Of Huns, Shakers, and a Quick Trip to the Hard Deck

Nothing Much Going On

Or in other words, I've got a full plate today with things that have precious little to do with aviation  or  model airplanes, so it's going to be a short one. Regardless of that, we still oughta do something,  so here are some odds and ends to start the week:

All We Need is For Him to Start Another Project!

About 18 years ago I began building a 1/48th scale Heller RF-84F. It was a pretty neat kit for its time, although it's somewhat less so nowadays---time and technology have largely passed it by. Still, the Thunderflash was a pretty significant airplane in its day and even though you'd hope that in this New Golden Age of Plastic Modeling somebody, preferably somebody mainstream, would see fit to issue a brand new, state-of-the-art kit of the RF-84F, it probably happen any time soon. That leaves us with Heller to fill the gap.

There are a couple of different ways to approach a project like this. One way is to take the superb if aging Monogram F-84F and graft the RF nose and wings to it. That's a possibility, but not this time. This time it's going to be the straight Heller kit, since it's already been started and most of the bad places sanded out. How do you feel about building that dinosaur?

There's Good News to be found regarding that old Heller offering, you know. It isn't a bad kit. It isn't a real good one either, but it's not so bad that it can't be built with a relative minimum of hassle, and there's lots you can do with it. There's a resin set by somebody (I can't remember who, though) that replaces the entire cockpit (the kit's major shortcoming) and also spiffs up the intakes a little, and another French company (FM, I think) did a re-issue of the Heller model but with the addition of photoetch and resin. I haven't seen that one either and I'd have to tear my existing Thunderflash apart to utilize the new components anyway, so what you're probably going to see here is an excercise in 1980s modeling! All the big pieces are together (have been for years, remember?) so it ought to be a quick project, one that we'll probably kick off in a day or so. And we'll proceed once you stop laughing about that "quick" part. I shall serve no model before its time...

Here's a shot to whet your appetite for the Thunderflash. It shows a pair of Taiwanese RFs in close formation with a pair of PACAF birds. Of partilar note to modelers is the shape of the wing anti-skid material and the Olive Drab anti-glare panels.  USAF via Jahant

It's a Good Day For a Hun

Remember that part, really early on in this adventure, when I said I got by with a little help from my friends? Here's proof; a couple of really nice photos of the F-100 from the collection of valued friend Jim Sullivan. Enjoy!

How about a gorgeous F-100C from the 120th TFS stationed at Robertson ANGB, CO, during December of 1969? 54-1748 has a tiger's head painted on the vertical stab and the name "Coors Express" on the nose. Her paintwork's a little bit worn but she's well-maintained!  Fred Roos via Sullivan

Here's 55-2853 of the 524th CCTS/27th TFW at Cannon AFB during August of 1970. She wears a Wing badge under the windscreen and the normal TAC badge on the tail. Note the articulated pitot boom. Every production F-100 ever built incorporated this feature. It made life on the ramp a whole lot easier!  Chuck Mayer via Jim Sullivan

It's Just a Big Ol' Truck, That's All

The fighters, bombers, and attack aircraft get the glory. The transports keep their more flashy cousins in the air. Let's take a quick look at a couple of classic transports:

More Douglas C-74 Globemasters in one place than I've ever seen before. This ramp full of MATS C-74s sport full arctic conspicuity markings and are representative of the way that command's birds looked Way Back When. 42-65407 is obviously undergoing fairly heavy maintenance at the Home Drome, but that's about all I know about the shot!  AMC via Mark Morgan

Photo and caption removed due to possible copyright issue.  pf  07 Apr 2010

Progress on the Scooter, By Jingo!

Yep; hard though it might be to believe, that A-4C that's been languishing on the bench for the past month made it out of the paint shop yesterday! Somebody call the headline news! Hot diggedy!!! (Does anybody know if that's really how you spell "diggedy"? That's the problem with using that sort of slang...)

Anyway, the Scoot's all nice and gray, with white undersurfaces and red in the appropriate places. It's beginning to look a whole lot like an A-4C, ya'll! There's a tiny, almost negligible, amount of touch-up to do, then it'll get a gloss coat (I use Testor Metalizer Sealer for that sort of thing; never did like the notion of spraying floor wax on a model airplane!) and some stickies. I still haven't figured out who's bird I'm doing yet, but there are a couple of strong contenders under consideration. I also haven't found that accursed Hasegawa Weapons Set with the MERs, sway braces, and MK 82s yet (you wouldn't believe how much stuff is in that attic of mine!) but that's apparently the remaining stumbling block of any great significance, although you should never deny me the chance to snatch defeat straight out of the jaws of victory. I've done it before; got the tee-shirt to prove it!

One thing, and it's a neat reason to keep your collection in a constant scale; right now this minute that Scooter's sitting on my workbench next to a P-38G that's awaiting a canopy. The P-38 is, by any standard, a big fighter, but it doesn't look like that parked next to the A-4. I won't say the Hot Rod dwarfs the P-38 or anything absurd like that, but almost any military jet is big compared to the tactical stuff of the WW2 era (we aren't counting Folland Gnats here, so please don't write me about that particular airplane, ok?) and sometimes the difference is pretty dramatic. If I can remember to do it I'll photograph those two airplanes sitting together so you'll understand what I mean!

Here's An Airplane I Dropped

Not once but twice, and both times were after it had been painted and had the wings and floats attached. That Hasegawa F1M2 "Pete" is one tough cookie; both times it dropped from waist height to a tile floor, and both times it bounced. I ended up reattaching one wing float and that was the extent of the damage! (I've always said I'd rather be lucky than good!) We're showing you this one because of that "defeat from the jaws of victory" thing. This was one of those at one time!

Be good to your neighbor. We'll see you again real soon!
phil

More Scooter Ordnance, Corrections, and a Happy Snap or Two

Expanded Horizons for Scooter Ordnance

As you surely all know by now, we've been more-or-less building a Vietnam-era A-4C for the past few installments of this deal. It's been slow going, mostly because I went off and got myself interested in something else, but it's still a project in work and I swear we'll finish it in the next week or two! Well, we'll probably finish it in a week or two. Maybe.

My habitual procrastination notwithstanding, there's more to be said about Scooter ordnance today, but we're going to widen the scope a bit and include those later 5-station variants (the Echo and Foxtrot), mostly because a couple of folks have asked about them. (That e-mail address is replicainscale@yahoo.com if you want to ask questions or throw your 2-cents worth into the pot.)

One of my long-time friends is a former naval aviator and noted author. Many years ago, a while after the original RIS had shut its doors and while I was working with Aerophile, he and I met began corresponding and trading slides. A lot of that correspondence was publication quality, and I've still got most of it in the files. That's where today's first piece comes from. It's not dated but a quick glance at the references listed at the top of the page (and I'm sure he had others he couldn't share at the time, but the ones he gave were all unclas and therefore ok to provide to a civilian journalist) shows it to come from the early 80s, and the pages he cites in those works gives a pretty fair pictorial overview of what the A-4 was carrying during the Vietnam War. I had originally given some thought to doing a quick re-write of the piece but there's really no point to doing it; it carries itself very nicely without any help from me, thank you!

You'll probably notice that the references to modeling refer to 1/72nd scale and nothing else. That's because 72nd was the scale of choice for most of us back then; there just wasn't that much available in the bigger scales at the time, and 99% of what was published was about models in that size. It doesn't really matter at this remove, because we're only interested in weapons fit today---this ain't no kit review, ya'll!

That said, and without further ado, here's our expanded A-4 weapons primer. Please note (as if you wouldn't figure it out for yourself anyway!) that I did it as a photo scan, a quick and dirty technique that I actually know how to do. Just click on the text and it'll magically become big enough to read!

A shot from CVA-31 Bon Homme Richard's 1970 cruise book showing "Jaunty Jan" an A-4E from VA-94, on the cat. Loadout is 6 Mk82s (1 each on stations 1 and 5, 2 each on TERs mounted on stations 2 and 4, with a 300-gallon gasbag on centerline. This is a typical load for the period.  USN via Morgan

A pair of VA-22 A-4Fs photographed in May of 1969. Of interest here are the MERs on centerline and the configuration of the drop tanks on stations 2 and 4. If the aircraft were bombed up the MER would be loaded with 5 bombs; the aft center mount would be left empty to avoid deck strike issues during the cat shot.  Once again, the photo is out of CVA-31's 1970 cruise book.  USN via Morgan

The kind of photo that model companies and some modelers love; an A-4F (BuNo155057) flying out of NAS Lemoore and hauling everything but the kitchen sink. It makes for a really impressive shot but in reality a Scooter dragging this sort of load around would have an extraordinarily small radius of action and would be relatively worthless as a combat asset as a result. Big Payload + No Extra Gas = No Range! You gotta get there before you can fight!  US Navy 1166520

A-4Es and Fs could be fitted with the AGM-45 Shrike Anti-Radiation Missile for SAM suppression (Iron Hand) work. Here an A-4F from VA-55 fires a Shrike during evaluations at China Lake in May of 1968.  US Navy KN-24543

The Scooter could do more than just drop bombs. A VC-1 A-4E (BuNo149977) hauls a target dart aloft from NAS Barber Point during 1974. Of special interest are the gas bags; this guy's planning on being up there for a while. Looks like it's going to be a busy day!  US Navy KN-22833

Time for Some Happy Snaps!

The late, lamented Kelly AFB was once the depot for B-36 maintenance, among other things. Here's a fine shot of the B-36 docks taken during 1954-1955 when the Peacemaker still ruled the skies. Between the ramp and the hangars you can see at least 8 of the monsters either undergoing maintenance or being prepared for delivery to their parent squadrons. The B-36s absolutely dwarf the B-50s and C-118 also visible in the photo. Engine runups were performed on the apron at near-left; note the extensive staining from engine oil. The mess came with the territory back in The Old Days of reciprocating engines and is a point often missed by dioramists!  KAFB History Office

I used to spend a lot of time at aviation facilities back when I was actively doing photography. The folks at NAC Corpus Christi were always just super, and would often allow me to shoot from the control tower catwalk, which is where I photographed this VT-27 T-34C back in 1987. The upper surface conspicuity markings are shown to advantage here and might be helpful if you plan on modeling a Turbo Mentor.
Phillip Friddell

And finally, a T-28B, also from VT-27 but a bird of a different era. BuNo 138247 was shot by a coworker of mine at a Corpus Christi open house in 1980 and really shows off the special paintwork on Triple Seven. The single star in the blue field seems to indicate that the aircraft was assigned to someone of flag rank, possibly the commander of CNATRA. Does anybody have any more information on this one?  Franke via Friddell Collection

'Scuse Me For a Minute While I Wipe That Egg Off My Face

I could've known better. I should've known better! If you were to go into my library right now this very minute you'd find, almong other things, a stack of F-104 references some 18 inches high. That stack is comprised of manuals, photos, and various technical reports. It's pretty extensive and moderately comprehensive, and could help somebody write a pretty decent book on the Zipper if they bothered to read the stuff to be found within. As for me, I did read all that stuff once, but it was a very long time ago while I was working on a project for the late Nick Waters. I haven't touched it since, at least not until yesterday when I got the bright idea to run some CAF Zips as a photo essay. In theory it was a Good Idea. In practice it fell a little bit short...

If, and I emphasize if, I'd bothered to refresh my memory regarding the CF-104 before I published the piece, I probably wouldn't have made the mistakes I made. But I didn't, so I did. Yikes! Here's a correction I received from Jim Bates up in Canada, who's rapidly becoming my authority on things that fly (or flew) in The Great White North. So then, and without further ado:

Phil,

Saw the CF-104 pics on your blog. A few short corrections/comments:

1. The CF-104 was the CF-104 in Canadian service. There was no CF-104G. There was however a CF-104D which was the Lockheed build duals that Canada flew. Oddly the CF-104 was originally going to be the CF-111 which was a carry over from the fact the RCAF assumed they were getting F11F Super Tigers and the politicians had better ideas.

2. The guns were not originally fitted to the CF-104s as they were just nuke bomb trucks. When they switched over to the conventional bomb truck role in the late 60s the M-61s were fitted and carried until retired.

3. The red strip on the inlet of 704 was more for test purposes as it was operated by AETE...see the big red X on the tail. I assume it was to make it easier to see for the photo ship during weapons trials.

4. Actually the overall green scheme predated what you call the RAF/NATO scheme. The overall green scheme started to appear in either the very late 60s or early 70s. (I can't remember off the top of my head.) The RAF/NATO scheme appeared in the late 70s and was the final scheme the CF-104 carried in CAF service. The checkerboard four ship was taken around the time of the changeover.

And technically the green/gray over gray scheme is called the variegated camouflage scheme.

Pat Martin has done a series of books on CAF and RCAF (and Royal Canadian Navy) finishes that have all kinds of great information if you have an interest in (R)CAF stuff.
 
Cool to see the second A-26 photo. Thanks.

Jim
 
And thanks to you, Jim, for keeping me honest! I haven't seen any of Pat Martin's books but it sounds as though they're well worth obtaining; thanks to Jim once again for pointing out a resource many of us may not have been aware of.
 
Remember, folks, that you can write to me at the replicainscale@yahoo.com address with comments, corrections, or maybe if you'd just like to pass along a photo or two. I enjoy hearing from you!
 
Be good to your neighbor, and check your references before you publish!
phil

A Little Late But Better Than Never

A Photo By Request

A couple of days ago we ran a photo of an A-4C tanking off an A-26. I'm still looking for details of the test program in hopes that we can do a small feature some day, but in the meantime I've been asked if there are any other photos of that A-26 tanking incongruous aircraft. By the oddest of coincidences (and thanks once again to the kindness of John Kerr) there is one other shot that might be of interest. It's another NATC bird, this time an A3J-1, getting ready to engage the basket. Jim Bates, who posed the question regarding additional photography, tells us that the A-26 was possibly owned by Beech, and that the pod on the Invader  ended up as a production item, most notably being used on the CC-137s of the Canadian Armed Forces. Thanks, Jim, for your input on this one!

Can We Have a Day Without a Scooter?

But of course! Today's not the day, though, just in case you were wondering. There's been precious little progress on the Hasegawa effort presently underway over here, but I've managed to dig up another couple of photos that might be of interest to anybody building (or contemplating building) the model.

Our first shot is another one taken by Frank Garcia when he was assigned to the FDR back in 1961. It's a VA-12 (Flying Ubangis; they have another, extraordinarily rude, nickname, but in the interest of maintaining a site that anybody can visit we aren't going to mention it here) A-4C and the photograph is notable because it illustrates the use of a TER rack on the centerline. Note the date; this is not a wartime bird. FDR was in the Med at the time the photo was taken.

Next up is a shot of an A-4C sporting a load of Mk76 practice bombs. The aircraft is an A-4C of VMA-225, and the photo was taken at Roosevelt Roads in 1963. Of interest is the Corrogard on the leading edges of the deployed slats and the wing station, and the "No Push" lettering on the slat. Note the general level of filth on the wheel. This is an operational aircraft! USMC via Wogstad

Finally, here's a shot of an AGM-12 Bullpup undergoing trials with the NATC.The aircraft is an A-4B (BuNo142837) and the photo shows to advantage the way the missile mounted to the wing station. This bird is somewhat cleaner than the VMA-225 specimen in the photo above! USN via Wogstad.

It's worth noting, and the Bullpup photo shown above is a fine example of it, that the AGM-12 family was based on bombs of the Aero-1A shape developed by Ed Heinemann for the F3D. The family encompassed bombs but the shape also extended to drop tanks and, consequently, the Navy's "Buddy Store" refueling pod. The photo shows this to considerable advantage; the guidance package on the nose is clearly defined, as is the mounting of the fin section aft. The Mk82 bomb shape is extremely evident in the mid-section of the weapon.

A Rough Day at School

I'll admit it; I'm one of those folks who think you can never have too many Zeros on the shelf! (My friend Frank tells me it's bordering on being an obsession. He usually tells me that just before he shows me another 58th FG P-47D that he's finished---I think he's up to Number 15 or 16 now...) In my world the A6M series pretty much has it all: a unique design in many respects, a world-beater when it first entered service, and a sad relic of better days by the end of the war. The aircraft was dangerous in the right hands, but by August of 1945 the danger was primarily to the largely unskilled pilots tasked with flying the aircraft in combat, although some of the Imperial Navy's "old hands" were still around to ruin your day if you got too cocky.

This isn't about the fighters though, but rather about one of the lesser-known variants of the Zeke; the A6M2-K two-seat trainer. The aircraft first showed up as a 1/48th-scale model a couple of years ago when Hasegawa released their extremely limited Zero set, which was comprised of one kit each of every significant A6M variant ever built, including two prototypes and, wonder of wonders; the A6M2-K! Not many people built the kits in that set, prefering instead to set it back as either a Treasured Possession (a Good Thing in my book) or an investment to be sold for an outrageous profit at some yet-to-be-determined time. (Not a Good Thing in my book, but then I've never really understood the collecting mentality either...) You couldn't get the thing by itself, making it a rarity of the highest order.

Then Hasegawa began to release the Zero kits in that set as individual boxings, one at a time and in random order. There was no doubt they'd release the two-seater in that fashion too, since it was part of The Set. It was all a matter of when, not if.

And they did indeed release it. My Favorite Local Hobby Shop in Austin didn't have it on their radar so they only ordered a couple, and they were gone before I even knew they'd arrived. Bummer! Frenzied telephone calls to other area shops revealed that yep; they'd had the kit, but they'd only gotten one or two and they were sold the day they came in. Double Bummer! Well, there was still the internet, but it was a dead-end too. Every single on-line shop that said they had the kit didn't have it anymore, because they'd all sold out almost immediately. Bummer yet again!

So there I was, Triple-Bummed, and visiting my friend Frank. "Hey Phil; look what I found over at (un-named national-chain mega-hobby-shop); a two-seat Zero!" My immediate verbal response was one of kind enthusiasm for his good fortune, but deep down inside I was bummed yet again! Still, I wasn't ready to break up that set to get the kit. It would come when it was time and not before.

Fast-forward to last Christmas. Frank and I are friends, which I suspect I've mentioned a time or two before, and our families always exchange gifts. Frank had one of those "you're really going to like this one" grins on his face when he gave me my present and, without doubt, it was special, because he'd given me his A6M2-K kit! Remember a few entries back when I said that we needed friends in the hobby, and that Frank was one of mine? There's a lesson there, ya'll. Good things happen. It's karma.

Anyway, on to the kit. I've read a couple of reviews of it that suggest that there could possibly be some issues with the fuselage shape and certain details thereof. There may well be, but if they are they're not corrected on my model, nor will they be! The model you see before you was built box-stock except for the usual addition of Eduard Zoom belts and, in this case, a mish-mash of decals to allow the construction of an A6M2-K from the Genzan NAG, who were a training establishment based in Korea and operating a mixed bag of single and two-seat Zeros. The American invasion of Okinawa brought a halt to that, and the unit was largely depleted flying Special Attack missions against the US Fleet operating off the coast of that island.

The two seaters could carry a centerline store as well as a couple of small (60kg) bombs under the wings. The model shows an aircraft with a centerline gas bag and the wing-mounted bomb racks. I'm not entirely certain that the model properly depicts the colors on the spinner and prop blades; by the invasion of Okinawa Mitsubishi had changed over to brown spinners and blades, but there are photographs of A6M2-Ks with the natural-metal prop blade faces and spinners in plenty, and the photos of the Genzan that I've been priviledged to see are taken from too great a distance to confirm anything more than that the airplane I modeled had a light-colored spinner cap on a dark base. I chose to model it with a brown base and yellow cap; it may be correct, but then again it may not be. It was a Best-Guess, ya'll. There was also a small "4" in a circle, both in yellow, on the fin above the aircraft number. I'll add it someday, presuming I ever find a decal that will work, but it's not there now. Life is difficult and then you die...

I like the way the model turned out, though. It looks like The Real Deal, which is what matters to me at this point in my life, and like all members of the Hasegawa Zero family it's an easy date. Who can ask for more?

And that's what I know for today. See you again soon,
phil

Time to Talk of Things That Hang

Are we ready?

Not by a long shot, at least if the topic is modeling the A-4. There's been substantial progress, but the simple fact of the matter is that it's been slow going, primarily due to the unscheduled interference of Real Life. No matter, though, because there's still quite a bit we can talk about. Friends, and I actually do have some, tell me that I can always find something to talk about. I'm not entirely certain that was meant to be a compliment, but that's how I'm taking it. Let's talk!

Loading for an Alpha Strike

First, a premise. The Douglas A-4 was designed and built to drop bombs and shoot rockets at people judged to be Bad Guys and worthy of such attention. It could also tow targets, pass gas (with a Buddy Pack attached), and give a truly spectacular aerobatic demonstration with folks like the Blue Angels but, when all was said and done, it was a bomber pure and simple. The aircraft could be fitted out with a variety of weapons, some of which had the capability to melt sand into smoking green glass, but we're going to discuss the conventional stuff as used during The Late Southeast Asia War Games. There's no intention of this ever being the last word on same; for that we need to hope that either Jim Wogstad or Jim Rotramel will finish up and publish their respective projects on United States aviation ordnance. What you're reading here is a modeler's look at what to hang on a Vietnam-era A-4C and nothing more. With any luck you're ok with that.

Where Do We Hang That Stuff?

OK, here's some basics: The A-4C (originally the A4D-2N) is a three-station aircraft, as were the A-4A and A-4B that preceeded it in service. Subsequent variants had four-station wings with an additional pair of hardpoints outboard that, in combination with the centerline mounts, made for that five-station aircraft we mentioned. In other words, the A-4C can carry ordnance on the centerline and on one hardpoint on each wing.

Early in the Scooter's career the work was begun on racking systems capable of carrying multiple weapons at one time. That work led to the MER (Multiple Ejector Rack) and TER (Triple Ejector Rack) of the Vietnam era. The MERs could carry up to six individual weapons, while the TERS were restricted to three. The MER was the rack most often found on the Charlie, and was usually mounted on the aircraft's centerline station. All three stations on the A-4C were plumbed and could be used as pylons for fuel tanks as well as weapons.

Gas Bags

Let's get the fuel tanks out of the way first. They came in two varieties; 150 and 300 gallon, but wartime aircraft are almost never seen with the smaller tanks. The 300-gallon tanks can differ in appearance too, for very practical reasons. The "normal" configuration is the one most folks expect to see on an A-4 and has a pointy tail cap with fins. That one shows up under the wings. There's a variation of that, with a bobbed and rounded cap at the tail, that also shows up mounted under the wings. Then there's a third variation with a flat cap at the rear; that one is intended specifically for use on the centerline station and has the flat cap to allow complete access to the Scooter's "aft hell hole", a hinged access panel between the flaps that provides access to the aircraft's single-point refueling system (and also prevents the possibility of the extreme tail of one of the "pointy" tanks striking the deck during the catapult launch of a fully loaded aircraft, an extremely rare occurance but a possibility nontheless). The "bobtailed" tanks (as opposed to what I'm going to call the "flat-caps") could be found on any station, but the Scooter normally carried its extra gas on the wings, with the centerline reserved for ordnance.

Then there's the Buddy Store. You won't see one on an aircraft configured for combat, but if you decide your model needs one it goes on the centerline only. I think you may have to make your own if you go that route, but it's been so long since I've built a jet I'm just not sure. It's an easy mod in any case.

Finally, the A-4 was essentially a short-ranged aircraft and needed that extra fuel. Distance to target and type of ordnance would dictate how much extra fuel was carried and where the tanks were located, but those gas bags would be there. A model of any Vietnam Skyhawk needs to have a tank or tanks on it.

Things That Go Boom!

With the extra fuel out of the way, it's time to talk about ordnance. Not ordinance, which are rules, but ordnance, which are weapons. Got that? Good! With that out of the way, let's talk about carriage of weapons, and then about kinds of weapons. As always, it's best to have a photo of the aircraft you want to build rather than an active imagination.

First, where do you put your MERs? Fact is, they could be fitted to any one of the three hardpoints on the Charlie, and photographic evidence shows that they were, but the "normal" location was on the centerline (Station 2), with gasbags on Stations 1 and 3. Then, how do you load them? That seems like such an obvious question, since there are six places to hang things on a MER, but there's a catch! Shore-based Scoots, most often operated by the Marines but also, on occasion, by the Navy, generally flew with all six locations loaded. It was different on the boat, though, because the bomb in the middle at the aft end of the rack was perfectly situated to smack the deck during a cat shot, so that station was frequently left empty on ship-board A-4s. I would strongly suggest not putting anything there on your model, either, both because of accuracy and because it looks pretty cool too---most people don't expect to see that empty rack back there.

OK, now you've got racks and tanks. Let's load 'em.

Bombs

The bomb was the most common ordnance used by the Skyhawk during the war. The Navy's standard bombs for most of the conflict were the Mk81 250# General Purpose Bomb; the Mk82 500# GP Bomb; the Mk83 1000# Bomb; and the Mk84 2000# Bomb, in either low-drag or "Snake Eye/SERET" high-drag configuration. Of these the Mk82 is far and away the the one you'll most often find on the Scooter and, I think, the biggest one they could lug around on the MER. (I've seen photos of Scooters with fully-loaded MERs on the inboard wing racks, thoroughly unapproved due to weight restrictions but apparently done at least a couple of times, probably by Marine aircraft, in combat. Yikes!) Early in the war a modest amount of stored ordnance (from WW2 and Korea) was expended but was considered to be largely ineffective and unreliable and its use was discontinued fairly quickly. Limited use was also made of the 750# M117, primarily by the Marine Corps at DaNang. That particular weapon was unsatifactory to the Navy and was rarely carried by their A-4s.

One point to watch, at least if you're using one of the Mk-Something-or-Other bombs, is the surface finish of the items you put on your model. The bomb casings were in an as-manufactured condition for most of the war, but the horrific accidents on the Oriskany and Forrestal led to the introduction of an ablative coating late in the conflict, in the hopes that it would delay the unintentional detonation of bombs involved in a shipboard fire. That coating appears as a highly wrinkled surface finish on the body of the bomb only; not on the fins. Standard paint color is olive drab for any bomb used during the war.

Napalm

Ask anybody serving on a carrier during the Vietnam era which weapon made them the most nervous and most will reply "napalm". The stuff isn't as dangerous as you might think, and is in truth extremely difficult to ignite without a detonator, but it's scary stuff nontheless. It was used throughout the war for antipersonnel work, and was highly effective in that role. Nape cans were rarely painted and most often appeared in natural aluminum with minimal stencilling. The standard loads were on the front three positions of a centerline MER, or on the lower and/or outboard stations of wing-mounted MERs or TERs (and, as with a centerline rack, on the front half of a wing-mounted MER).

Rocket Pods


We're talking Vietnam here, so rocket pods will basically come in two varieties utilizing two types of rockets, the 2.75-inch FFAR and the Zuni. The 2.75s were carried in either the 7-round or 19-round variations of the LAU-3 rocket pod with the 7-round seeming to be the more commonly used of the two, while the Zuni was launched from the 4-round LAU-10. Aerodynamic fiberglass covers could be fitted to either end of these pods, although they worked just fine without them. From a practical standpoint either of these pods could mount to any station on the Scooter, but as a modeler you need to let Good Sense prevail. You could, for example, mount a LAU-3 to all the stations of a MER as long as you left off the protective caps, but the fallacy of that sort of madness should be pretty evident to you without me even having to say anything; in Real Life the rockets in the pods at the back of the MER would have to fire through the pods attached to the front of same, a practice that would severely limit the ability of the shooter to collect his retirement pay. And yes; this is an absurd thing to mention, except that somewhere, sometime, some modeler will do it. That person need not be you.

One further note while we're talking about rockets: The A-4's only MiG kill of the entire SEA conflict came on 1 May, 1967, when VA-76's Ted Swartz nailed a MiG-17 with a Zuni. That's not the best way to shoot down another airplane, but there's no doubt it works!

Missiles


Although the AGM-45 "Shrike" was carried by the later Skyhawk variants (VA-212 is noted as having done it), only two types of guided missiles were utilized by the earlier, 3-station birds. The AIM-9B "Sidewinder" was used by Scooters employed as CAP aircraft for those ASW carriers still operated by the Navy during the war, with two rounds being attached to a LAU-7 rail on Stations 1 and 3 for a total of four missiles. The other weapon, the AGM-12 "Bullpup", is perhaps the most famous missile ever carried by the A-4, at least as far as scale modelers are concerned. That fame comes not from any operational success, but rather because almost every kit of the A-4 ever issued had a pair of "Bullpups" included with the model.

"Bullpup" was an interesting round to say the least, being a standard 250# GP bomb with a different fin arrangement (which included the tracking flare) and a guidance unit attached to the nose. You can tell when an A-4 has been configured to carry the missile because a small blade antenna had to be added to the nose gear door to allow guidance transmissions to the weapon. A small control panel, complete with joystick, was mounted to the left-side cockpit console so the pilot could "fly" the thing to the target through visual acquistion of that very bright, and sometimes disorienting, flare at the back of the missile; "Bullpup" most assuredly was not of the launch-and-leave variety of weaponry. It had to be steered all the way to the target and it's guidance parameters (I think it was something like 12-degrees on "Bullpup A", which is the round we're discussing here) meant that the launch aircraft had to fly almost directly behind the missile until it impacted the target. If command lock was broken the missile would immediately become ballistic and unguided, resulting in a miss and a wasted mission. Those guidance parameters ensured that "Bullpup" missions were somewhat less than fondly regarded by those who flew them. The AGM-12 could mount to any station on the Charlie but was conventionally carried on the wing positions.

Gunpods

Yep; gunpods. The A-4C could and did occasionally carry the HIPEG 20mm gun pod in combat. This twin-gun weapon was deadly when employed in the strafing role but, as with "Bullpup", required that the aircraft fly a predictable flight path which in turn provided North Vietnamese AAA gunners with a relatively simple tracking solution. HIPEG proved to be far more popular in operations over South Vietnam; in the North, strafing was nobody's favorite pastime and a highly unhealthy occupation as well. As with most weapons found on the Charlie, the HIPEG can mount to any station via use of an adaptor rail.

Is He Done Yet?

Yep. All finished, almost. This is nearly the end of the weapons part of our Scooter Adventure, but I really ought to remind you one more time to look at lots of pictures of early A-4s before you go sticking ordnance on there, at least if you want to end up with an accurate model. As with almost every aspect of our hobby a good photograph, or two or ten, is a Very Good Thing.

Finally, you might wonder about the illustrations, and rightfully so. They were originally generated (or annotated, in the case of the drawing that's so obviously of a technical nature) for a piece that never got published Way Back When; that "technical" drawing was intended for use with the 1/72nd scale Fujimi A-4C and therefore mentions a missing approach light and a "short" refueling probe, neither of which are an issue with the 1/48th Hasegawa kit. The Morgan Brothers, Rick and Mark, helped considerably both with the drawings and with technical information in general---many thanks, Bros!---and your model will be that much more accurate because of them.

The photo is via my old friend John Kerr (where does he come up with this stuff?) and shows A-4C BuNo145070 tanking off a contract A-26. The Scooter is from the NATC but that's about all I know; if you can add anything to our knowledge of this photo please drop me an e-mail at replicainscale@yahoo.com .

We get by with a little help from our friends...

Be good to your neighbor, and we'll see you again real soon.

phil

Thoughts For a Friday

Progress on the Scooter

There's been some of that. Progress, I mean. All the big pieces are on the fuselage and the wings are together, and the parts that are going to end up being Insignia Red have all been painted without getting an undue amount of red paint on me. That's quite an accomplishment, although there's no way you could've possibly known that. I rarely spill anything else, but red paint is, and pretty much always has been, an invitation to complete and absolute disaster as far as spills in my house are concerned. Give me a bottle of red paint and I guarantee you that I'll end up wearing some significant portion of it, almost every time. It never fails. Of course, the worst thing I've ever managed to do with red paint doesn't even come close to the time another one of my mentors from The Good Old Days managed to tump (that's a word, "tump", because I'm using it---if I wasn't using it it might not be one, but I am so it is) a nearly-full can of Floquil DioSol into his waiting lap, thus inducing a physical reaction that we shall call The Diosol Boogie and Subsequent Maddened Dash to the Showers. And you didn't think modeling was a risk sport!

But we digress. The interior is in place, the model has been ballasted, and most of the sanding is complete. (Yes, that was accomplished in less than 3 days and yes; I probably do have way too much time on my hands!) I've learned a couple of things about Hasegawa's A-4 family along the way, and I'd like to share them with you:

1. Everything fits just fine if you treat the kit as if it were a 1/48th or 1/32nd Hasegawa P-40. It's modular to an extent, and careful pre-fitting is your friend. So is attaching the halves of the nose to the appropriate halves of the fuselage before joining said fuselage. Care in fitting will minimize the putty/sand/curse part of the evolution.
   
2. The tub for the interior and nose gear bay fits farther forward in the fuselage than you might expect. That gear bay has to end up all the way forward, and the detail that Hasegawa provided to attach to the aft side of the cockpit bulkhead has to be visible; if it's hidden inside the fuselage you've got things too far back. Fix it now or forever hold your pieces. (I had to say that---this is, after all, a scale modeling forum! Apologies all around.)
   
3. Hasegawa may well have provided us with every single projection, lump, and bump that could possibly be found on the Scooter, the vent tubes on the auxiliary tanks (henceforth to be called "gasbags")are a fine example of that. They're represented by tiny pips that you'll inevitably sand away when you get to that part of the build, thus causing you to do an insignificant amount of scratchbuilding to replace them. There are other, similar features on the model and you might want to be prepared to make up a few tiny bits as you go along, because you'll almost certainly sand something off. This is one kit that requires you to pay absolute attention to what you're doing. Forewarned is forearmed.

Building this thing really isn't that much of a deal if you aren't opening panels, adding loads of scratchbuilt parts, and so on. We aren't doing that, or at least I'm not doing it, so it's not much of an issue. Instead, we'll spend most of our time talking about finishing the thing; that would involve paintwork, markings, aircraft configuration, weathering, and ordnance. Maybe someday somebody will do one of those "Modeling the ..." books on the Scooter. It won't be me, but maybe somebody will. That's a rambling way (and I have no other way, as I'm certain you've discovered by now) of telling you that we'll discuss the potential pitfalls and problems with the build, but we aren't doing a blow-by-blow account complete with annotated pictures, background music, and dancing girls. When we're done we ought to have a pretty fair Scooter. That accomplishes the purpose, I think, and we'll do a little more on that next week, but for now:

We Never Had It So Good

It's not unusual for us to complain about one thing or another on the kits we have available to us nowadays. Way back when, a long, long time ago, there was no such thing as an authentic, easy-to-build plastic scale model. That sort of thing came to us in 1939 with the advent of Frog's very first plastic kits, but prior to that display models were made out of wood. Some were carved from scratch, and some were from boxes full of miniature lumber that we're going to call "kits" (it's a humor thing, that, and highly optimistic to boot), but whatever they were made of, they were all wood, with maybe the odd bit of wire or acetate thrown in for good measure. What you started out with wasn't very much, and what you ended up with was entirely up to you and your skills, or lack of same. Funny how some things never change, huh?

Anyway, you see before you in the pictures a fine example of 1940s modeling at its best. The model is a more-or-less Martin B-26MA Marauder (note the short wings and empennage, spinners, and tail turret!) with package guns more appropriate to the later variants of this aircraft, and that's pretty close to being in 1/72nd scale. It was built during WW2 by my First Former Father-in-Law, Jim Denson, and he did a good job of it, all things considered. Notice that the "scribing" was done with a knife and is limited to just a few significant features such as control surfaces, cowling panels, and canopy frames, and that some details (mostly the gear doors) were done from stiff paper. I have no idea who manufactured the kit; Strombecker comes to mind as a possible culprit but there were other companies doing this sort of model too. May you know who's kit it was. I don't have a clue.

What I do know, however, is that Jim painted the thing with real Olive Drab and Neutral Gray paint direct from the paint locker on the flight line. It looks odd under artificial light, but out in the sunshine (the absolute best lighting you can possibly have for color fidelity) it all comes together. Markings were apparently done with cut-out-and-color paper images from the instruction sheet that were glued to the model and they haven't withstood the test of time very well, joining such items as propeller blades and gun barrels in a departure from contribution to the scale effect. (Huh?) Still, the model survived not only 66 years of existence but also the play habits of Jim's kids. Most of it is still there, and it's in good shape too.

Jim isn't with us any more; fewer and fewer of The Greatest Generation are. He left a treasure behind in his Marauder, though. It holds an honored place in my collection, and just may be the model I'm proudest of. Thanks Jim!

Old Dogs

Ever have one of those models sitting on the shelf that you liked but not really? You know the kind; it's too bad to brag about and too good to throw away. We all have them, and we all, sooner or later, end up wishing we didn't. The Spitfire you see before you is one of those models. It's the respected Tamiya Spitfire MkI, uncorrected wing-to-aft-fuselage curvature and all. It was built four or five years ago, but the best I could ever say for it was that it was OK. Not good, and certainly not great, but OK.

It finally got to me a couple of weeks ago, and I decided to do something about it. There were options, of course. I could've just scrapped the thing out and pitched it, but that was a little too severe. I could've taken it apart for pieces ("reduce to produce" is the operable phrase here, I think) and thrown away the hulk, but I didn't want to do that either. That left me with what was behind Door Number 3: a general freshening up coupled with some weathering (the model as-built was pristine and suffered because of it) and a little bit of additional detailing. That was the path taken.

The model was originally completed as Robert Stanford-Tuck's GR+P N3249 as flown with No. 92 Squadron in May of 1940. That particular scheme had been chosen because I had a decal sheet for it (Victory Productions VP48006) and I liked the markings. Those markings were left alone, and the cleanup began.

First off was a good coat of Testor Metalizer Sealer. It's acrylic-based and doesn't mind moderate applications of oil paint thinned with turpentine, which is what was used to accentuate the panel lines that I'd ignored when the thing was built. That was followed by an application of DullCote, which provided the base required for moderately heavy weathering with pastels and a silver pencil. ("Gee Phil; I bet that airplane was beat all to hell in real life. Why's it so clean?") That took care of the airframe.

The interior was ok, having had the addition of the ubiquitous Eduard Zoom set at the time of initial building. Exterior detailing was mostly ok too, with a couple of caveats. When the thing was built I made the decision to use True Details wheels. Unfortunately, a great many of their wheel sets offer what can only be described as pre-flattened tires, and the set for the Spitfire was no exception. Even more unfortunately, said wheels were attached with 5-minute epoxy because I got sick of knocking them off (all the cyanoacrylates are great in tensile but lousy in shear, and I'd drilled the holes a little too big when prepping them, setting up the tiny bit of play necessary for them to be knocked off, hence the expoxy). I suspect it will now take something approaching thermonuclear war to separate those accursed wheels from the airframe so they're still there. Live and learn.

The final detail was the antenna wire suite that I'd been too lazy to add when the model was initially built. N3249 apparently had a UHF radio fitted (the mount for it is that little "tab" thingy that sticks off the back of the radio mast) so that wire was added along with a set of antennae for the IFF set; those three little extra pieces of stretched sprue added quite a bit to the final appearance of the model.

There are still a couple of little things yet to do, presuming I ever get around to them: Those red patches over the guns are missing, and there's a small brass placard that needs to go on the starboard cowling just below the hole for the starter crank. It's possible that there are other issues as well, since I saw a feature on this very aircraft a while back that noted more problems than I fixed. Maybe I can find that article some day. It'll be a dandy excuse for another rework of this airframe!

Why There Isn't a Forum Anywhere On This Blog

Nobody asked but somebody will. (Sounds like a song title, doesn't it?) Where's the forum? Howcome we can't engage in free and open discussion on this site? Why can't we share ideas? Why is there air?

Well, Gang, I thought about adding a place for public discussion but decided against it after looking at all those forums on other sites (not just modeling-related). Things get a little sporty in those places sometimes, and the friction created, intentional or otherwise, just isn't anything I want to have here. I'm extremely interested in what you have to say, though, and am going to invite you to e-mail your comments to replicainscale@yahoo.com . I can't promise I'll post them, although I might, but what you think is important. Just remember, it's only me over here and the chances that I can maintain this site, learn how to do it better (and boy do I need to learn how to do that), answer all the possible correspondence, and still build the occasional model is problematical in the extreme, so you may not always receive an answer. Your message will be read, however; I can guarantee that much anyway.

Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo

Since it's Friday and we're in a kicked-back mode over here, let's consider something of a tangent for a minute. Back in 1966 or so there was a song on what was then called an "underground" album entitled "Ode to a Hawker Hurricane". I can't remember the band (Mr. Aging is not our friend) or the album name, although The Peanut Butter Conspiracy's "Is Spreading" (a real band and a real album; this ain't no joke, ya'll) comes to mind as a possibility. Then there was a song in the 80s that seemed to be about the debt owed by the British to the guys who fought the Battle of Britain (I can remember the video, done back in an era when MTV actually showed a lot of music videos, but not the name of the song or the album) and I think the band might, might have been FM, but I'm not sure of that either. I do know, with absolute certainty, that Captain Lockheed and The Starfighters (a project name for a couple of the guys from Hawkwind about the Federal German F-104 scandal of the 1960s) is a real album and one well worth obtaining if you can find it. Are there others? Does anybody know? (Does anybody care?) It's always been odd to me that anybody in popular music would write about military aviation at all, but people have obviously done that.

This particular aside wasn't/isn't any sort of test or anything. It's just that kind of day around here. Still, there must be other songs about airplanes out there. Anybody know what they are?

Farther On Down the Road

Finally, although I think I might have sort-of mentioned this before, my intention with this site is to build it into something similar to what I think the original RIS would have been had we stayed around a little longer. I can build and I can write, but the rest is going to be learning and evolution, and it's going to evolve as quickly as it can given the limited (!) staff, lack of knowledge of the medium, and the constraints of the blog environment. Just thought you ought to know that.

That's it for now. See you next week!
phil

A Little Progress on the Scooter

But maybe not much. the fuselage and nose are together now, and we'll do a little painting in a bit, but it's officially time to start sanding some seams---boredom personified!

We do have a couple of things to talk about, though. The first is holes. Today's illustration is an annotated scan of the instruction sheet for the Charlie, with red circles showing where Hasegawa wants you to drill holes. It's moderately important that you do that before you assemble the fuselage, because it'll make locating those scoops and the blade antenna that lives just aft of the canopy a whole lot easier to do. I've also circled the few areas that need to be filled and sanded, not so much because you'd ever forget to do it, but because I usually do. You'll note, however, that I didn't open up the hole that facilitates installation of the boarding ladder, that being because my intent is to have said ladder either on the ground in an extremely basic diorama, or nowhere near the model. Time will tell on that one.

The interior was simple, and Eduard's belts and harnesses provided a lot of activity in the cockpit, making things really busy in there. That's a Good Thing. The cockpit/nose gear tub fit without any issues, and the ballast was a snap; two .451 round balls epoxied inside the fus immediately behind the cockpit bulkhead, and another one epoxied inside the nose. Three balls may have been overkill but it's not unduly heavy and the model is properly ballasted. (Don't you love it when a plan comes together?)

I almost forgot to mention; there's a jetpipe inside that fuselage too. It has a bulkhead with a representation of the engine's flameholder at the front end, but you'd need a small flashlight to know it's there. There's a certain tempation to eliminate the seam and paint the jetpipe, but the honest truth is that all you can see of it is its insides once it's installed in the model. Paint it if you want to, but unless you open things up nobody will ever see it.

There's another issue too, and one that's really surprising. On the real A-4 the rudder is a single piece of skin with external doublers. It was a quick fix during the early days of flight testing and it's on every operational Scooter ever built. Hasegawa gives us a fine representation of it, but it's really thick, which is a shame, 'cause it's not that way on the real airplane. It won't be that obvious once the model is done so I'm leaving it alone; nowadays I've got enough seniority on life that I build for pleasure, and in my world rebuilding that rudder and the aft part of the vertical stab wouldn't be pleasurable. Feel free to do it on your model if you're so inclined.

Next on my agenda is addition of the intakes and a little more prepainting, plus final bodywork on the fuselage. Somewhere along the way we'll sneak in another couple of photos, but not today. I'm spending the rest of the afternoon in the attic, looking for those old Hasegawa weapons sets left over from the first iteration of RIS, so I can put some Mk 82s on a centerline MER once the model is done. (You'd think there'd be a MER in the kit, but that's not how Hase does things; they've got weapons sets for that, and that's how we get our ordnance. I'm not entirely certain I agree with that philosophy, but that's how it is. It's no Big Thing either way.) That said, we're done for today.

So, be good to your neighbor and we'll see you soon.
phil