French Air Force Skyraider. Tamiya 1/48

[Buzby061]

The fourth one this year, a record for me! It's the Tamiya 1/48 Skyraider in a French Air Force scheme with MDC update set & decals. They were used in the Counter Insurgency role in Algeria. This particular aircraft was operated by EC2/20 "Ouarsenis" from Boufarik in 1961.

 

The MDC set includes resin aerials, rockets & rocket rails as well as brass fins for the rockets. These were individual, 4 for each rocket x 12 rockets = 48 fins. I made such a town halls of the first one that I gave up. The kit itself goes together without any problems, as you'd expect with Tamiya.

 

I'm reasonably pleased with the results, any comments or criticisms welcome.

 

Pete

 

 

 

 

 

 

[(ex)Sgtrafman]

Well that turned out well 😎

 

Great job mate.

 

Iain

 

[PattheCat]

You should be more than reasonably pleased with that one. You gave a very lifelike look to it. I really like the metal finish and the "battering" you put on the drop tanks.

Great job  

[Learstang]

Tres bien! I love the Spad and you did a fine job on the old girl! She looks great in the French markings - something a little different from the SEAC or USN colours and markings you usually see them in.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

Edited December 28, 2017 by Learstang
Minor correction.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Great job on this Skyraider ! 👍

[VG 33]

Very nice Mousquetaires !

 

Patrick

[Vultures1]

Cracking French Skyraider!

[ModellerUK]

Looks great with the flaps down, should the elevators be down too? As they were cable controlled weren’t they 

[Buzby061]

6 minutes ago, ModellerUK said:

Looks great with the flaps down, should the elevators be down too? As they were cable controlled weren’t they 

You might be right but the kit doesn't give you the option & I never thought they might need to be dropped. That's what I like about this forum, there's so much knowledge out there.

 

Pete

[stevej60]

Excellent build and finish.

[Reini78]

top job

[Des]

Superb finish and captures the essence of the French operated Skyraider.

 

Fewer than 1 in 5 of the French aircraft were AD-4 with dive brakes , most were AD-4N along with a few AD-4NA with both of these variants having the rear fuselage passenger/freight cabin instead.     According to Air Fan 'Les Skyraider Dans L'Armee De L'Air' 126979 was an AD-4N and flew as 20-QA with EC 2/20 , the same source reports two different aircraft carrying the code 20-QT at different times , 126924 which was also an AD-4N and 123797 which was an AD-4.     Most of the images in the book showing parked aircraft depict them with flaps retracted and control surfaces centered often with a control lock in place.

[RidgeRunner]

A nice build but - a glaring feature is the retention of the side brakes, which the French ADs didn't have. Also they didn't use the long Douglas tank under the fuselage, there is no intake on the upper fuselage and the triangular aerial is incorrectly placed. Maybe the correction set you used has misled you? Check out "Les Skyraiders Francais" by Sebastian Guillemin, the bible on French ADs. 

 

Yes Des is correct regarding the flaps and control surfaces.

 

I'd say, though, it is a nice and attractive build, notwithstanding the detail differences I've mentioned.  I'm happy to be corrected, of course!

 

 

Martin

Edited December 29, 2017 by RidgeRunner

[RidgeRunner]

5 hours ago, Des said:

Fewer than 1 in 5 of the French aircraft were AD-4 with dive brakes , most were AD-4N along with a few AD-4NA with both of these variants having the rear fuselage passenger/freight cabin instead.     According to Air Fan 'Les Skyraider Dans L'Armee De L'Air' 126979 was an AD-4N and flew as 20-QA with EC 2/20 , the same source reports two different aircraft carrying the code 20-QT at different times , 126924 which was also an AD-4N and 123797 which was an AD-4.     Most of the images in the book showing parked aircraft depict them with flaps retracted and control surfaces centered often with a control lock in place.

 

I think I've identified where this ID error has come from. 126979 is in the Musee D'l Air in Paris, marked in these yellow 20- markings. Sadly they are inaccurate and the decal producers have used it as a basis for the decal set.

 

Martin

[Des]

1 hour ago, RidgeRunner said:

 

I think I've identified where this ID error has come from. 126979 is in the Musee D'l Air in Paris, marked in these yellow 20- markings. Sadly they are inaccurate and the decal producers have used it as a basis for the decal set.

 

Martin

Ah ... the perils and pitfalls of restoration.

[Buzby061]

7 hours ago, Des said:

Superb finish and captures the essence of the French operated Skyraider.

 

Fewer than 1 in 5 of the French aircraft were AD-4 with dive brakes , most were AD-4N along with a few AD-4NA with both of these variants having the rear fuselage passenger/freight cabin instead.     According to Air Fan 'Les Skyraider Dans L'Armee De L'Air' 126979 was an AD-4N and flew as 20-QA with EC 2/20 , the same source reports two different aircraft carrying the code 20-QT at different times , 126924 which was also an AD-4N and 123797 which was an AD-4.     Most of the images in the book showing parked aircraft depict them with flaps retracted and control surfaces centered often with a control lock in place.

Des,

 

Thanks for the info. The instructions give schemes for 2 AD-4s, which is why I chose them. As RidgeRunner says, it looks like they used an incorrectly marked aircraft at Le Bourget. My effort shows the problem with believing the accuracy of instructions. You're spot on about the flaps, I looked at some photos of a French AD-4N I'd taken at Duxford - they show the flaps raised. D'oh!!

 

Pete

[Buzby061]

7 hours ago, RidgeRunner said:

A nice build but - a glaring feature is the retention of the side brakes, which the French ADs didn't have. Also they didn't use the long Douglas tank under the fuselage, there is no intake on the upper fuselage and the triangular aerial is incorrectly placed. Maybe the correction set you used has misled you? Check out "Les Skyraiders Francais" by Sebastian Guillemin, the bible on French ADs. 

 

Yes Des is correct regarding the flaps and control surfaces.

 

I'd say, though, it is a nice and attractive build, notwithstanding the detail differences I've mentioned.  I'm happy to be corrected, of course!

 

 

Martin

Martin,

 

Many thanks, you're spot on. Tamiya provide the dropped flaps option, I've been doing some post-build googling & photos show the flaps only dropped for landing & take off. My SNAFU.

 

Pete

[RidgeRunner]

3 hours ago, Buzby061 said:

Many thanks, you're spot on. Tamiya provide the dropped flaps option, I've been doing some post-build googling & photos show the flaps only dropped for landing & take off. My SNAFU.

 

 

Hi Pete!

 

On the net there is an image of 126979 in the yellow scheme as 20-QT with flaps dropped. Clearly it is only so because it is in a museum and has no hydraulics.

 

Martin

 

PS: if it helps others in building a French Skyraider note also that the frame behind the pilots seats is a bare metal frame and not covered as in the US machines. A final thought is that the reverse of the prop blades only ever had a single yellow tip and not a double yellow, or double red and white banding.

Edited December 29, 2017 by RidgeRunner