Reflections on Disaster, A Couple from Korea, and a few More Demons

Sometimes Stuff Just Happens

There's an old expression not used much anymore that goes "if you're going to make an omelet you've got to break some eggs". I've personally never cared for omelets although I have broken my share of eggs if the truth be known, but this isn't a cooking show and we aren't going to talk about that at all; it was just my ever-wordy means of introducing the Fine Art of Modeling Disaster as this edition's mindless ramble.

There can be no doubt whatsoever that anybody who's ever built a plastic model has messed one up, or had some sort of tragedy/drama/whatever-you-might-want-to-call-it as a result of some ill-advised attempt at building a replica airplane. These disasters come in a wide variety of flavors, and I've got enough seniority on life that I could easily fill several of these columns with There I Was stories, but this time around only a few examples will suffice, I think.

Let's start off with low-key, because that's the most common sort of Disaster and the kind most easily fixed. In my own personal world that sort of thing generally revolves around something easily botched, easily fixed, but ultimately noticed by almost everybody (although not in this case). Our example of this sort of disaster concerns a 1/72nd scale Hasegawa F-15 I built back in the '80s, painted and marked for the 18th TFW. It wasn't the easiest thing I'd ever built (precious few Hasegawa kits from that era were shake-and-bake; that came later) but the airframe actually came out pretty good, and the paintwork wasn't bad either. The decals were ok, and there was a local club meeting coming up, a fine venue to show off my brand spanking new F-15. The airplane was a hit, albeit an extremely modest one (and quite possibly more in my mind than in reality, but what the hey...), and I was hip-deep in explaining the model to a friend when It suddenly came to me: There were no national insignia on the model anywhere. None. Nada. Zip. No stars, no bars, nary one single scale 15-inch reduced-scale national insignia any place on the model. I didn't say anything and nobody ever noticed, giving me the graceful opportunity to go home and finish putting the decals on. I attribute the event to un-respirated exposure to too much Dio-Sol.

After low-key, we get to ratchet things up a little bit to Medium, which I classify as something that's unfixable but never seen by Model-Kind. In my own personal world it involved a 1/72nd scale Lindberg He162, which wasn't unduly bad (or good either, for that matter) considering its 1966-67 vintage. It did, however, have a one piece wing that slotted through the fuselage halves of the model. The fit wasn't all that great but I got it done, and once the bodywork was complete it even looked all right under primer. That was when I made The Terrible Discovery. It seems the leading-edge slats looked a little bit goofy, what with them each being two-piece and one of them being bigger than the other. And yep, you've guessed it; I'd put that wing in backwards, producing a fine version of an unintended swept-wing Volksjager. There was no attempt at salvation---it was straight to the trash can for the tiny futuristic little "People's Fighter".

We could go on and on, running right up through mis-steps and accidents that actually induced physical pain, but I've saved what I think must surely be the best for last. This one far surpasses almost any There I Was story I've ever heard and, for once, didn't directly involve me---I heard it from the guy who did it. And yes, Virginia, it's a true story; Frank Emmett can back me up on this one because he knows the guy who did it and heard the story too (and nobody, and we mean nobody, could have made this up!).

Anyway, Frank and I had this mutual friend who I'm going to call Zeke, mostly because I've never actually known anyone by that name. We're protecting the semi-innocent here, folks! Zeke was a pretty busy kind of guy, working a real job by day, helping out with an established family business by night and sometimes on weekends, and modeling whenever he could. I tell you that because it helps set the stage and explains why Zeke was sitting up late one night in his skivvies (ask an old GI if you don't know what they are) getting ready to airbrush. Like all of us back then, Zeke painted with Floquil, which meant he thinned and cleaned up with DioSol, a solvent/thinner that was a little bit on the hot side. (You can't buy DioSol anymore---that ought to tell you something about its properties.)

So there Zeke was, airbrushing away, when it got to be time to finish up and clean the airbrush. He did that very thing, putting a pint can of opened DioSol on the edge of his modeling desk. He reached for something, moved his arm (you do that when you Reach for Something), and knocked over the previously mentioned open can of DioSol, the contents of which began making that gluck-gluck-gluck noise that liquids make when they're pouring out of a knocked-over can and heading for the floor. The problem was, there was an obstacle to be negotiated between them and said floor, because our skivvy-clad friend Zeke was sitting right smack betwixt and between the two, the aforementioned skivvies soaking up most of the contents of the dumped-over and rapidly-emptying can and ensuring that the anatomical bits underneath said skivvies received full and prolonged exposure to The DioSol Bath.

We were told, Frank and I, that it wasn't much fun, and I expect that Zeke's entire neighborhood got to hear how former Marines recently returned from the Southeast Asia War Games sounded when they were unhappy. I know for a fact the second-hand version that we heard was pretty ding-danged sporty. Thinking about that whole deal still makes me grin...

So next time you mess something up while modeling, or next time you spill that itty-bitty bottle of relatively benign acrylic on the floor, think of Zeke. Things could be a whole lot worse!

More From Korea

Today's lead photo feature is pretty brief, but I think it's something special. Don Jay rediscovered some old photos in his collection and sent them in to share with us. Let's let him tell about it: 

Hi Phil,

Every so often, you run across old photos stuck away in attics or at antique stores, etc. Most of the time we just give them a cursory look and they are gone, forgotten, and disappear forever. I'm sure all of us have misplaced photos over the years or lost track of them somehow.  Attached are some Korean (circa '53) era photos from an old album labeled FEAF HQS that I came across years ago ('90) that I scanned. It appears they were taken at the end of the Korean War in June of 53 and I think (warning) that they are from K-13 which would be Suwon. Anyway, sorry for the quality-remember I said scanned in the early '90s. dj

Somewhere (maybe K-13?) in Korea, a C-119 taxis in this evocative photo. My personal archives don't include a whole lot on the C-119 in any guise, so reader input as to unit, etc, would be appreciated. A great many, if not most, of Korean War Flying Boxcars wore nose art, and this example may well have that sort of thing on the port side of the nose. We'll never know...  via Don Jay

Another "Boxcar", also from an unknown unit, and with the same comment regarding nose art. Sure wish we could take a better look at the Sabres in the background!  via Don Jay

It's a little-known fact that the C-46 hung around PACAF into the mid-60s (I rode in one from Misawa down to Yokota when my dad PCSd back to the States in late 1965), and a number were used in Korea.
Here 44-78027, a C-46D-15-CU, taxis past the camera at a soggy K-13. She didn't last long after the War, crashing to destruction off Hokkaido in February of 1954, killing all aboard.  via Don Jay

The B-17 was another bird that lasted long past her time, and more than a few operated in and out of Korea during the War. This G-model, once again from an unknown unit, sits on the ramp tantalizing us. Note the legend "Ankara Turkey" on her nose, the black paint around the tail-wheel well, and what appears to be black paint aft of her engines. Was that paint just protecting areas that got messy easily, or were they the remnants of a former life? Once again, we may never know.  via Don Jay

I Think We Promised More Demons, Didn't We?

Actually that's kind of a goofy question, since I know darned well I said there'd be more. Without further ado, let's look at some pictures.

We're having a party and everybody's invited! OK, maybe not everybody, but one of the prototype"Banjos" with 500 flights to her name attended the festivities, along with one of the two XF3H-1s after accomplishing her 200th flight. This view doesn't show it particularly well but there's a lot of the XF-88 Voodoo to be seen in the F3H series; it's particularly noticeable from a 3/4 rear view. This airplane must've looked like something from another planet to the folks used to the more conventional shapes of the time.  Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil  

I've never been big on prototypes, so we're going to skip way ahead to the grey birds, which are mostly going to be production aircraft. You know, the kind we'd all like to build models of. That means we're also going to skip all the Glossy Sea Blue F3Hs, but we honestly aren't missing all that much from a markings standpoint by doing that.

The F3H series started life with a one-piece windscreen, a technical marvel (it was really hard to make something like that back in the fifties) that was highly prone to bird strike damage. This classy air-to-air was taken on 27 April 1955 and shows a very early production F3H-2N in flight. That big honkin' test boom did absolutely nothing for the airplane's looks.  Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

Air defense of the Fleet was a primary mission for the F3H, but the technology available at the time made the mission highly problematical. Here's an early F3H-2M dragging a quartet of AIM-7 Sparrows on a test flight. The missiles shown are early Sparrow Is, really limited in performance (but then so was the launch platform). Look on this as a starting place.  Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil  

The Demon was a very unconventional aircraft in appearance, but wore squadron colors well and really looked good when she was all dressed up. This F3H-2 from Oriskany's VF-41 proves the point. She's fitted out with a set of pylon-mounted rails for the AIM-9B Sidewinder, and her deployed speedboards should be a treat for modelers.  Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

And another F3H-2 with deployed brakes for you detailers. VF-151's birds were pretty Plain Jane during this time (January of 1963) but the airplane still looks neat!  Duane Kasulka via Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

I'll guarantee you that the naval aviators in our audience (and there are a few) are looking at this shot thinking "I'm really glad I'm not driving 102 today!". That sea state is nothing to be sneezed at, ya'll! The Demon is an F3H-2N off the Saratoga, ca. 1958. Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil 

One of the things I really like about the F3H family is that the airplane is so busy, making it an ideal candidate for the modeler. This -3M from VF-161 proves the point. Everything that could possibly be deployed is deployed in this January, 1963 shot. By this time the writing was pretty much on the wall for the Demon, though, as those parked aircraft in the background can attest. The marginal performance of the 1950s was about to become a thing of the past.  Duane Kasulka via Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

Thanks to Robert McNamara's 1962 aircraft designation standardization program the F3H became the F-3. This is an F-3B from Fighting 213 as seen in November of 1963. There are Phantoms back there on that ramp to the far right; the Demon's days were nearly done. She's still a pretty airplane, though. Duane Kasulka via Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil 

The Demon left the Fleet in 1964. Unlike her some of her contemporaries she didn't serve with the Reserves, going straight into storage and ultimately the scrap yard instead. If you love airplanes this photo will be somewhat poignant, or maybe even outright sad, to look at. Unlike old soldiers, old airplanes do die...  Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

The Relief Tube

I've said some fairly uncomplimentary things about the Douglas F4D-1 Skyray during the course of the last couple of blogs, with a perspective taken primarily from the point of view of its operational capabilities, failings admittedly caused by the avionics and powerplant technology of its day. It was quite the performer regardless of how it worked out in the Fleet, and here's a comment from reader Dave Kochersberger to reenforce that fact:

I was just reading your post last week on the F4D. I loved the article and pictures. However, I'm puzzled by the comment you made, where you said "The Real Airplane wasn't all that hot, but it sure looked good!" I agree that it looked good, but the aircraft was a very hot performer for its day. The original design specifications were for an interceptor that could reach 50,000 feet in five minutes from the scramble signal. The Ford met this requirement easily and looked good doing it. It was the first carrier-based fighter to break the world's absolute speed record and was the first Navy fighter capable of exceeding Mach 1 in level flight. In May 1958, Marine pilot Major Edward N. LeFaivre set five time to climb records in the Ford. The problems with the aircraft had to do with its bad manners in a spin and twitchy carrier landing characteristics. It was a difficult aircraft to fly, but for good pilot that respected its quirks, it was a "pilots dream". Unfortunately for the F4D, the 50's and 60s were a period of rapid technological advancment, so it was quickly outclassed by fighters such as the F8U and F-4 Phantom which not only performed better, but also had more versatility.

Joe Baugher has some excelent notes about the F4D on his website ( http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_fighters/f6_2.html ) and the Smithsonian's Air and Space magazine had an interesting article ("Beautiful Climber") in the July 2006 issue. ( http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/skyray.html )

Anyway, I love the blog. Thanks for posting all the comments and those cool pictures. Dave

And thanks to you Dave, both for your comments and for providing those links.

While I prefer to get comments/criticism/whatever-you'd-like-to-say by way of e-mail at replicainscale@yahoo.com , the blog format also allows for reader comments to come straight in to the site. I don't allow the software to automatically publish those, but we get some nifty comments that way. Here's an addition to the information on the VC-137 we ran a while back, submitted from a reader presently known only as ea757grrl:

That picture definitely depicts a VC-137A in the delivery scheme. (I can't tell, but I imagine it's 58-6970.) Notice the non-fan engines; those were replaced with JT3Ds when the three VC-137As were modified to VC-137B configuration (and repainted) in 1962-63.

SAM 26000 (based on the larger 707-320B airframe) wasn't delivered until October 1962, and never wore the white top/day-glo livery. Even with that, I love the picture.

And I appreciate the commentary---thanks for writing in!

Two final things, neither of which directly involve commentary or corrections but need to be said before I forget them yet again, increasing senility on my part being what it is!

First, Rick Morgan sent me several shots of VX-3 during the early 1950s a couple of months ago, and I've yet to run them. I lost one or two of them in the computer somehow, then mis-filed the whole bunch, and just generally made a mess out of getting them published. We're definitely going to look at them, and we're going to do it soon, but not today. Apologies to Rick, and a promise both to him and to you: We're going to see those photos!

Second, I was working on yet another in a seemingly endless stream of Bf/Me109 models last week, and that led me to drag out my copy of John Beaman's seminal 1973 work Last of the Eagles. It's an amazing effort, and has stood the test of time really well. Subsequent research has produced a small amount of information that John didn't have at his disposal when he did the manuscript and drawings, but that book is excellent, and in my world a must-have if you're interested in the 109. John was a regular contributor to the Relief Tube back in our print days, although I haven't heard from him since (although he's still producing excellent books, but for others rather than as self-published efforts). That 109 tome has been out of print almost from the day it was first published, but if you ever find one for sale I would strongly suggest grabbing a copy.

And that's about all I've got for this time around. Be good to your neighbor, and we'll meet again soon.
phil

More F-104s, Return of The Swoose, Some Early Whales, A Nifty Model On The Cheap, Some Fords, and A Little More Banjo Pickin'

Bet You Wondered Where I Was...

Or maybe not; at the end of the day it probably doesn't matter all that much, but we did manage to miss a week (the original "occasionatical" scheduling of our primieval print effort comes somewhat to mind at this moment). I gave that some thought and decided today's installment would be a little bit larger than normal to make up for it! Not much, but a little. To wit:

Zip-a-dee Doo Da

It's possible that there's a limit to the number of times we can look at F-104 pictures on this site, but I haven't found that limit yet and honestly have no intention of ever doing so---I absolutely love that airplane! Don Jay's somewhat fond of it too, and sent these in for our amazement and edification:

In the beginning...  We've all seen 787 before, and we've all seen this particular shot before, but I've never seen it in color. 53-7787 was an XF-104A, and is the one Revell (and probably Comet/Aurora too) based their mid-50s kit on. The short fuselage and original intake configuration is interesting. This bird didn't last long, crashing to destruction on 14 April 1955 following a malfunction of the aircraft's gun. The test pilot ejected successfully, but this could well have been the beginning of the Starfighter's reputation as a coffin-corner airplane. Lockheed via Don Jay

This is for all of you who wanted to see more of that F-104A/M-21/YF-12A combination that we ran a few installments back. 56-0801 was built as an F-104A-20-LO, later rebuilt to F-104G standard and used for weapons trials. Somewhere in-between she flew chase for the A-12/M-21 program. Like most F-104As, 801 has her M-61 gun removed and a fairing installed over the gun port. It took a while to get that whole cannon thing sorted out in the "Zip". Lockheed via Don Jay

We've all seen this photo before but, once again, I can't remember seeing it in color. The aircraft are from the 479th's 2nd SEA deployment in 1967, at Udorn, Thailand. The F-104C didn't do particularly well in that environment, but rarely saw MiGs either. A well-driven Starfighter could leave you talking to yourself, providing you survived the encounter. We'll never know...   USAF via Don Jay

It's About Time, Ya'll!
You could make a movie out of the history of this airplane, and I'm not joking. 40-3097 was built as a B-17D, and was in the Philippines on December 8th, flying as "Ole Betsy" with the 19th BG. She survived the Japanese attack and flew a number of combat missions, basing out of the Philippines, Java, and Australia in quick succession. She was damaged during a combat mission in January of 1942 and then partially re-built, acquiring the name "The Swoose" in the process. After that rebuild she served as the personal transport of General George Brett, then ended the war as a high-speed transport in the United States. She was held in the National Air and Space Musuem's storage facility for a number of years, and  then transferred to the Air Force Museum (I don't think they call it that any more, but I still do---just humor me, ok?) for refurb and display.

Mark Morgan got a chance to photograph her a while back and sent these photos along. Let's see all the  old military guys snap out a highball for her. This one's definitely worth a salute!

OK, when's the last time you saw a real B-17D? My guess is Never, unless you've seen this one; "The Swoose" is the sole survivor of her type, and we're truly fortunate that the Air Force chose to restore her. This shot really shows how tiny the B-17 was, doesn't it?  Mark Morgan

A neat shot that defines the shape of the waist gunner's position on the early 'Forts. Check out the ventral gun tub forward of the waist position; no ball turret for those guys! All those clecos will go away soon, to be replaced by rivets, but there's a fair amount of skin that needs to be renewed on this bird.  Mark Morgan

In myth and folklore the swoose was a legendary bird, half swan and half goose. It's an odd name for an airplane, but I'm not complaining! If only that artwork could talk...

Then There's That Other Famous B-17...
Since we're airplane folk around here, you've probably all seen the 1990s movie The Memphis Belle. Taken as entertainment it was a pretty good film. Taken as an airplane movie (with just about every misfortune that ever befell the Flying Fortress during its combat career included) it wasn't too bad. There is, however, another movie by the same name that you really need to see; the original USAAF film of the same name directed by William Wilder. It was filmed on location, a documentary of sorts, and the star was a B-17F named, what else; "The Memphis Belle". It's what you might call The Real Deal.

The "Belle" got her crew through 25 combat missions over occupied Europe, and returned to the ZI with that crew for a war bond tour. After the war she ended up in a public park in Memphis, Tennessee, where time, the elements, and assorted vandals very nearly achieved the destruction that the Luftwaffe was unable to provide. The Air Force Museum (humor me, remember?) acquired her a few years back and she's under restoration as well. Here are a couple of shots:

There's a lot of rebuilt airplane there, but that nose art is The Real McCoy, preserved for posterity. There's not much more to be said other than Thank You to a superb museum staff who knows when to hold 'em! This one's a keeper.  Mark Morgan

Not particularly neat, and certainly not airbrushed. But it's real. What a treasure! Thanks to Mark Morgan for sharing this marvelous restoration in progress with us.  Mark Morgan

It's a Whale of a Tale I'll Tell You, Lads

We've run a couple of photos of the Douglas A3D Skywarrior in these electronic pages from time to time. It was a really neat airplane, and a long-lived one at that, even if not in its envisioned roll as a bomber. It's history is far too lengthy (and I'm far too lazy) for exploration here, but we'll always run photos of the type when we run across them. Check out this one!

Boy oh boy oh boy; what a photo! A section of AD3-2s from Heavy One taxi pull away from the ramp and begin to taxi out. Based on the fact that the aircraft designator still says "AD3-2" rather than "A-3B" makes contributor Mark Nankivil guess this shot to be of pre-1962 vintage---I concur. The weapons bay doors are open on the two aircraft on the left, and RATO bottles are attached. Note the refuelling fairings on the bellies of the two taxiing aircraft. That crewman in the opened canopy hatch was a normal part of A-3 ground ops. Hey Morgo, how about some "Whale" stories?  Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

Save a Buck or Two When You Can

I don't know about you folks, but I enjoy building 1/32nd scale model airplanes. I don't happen to have a whole lot of room to display them in, but it's still neat to build them---they have a "feel" to them that the smaller scales often have difficulty capturing. People have been kitting model airplanes in 1/32nd scale pretty much forever, but the past few years have seen the dramatic appearance of out-of-the-box museum-quality models in that particular size arena. There's a ton of good stuff out there, with more kits appearing almost every month.

Of course, most of those spiffy new kits are expen$ive, and building one can become costly indeed if you want to stick in a little bit of candy and add some resin or photo-etch. It's really easy to invest a couple of hundred dollars in a kit and accessories, and that's not including the cost of stickies or references. It can be a big-bucks sort of game. It doesn't have to be that way, though.

First, let's have a perspective of sorts. In my very own personal world I'll spend what I have to in order to buy a kit of something that floats my boat. I've always been that way, with model airplanes and with everything else. (I think there's a Ducati in my future, for whatever that's worth, but for cryin' out loud don't tell Jenny!) Still, why spend a lot of money for a kit when you don't have to? Makes sense to me! Take, for example, this installment's Token Model Airplane.

The 1/32nd scale Hasegawa Me163B was a revelation when it first came out in the mid-1970s, and we said so when we reviewed it Way Back Then. It didn't have many pieces but, when all was said and done, it looked like a Komet, which is all I've ever asked of a model airplane. The kit's still in production and is sometimes pricey depending on the boxing, but you can buy it all day long at vendor tables in model shows for next to nothing, which is what I did here. This particular kit was still in shrink wrap, in its original 70s box, sitting on a trade table at a show in San Antonio for the princely sum of twenty bucks, and I'd always wanted to build one so I snagged it.

I'd remembered it as a pretty good kit, and it was/still is, but an interior that was "really good" in 1976 is pretty much doggie defecation in today's scale modeling environment, causing me to search out An Alternative Interior. King's Hobbies in Austin took care of that with an elderly Grand Phoenix interior, which I think I paid ten bucks for. Another ten bucks bought a decal sheet, but I can't for the life of me remember who produced it, and I already had the paint. Here's what my forty bucks bought me:

The starboard side, which shows what a goofy-looking airplane the original was. It's always reminded me of something from a cartoon, but it was no laughing matter in combat, not that it was particularly effective (because it wasn't) but rather because of the threat it posed. The real thing was short-ranged and dangerous to fly, but when it was under power it was pretty much un-catchable, a threat-in-being as it were. That big Hasegawa kit, on the other hand, is no threat at all and builds easily in spite of its age. It would be a lie to say that everything fits precisely, but it's not especially bad in any particular area. It is missing some detail so you'll want to have good references around, but it's an easy way to add an attractive and inexpensive model to your 1/32nd shelf. 

And the port side. That opened canopy is the reason you'll want to put a decent interior in there, because you can see absolutely everything that is, or isn't, included. While we're here we'd may as well discuss that canopy, because it won't stay attached to the airframe very long if you install it the way the instructions say to do it. Instead, you'll want to use one of those references we all know you've got, and determine where the canopy hinges live on The Real Thing, then drill a couple of holes in the cockpit sill and a matching pair in the canopy, then bend a couple of pieces of wire (I used insect pins, but then I've always use insect pins for that sort of thing) and attach the canopy at whatever time you deem to be appropriate. It's pretty sturdy that way, and you can set the angle of the opened canopy properly. Good pooky all around, I think...

Here's a shot that illustrates how the seat looks. Those straps aren't photo-etch; they're molded into the resin seat. I like the way they came out. On the other hand, I'm not real crazy about the job I more-or-less did installing that quarter-window, but I don't lose sleep over it. This thing has a pretty good presence, I think.

Here's a little bit of the interior to illustrate how good that Grand Phoenix kit is. To paraphrase (or quite possibly lampoon, but in a kind and gentle way) the modern breed of kit reviewers, it's cast from some color of resin (it might've been gray but I can't remember) and is comprised of not very many pieces. There was a photo-etched instrument panel with film instruments too, I think, and I'm pretty sure nothing came pre-painted. That sheen on the airframe was deliberate, by the way. Wartime Luftwaffe paint started life as a semi-gloss or eggshell finish, and I built this on the logic that your average Komet didn't have a particularly long shelf-life once assigned to an operational unit. If your personal philosophy differs, please feel free to weather the snot out of your model. Sometimes I do that too, but not this time... 

And the instrument panel. It doesn't look like much in this photo, but the film instruments (painted appropriately from the back of the film after it was attached to the panel) looks pretty good. As simple as the 163's interior was, there's still room for additional detailing which I didn't do, being lazy and all. The paintwork is all Testor's ModelMaster applied with a Badger 150 airbrush and I had a bang-up good time with those splotches. This was one model that was Fun from start to finish!

The Me163's a tiny airplane, right? Right! But so is the Me109 family, as illustrated here. That goofy-looking whatsit in front of the Gustav's wing is part of my tripod, which I cleverly left in place so you'd think I forgot about it being there. Those of you who are old enough may remember a piece on modeling desks that we ran in the original Replica in Scale way back yonder in the 70s. That desk, those bins, and that drafting board were all in the original photos for that piece, as was that round thingy my brushes live in. I'm not sure what that means...

Helping Out When I Can

There's some pretty neat mail coming in here (replicainscale@yahoo.com) almost every week. Sometimes that mail takes the form of requests, and I can honestly say that we don't get too involved in that sort of thing around here. There are, however, exceptions. A couple of weeks ago I received a letter from a Russian modeler named Anton Kochetkov who was requesting photos of VF-174 F4Ds. He included links to his work which is, in a word, Breathtaking and, even though I don't normally take requests (it's not that kind of band, ya'll), I'm pleased to help out this time.

On the boat. This VF-74 F4D-1 is taxiing up to the cat; note the V2 Division airdale coming to meet the aircraft with a bridle. There are a lot of handlers helping position that aircraft, which says something about the joys of operating the "Ford" aboard ship, I think. Still, that's one sexy little airplane! Tailhook Association via Doug Siegfried

Just sitting and waiting. Skyrays rarely went anywhere without extra gas, mostly because they couldn't go anywhere without extra gas. The AIM-9 rails on the inboard stations are noteworthy, and check out that boarding ladder; what a neat touch for a model. Tailhook Association via Doug Siegfried

This is what we might call The Money Shot! I can't think of a prettier scheme for this airplane, and the photo makes me want to go out and buy a Tamiya kit or three. The Real Airplane wasn't all that hot, but it sure looked good! Sharp eyes will note that the aircraft designator and BuNo appear both on the nose and the tail of this bird. Beauty!  Tailhook Association via Doug Siedfried

OK, Anton, there are some pictures. How about sending in some photos of your model when it's finished? We'd love to see them!

Other units flew the Ford too. Here's a hint of things to come in future issues. (And check out the nose of the F9F-8 in the background. VF-213 had a pretty classy ramp in those days!) Tailhook Association via Doug Siegfried

Yet Another Portender of Things to Come (Is "portender" a real word?)

The McDonnell F3H Demon family was another one of those Fabulous Fifties Failures; a really neat airframe marred by a terrible engine. It was a beautiful aircraft in spite of its shortcomings, and we now have adequate kits in a couple of scales with the promise of more on the way, which gets me pretty ding-dang excited about building one in the near future. We've got a whole bunch of Demon photos to share with you, but not today. Here are a couple of teasers to whet your appetite until next time:

Beauty and the Beast, all in the same airplane! These VF-14 F3H-2Ns sit patiently on the deck of the Franklin D. Roosevelt prepping for what appears to be an early-morning launch. This photo, taken in September of 1956, shows the unique nose treatment of the airframe. The Demon lasted until the early 60s with the Fleet---can you imagine taking it to war in Southeast Asia? There but for the grace of God...  Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil 

Ohboy ohboy ohboy ohboy! What a photograph! BuNo 137033, an F3H-2M from VF-61, launches from the Saratoga in April of 1957. The paintwork's getting a little bit weathered (and makes a good candidate for pre-shading if you like that sort of thing on your models) and she's getting a little bit shopworn, but she's still got her good looks. Then again, looks aren't everything, right! Oh poot! This is a Good Looking Airplane, ya'll! Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

The Relief Tube

Wherein resides the corrections and all the stuff that just doesn't fit anyplace else. First up and, I hope, for the Very Last Time, is a comment from Tommy Thomason about the length of that accursed F2H-2 Banshee:

ACK! F2H reference is still not right. You wrote "the McDonnell F2H-1 Banshee was actually longer than the prototype F2H-2." It's longer than the prototype F2H-1 not the -2. Now I see why this error has so much life. It fights for it. (And how! pf)


The full story is here: http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2009/12/f2h-banshee-modeling-notes.html and here: thanhttp://lont.blogspot.com/2010/09/xf2d-1f2h-1f2h-2-fuel-system.html . Attached are the pictures that illustrate the difference. Note that the 1/48 Hawk kit closely resembles the XF2D with prototype tip tanks...
T

Here's the shot Tommy sent of an F2H-1. I'm almost afraid to say anything about it since my luck with this airplane, at least to this point, has been so extraordinarily poor, but I am going to say that I started converting an Airfix F2H-2 back to this variant when the kit first came out. At this point I think I'm glad I never finished it! via Tommy Thomason

And the XF2D. I think I'm going to take the safe road on this one and say that these shots sure remind me of those Colby books I enjoyed so much from back when I was a kid. And, on a more serious note, thanks to Tommy for pursuing this thing until we got it right. It is right now, right?  via Tommy Thomason


Thanks, Tommy. I hope this puts it to bed!!!

Then there was that shot I ran of the pair of F3H Demons sitting together, one in Glossy Sea Blue and one in Light Gull Grey over Insignia White. In the truest spirit of never denying me the opportunity to completely miss the obvious, let's hear from contributor Mark Nankivil:

Phil, you might want to make a note that the photo of the pair of Demons - dark blue and the gull gray over white - distinctly show the differences in the wing planform of the F3H-1 (the dark blue babe) and the F3H-2 Demon which increased the chord of the wing significantly to increase the wing area to offset the overall weight increase of the aircraft as it morphed into the more capable J-71 powered variant. HTH!
Mark

Pay attention to the photos! Pay attention to the photos! Pay attention...  Thanks, Mark.


Next up is a kudo from a reader, presented here not because of the praise ("professional compliments are always appreciated" however, to quote a line from John Ford's "Stagecoach") but because of the exceptionally neat site that's linked therein, very much worth your time and a visit:

Just wanted you to know just how much I’m enjoying your Replica in Scale Blog ! A long time ago I was fortunate, over here in the UK, to get hold of some copies of the original publication from US modelers based at Mildenhall with the USAF and they were, and still are, a revelation on how stuff should be done and I still have them today!


Imagine my complete surprise when I stumbled upon your blog last week and recognised your name; I have been ensconced in it since. I too run a Blog off of my SEAWINGS website – the largest dedicated flying boat reference website in the World – and I have you listed as one of the very few favorites I have. It’s at: http://seawingsblog.blogspot.com/ .


Do keep up the great work you are putting up; it’s great to see that the ‘Good ‘Ol Days’ are so well represented, and in such detail.

Best Regards,
Bryan Ribbans

Thank you, Bryan, for your kindness. And folks,  I'm serious as can be about checking out Bryan's site. It's excellent. There's nothing more to be said.

And finally, a postscript to one of the pieces we ran last time. I don't think this one needs any explanation.

Phil,


Fond memories reliving our Del Rio photo shoot (or the "Ride From Hell"). You nailed that event - God's truth! A couple of other details came to mind:


As we listened to the engine coolant cascading to the ground, I remember standing and mumbling "Oh Shit! Oh Smit! Oh Smit! Oh Smit!..." ad infinitum, while you ran 'round and 'round the van muttering the same incantation, then running back down the road to see if Bambi was OK. You've always been a softy for our furry little friends. (That softy thing was to change after nailing one in the CRX, one in the Miata, and five in the F150 but that's a story for a different day and format, and I changed some words to read "smit", not wanting to get yet another letter from the clergy regarding what passes for taste around here...  pf)


Our BNBF originally had every intention of securing the van in his creepy, darkened lot. My feeling was that the van would have no wheels in the morning (or any other accessory) and begged him to take us to San Antonio. He did, but required that he be paid in cash on arrival, so Kay had to go out in the middle of the night to come up with the one hundred plus bucks he wanted (remember, this was in the days before ATMs). My AAA policy would only pay for three miles of towing; but I was able to convince them that the van was in great danger being parked at BNBF's poorly-lighted junk-yard of a lot so close to the border. They picked up the whole tab. Great fun!


Jim


Footnote: That was not the last South Texas Whitetail that the Beauville was to score - but that's another story.

It was never a job, ya'll. It was always an adventure. Until next time, be good to your neighbor. We'll meet again soon.
phil

The Big Banshee, A Demon or Two, The Neglected Orion, An Interesting E-3, and a Plastic Butcher Bird

That Big Banjo

When last we met, we were discussing that almost-famous workhorse of 1950s American naval aviation, the McDonnell F2H Banshee. The type was a mainstay of the early 50s Navy and saw action in Korea, but its most capable variants were destined to serve only in peacetime, holding the fort until the advent of more capable platforms. It's a really spiffy airplane, and well worth another look.

Much like the F2H-1 and -2, there are no decent kits of the larger -3 and -4 variants. That's a shame, too, because the type had all the color you'd expect of the Navy during that era, even if its performance was somewhat lacking. What follows are several prime examples of why we really ought to have a kit of one of these seminal McDonnell fighters.

Beauty. This ATG-1 F2H shows the Banshee in its final livery of Light Gull Grey over White. The "Banjo's" flight refuelling probe was often decorated with a barber pole treatment as seen here, in this instance adding the only color other than the arrows on the wing tanks. The photo was taken in August of 1956; the changeover to the new scheme was mandated in February of 1955, with all carrier birds delivered after July 1st of 1956 to be in compliance. Existing glossy sea blue airframes were to be re-painted within one year of the original spec change. The Glossy Sea Blue Navy was going away, never to return.  Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

This is more like it! 127686 is an F2H-4 from VF-11's Red Rippers, June, 1954, while assigned to Air Group 10. The Navy flirted briefly with natural metal finish for its carrier fighters. That proved to be a Bad Idea all around, but sometimes you have to learn the hard way. This "Big Banjo" shows the transitional silver scheme to good effect.  Fahey via Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

The Reserves made extensive use of the "Big Banjo". This four-ship of -3s is in the grey/white scheme and has little to offer in the way of color other than the orange Reserves fuselage band. Nobody would ever descibe the F2H series as being long-ranged and the lack of tip tanks guarantees these guys won't be going very far. Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

It pretty much goes without saying that the Marines had their own F2Hs. BuNo 127614 is from VMF-214, once again in the grey and white scheme and, once again, without a whole lot of color. There's a band of small stars around the nose of the wing tank (which appears to be painted gold but could easily have been painted silver as well) but that's about it for flamboyant markings on this bird.  Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

Canada once had an air component to her Navy and operated F2H-3s for a brief period of time. I think the "Big Banjo" looks pretty goofy without wing tanks, but maybe that's just me. When all is said and done, all I want is a decent 1/48th scale kit of any F2H variant. But I''m not going to hold my breath...  Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

That Airplane in the Middle

There was another McDonnell fighter that came between the F2H and the F4H Phantom. The F3H Demon was another one of those successful failures that were so common during the halcyon days of the 1950s. Military aviation was progressing by leaps and bounds, lept sometimes it leapt and bounded just a bit too far. The Demon wound up being an ok fighter, but never a great one, its primary contribution being the design elements it leant to it's younger brother, the F4H Phantom. Today isn't the day for an extensive look at the type, but it's a nice opportunity to run a couple of photos.

The F3H first flew in Glossy Sea Blue, but all of the production aircraft were delivered in the later Light Gull Grey over White scheme. This pair of Demons are sitting on the ramp in St Louis and show how a little paint can make an airplane look completely different. This shot was taken in October of 1955. Those test booms went away when the airplane reached production. Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

This is a little more like it. This VF-14 F2H-2 preps for launch in September, 1956. "Fighting Fourteen" was the first squadron to equip with the Demon, and got to learn first-hand that the type wasn't quite ready for prime time. Greater Saint Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

The shape of things to come. An F2H-3 towed to the cat while a well-worn F4H-1 is prepared for launch. The intakes and horizontal stabs on the F4H belie the Demon's parentage---the F3H wasn't much of an airplane but it gave birth to one of the world's classic fighters. McDonnell's gone now, and so is its offspring McDonnell-Douglas, but the aircraft The Little Company That Could sired became legend. Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

Something You Don't See Every Day

Time was when military aviators were concerned about enemy aircraft and highly sophisticated ground defenses. The times began to change during the latter days of the Vietnam War when shoulder-launched SAMs first came into common use. The earlier weapons of that sort almost invariably used infra-red sensors for target acquisition, thus leading to the developement of flare dispensers so that potential targets could have at least a modicum of protection. Here's an example of the sort of countermeasures that were developed.

Maddog John Kerr sent this photo to me about twenty years ago and I never could figure out what to do with it. Today I did. 152758 was a P-3B used briefly for testing defensive systems by the NATC; here she's seen dumping a load of flares for the camera. It's a neat photo and the markings are pretty spiffy too; just the thing for backdating that Hasegawa P-3C that's been sitting in your closet all this time. 758 was eventually transferred to Australia.  John Kerr Collection

The Navy's patrol community were no strangers to offensive warfare, having chased the Japanese navy with bomb and torpedo-armed PBYs during the Second World War. The P-3 has long had the ability to sink surface ships as well as submarines, although that fact is not well appreciated, it seems. This shot was taken on 18 November, 1969, and shows an Orion of VP-10 armed with an AGM-12 Bullpup. Bullpup's guidance parameters were limited and would have made ship-killing with the P-3 a dicey proposition at best, but it was better than nothing. US Navy 1147444

Here's an AGM-12 on the wing of a P-3C from VP 36 out of Sigonella, date unknown. This view provides a really good look at the tracking flares in the aft end of the missile; Bullpup was command guided, and the pilot of the aircraft aimed it by watching the flares and guiding the missile via a tiny joy stick mounted in the cockpit. Guidance parameters were limited and the launch aircraft pretty much had to fly in a straight line and follow the missile until it impacted its target. Operational use of the weapon in Vietnam proved it wasn't particularly useful, but it stayed in the inventory for a number of years.  US Navy K-116380

Evolution of Some Classy Nose Art

For those of you who might not know, friend and frequent contributor Rick Morgan was with VAQ-141 during Desert Storm and killed a couple of SAM sites with well-directed AGM-88 HARM shots. He also took a photograph or too, including these immediate post-war photos of VAW-124's E-2C 161552. They're of particular interest because of the evolution depicted in the nose art, from "Classic" to "Miss B. Havin". The word "classic" is appropriate indeed. Thanks to Rick for these photos.

Here's the way it started. The name is "Classic", and the nose art isn't too shabby, but there's change in the wind...   Rick Morgan

"Classic" morphs into "Miss B. Havin". Note the addition of the squadron commander's name under the cockpit window. The nose art was on the left side only.  Rick Morgan

Special Note from the Replica Staff---this photograph has been deleted. Ed.

And a closeup of the nose art. This artwork is as good as any we've seen on an airplane, of any era. That painter was good!  Rick Morgan

It's Not As Bad As They Say It Is

It, of course, being the 1/48th scale Tamiya Fw190A-3. The kit was, if the truth be known, an absolute revelation when it first came out, being pretty darned accurate and, wonder of wonders (at least in the  World of Quarter-Scale Wulfs), easy to build. It was, not to put too fine a point on it, the Focke Wulf Gold Standard for a number of years.

Time has passed, more than just a little of it, and times have changed. It's not that the kit has all that many competitors, because it doesn't; the museum-quality Eduard kits don't include any of the short-nosed "Butcher Birds" as of this writing, and the Hasegawa kit isn't enough of an improvement to make it a quantum leap of any sort. The Tamiya Fw190 has aged gracefully, it seems.

Still, the internet is full of complaints about how bad the kit is. Those complaints seem to fall into two camps; the interior is too simple (true, sort-of), and the landing gear is gooned up. That's true too, but the condemnation falls into the "sort-of" category too. Let's take just a minute and talk about it.

That oft-criticised interior consists of a well-detailed bucket, a pretty nice instrument panel, and a seat, along with a couple of detail components. It can look pretty good if it's carefully painted, but it's definitely not up to contemporary standard, which leaves room for (dare we say it): Aftermarket. There are probably other detail sets out there but I'm a big fan of Eduard, and they offer two sets that will work for the Tamiya A-3; a complete set that replaces the interior and adds additional detail to other areas of the airframe, and a Zoom set, which is mostly for the interior. I've gotten to be really cheap of late and prefer to use the Zoom offering, although I've worked with both and would recommend either. That takes care of the interior.

As for those horrible landing gear, they really aren't too bad. The wheels are definitely too small in diameter; everybody says so and for once everybody's right, and it's really easy to get the angle of the main mounts skewed if you don't pay a lot of attention to what you're doing when you install the gear. Replacement wheels are available through the aftermarket and a little bit of Modeling 101 will fix the landing gear problem unless you plan on entering your model in a national-level contest, in which case you probably aren't reading this missive anyway. That pretty much addresses the Major Issues, such as they are.

But we digress. (I do that a lot, in case you haven't noticed.) Let's take a look at the model.

Here's your basic Fw190A-3, this one marked for an aircraft from the 9th Staffel of JG-1 when based at Hasum, Denmark, in March of 1943. The decals came from Third Group sheet 48-026 and seem to be pretty accurate, although I may not be the best judge of that. The interior of this model has been enhanced with photoetch from the appropriate Eduard Zoom set, and brake lines are made from extremely fine brass wire. An antenna was also added, made from stretched sprue. Otherwise the kit is bone stock, right down to those "horrible" wheels.

A different view of the same side. Paint is Testor ModelMaster, which is pretty much reviled by some folks. I wasn't there when this airplane was flying for real, and the folks who don't like the Testor colors weren't around either, so I'm guessing the colors are about as close to right as anything else. Then again, I could be wrong. Point is, the paint looks pretty good and the tonal values are where they should be if you convert a color shot of your model to black and white. Of course, that whole color thing can get the best of friends rolling around on the floor, kicking and screaming---I would suggest you do your best to figure out the paint thing (there are a lot of really good references on the topic available these days) and don't beat yourself up too badly if somebody you don't even know decides to criticize what you did. This is a hobby, remember?

Here's what the other side looks like. I'm a big fan of the Tamiya Fw series for one simple reason; they're all quick and easy to build, with no surprises and, for the most part, no significant accuracy issues. This model looks ok, I think, but it does suffer from skewed landing gear, which I noticed after everything had set up hard as a rock. (I use Tenax, so when it's set it's set!) I didn't fix it, either. Such is life...

One final note. The Tamiya kit does have a couple of minor issues with panel lines. The Third Group instruction sheet for these decals addresses that and provides line drawings of what needs to be changed. That constitutes a Class Act in my world and I thought you should know about it.

The Relief Tube

Of which we don't have very much this time around. Tommy Thomason wrote to ask that I remind you all that the McDonnell F2H-1 Banshee was actually longer than the prototype F2H-2. That in turn reminds me to remind you all to check out Tommy's excellent blog site at   http://tommythomason.com/  or his companion site at tailspintopics.blogspot.com. Tommy does excellent work and his site is a must-read if you're interested in American naval aviation. Trust me on this one. (And read this week's Relief Tube, please!)

Additions to This Installment's Relief Tube

One of the things I really enjoy about this project is the feedback I get from our audience. Only a few hours had passed between the time I posted this installment of the blog and I'd already heard from both Rick Morgan and Tommy Thomason offering comments and corrections. I figured you'd be interested so here, a whole week early, are those comments. First, from Rick:

Phil: F2Hs are such a fascinating subject- the ATG-1 shot is from VF-52 on Lexington about 1956. They had a typical Group (if you can ever call and ATG ‘Typical’, because they were not) for that period, a day fighter unit (VF-111 F9F-8), night fighters (VF-52), jet attack (VA-151 F7U-3), and prop attack (VA-196 AD-6) as well as the cats and dog dets: VAW-11 AD-5W, VFP-61 F2H-2P, VAAW-35 AD-5N and VAH-6 AJ-2s. I suspect the F7Us and AJs spent a lot of time on the beach during cruise though.

Aviators I’ve talked to from that period thought the F2H was a great airplane to fly; steady, long-ranged (longer than the F9F at least) and a good boat plane. RADM (and F6F ace) “Whitey” Feightner, who was CO of VF-11 with F2H-4s was a big proponent of the type although it was still a whole generation behind its shore-based contemporaries, like the MiG-17 night fighter.

As for the Demon, it probably ended up as the best of a bad lot of aircraft, certainly better than the F4D or F2H-3/4 as a carrier-based night fighter but still a generation behind land-based aircraft. As you state it DID lead to the world-beating F4H; I’ve always maintained that the F-4 is the result of a mating between the F3H and F-101.

The VAW-124 nose art story was a good one. They tried the first version, “Classic” and pretty quickly decided it wasn’t that good, so they painted it out and found a squadron member that knew how to handle an airbrush, which is how “Miss B Havin” came about. They ended up winning the CVW-8 nose art contest after the war with it and somehow managed to hide it through fly-off to Norfolk after every other squadron followed CAG instructions to remove the art prior to the first port call (Haifa) in late May. (OBTW: I was with VAQ-141, not 140 during DS) (Now corrected. pf)

Rick

Rick also sent along a couple of photos that we'll look at next time.

Tommy had a comment as well, which corrects a major clanger I dropped in the second Banshee piece:

"Tommy Thomason wrote to ask that I remind you all that the McDonnell F2H-1 Banshee was actually longer than the subsequent F2H-2."

 NOOOO - See original email below. The F2H-1 was longer than the XF2H, not longer than the F2H-2. The -1 and -2 were the same length. (Now corrected. pf) Attached is the old Tailhook Topics article on converting the -2 to the -3/4. This is now OBE in 1/72. In 1/48, you need to add a bit more stretch to the Hawk Banshee, which is an XF2H in length (see above). F2H-2to-4.jpg (132KB)

Best regards,
T

Thanks for keeping me honest, guys!

And now back to our regularly-scheduled program:

Whoever sent me that spiffy T-Bird from a couple of issues ago still hasn't come forward to claim credit for the photography and I really wish he'd do that. If he, or you (I'm not any too sure how to phrase that) is out there, please get in touch with me so I can credit the photos properly. Please?

In the same vein, I'm always looking for original photography for this site. By now you've probably figured out where the emphasis lies around here, so feel free to get in touch with me at replicainscale@yahoo.com if you have anything you'd like to contribute. It's the right thing to do.

And that's what I know, so be good to your neighbor and we'll meet again soon.
phil