Sdkfz 234/2 90% done

90% complete. I need to go and look at the exhaust colour on this otherwise it is done.  Kept this one a lot simpler and only went with the Reseda Opt B over the DGIII basecoat. Tan Filter and a brown pin wash.

1/600th Aircraft - USS Constellation Air Wing 1972 for Downtown

90 Per Cent complete

It comprises, with options, 19 Aircraft of which only 15 will be used in any given scenario. Only four are strike aircraft the rest are have complimentary roles needed to get those bombers onto the target and assess the results.

This is a "typical" arrangement of the strike package as a whole.

• MiGCAP
• Iron Hand
• Strike Force
• Jamming Support
• Post Strike Recon

Which looks like this, with the possible options shown, on the table

The Iron hand section comprises F-4J and either an A-6 or an A-7. 

The Bomber effort from VA-146.  Paul at Tumbling dice sent me some TER from the A-10 kit  

With the option of having two of the A-7 replaced with upto two A-6 from VA-165.  I haven't done the warning triangles on the jet intakes yet.

RVAH-11 'Viggie' to take the post strike photos for BDA

MiGCAP provided by VF-92 

Strike element with the attendance Close Escort F-4Js

Any 'tron is a good 'tron.  Support provided by two EKA-3B

Minor cock up, in that I took the positioning of the rear detail from an early aircraft.  When they jamming pods were fitted the Stars n Bars and NAVY are the other way around with the NAVY sitting under the jamming pod.  As mine don't have the pods modeled on I will leave these as they are.  They also still need the red warning lines added to the jet intake and the tail markings applied (hence 90%)

In all its glory

1/600th Aircraft - USN MiG Killers - Finished (as far as I am going anyway)

As the title says, these are completed to a standard I am happy to game with.  Couple of errors such as decals slipping during the varnish stage and might need to get redone in the future.  The VF-96 aircraft are still in the old scheme as well which really shows and there are a couple of places where the decals aren't the size I wanted.  They are more consistent than other projects

I have put them in Squadron groups rather than day by day chronology:

All done (in a very hazy shot)

 The Singletons (VF-111, VF-161, VF-33, VF-31, VF-103, VF-213

VF-161, VF-111, VF-33 

VF-213, VF-31, VF-103

VF-143, VF-92, VFMA-333

VF-21

VF-142 and VF-161

VF-142

VF-161

VF-96 and VF-114

VF-96 (the old scheme really needs replacing)

VF-161

USN Aircraft update

So while playing with the USAF I have strayed back to do some new USN F-4 Phantoms.

First up is a MiG killer from VF-51.  90% completed just missing the Modex numbers on the wings, which I have now added.

 Again home made decals with the exception of the Stars n Bars which are from Dom.  The Screaming Eagle took me best part of a day and I am still not completely happy with it.  I need to go back and darken the USS CORAL SEA lettering and possibly darken the red as well (as printers rely on the white of the paper for some of the colour perception the red is slightly transparent and I would like to improve that slightly.

This one from VF-151 is an early MiG killer and is used in one of the early Scenarios. I used the lettering from this one for the VF-51 bird above

 

 
This is one of the earliest aircraft I started with, and as such is the first to get a new paint job.  The decals from the original run are still good but the contrast on the new paint is an improvement.

 

 

Now working with small decals and poor eyesight can cause the odd hiccup.  Managed to not only reverse the decal but put it on upside down.

 
This is what it should look like a bit closer up.

 

While browsing I found out that Vallejo Deck Tan is a match for US Gull Grey (36640) so I have been trying out the scheme on some spare aircraft.  The two on the right are the original grey I had chosen and the difference is quite noticeable.  The colour definitely shows up better and doesn't necessarily need to be on a white surface to show through.  Definitely the way ahead.

Early USAF Aircraft

While looking at some early scenarios I found that USAF aircraft appeared in the same gull grey as USN Aircraft.  This is the first F-4 in this livery of an early MiG Killer.

Nightfighter - Next Steps

With the progress on the core elements of Nightfighter progressing reasonable well it would be time to add a couple more aircraft into the painting mix

• ISA282 Grumman F6F Hellcat.  Another pack where I want two models out of the six.  The remaining four will join the Pacifc.
• ISA261 F4U1 Corsair.  From the six in the pack I want two to have a radome added to the Starboard wing for the radar housing.  The rest.....Pacific it is then.
• ISA248 Curtiss Tomahawk.  I am tempted to branch into a bit of Pacific warfare if not these will go to the Mediterranean.
• ISA260A P-38J.  For some reason I ordered these on a whim.  They are the late war variant but in 1/600th I can probably get away with some artistic licence.  Not sure why but I do like aircraft with twin booms.
• ISA827 F7F Tigercat. Another pack where I only want one model.  The rest will go to the spares box unfortunately.
• ISA144 He111H-3.  Seems a pity to use these as straight black decoys.  As I have some unloved Do17 which could do to stand in for markers, I think these will go to the standard forces rather than Nighfighter games.
• ISA141a Me109G. From the pack of 6 I want 2 for Nightfighter.  The other four will join my standard 1/600th Luftwaffe Units.

 

More of Doms Decals on order as well:

• 600-US-2 which should be the 1942 Star in a Blue Circle only for early US aircraft including the P-70A.
• 600-PO-1 Polish Markings.  I want these to go on the Beaufighter as well as some other uses possibly on the wellingtons.
• 300-GE-10b “Other” Markings in pure white for Nightfighters

I am away working for a couple of days so lets hope the postman has these sat waiting when I get home.

Nightfighter - No.307 (Polish) Sqn RAF Beaufighter Mk IF

I need two Beaufighters Mk IF for Nightfighter.  The game calls for them to come from 25 Sqn or the Fighter Interception Unit.  I couldn't find anything I liked so in the end went for N from No.307 Sqn RAF which was a polish unit.

A simple black scheme for this one.  I am looking at one more Beaufighter in a more adventurous scheme probably desert plus a USAAF one based in Corsica.

Decals are from Doms Decals with the Aircraft codes using the LR-100 pack from i-94 Enterprises. 

Nightfighter - Scenario 3 - Wellington

With the new order from Dom came 4 Wellington Bombers for use in Scenario 3.  Following my convention for Painted/Black models these will be 1/3.  The painted one is marked up for as an aircraft of No.301 (Pomeranian) Squadron RAF.

I didn't have enough room to get MG for the Squadron in due to the TD detail but the i-94 enterprise LR-100 letters are a good enough match for my use.