Paint, Those DSES Guys, and A Few From Nanks

 

Let's Put Some Color On the Thing

Well, let's try to do that anyway! Sometimes it seems as though there's a new hobby paint out there every fifteen minutes or so, and it also seems as though there's an unpleasant side effect to that phenomena, ergo; the paint either doesn't behave like I'm used to it doing, or the specific color mixes offered by whatever new-to-me paint manufacturer show little if any resemblance to the real thing as I perceive it to be. Those are vexing things to me, maybe because of my substantial seniority on life or maybe because I've pretty much always been a dance-with-the-one-that-brung-you kind of guy. Whatever the cause, the bottom line is a certain irrational resistance to change as far as scale paint is concerned. 

Let's get one thing clear right off the bat: I have experienced a great many different paint brands and formulations over the years, beginning at an extremely young age with those little square bottles of Testors enamels, back when the price on the lid said ten cents. After that came Pactra, followed by AHM (a true lacquer that was far beyond my technical ability at the time), followed in turn but not necessarily in order by Official, Frontier Headquarters, Scale Master (I think that's what it was, anyway), Imrie-Risley, Floquil, Humbrol (the original one, not the goo that's currently sold as paint), the late and in my world greatly lamented Model Master, Mr Color, AKAN, AK of various flavors, and a few more to boot that I can't remember. All of those were either enamel or lacquer-based. I also had a brief flirtation with the water-based modeling paints beginning with Floquil's original Poly-S back when it was first introduced in the late 60s or early 70s.I have to admit that I wasn't that impressed with the water-based stuff and still am not right up to the present day. Your mileage may vary on that one but since it's entirely irrelevant to this discussion, we'll agree to shine it right on by, because it isn't the point of this ramble anyway. 

We won't stress too much over accurate colors either, because it's easy enough to mix paint once you understand color and how it works. It would be nice, of course, if the current multitude of paint manufacturers, or paint repackagers, whichever applies, would do a better job of getting things right in the first place but that too is a topic for a different day. My current beef is far more fundamental; The brands of paint I prefer to use keep going Tango Uniform on me! Floquil, the real one that was Dio-Sol based, was the first to go, but that was ok because Testors' Model Master came quick on its heels only to be discontinued by a new ownership a couple of decades later. All of those admittedly minor speedbumps to my own personal road led to a search for replacements that were both viable and available, roads that took me to a substantial personal preference for Mr Color, Tamiya Lacquer, and AKAN. Life was good, except that it wasn't, mostly because of that Great Bugaboo called "limited availability".

Of those preferred paints of mine, Mr Color has never been easy to find, primarily because so few brick and mortars will carry the stuff and it's often a mail-order-when-you-can-find-it sort of thing. I've heard it has to do with ongoing EPA or similar regulation but whatever the reason it just ain't fair because the stuff is far and away the best modeling paint I've ever used. Period. End of story. Tamiya's lacquer line is newer, at least in this country, but it's good stuff too, although its color variety is somewhat limited at the moment. AKAN is an entirely different kettle of fish since it's of Russian manufacture and only available through one American source right now, added to which is a limitation of available colors. Those are my Big Three, for whatever that's worth. I'm not recommending them, mind you, but those are the ones I personally like.

If you talk to my wife, she'll tell you that I've got enough paint on hand to last far past the day I finally shuffle off this mortal coil. She doesn't use that particular phrasing or those exact words, of course, but the bottom line in whatever wording anyone might choose to employ is that I've got a lot of paint already on hand. I just want to have a continuing supply of the stuff I prefer to use and I'm getting really tired of having to track it down when I need a resupply of some particular color (even though yes; I'm perfectly capable of mixing colors, remember? I just don't want to do that very often nowadays).

I usually end these things with some sort of a point but today there probably isn't one to share. I just want what I want, and I thought I'd express a degree of lament regarding the topic.

Does anyone have some cheese to go with that whine...

Pretending to Be a Bad Guy

Once upon a time there was a breed of Air Force unit known as the Defense Systems Evaluation Squadron, or DSES for short. Their mission was both simple and essential to the defense of the Continental United States; to simulate an enemy strike, either as a manned asset or a cruise missile of some sort, and to attempt to penetrate American radar defenses in order to reveal weak points and improve the overall system. As it happened, the Martin B-57 proved to be a viable platform with which to perform such nefarious endeavors, which is to say it was a good airplane for the mission. Thanks to the late Marty Isham and the kindness of Doug Barbier we have a few B-57s to share today, so let's get started!

Let's lead off with a shot of 55-4238, a B-57E of the 17th DSES taken on 8 July 1975 at an unknown location. There's some slight scuffing on the airplane's radome but it's otherwise immaculate in appearance, a normal situation since the evaluation mission was assigned primarily to the ANG by this time, which led to some extremely well-maintained aircraft being employed for the mission.  Isham Collection via Doug Barbier

Here's a profile shot of 4238 to compliment the 3/4 view shown immediately above. She had previous service with both the 4677th and 4758th DSES prior to being assigned to the 17th. She finished up her career with them and then went to Puerto Rico where she was donated to an education facility where it's possible she still resides, although I don't know that with any degree of certainty.   Isham Collection via Doug Barbier

The 117th DSES of the Kansas ANG was operating EB-57B 52-1526 when she put in an appearance at one of ADC's William Tell events back in 1976. She was a bit of a traveler, originally built as a B-57B and serving with the 3510th CCTW, then to the 345th TBG prior to conversion to EB-57B configuration and assignment to the 4713th DSES before finally arriving in Kansas for employment by the 117th. Subsequent service saw her going to the 134th DSES in Vermont before returning to Kansas for public display. You could say she was a girl who got around!   Isham Collection via Doug Barbier

53-3965 was assigned to the 4758th DSES when photographed on public display, unfortunately at an unknown place and date. She was originally an RB-57D-2 and served with the 4028th SRS/4080th SRW prior to assignment to the 4577th DSES and ultimately to the 4758th, with a stop at MASDC and bailment back to Martin along the way. That nose really makes her stand out among the crowd of evaluation birds, doesn't it?   Isham Collection via Doug Barbier

Here's a great study of Kansas' 17th DSES, EB-57E 55-4280, taken by Ken Buchanan while attending the 1976 iteration of William Tell. Normally well-maintained, she absolutely sparkles in this image after a round of pre-event spiffing up. She previously served with the 4677th and 4758th ECESs prior to her arrival in Kansas and was retired to MASDC in 1979.   Isham Collection via Doug Barbier

Let's end today's essay with another shot or two of a Kansas bird, EB-57E 55-4295 from the 17th DSES. Nicknamed The Antique, she spent some time with the 4677th DCES prior to her arrival with the 17th. She went to MASDC in 1979 and was ultimately scrapped. This photo was taken when she was in her prime, back on 08 July 1975.  Isham Collection via Doug Barbier

Here's a detail shot of her nose, showing to fine advantage some of the lumps and bumps commiserate with her line of work. Her by then highly appropriate nickname is barely visible on her port nose gear door.   Isham Collection via Doug Barbier

Let's end our essay with a closeup of her name as presented on the port nose gear door. In addition to The Antique, she also carried the following on that door in deference to her age and service: Member of the Antique Aircraft Club of the United States Air Force. Dare we say it was a simpler time?   Isham Collection via Doug Barbier

The DSES story encompasses quite a bit more than this handful of images, of course, and there's a possibility, however remote, that I might actually remember to run some photos of some of them at a later date, although a few have previously appeared on these pages should you want to scroll all the way to the very bottom of this page and enter either B-57 or DSES in the search function found down there. 

Many thanks to Doug Barbier for making these shots available to us!

Here Since the Beginning

Well, almost from the beginning anyway. This project had only a couple of issues under its belt when some guy named Mark Nankivil contacted me and asked if I'd like some A-7 photos. I said sure, having no idea what I was letting myself in for until the absolute flood of Corsair II images began to arrive. Since that day Mark has been a constant around here, a superb photographer, collector extraordinaire, and most importantly, friend. You've seen a great many of his images on these electronic pages over the years and it's probably time to look at several more. Don't bother looking for a common thread because there isn't one; let's just sit back and enjoy some neat old photos.

Let's start with a true old-timer, a SOC-2 BuNo 4203 of Scout Observation Service Unit Three (SOSU-3) flown by then Lt (JG) Fred Dickey out of NAS Alameda. I don't know the date and it wasn't on the information supplied with this image, but the late 1944-1946 time frame is probably a fairly safe bet given her Glossy Sea Blue paint job. If you know more, please drop me a line.   Fred Dickey via Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum, Mark Nankivil Collection

Next up we have a couple of Tee-Birds:

Ben Knowles took this shot of AT-33A 53-5141 while she was at Hill in June of 1973, when the type could still be found in fairly great abundance in the service, particularly within ANG and AFRES units. She had previous service with the 6604th ABW as a straight T-33A prior to redesignation to AT-33A and assignment to the 4330th CCTS/4554th CCTW, followed by a final stint with the 508th FG at Hill AFB. She was surplussed out shortly after this image was taken.   Ben Knowles via Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum, Mark Nankivil Collection

This is one of those when was it kind of conundrums. We know the What; a QT-33A BuNo 155919 of the NMC, and we know the Where, at Pt Mugu, but we don't know the When. She was built for the Air Force as a straight t-33A then went to the Navy as a drone and was struck off charge on 08 May, 1970. Note that she's manned in this image, which places the date at some time prior to that. Aside from the paintwork, the photo is valuable to us because it provides a look at the electronic fitment in what was formerly the rear cockpit of the airplane. This bird probably died in her element, in the air, in so many ways a fine tribute to a beautiful old stager.   Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum, Mark Nankivil Collection

Finally, here's one for the markings enthusiasts among what remains of this project's readership! RF-4C, 65- 905, was photographed by Fred Roos on 06 May 1988 at Hill AFB. That scheme is a knockout, with just enough of the right sort of color application to make her really pop. She's a beauty, and a fine way to end this photo essay.   Fred Roos via Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum, Mark Nankivil Collection

Under the Radar

This is going to be another issue without a book review for your edification and entertainment, mostly because I haven't read anything lately. There are several titles in line, though, so stay tuned!

The Relief Tube

It's a circle of sorts, don't you know. I publish something but nobody comments or corrects anything because when I do that it's infrequent and most of the responses, well; all of them actually, are of the "glad you're still alive" or "enjoyed the blog" variety and not much else. Don't get me wrong; it's my own doing for sure and I honestly do enjoy hearing from you, but there must surely be a mistake in at least one of the recent postings of this blog that requires correction. The law of averages says there has to be!

That said, if you'd like to get in touch with the project and don't fall into the following categories of humanity:

A picture pirate.

A salesman.

A recently deposed monarch looking to regain their throne and looking for money. 

A scammer.

A generally despicable person of some sort.

Then feel free to contact me. The hopefully suitably mangled email address to throw off all those categories of people I just listed above is    replicainscaleatyahoodotcom   .  You'll have to use the at sign and a period in there, but you already knew that. You did know that, right? Right?

Happy Snaps

As defined by myself for the purposes of this project a happy snap is an air-to-air photograph taken by one of our readers, and boy oh boy do I have one for you today!

Many years ago Mark Nankivil (yes, that very Mark Nankivil who contributed all those great photos I published today) sent me a photograph of his son Jack, a young man in elementary school at the time and who was busily engaged in photographing an airplane with one of his dad's DSLR rigs. That assortment of equipage he was employing was very nearly bigger than young Jack was at the time, but a course was obviously set nonetheless. I have no idea what Jack was shooting on that fateful day, but I've got a pretty fair idea of what he's doing now!

There are expressions that come to mind upon viewing this photograph. In my world they range from JUMP BACK or HAVE MERCY to several expressions that include colorful language, because that image is just darned near perfect! Subject matter (a two-ship of Beech Staggerwings; you can't beat that one!), lighting, composition; it's all there. Wow!

I have to admit that I lost, which in our electronic world means "probably deleted", all of the information Mark provided me for this shot, but I think Jack took it from yet another Staggerwing at a Beechcraft gathering earlier this year. I'm old and getting older by the minute, and I do goofy stuff like that, but that photo is well worth sharing with or without the information. 

Wow...

And that's it for today. Maybe I'll come along with another issue soon or, given my track record, maybe I won't, but in the meantime be good to your neighbor. It's the right thing to do!

phil
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