I was inspired by Paul Boyer’s reply to nsclcctl’s post of “atlantic scheme,” stating the Hellcats & Corsairs would look cool in an Atlantic scheme.
That got me to thinking (more like fantisizing!) about aircraft painted in schemes that they never wore. My question is:
WHAT PLANE / SCHEME THAT NEVER HAPPENED WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE ?
I would love to see Me163s and Me262s in desert camo. Or a Raiden & M6A1 in early-war IJN Gray w/ the blue/black anti-glare panel. Or an aluminum A-36 Apache. How about a yellow wing/aluminum fuselage B-26 ?
I know that modelers are traditionally real “sticklers” for accuracy, but just imagine what they’d look like . . .
Pixilater, this topic is very enlightening [;)]. I remember painting P-47 in silver/black camo, as I was a kid. It surely looked…hm… interesting? [:p] I still have a Mig-21 on my shelf, with white undersides and white/light blue camo (something like Indian AF) topsides. And it doesn’t look completely fantastic - at leats for me this camo looks convincing (well… please please, just a little bit [:D]). I guess modellers themselves are a bit of dreamers, that “normal” people don’t fully undestand. So this kind of fantasazing is truly not a crime
Oh, almost forgot! One day I took 72nd Barracuda, mounted two 144th Lancaster engines, nose and belly turrets on it and painted the whole thing lime green. Back then I thought it looked cool [:D]
Don’t know if this ‘counts’, but among my many unfinished projects I’m painting the 1:48 (?) Estes X-wing fighter in German splinter camo, with decals from the spares box.
Thanks Pix, for jogging my memory on that one. Might have to dig that one out … and … OMG! FINISH something!!! [:0]
Update - OK Pix, this is your fault. At least your post prompted me to finish something. This was 3/4’s painted a couple of years ago, didn’t take much to complete.
OK, don’t laugh. If you do, have the courtesy to do it behind my back.[:p]
All this talk of camo schemes and such may make this look like a cop out, but I have a number of planes in the works with the “Red Baron” scheme, including an A-10 and Me-262. I’m even considering doing one of the Starfuries from Babylon 5 in the scheme to go with my “Jolly Rogers” and “Sundowners” versions. Sure, the 'Fury is fictional, but the show’s production designers included “wing art” ( given the things don’t have a nose or rudder ) and campaign stripes in the show, so why not?
I asked you not to laugh[:p].
I couldn’t even find my way back to “normal” with the Hubble!
Kuagi - I think that’s the main idea here - what if & why not ?
I’m starting to see a lot of these schemes in my head now. Maybe, if we get a popular one, I’ll try to recreate it digitally. That way, no one has to sacrifice a kit on it that they don’t want to.
Great responses, let’s hear more !
Well, this one allegedly did exist and is known as the Lochness monster of aircraft paint schemes; haven’t been able to find a photo. This is a hotly debated topic. It supposedly only wore the scheme for a brief period of time and from what I’ve been able to learn, no photos were allowed. Someday, maybe…
I’ve done a few non traditional finishes on things, some remain with me, but most are gone from my collection:
I once put modern Luftwaffe markings on an F-8 Crusader, I gave it a wrap around green and grey splinter camoflage based on the European “Lizard” schemes that were prevalent on USAFE aircraft in the early to mid 1980s.
I navalized a Gloster Javelin and painted it up in RN dark sea grey and white undersides and scrounged up enough spare decals to give it full RN markings.
I’m currently working on a project to turn an F/A-18 into what I think an operational F-17 might have looked like. Its going to be from the Scottish Air Force and I’ve just about come up with a paint sceme that I like for it.
Keeping with the Scottish military theme, I’ve got an A-37, OV-10 and an Apache helicopter sitting around that I’ve decided to be hypothetical with, they’re all the same scale as the F-17 (1/72) so I’ll probably end up with some flight line diorama to show them off. The A-37 and OV-10 will be close to retirement and probably be in some sort of high visibility utility schemes while the F-17 and Apache will be very current low visibility affairs.
Here’s the kicker: the Apache’s going naval! I’m not folding the rotors, but the gun’s gone, replaced with a radome and the wings will have Penguin 3 anti ship missiles on them.
What do I want to see:
How about a C-141 on skis with high vis Antarctic markings on it.
I’d probably Canadianize a SAAB Viggen if I had the chance (low vis of course).
I once saw a model of a Viggen with modern JASDF markings on it, that looked pretty wild.
A JASDF Viggen! That’s a great idea!
I have the 1/72 Hasegawa J-35F Draken sitting right here on the desk…I’m sure the Koku Jieitai would love to have another Saab on the roster!
Man what a great, thought provoking topic. I haven’t come up with any original ideas yet but I like the tri-color Tomcat idea, I think a tri-color Hornet would look even better. In fact I think I will put one on the to-do list. Maybe a tri-color A-6 is in order too.
I think that scheme would look great on modern naval A/C. The Blue Angel paint on a Harrier is a great idea too.
Of course a pink F-86 with purple fuselage and wing bands would look very appropriate. ( That one is just for you Berny )[:p]
I dunno, they supposedly used this thing for trials of a nav and/or targeting system to help the Thuds and F-4’s bomb a bit more accurately. Kinda like LORAN but different, I guess. I dunno fersher.
But I think the fact that this jet was allegedly used in testing this system, whatever it was, is the reason that photos were prohibited, and not the paintjob. Last time I checked, most paints used by the USAF in the 60’s weren’t classified… [:p]
I just hope to see a photo of this thing someday, had to have looked groovy.
