bobmig

The official colour was yellow 505-101, very similar to FS 13538, but a bit "yellower".

Don't know how helpful these may be... after all, I did them 37 years ago! They were for the publication "CF-101 Voodoo" in the "Canadian Profile" series. Bob

Thanks, everyone, for your input. With all your help I now understand what it's all about. Yes... a 'ballast box' as part of the AT-38B modification. Later, when they were upgraded to T-38Cs, the box (empty) was just left as part of the airframe. That's why there are relatively few Cs with the mod. Bob

That crossed my mind, though it seemed a bit out of place on a trainer. Bob

While browsing through photos of T-38s something caught my eye. Although the majority of the aircraft have what I would call a “standard” fin/rudder assembly, some have an addition with some kind of antenna or sensor that extends out over the exhaust nozzles. Just what is this thing? And why would it only be added to some aircraft? Here’s what I refer to as the “standard” configuration. Here are a couple shots of the addition.

Fixed! Thanks for the heads-up! Man... I hate Adobe Dreamweaver! Bob

Announcing two new decal sheets! First, there’s a sheet of 1/48 Convair F-106B Delta Dart markings which is designed for the 1/48 Trumpeter kit. Following on with our very popular ANG P-51 series, we have 1/48 scale ANG Mustangs part 3. Here are images of the instructions and the decals. Available now from our website - www.iliad-design.com

As I understand it, the HU-16s operating in Viet Nam were originally in standard overall aluminum lacquer finish with hi-vis markings. This was eventually changed to the more suitable scheme of a Sea Blue over Light Grey. After all… who would want to fly low or land in hostile waters wearing an aluminum finish?! Since the blue/grey finish was applied locally as aircraft arrived in theatre, there is naturally a great deal of variation between aircraft as far as colour demarcation goes. Some even tried to create the effect of an “intermediate” blue between the two. None of the photos I’ve seen indicate anything like a gloss finish, all looking matt or semi-gloss at best. I’ve also not seen anything official indicating if the blue was an official government-stocked colour, or something mixed on site. Here are a few more photos of ‘blue/grey’ HU-16s, both operational and in storage at MASDC. Sorry, but I can’t remember who sent me the slides many years ago.

If it appears to be black in a photo, it probably is. Both were acceptable. As T.O. 1-1-4 puts it:

As I understand it from my research the Berlin crisis caught the allies somewhat by surprise, and there was a scramble to find aircraft that could be used to supply the city. At first – at least until things really got organized and larger aircraft could be brought to Germany – C-47s were the only types available in any number, and they were brought in from all over Europe. I think the haphazard schemes and shabby appearance of so many of them is because in the race to make them airlift serviceable they were refurbished with whatever parts were available... freshly painted wings from storage, bits and pieces from unserviceable "boneyard" aircraft, fresh aluminum-painted control surfaces, dabs of fresh paint here and there, often obliterating old unit markings, etc. Whatever could be done to make them airworthy as quickly as possible, with no thought given to how they looked at all. Once the larger C-54s and other types started arriving the C-47s were phased out. Now, as to the overall green/Dark Olive Drab aircraft. I haven't been able to find any official reference to an overall scheme for this period. I agree that this was probably done with an eye toward their being used for 'diplomatic' service – attached to an embassy or used by the military attaches in various countries. I would speculate that in an attempt to give a 'diplomatic' aircraft a more presentable appearance an older wartime machine might be painted overall in a single colour. Post war there would be no real need for camouflage, and it would be easier to paint it than strip the old finish and polish it. Bob

No offence intended, Mike. I'm just saying that according to Canada Post regs acceptable items for "letter mail" include, "Paper or other material with the general characteristics of paper (e.g. tickets, photographs, etc.)". That, and if the size is within Canada Post's "oversize" template (380mm x 270mm x 20mm) and under 500 g, it can be sent as oversize letter mail. Now... what the UK postal authorities do with it when it arrives is another matter. Also, and I may be wrong, I didn't think first-class letter mail was subject to being opened and inspected – barring alerts from X-ray machines or sniffer dogs! ... But let's get back to discussing Voodoos – they're much more fun than government regs!

While full-blown parcels may be subject to customs duties and taxes, decals can be shipped in first-class envelopes and mailers, and should not be subject to the above. I've been sending decals to the UK for years as regular first-class mail in Stay-Flat cardboard mailers and have never heard of a problem. So if all you're ordering is a decal sheet or two you should get it without any hassle... provided the vendor knows what he's doing. (You might ask how it will be sent.) Bob

To muddy the waters a bit more, here's a screen grab I took years ago. I don't know anything about it beyond what it says. The URL is mostly visible, so perhaps someone could do some sleuthing. http://www.iliad-design.com/misc/brit/Stinky.jpg

Yes, Graham is correct in that an RAF-style flash was standard. And as a bonus, here's a little primer on ortho vs pan film from a 2017 issue of IPMS Canada's beaveRTales that you might find useful. http://www.iliad-design.com/misc/brit/film.pdf

Here's a page from our book, Colors of the Falcons, with some info on interior colours. http://www.iliad-design.com/misc/Fpage46.pdf

Yup!... here are photos of both sides http://www.iliad-design.com/5057.html

The last St. Louis-built F-4 also had the "blueless-bar" insignia. It's one of the subjects on out "Milestone Phantoms" decal sheet. http://iliad-design.com/decals/48milestones.html

I think it's unlikely the ANG of a state would ever have access to nuclear weapons... unless federalized in wartime conditions. However, they may well have trained with dummy rounds to keep their skills sharp. Bob

The October 2017 issue of IPMS Canada's emailed newsletter, beaveRTales (as opposed to their printed magazine, RT) had an article on ortho vs pan film which you might find interesting: https://www.ipmscanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/beaveRTales_10_2017.pdf

No... the reprint is the same, with a couple of typos corrected.

As editor and publisher I don't feel it would be appropriate to blow my own horn. Instead, here's a link to a short IPMS USA review. One thing to note... since this review the book has been reprinted, and the price has been reduced to $14.95 (plus shipping). https://web.ipmsusa3.org/content/colors-falcons-soviet-aircraft-camouflage-and-markings-world-war-ii

On page 48 of our book, "Colors of the Falcons", it states: “Metal propeller blades were originally finished on the rear face only, using gloss black oil enamel AE-11 or nitro enamel DM paint. The overall matt finishing of the blades was introduced only in 1941, using the paints A-26m or AMT‑6. In either case painting was preceded by applying an ALG-1 or ALG-5 primer. On those blades where AMT-6 was used, a reddish-brown primer, 138A, was also applied. It was only after the war that propeller tips were painted medium yellow, for a distance of 15-20 cm.” This may be where the "rust colour" prop blades comes from.

If you're looking for 1/72 scale, our B-25B, C &D sheet has some colourful subjects. While not OD/NG, the OD and white aircraft is a looker! Bob

Here's a link to a good Indian Air Force site. This takes you to the Spitfire page, but from there you can browse and explore the history and various other aircraft pages: http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/aircraft/past/919-spitfire.html#Mk XIV

Maybe this will help a bit – from an old issue of IPMS Canada's magazine, RT.