First Annual USAF Vietnam Group Build

I tried a little while ago using a big pile of wooden coffee stirring sticks - trimmed them down to size and filed the a little narrower, painted metallic and dirtied them up. Looked okay but would probably be better scratch built from plastic...

Wayne, Lone Star Models has a 1/48 set of resin Vietnam Revetments, in a modular set  www.lonestarmodels.com/Products-in-the-works.html

also, I just read a review of some cardstock printed Revetment walls, in 1/72,,,,,,those are "print as you need them" downloads, here it is www.hyperscale.com/.../scalemodelsceneryvietnamrevetmentpreviewbg_1.htm

I believe they plan to release those in multiple scales

Rex

Kiwi

Russ,

That must have been quite a sight (and sound!) to see those ripping in and out! Did you get up close and personal with them? Were the special hangers to protect the skins? Did they need controlled humidity?

Hi, Tim,

They came in quick and fairly quiet, but not very often. If you didn't happen to see them on approach, or weren't near the runway, you probably wouldn't know one was there. They landed and taxied right into the hanger.

The facility they had was just for refueling and crew rest. and probably emergency repair - they weren't stationed there. I don't know what types of environmental controls they had; unfortunately, no one but cleared personnel were allowed anywhere near their hangar.  

When they took off, they rolled out of the hanger and directly onto the runway, powered up and were gone, usually straight up. The takeoff only took about 3 minutes but it was a trip if you happened to be on the flight line when one left. I only got to see one take off at Takhli although I saw several land. We also had U2s in occasionally. 

Cheers,

Russ

Wow! That's awesome, Tim! Where did you get it? Did it belong to someone working at Lockheed?

Son Of Medicine Man

Kiwi

WOW! There is some knowledge on here, :) Awesome!

I'll be sure to let you guys know when he tells me. The most likely answer will be an F-4 but it's pretty awesome that there are all those other possibilities. Really interesting about the Marines F-14, that's a cool idea for a future build for sure!

On another note - Ken, I received my SR-71 resin cockpit and I think it's quite different to yours and doesn't have the problem in the tub that yours does, or am I confusing it with your USAF Vietnam project? It looks like a fairly old model that I have judging by the condition of the packaging I'd say it's been in a gentleman's model stash for quite some time indeed.

I haven't done much work on my F-102 in the last two weeks as I've been working on a Tamiya Mig-15 that caught my attention, a small and very interesting build. I'll be back on track soon enough, :-)

Hi Tim,

I have done some research on the cockpit of the SR-71.  It turns out that the only picture of the box with a lid on it  is the one posted on the Cyber Modelers website.  All of the others show the box without a lid.  So the True Details cockpit is pretty close the way it is.  I will post links of what I found later.

I look forward to building our SR-71s together!

Ken

Hi Tim,

Here is the picture I posted earlier that showed the problem area on the True Details SR-71 cockpit:

 And here is a picture of the replacement that was sent to me:

As you can see, it is filled in more.  But I had originally thought that the box should look like this:

But since then, every other picture shows that box looking like this:

As you can see, you still need to do a little work to make it look like the pictures.

Now, for the ejection seats, if you remember I did some modification on those as well.  If you remove all of the "excess" resin, the shape would not be like it shows in the above pictures.  So I strengthened mine with epoxy so that I could trim them to look more accurate:

Here is a shot of the real seat:

Ken

TarnShip

LOL

SMF(aw)-232?, with the "S" standing for ".......anddddddd we were Swinging.........." (sorry, old bad country song came to mind from the Eighties)

I always thought it sort of funny that the "H" didn't get used decades before as the "heavier than air" designator, the system started way before there were Helicopter squadrons.

We need to thank Ken for allowing such an off topic side track, he has got to be tempted to shout out "no Navair for you !!"

If it ever warms back up enough, I will get back to Berny's RF-4C, I have the coolest set of decals for it, from Wolfpak, the Ohio decal guy. Mark released the RF-4C 12 TRS at Ton Son Nhut in 1968, Sea camo with AC as the tailcode.........Berny would have loved watching dis ole Navair Tactical puke building an Air Farce camo recce plane, I got the sheet just for this group build and to honor him at the same time. (# 72-061)

Rex

Hi Rex,

No problem what so ever about going off topic!  Like I said before, I really do enjoy hearing about real life experiences from veterans like yourself!  There are no boundaries here!   

Ken

Kiwi

Indeed! Sorry Ken, I'm pretty good at taking us off topic eh! :)

But even so - do you have the Testors Sr-71? That's what I got. This is my second ever Testos kit and I don't think the quality is very good compared to the Hasegawa or Tamiya kits I'm working on, BUT, it's still going to be awesome and looks like there is a lot of room for creative license to be taken. It really is such an ENORMOUS plane. I also found two SR-71 resin pilots on the interwebs, they are both holding their helmets and standing around looking cool so should make a good addition to the display. I might try and scratch build the APU cart too having taken a lot of photos of the one at the museum in Seattle.

Interesting about the box in the cockpit tub - I shall have to have another look at it now! I procured my paints for the project yesterday. The Tamiya 'Titanium Gold' is awesome. It needs to be flattened out a little bit but it would be cool for the A-12 conversion I'm tempted to do... I like the color scheme and the idea of adding a drone and shortening the trailing tail, but I LOVE the backseat cockpit. Maybe I'll build the only A-12 in history that was a two seater, ;-)

Wait, were the SR-71's flown over Vietnam at all? It's not appropriate for this group build is it? Clearly I need to brush up on my research... *embarrassed*

Hi Tim,

Yes, the kit I have is made by Testors.  It is the only SR-71 kit made in 1/48 scale.  It would be nice if another one was made to today's standards.  But for how old the molds are, it is a pretty good kit.

Just for references, if you are ever in doubt about what is appropriate to build for this group build, just refer to my list on the first page of this build.  I have done quite a bit of research to come up with that list.  But I will not say that it is complete, just complete as far as I know!   

Ken

waynec

has anyone here built the corrugated "containers" used for revetments in vietnam?

Hi Waynec,

I am surprised that Russ has not spoken up yet.  He made some really nice ones for his B-52D diorama!  I believe he even showed how to make them on his build.  Here is a link:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/19/t/149616.aspx 

Ken

Kiwi

That's pretty awesome Russ, bet the U2's were neat to see as well.

I picked this up today, pretty cool carry on bag!

Wow Tim, I agree with Russ.  That is an awesome carry on bag!  And thanks for providing the link!

Ken

Son Of Medicine Man

waynec

has anyone here built the corrugated "containers" used for revetments in vietnam?

Hi Waynec,

I am surprised that Russ has not spoken up yet.  He made some really nice ones for his B-52D diorama!  I believe he even showed how to make them on his build.  Here is a link:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/19/t/149616.aspx 

Ken

 

Hi, Waynec,

I scratch built some for my diorama. They're too tall for the revetments used in Vietnam but all you'd need to do is reduce the height. The width might be a bit wide as well but I doubt anyone would notice. I've written directions for building the two types of modules I used - I just need to bother Ken to convert it to PDF (Ken has very graciously converted all my scribblings into PDF for me ).

Very interesting -

www.cia.gov/.../a-12

Rex,

I have the PDF for the revetment instructions, thanks to Ken Williams . If you'll email me at striker8241@yahoo.com, I'll send you a copy.

Cheers,

Russ

Thanks Russ, I will get right to that.

I have been wanting to do the VMFA-323 Phantom in a revetment with the "goofy rocket" load for years,,,,,,but, I just never got anything going with respect to the actual walls,,,,,,which would be the first step in my mind

email inbound

Rex

Rex,

I did a little research and there were revetments in Vietnam as high as 16 ft, which is about the scale height of my revetment. However, most revetments for fighters look to be more like 12 ft. I'm still checking for definite measurements.

Cheers,

Russ

Thank you Russ and Ken for that PDF, I am going to mod it for USMC fighters, and move the revetments to Chu Lai, lol.

I saw another guy make a set,,,,but, he made one master and molded his parts and connected them together (unclear memory of it, it was a long time ago),,,,,,,I like the idea of mass producing from plastic sheet stock better,,,,,it will allow me to make the changes easier.

Anyhow,,,,,if I don't get as many aircraft done this year as I should,,,,,it is because I am putting together steel  walls and PSP for Chu Lai,,,,,,I will work on Berny's Phantom at the same time, though

Rex

TarnShip

Thank you Russ and Ken for that PDF, I am going to mod it for USMC fighters, and move the revetments to Chu Lai, lol.

I saw another guy make a set,,,,but, he made one master and molded his parts and connected them together (unclear memory of it, it was a long time ago),,,,,,,I like the idea of mass producing from plastic sheet stock better,,,,,it will allow me to make the changes easier.

Anyhow,,,,,if I don't get as many aircraft done this year as I should,,,,,it is because I am putting together steel  walls and PSP for Chu Lai,,,,,,I will work on Berny's Phantom at the same time, though

Rex

Hi Rex,

Sounds like a nice project!  I can't wait to see it!

Ken

Hi Everyone,

I thought I would share my recent purchase from eBay.  It is a small publication that McDonnell Douglas put out about the "Sun Run".  It is about how the RF-101C broke the speed record in 1957.  It flew from Los Angeles to New York then back to Los Angeles in 6 hours 46 minutes.  The New York to Los Angeles  record in 3 hours, 36 minutes, and the Los Angeles to New York record in 3 hours 7 minutes.

Ken 

Son Of Medicine Man

TarnShip

Thank you Russ and Ken for that PDF, I am going to mod it for USMC fighters, and move the revetments to Chu Lai, lol.

I saw another guy make a set,,,,but, he made one master and molded his parts and connected them together (unclear memory of it, it was a long time ago),,,,,,,I like the idea of mass producing from plastic sheet stock better,,,,,it will allow me to make the changes easier.

Anyhow,,,,,if I don't get as many aircraft done this year as I should,,,,,it is because I am putting together steel  walls and PSP for Chu Lai,,,,,,I will work on Berny's Phantom at the same time, though

Rex

Hi Rex,

Sounds like a nice project!  I can't wait to see it!

Ken

Good luck with your project, Rex! Be sure to post some pictures of your progress!

Cheers,

Russ

That's cool, Ken!  It's a nice addition to your growing F-101 memorabilia collection! .

Russ

[Don't know what happened here - it was a duplicate post of one above]

Hi Everyone,

I meant to mention this as I was aware earlier this week that the anniversary was coming up.  But I have been so busy at work (as always) that I forgot.

Two days ago (Thursday) was the 46 year anniversary of the infamous "Tet Offensive".  The very short version follows:

The North Vietnamese military leaders came up with the idea that they could win the war by organizing a mass attack on the entire South Vietnam country at the same time.  Their thinking was that they could encourage a mass revolt by the people of South Vietnam to over throw the South Vietnamese government.

In short it failed, actually causing a huge loss to the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces at the time.  But this fact was lost in the much publicized conflict here in the United States.  The main journalist, Walter Cronkite, reported that the United States was in fact not winning the war.  This was when the general United States public began anti war movements and began demanding that the United States withdraw from South Vietnam.

Ken

We have met the enemy, and he is us...

Kiwi

I got it from:

http://redcanoebrands.com

They have some really cool new, vintage inspired, stuff. I have a bunch of their t shirts and the Lockheed bag just arrived today. It's fairly expensive stuff but very well made. Highly recommend!

Hey, Tim,

Sorry, I missed this reply. Thanks for the link! I might get me one of those bags .

Cheers,

Russ

Hey, looks really good, Tim! Your friend should really appreciate that!

Russ

Kiwi

And now all banged up and munted, weathered a bit/a lot! :-)

Very nice job Tim!      That is most likely how they looked unless they were being showed off at an exhibition.

Ken