A-7 Paint kit and repaints...

[Duckie]

...been countin' rivets but still got a lot more to count! Whew! from a distance I didn't think there'd be that many to count! Got to get it clean before I can get it dirty!

 

[delta_lima]

Another one gets the bug!

Awesome. Steve. You and Eric, together with the FDE work of Henk, really given us a Corsair revival.

Any thoughts on what unit you're thinking about? I'd love to see an early A/B from VA-147 (line) - but if you only have the E/pack 1, then it's no go ...

Someone did one for the E years back, but this scheme is to the A/B, what the VF-1 Wolfpack is to the Tomcat ... the first unit of the first model!
cheers,

dl

 

[Duckie]

Hey DL, I've always liked the Hi-Viz VA-47 birds with the cutlass(?) tail. However, I don't have the A/B. But if someone can tell me if the paint kit and mapping is the same, I think I can make it work, realizing the major external visual differences are the gun nose and inertial nav pods on the belly. I could probably talk someone into being a beta tester?

Still have a way to go to clean up the paint kit. It is extremely well cone to start with, but I'm a rivet counter and nit picker regarding such things. So I'm countin' and pickin'!

The first one I've decided on is VA-12, both line and CAG.

 

[delta_lima]

Hey Steve,

VA-12 - aha ... that explains the black extended glareshield pattern - very distinctive indeed! Looking good.

VA-147 - Yeah the sword is an Arabic "Saif" or scimitar ... Now, on the Hornets, they use a Greek style "Makhaira" - reflecting the sign of the times, no doubt ....

Now the Argonauts, being the first in the A, were as I recall the first to trade up from the A to the E, so an E in that scheme would not be inaccurate ...

I've played with repaints from model to model - but that can wait until you're further along. Happy to see any unit you take on, let me know if you need any help. Have a few A-7 resources I can consult if needed ...

cheers,

dl

 

[ejoiner]

...been countin' rivets but still got a lot more to count! Whew! from a distance I didn't think there'd be that many to count! Got to get it clean before I can get it dirty!

(Awesome shots removed..)

Steve you building your own paint kit? Thats tremendous. I started to, but then realized the default one was pretty good. Here's the next one I am working on. Just doing preliminary artwork now. And I am thinking of going and buying the A/B version from Razbam.

 

[Duckie]

Hi Eric, not making a new one. Like you say, the Razbam kit is really good. I'm just doing what I call "clean up", taking care of some errant panel line bits, some incomplete/missing panel line/rivet applications, etc, making a layered PSD for the "parts" texture and will probably fiddle with the landing gear texture some.

But it's fun and I'm learning my way around these textures pretty well. Lots of good subjects to choose from from a long period of time.

 

[delta_lima]

Transitional .... The year: 1979....

The drive to the office:




On the radio, the talk is all about this guy ...



... so you change stations, and fittingly, hear this song, from this guy ...



... which puts you in a good frame of mind as you pull up to the office ...



Tell me that ain't a hot coat of paint!



dl

 

[Duckie]

Oh yeah! Definitely gonna do some of the early attempts and variations of "Low Viz".

 

[delta_lima]

Oh yeah! Definitely gonna do some of the early attempts and variations of "Low Viz".

Awesome - looking forward to it.

While the E, and to a lesser degree the A/B has gotten lots of high vis paints, and the E has gotten a few low-vis paints, it wasn't 'till Eric's -205 paint that anything transitional was done. So this is very cool news indeed.

Here's a line bird from VA-83. Much better lighting in this shot, really shows off the paint much more nicely than in the first shot ...

Meanwhile, g ood luck with the VA-12 paint, and here's to the great Corsair II revival!

Cue another great hit from '79 ...






dl

 

[ejoiner]

Awesome - looking forward to it.

While the E, and to a lesser degree the A/B has gotten lots of high vis paints, and the E has gotten a few low-vis paints, it wasn't 'till Eric's -205 paint that anything transitional was done. So this is very cool news indeed...

...here's to the great Corsair II revival!


dl

Just uploaded to the SOH library. I consider this a transitional scheme as it still has the dark roundels and squadron art on the tail. 1990 VA-46 Clansmen ala Gulf War 1.

 

[delta_lima]

Nice screens Eric! There's a sense of tension and action that I like in them ...

Russ or Merida (can't remember who of the two) did this one a few years ago - a great subject for sure!. Will grab it tomorrow night when I'm back at my home pc.

dl

 

[ejoiner]

Nice screens Eric! There's a sense of tension and action that I like in them ...

Russ or Merida (can't remember who of the two) did this one a few years ago - a great subject for sure!. Will grab it tomorrow night when I'm back at my home pc.

dl

Oops didnt know that. In any case, I hope you will find mine a little different.

E

 

[delta_lima]

Oops didnt know that. In any case, I hope you will find mine a little different.

E

No worries - different BuNo, I'm guessing, plus every artist brings his/her own "special something" into their work, so it's all appreciated...

dl

 

[ejoiner]

... every artist brings his/her own "special something" into their work, so it's all appreciated...

dl

True. True indeed.

 

[Navy Chief]

Awesome - looking forward to it.

While the E, and to a lesser degree the A/B has gotten lots of high vis paints, and the E has gotten a few low-vis paints, it wasn't 'till Eric's -205 paint that anything transitional was done. So this is very cool news indeed.

Here's a line bird from VA-83. Much better lighting in this shot, really shows off the paint much more nicely than in the first shot ...

Meanwhile, g ood luck with the VA-12 paint, and here's to the great Corsair II revival!



dl

Do you know when this picture was taken? I was with VA-83 during their last months, flying the SLUF. I don't recall their tail "Rammie" looking like that. NC

 

[delta_lima]

Do you know when this picture was taken? I was with VA-83 during their last months, flying the SLUF. I don't recall their tail "Rammie" looking like that. NC

Hi NC,

It was tricky, but I think I have it pinned. 1979.

What threw me for a loop was that the photos of the grey top+belly scheme I had were dated 1979, but most photos of VA-83 A-7s, right up to 1982, have high-vis (grey top, white belly) - so that was counterintuitive, suggesting a reversal of the transitional schemes ... so I did some digging ...


So, my hunch was 1979, since that's when other units were flying that scheme - take VF-74's F-4, for example ....

http://www.cloud9photography.us/US-...VW/2627056668_Fstsfcp#!i=2627056668&k=Fstsfcp

But to really double-check, I vetted the 1979 Forrestal cruise book photos ... not many there, but bingo - there was that one-colour, all-grey fuselage ... you have to look closely, but you see no white belly ...

http://navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv59-80/256.htm
http://navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv59-80/257.htm



And then, I see the cruise book images of their 1981 Forrestal cruise, and their A-7Es are now sporting white undersides ... a reversal indeed, back to full high-vis

http://www.navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv59-82/398.htm
http://navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv59-81/308.htm

The 1982 cruise book shows they continued with high vis (grey top, white belly) then too ...

http://navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv59-82/393.htm
http://navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv59-82/398.htm

So there's the scoop on the lovely, but short-lived 1979 era VA-83/Forrestal cruise livery. Maybe Steve can help it come back to life for us in the sim?

Now back to NC's question: if you were in during the last full year of VA-83's A-7E period (1987), then the ram emblem you'd have seen was this, right?

Photo was taken in 1986, but assuming the scheme was the still the same or very close the next year ...

Anyway, a fun research project to spend lunch at ... hope it helps our paint teams ....

dl

 

[Navy Chief]

Thanks, DL, for all that research!

I was with 83 from 1987-1990, and yes, I remember that tail paint with the full ram. During my stint with them, the squadron had a contest to choose a new ram head for the tail.

A young AMS2 (can't remember his name right now) won the contest. I do not have a picture of the design, but as I recall the ram head was moderniized. By that, I mean think "early" computer-generated?

The design was kind of a joke within the squadron. One of the Maintenance Control Senior Chiefs nicknamed it the "Disco Goat".

I will see if there is a picture in my cruise book. NC

 

[ejoiner]

The VA-113 Stingers transitional scheme is a MUST do. Very cool.

http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/a7,usn/Timeline

Link above has some great A-7 pics including some interesting transitional schemes.

This all gray one is a VA-205 A-7E I havent seen before! The weathering on this one would be a real challenge.

 

[Navy Chief]

Thanks, DL, for all that research!

I was with 83 from 1987-1990, and yes, I remember that tail paint with the full ram. During my stint with them, the squadron had a contest to choose a new ram head for the tail.

A young AMS2 (can't remember his name right now) won the contest. I do not have a picture of the design, but as I recall the ram head was moderniized. By that, I mean think "early" computer-generated?

The design was kind of a joke within the squadron. One of the Maintenance Control Senior Chiefs nicknamed it the "Disco Goat".

I will see if there is a picture in my cruise book. NC

Update: No picture of it in my cruise book. Then I realized that is because that was the first deployment with Hornets for 83.

But! Never fear.....I just posted on the VA-83/VFA-83 Facebook page. Am sure I will get a picture to post here, eventually.

Second update:

I think perhaps I am mistaken about the ram head redesign on the SLUF. Am waiting for confirmation on Facebook, but I think the design was on 83's Hornets, right after we transitioned. NC

 

[Navy Chief]

View attachment 15483

The VA-113 Stingers transitional scheme is a MUST do. Very cool.

http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/a7,usn/Timeline

Link above has some great A-7 pics including some interesting transitional schemes.

This all gray one is a VA-205 A-7E I havent seen before! The weathering on this one would be a real challenge.


View attachment 15482

Looks like maybe the aircraft was transferred to 205 from another squadron, and they painted the squadron symbol on it until they had time to do a entire aircraft paint. NC