Aircraft Walkaround vol. 40: McDonnell-Douglas F-4C Phamtom II Col. Robin Olds

Subject: McDonnell-Douglas F-4C Phamtom II - Col. Robin Olds Scat XXVII (F-4C-24-MC 64-0829) 

Location: USAF Museum, Dayton, Ohio, USA, 2014.

Comments: First flown in May 1958, the Phantom II originally was developed for U.S. Navy fleet defense. The U.S. Air Force's first version, the F-4C, made its first flight in May 1963, and production deliveries began six months later. Phantom II production ended in 1979 after over 5,000 had been built -- more than 2,600 for the USAF, about 1,200 for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and the rest for friendly foreign nations. 

In 1965 the USAF sent its first F-4Cs to Southeast Asia, where they flew air-to-air missions against North Vietnamese fighters as well as attacking ground targets. The first USAF pilot to score four combat victories with F-4s in Southeast Asia was Col. Robin Olds, a World War II ace. The aircraft on these pictures is the one in which Col. Olds, the pilot, and Lt. Stephen Croker, the weapons system officer, destroyed two MiG-17s in a single day, May 20, 1967. 

In its air-to-ground role, the F-4C could carry twice the normal load of a WWII B-17. The armament loaded on the aircraft on display is a typical configuration for an F-4C in 1967. It consists of four AIM-7E and four AIM-9B air-to-air missiles, and eight 750-pound Mk 117 bombs. The aircraft also carries two external fuel tanks on the outboard pylons and one ALQ-87 electronic countermeasures (ECM) pod on the right inboard pylon. (References: USAF Museum)

Weapons walkaround vol.3 : Fritz X

Subject: Fritz X
Location: RAF Museum, Hendon, London UK, 2013

Comments: The Fritz X was a further development of the high-explosive bomb SD 1400 (Splitterbombe, dickwandig, 1400 kg. It was a penetration weapon intended to be used against heavily protected targets such as heavy cruisers and battleships. It was given a more aerodynamic nose, four stub wings, and a box shaped tail unit, consisting of a roughly 12-sided annular set of fixed surfaces, and a cruciform tail with thick surfaces within the annulus, which themselves contained the aerodynamic controls. The Luftwaffe recognized the difficulty of hitting moving ships during the Spanish Civil War. Dipl. engineer Max Kramer, who worked at the DVL, had been experimenting since 1938 with remote-controlled free-falling 250 kg bombs, and in 1939 fitted radio-controlled spoilers. In 1940, Ruhrstahl was invited to join the development since they already had experience in the development and production of unguided bombs.

On 9 September, the Luftwaffe achieved their greatest success with the weapon. After Pietro Badoglio publicly announced the Italian armistice with the Allies on September 8, 1943, the Italian fleet had steamed out from La Spezia and headed to Malta. To prevent the ships from falling into Allied hands, six Do 217K-2s from III. Gruppe of KG 100 (III/KG 100) took off, each carrying a single Fritz X. The Italian battleship Roma, flagship of the Italian fleet, received two hits and one near miss, and sank after her magazines exploded. 1,255 men, including Admiral Carlo Bergamini, died. Her sister ship, Italia, was also damaged but reached Malta.The American light cruiser Savannah was hit by Fritz-Xs at 10:00 on 11 September 1943 during the invasion of Salerno, and was forced to retire to the United States for repairs. The light cruiser HMS Uganda was hit by a Fritz-X off Salerno at 1440 on 13 September. KG 100 scored another success with Fritz-X while the British battleship Warspite was providing gunfire support at Salerno on 16 September. She took on a total of 5,000 tonnes of water and lost steam (and thus all power, both to the ship herself and to all her systems), but casualties were few.

By the time of Normandy landings, a combination of Allied air supremacy, keeping bombers at bay, and ship-mounted jammers meant the Fritz-X had no significant effect on the invasion fleet. Some accounts say the Norwegian destroyer Svenner was hit by Fritz-X at dawn on D-Day. This is highly unlikely as III./KG 100, the unit which carried the Fritz-X into combat, had largely been re-equipped with the Hs 293 missile by that time for its anti-ship missions, and the attack on Svenner occurred before the first glide bombers launched their assaults on the Normandy beaches.

Military Aircraft vol.67: Nakajima ki27

Subject:	Nakajima Ki27 Type 97 64th Flight Regiment
Scale:	1/48
Manufacturer:	Hasegawa
Price	US$ 80,00
Description	Injection molded, with waterslide decals for the 64th Flight Regiment . Special release with resin figure of Japanese fighter pilot as bonus.
Comments	This is a rebox of this old mold with new decals for the 64th Flight Regiment and a  special bonus resin figure of a Japanese pilot. Overall the kit is very nice with recessed panel lines and rivets. A large sheet of decals for 4 different aircraft is supplied and they are in perfect color and register. Fit is very good, with no filler needed during construction. Painting was done with Tamyia acrylics as usual.

Weapons walkaround vol.2: Grand Slam 22000lb bomb

Subject: Grand Slam 22000lb bomb

Location: RAF Museum, Hendon, London, UK 2013.

Comments: The Grand Slam was a 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) earthquake bomb used by RAF Bomber Command against strategic targets during the Second World War. Known officially as the Bomb, Medium Capacity, 22,000 lb, it was a scaled-up version of the Tallboy bomb and closer to the original size that the bombs' inventor, Barnes Wallis, had envisaged when he first developed his earthquake bomb idea. It was also nicknamed "Ten ton Tess".

Work in progress vol.12: Nakajima Ki27: READY

Subject:	Nakajima Ki27 Type 97 64th Flight Regiment
Scale:	1/48
Manufacturer:	Hasegawa
Price	US$ 80,00
Description	Injection molded, with waterslide decals for the 64th Flight Regiment . Special release with resin figure of Japanese fighter pilot as bonus.
Comments	This is a rebox of this old mold with new decals for the 64th Flight Regiment and a  special bonus resin figure of a Japanese pilot. Overall the kit is very nice with recessed panel lines and rivets. A large sheet of decals for 4 different aircraft is supplied and they are in perfect color and register. Fit is very good, with no filler needed during construction. Painting was done with Tamyia acrylics as usual.

The sprues:

Colors and markings:

Decals:

Bonus Figure:

Construction pictures:

The major parts of the airframe glued:

I decided to paint most of the markings as they look too complex to apply as decals. So a used tamiya yellow for the wings and fuselage. I also painted with tamiya acrylics the small white fuselage band. Then, i masked with tamiya tape and painted the airframe IJN Grey also from Tamiya. After that i maked the grey around the large fuselage band and wings and added the small white detail. Once this was done, all the panel lines were highlighted with a 0,3mm pencil.Everything was sealed with future for the decal application.