interesting bird in many respects. Check out that ramp behind 485!  Fernando Molina

Here's a view of the First Radio Research insignia. Note the painted-over nose position and the sensors. The Army's 224th Btn did some unusual things with their Neptunes!  Fernando Molina
Where's My Christmas Present? You Said This Would Be Special...

And it is special. How about starting with

A Couple of Jugs

Way way back, not quite forty years ago, we ran a couple of what we considered to be really neat pieces on the P-47N Thunderbolt in the Pacific. A friend of ours, retired Air Force major Paul Jahant, was on Ie Shima flying P-47Ns with the 463rd FS/507th FG, and he had a camera. He didn't take any full-length photos of airplanes (or if he did he didn't share them with us), but he did manage to shoot some pretty neat nose art. We ran some of it in our second issue (November 1972). I was going through the files looking for something else earlier this week (ain't it always the way!) and found the photos again. Enjoy!

I can hear it now---"we've seen this before, and we've got decal sheets for it too"---and you'd be correct if you said that. Yep, you've seen it before, 38 years ago, to be exact, and first seen (as far as I know) in the original print version of RIS. That makes it fair game in my book! "Expected Goose" was a P-47N2, s/n 44-88129. Major Jahant put comments on the back of some of his photos; this one says "had your Xmas goose?".   Paul Jahant

"I've Had It", another bird we covered Way Back When. There's an extremely ribald comment on the back of the photo, but we're going to leave it alone...  Paul Jahant

If you've only seen one P-47N from the 507th in your life, chances are it was this one. "Chautauqua" is about as famous as it gets! The comment on the back: "There's something about an Indian. Must be the feathers."  Paul Jahant

"DNIF/Finis". No, I don't know what "DNIF" stands for either, but I'll bet it's not one of those Polite Company sort of things. That data block is illegible, and I'm not a big believer in computer enhancement (read "technologically guessing" here), so her s/n remains a mystery, at least over here.  Paul Jahant

And finally, here's "Anna Belle/Just a Friend". A few of the 507th's birds carried art on both sides of the nose---sure wish we had a shot of that other side! The caption on the back reads "Who's friend?". Fair enough.  Paul Jahant

It Probably Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

Ryan was one of those companies who were never afraid to try the unconventional. Some of their products became famous and achieved a degree of immortality in the annals of aviation. Our next airplane wasn't one of them.

And you thought the Fiesler Storch was ugly! This is the Ryan YO-51 Dragonfly, a liaison aircraft that could, in all likelyhood, have been developed into quite an airplane given a little time and a slightly different design philosophy. We'll never know, since only 3 were built (40-703, -704, and -705). That open cockpit and lack of room for much of anything doomed the type to early extinction, but it's STOL capability was astounding for its time.  Ryan 2260

Let's Get Bombed

I think we've had a pretty fair little Christmas so far, but there's one more present to unwrap. Here's some background:

When Jim and I started RIS Way Back When, we knew we didn't want to do what all the other guys were doing, and one of the things a whole lot of people were doing was building neat model airplanes, painting the bombs (if appropriate) black, and hanging them off the model. It looked awful, and it didn't fit our philosophy at all---remember, we called ourselves Replica in Scale. That meant everything, bombs included.

Jim had always had an interest in aviation ordnance, had been collecting photos and documents regarding same for several years before we met, and had always had the notion that he would someday publish a book on the subject. That book is still in work, and we can only hope that it gets published one of these days because I've got no doubt it'll be the absolute last word on the subject and become the ultimate reference on such things. In the meantime, we have (or had) a magazine article on same, written by Jim and myself and published in our combined Spring and Summer 1974 edition of the magazine. I'm not going to run the entire article here, although I'm certainly tempted to do it; that's because I haven't had a chance to discuss it with Jim first and I'm funny that way. What follows is my portion of the article, concerning modeling only (and please don't laugh---this was written a very long time ago!), but with the added bonus of Jim's bomb drawings in what were then all the popular scales. It's a time machine of sorts, and a pretty fair Christmas present, I think.

One of these days maybe I'll re-publish the entire piece, although I'd much rather see that Ultimate Book get done. For now, I think we can safely say that Jim did a pretty amazing job with the piece. It's still cited as a major reference in periodicals and on aviation web sites to this day---36 years; that's not a bad run, ya'll...

The Relief Tube

Yep, we correct mistakes even during the holidays. Here's one to end the year with:

First, a couple of comments from reader and contributor Mark Nankivil regarding Rick Morgan's question regarding that F8U-1 shot, and also correcting a series of photo credit errors that I made:

VF-154 Crusader was on the Hancock as they were sister squadron to my Father's VF-23. This was the first Crusader squadron to take it on a cruise - check Gilchrist book for more on that from their perspective. VF-23 did its CarQuals on the Hornet just prior to the cruise on the Hancock.

The Douglas/McDonnell Douglas Tulsa stuff is from the Tulsa Air & Space Museum archives - please credit them accordingly. GREAT people there - I just want to make sure they get proper credit.


'Til Later! Mark            Thanks, Mark!

And finally, courtesy the US Navy, here's a photo that doesn't require a caption.

Here's wishing everybody who reads this blog a very merry Christmas! We'll see you again in 2011. Meanwhile, be good to your neighbor!
phil

A Big Model Airplane, Not Bored With Fords?, A Coastie, A Nifty Crusader, and Some Nice Form

There Was a Time When I Didn't Build the Luftwaffe

But nowadays I do, mostly because I like painting blotches on things. That may be why I enjoy doing Japanese subjects too, but I'm not going to delve too deeply into such matters, quite possibly because those matters just don't matter all that much to me. I just like airplanes that look like that. (Oh Lordy, he's at it again...)

Anyway, a while back I started a 1/32nd scale ProModeller (read Hasegawa here) Me109G-4, but built it as a G-2 instead. It's an easy conversion, consisting mostly of opening up the tailwheel well, correcting the supercharger flange, and installing a different tailwheel, although I'm not happy with the tailwheel treatment and will have to go back and replace it some day. I might actually do that too, because I really want to have a proper G-2. Meanwhile, here's a look at the model, done to represent an aircraft of 2/JG 53 near Stalingrad during the summer of 1942.

Here's what the finished model looks like. The basic kit was a revelation when it was first released ten or so years ago and has held its age well. There are a couple of mistakes in the kit, which are minor and easily correctable, and the end result is very much a Messerschmitt in appearance. Note how big the tailwheel is in this view; it's the kit's unit with the strut added from brass tubing. It's a lot more appropriate for a G-4 or later, but my other option was the tailwheel out of an ancient Hase Bf109E-Something-or-Other, which was more of a mis-shapen blob than anything else. That tailwheel will be replaced with an appropriate one from one of the new Hasegawa Bf109F-4 kits as soon as I figure which one of the kit's two tailwheels I want to use on the 109F project.

Here's the left side, which illustrates a couple of things (besides a smaller tailwheel) that you need to do to turn a very acceptable G-4 back into a G-2. There's a cutout on the flange for the supercharger scoop that needs to be extended; use .010 sheet strip cut to shape, glued into the cutout, and sanded smooth. Look at the upper side of the kit's flange and you'll see exactly where the problem is and from there on it's easy. That little white post that the radio antenna attaches to is ceramic on the real airplane and is easily duplicated by drilling a hole in the fus and putting in a piece of plastic rod (with the top rounded off) after you've painted the airframe. There should be little springs on the antenna too, but I didn't want to sacrifice a watch to get some. The shoulder harnesses are Eduard and I think they look pretty good hanging there like that.
It also helps if you add the hand-holds on the corners of the windscreen (from plastic rod with the ends flattened and bent) and the canopy latch (Eduard). That's John Beaman's The Last of the Eagles behind the model on the right side. I personally consider it to be an essential reference on the 109 series, although you might not.

This view shows one of the kit's few significant failings to advantage (?). The spinner is too blunt as given, and doesn't look "right" if you know what you're looking at. Eagle Editions (and maybe others too) make a nice replacement if you want to go that route. I just drilled out the stocker and used it as-is. That tailwheel doesn't look quite so out of place in this shot, but it's still too darned big. Such is life...

Here you can almost see into the cockpit. There's a fair amount of Eduard in there, but there's also a lot of just plain modeling. If you're careful, a painted kit instrument panel looks a whole lot better than the photo-etched one, at least in my opinion. Those windscreen hand-holds really pop out in this view, as does the un-painted stretched sprue canopy cable (which is attached from the aft canopy to the main one and not to the radio mast, which this view sure makes it look like it does---that's barely a sentence, I think, but it was the best way I could think of to describe things). The gaps in the windscreen and the canopy aren't noticeable when you're actually looking at the model, but these photos are many times bigger than life and in consequence make those miniscule gaps look like The Grand Canyon. It just ain't so! JG53 sometimes used that black exhaust mask on their birds, which negates most of the exhaust weathering I did with pastels. Then again, that was the whole purpose of the real thing's masking in the first place, wasn't it? I also started to use QuickBoost exhausts but you really can't see enough of them to make it worth while. Maybe if I ever do one with the cowling off. Also, the sharp-eyed among you may well recognize the airframe I modeled since it's been in a lot of publications lately. If you're in that group, you'll also notice the style of that number 3 is slightly off. It's what I had, it worked, it kept me from cutting a two-part stencil, and right now it's under a heavy application of DullCote so it's probably staying that way for the foreseeable future. There was a time when I would have lost sleep over something like that...

All in all it came out ok, I think. Total build time was about three weeks (scattered out over several months) and that build time includes the hour or so it took me to put the broken wing back on it. (Don't ask!) Horrido, ya'll!

More of That Funny Looking Navy Airplane

Believe it or not, we're almost done with the Douglas F4D-1 for now, but I've got another couple of photos to share with you. However you feel about the airplane, it sure looks neat!

Most of the time we see flight decks with blue skies above, and nice rolling (or maybe even smooth) seas. It was not, however, always so. This section of "Fords" from VF-101 are preparing to launch in what could only be described as poor flying (or launching, or even sailing) conditions. This shot may have originally come from a magazine and the quality's a little less than we normally prefer, but it shows a side of carrier ops we rarely see.  Tailhook Association via Doug Siegfried

I guess we had to do it, huh? Here's a photo of the all-time classic F4D scheme; 139162 is from VF(AW)-3, from their North Island period. It's a beautiful scheme, very much In Your Face, and definitely shows off the lines of the airplane to good advantage. Pretty...  Tailhook Association via Doug Siegfried

Reason to be. You may remember that the F4D-1 was intended to defend the fleet.This shot illustrates the concept, with a pair of unguided, might-hit-'em-might-not unguided rockets streaking away from a VF(AW)-3 Skyray. It looks really impressive but the kill probability is small indeed. Those rounds were launched off the inboard pylons, but also note the expended FFAR pod hanging off the outboard starboard hardpoint. Optimisim, that...  Tailhook Association via Doug Siegfried

You didn't have to use FFARs all the time with the "Ford"; you could use Sidewinders too, as illustrated by this VF(AW)-3 bird about to be armed up with a pair of AIM-9Bs. Of course they didn't work in cloud and weren't exactly the soul of reliability in their early days, but they did manage to function most of the time and were a significant improvement on the unguided stuff. This is definitely a Plain Jane sort of scheme for this unit, and I honestly can't remember ever seeing one like this before. Modelers note the color inside the canopy framing.  Tailhook Association via Doug Siegfried

Way back in our very first section on the Skyray I think I stated that they never made it to the Reserves. In the truest spirit of Never Say Never, here's a NavRes bird for your enjoyment/amusement/befuddlement. The caption on the original photo says the unit is VMF(AW)-215. I'm open to comments at replicainscale@yahoo.com . Tailhook Association via Doug Siegfried

This ramp is the best reason I can think of to build 50s-early 60s Navy jets. Be still my beating heart!  Tailhook Association via Doug Siegfried

The Loudest Airplane the Coast Guard Ever Flew

Well, maybe it was and maybe it wasn't, but a former boss of mine who'd spent his SEA time as a C-123 loadmaster once told me, and not in jest, that he'd taken his last flight physical while in the Air Force and had the examining doctor ask him point-blank: "Do you enjoy music?" My boss answered yes, and the doctor responded "I don't know how you possibly could; you're stone deaf!" The Provider had a way of doing that back in those halcyon days when noise attenuation wasn't of any great concern to most folks. Excessive noise or not, we've never run a photo of a C-123 on these pages so it must surely be That Time. Here's a nice one:

Noisy? Yep! Capable? Oh yeah! CAPABLE! The C-123 wasn't much to look at, but it sure got the job done. The Coast Guard had a few of them on hand way back in the 60s and 70s, this being one of them. 4529 was a C-123B assigned to Kodiak, Alaska shown here sitting for her picture at Elmendorf on April 30, 1964. You can't tell it in a black and white photo but there are large areas of day-glo on the airframe (like everything in front of that chevron on the nose, for example). She's a pugnacious little bird, isn't she?  via Mark Nankivil 

Chance Vought's MiG-Killer

That would, of course, be the legendary F8U Crusader series, often called "the last of the gunfighters" in spite of the fact that all of its air-to-air success was gained with missiles. It's another type we've never featured previously (and we'd welcome photos of the type; please submit to replicainscale@yahoo.com if you're interested in such things). That said, this one's kinda special.

We may have mentioned once before that frequent contributor Mark Nankivil's dad was a naval aviator, but if you don't remember that, here's a reminder for you. This VF-154 F8U-1 was shot by Mark's dad just prior to launch on Hornet's 1958 WesPac cruise. The wing's been raised (you can see the actuating jack at the front of the center section) and everything's hanging, although the cat shuttle has yet to be attached to the nose gear strut. She's armed with at least one AIM-9B Sidewinder and is ready to rock and roll! The grey and white Navy was a seriously good looking Navy, ya'll.  via Mark Nankivil

A Phine Phormation Photo

I don't know why I spell stuff that way but sometimes I do. It may be because of my name, or it may be because of all the Phantom humor I was exposed to in the 60s and 70s, or it could just be because I find it amusing, but like I said; I do stuff like that sometimes. The thing is, I also always try to make up for it with something special, so here's Something Special to end our photographic day:

Mark Nankivil constantly amazes me with the material he submits, and I really like this form shot. Lead is a KA-6D from VMA(AW)-224, while the other three birds are A-7Es from VA-22's "Fighting Redcocks". Note that two of the three A-7s have their probes deployed, while the KA-6 is trailing a basket.  Both types of aircraft were a revelation in their day, and the "Fruitfly" (that would be the A-7s for those of you who don't speak Navy yet) even managed a distinguished career in that other American flying service, as well as in a number of foreign air forces.  via Mark Nankivil

And That's It For Today.

Blame it on the holidays or just blame it on me, but that's all there is for this installment. We don't even have a Relief Tube this time around, which is both gratifying and somewhat scary all at the same time. Stay tuned, though, because we've got some nifty USAF stuff coming up in the near future, as well as a few other surprises in store.

One final thing. You've probably all noticed that this humble effort is made up largely of the contributions of a number of very special people. We'd like to thank them all for helping to make Replica in Scale as popular as it seems to be, and also invite you to join in the fun if you're so inclined. We're always looking for photography depicting American military aviation. Our focus is primarily 1920-something to the mid-1980s, and we'd love to see what you've got in your collections. If you're interested in contributing drop us a line at replicainscale@yahoo.com . (Don't expect to be paid for doing it, though---we don't make a penny off of this so you won't either. That's fair, I think.)

Be good to your neighbor and we'll meet again soon.
phil