Author Topic: Logan's Profiles - 8x8 Scimitar  (Read 367316 times)

Offline Logan Hartke

  • High priest in the black arts of profiling...
  • Rivet-counting whiffer
Re: Logan's Profiles - Scottish Skorpions - "The Lochness Monster"
« Reply #450 on: November 13, 2013, 12:10:30 PM »
Thanks, guys!  I'm glad you like the roundel and missiles!  This one is more of a ground pounder.  As per usual, click on the profile to see it at a larger size.  I've also submitted this to the Scottish Independence GB.



Every good European air force needs a representative at a Tiger Meet and the brand new RScAF is no exception.  I call this scheme the "Tiger Shark".  I'll let you guess why.



The loadout is an air-to-ground strike loadout, representative of a Coalition participation mission.  It consists of LGBs, HARMs, JDAMs, and AMRAAMs.  The roundels are all low-vis, finally showing off the integrated Saltire when there is no flag for a fin flash.

Cheers,

Logan

Offline Logan Hartke

  • High priest in the black arts of profiling...
  • Rivet-counting whiffer
Re: Logan's Profiles - Heinkel He 46G - Like Father, Like Son
« Reply #451 on: November 13, 2013, 01:30:52 PM »
It's been about two years since I touched this profile, so I can't blame anyone that doesn't remember this one, but--like the Prodigal Son--I've returned to the Heinkel He 46G to finish off a profile.  My father did the line art for this one a couple of years ago, then I did the lighting and shading of it.  Here's a link to the original post on it:

http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=144.msg6425#msg6425

Anyway, when I was looking at the various files on my hard drive that I needed to reopen and polish off, I found this one, basically 99% done.  I redid a lot of the weathering, but that was about all that I had to do.  Since it was in limbo for 2 years, I submitted this to the Clear Your Workbench GB.



Finished in the standard scheme of the greens of 70/71 over blue 65 under surfaces with early style Balkenkreuz and the swastika applied across the rudder/fin hinge line, Heinkel He 46G, P2+HM of the 4.(H)/21 is seen here as it looked at Gross-Lassewitz on 1 September, 1939.

Cheers,

Logan

Offline apophenia

  • Perversely enjoys removing backgrounds.
  • Patterns? What patterns?
Re: Logan's Profiles - Heinkel He 46G - Like Father, Like Son
« Reply #452 on: November 14, 2013, 05:17:11 AM »
Yes! Great to see your He 46 again  :)
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Re: Logan's Profiles - Heinkel He 46G - Like Father, Like Son
« Reply #453 on: November 15, 2013, 08:17:51 PM »
Very nice Tiger Shark effect on the Skorpion and I can only echo apophenia's comment re the He-46.  :)

Offline Logan Hartke

  • High priest in the black arts of profiling...
  • Rivet-counting whiffer
Re: Logan's Profiles - Heinkel He 46G - Like Father, Like Son
« Reply #454 on: November 16, 2013, 01:50:07 AM »
Thanks, guys!  I'm glad you liked the camo and the return of the He 46, at least for a little bit.

Cheers,

Logan

Online GTX_Admin

  • Evil Administrator bent on taking over the Universe!
  • Administrator - Yep, I'm the one to blame for this place.
  • Whiffing Demi-God!
    • Beyond the Sprues
Re: Logan's Profiles - Heinkel He 46G - Like Father, Like Son
« Reply #455 on: November 16, 2013, 03:41:49 AM »
I wonder...perhaps a variant in Desert Scheme - sort of a liaison hack?
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline apophenia

  • Perversely enjoys removing backgrounds.
  • Patterns? What patterns?
Re: Logan's Profiles - Heinkel He 46G - Like Father, Like Son
« Reply #456 on: November 16, 2013, 03:58:44 AM »
How about a Greek He 46 bought before the Henschel Hs 126?
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline Logan Hartke

  • High priest in the black arts of profiling...
  • Rivet-counting whiffer
Re: Logan's Profiles - Heinkel He 46G - Spanish Civil War
« Reply #457 on: November 23, 2013, 12:50:11 PM »
Hmm, I can look into those.  I was already thinking about the Greek one.

This is another that I had started, but didn't get very far with.  I just moved on to the next aircraft and didn't finish the profile.  Now that it's done, I've submitted it to the Clear Your Workbench GB.



It depicts an aircraft operated by the Nationalist Air Force during the Spanish Civil War.  I know the St. Andrew's Cross on the tail looks off, but that's the way a number of aircraft looked in photos.  I think they painted it so that it looked roughly level when on the ground, but they clearly eyeballed it, whatever they did.  I hope you all like it!

Cheers,

Logan

Offline lauhof52

  • Dutchie
  • The Decimator Guy!
Re: Logan's Profiles - Heinkel He 46G - Spanish Civil War
« Reply #458 on: November 23, 2013, 05:17:15 PM »
Love that spanish one! :-*

Offline finsrin

  • The Dr Frankenstein of the modelling world...when not hiding from SBA
  • Finds part glues it on, finds part glues it on....
Re: Logan's Profiles - Heinkel He 46G - Spanish Civil War
« Reply #459 on: November 23, 2013, 05:32:41 PM »
Fine rendition  :)
Interesting that there is camo (excellent in profile) and they had high viz black & white markings  ???

Offline Logan Hartke

  • High priest in the black arts of profiling...
  • Rivet-counting whiffer
Re: Logan's Profiles - RAF Handley Page Panther - Farnborough 1955
« Reply #460 on: November 24, 2013, 01:28:20 PM »
Here's another entry for the Clear Your Workbench GB, a Handley Page Panther as seen at Farnborough in 1955.  I've used a lighter than usual on this one because the blue blended in perfectly with my standard background.  Click on the image to see it at 100%.



These Handley Page production aircraft would differ substantially from the American B-51s.  First and foremost, they used Avon engines instead of the J47s used on the B-51A.  This provided the RAF Panthers with a substantial increase in available thrust.  Another major change was with the cockpit, as the RAF preferred to move both crew members under the canopy, as the USAF would also do in the B-51B.  Whereas the B-51B went with a tandem crew layout, however, the RAF displayed a clear preference for side-by-side seating from its experience with the Canberra, in particular.  This allowed for improved crew communication and allowed for a more efficient layout of the cockpit.  Finally, they added a substantial ECM suite to the top of the T-tail.

One of the first examples of this new British Panther variant was taken to the Farnborough airshow by Handley Page in 1955.  Just as they did at Farnborough two years earlier in 1953, Handley Page painted it to match its larger stablemate, the Handley Page Victor.  Both of the aircraft were finished in a gorgeous cerulean blue overall.  In fact, Handley Page managed to arrange for the two aircraft to have similar RAF serial numbers, WB775 for the Victor and XM775 for the Panther, respectively.

Cheers,

Logan

Offline Logan Hartke

  • High priest in the black arts of profiling...
  • Rivet-counting whiffer
Re: Logan's Profiles - Northrop P-61F - "Little Girl" - Capt. Grossheusch
« Reply #461 on: November 27, 2013, 02:54:01 PM »
As always, click on the image below to see the picture at 100% or view it at my DeviantArt page.  I've also submitted this to the Beyond the Sprues GB and the Asiarama GB over at the What If Forums.



As deliveries of the big new Northrop escort fighter increased to units of the Fifth Air Force, additional veteran pilots would transition to their new mounts.  One of these was Captain Leroy V. Grosshuesch, commanding officer of the 39th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group.  Grosshuesch had already scored seven victories flying Thunderbolts with 39th FS.  The 35th FG began operations from Okinawa with its P-61Fs in late June 1945, and on 12th August 1945, whilst flying this aircraft, he tallied his eighth and only P-61F victory, shooting down a Ki-84 Frank west of Bofu airfield, Honshu.  This was not, however, his first P-61.  His first was lost in an incident that would earn him the Silver Star.  On 30 July, Capt. Grosshuesch was credited with single-handedly sinking a Japanese destroyer off Goto Retto, near Kyushu. Grosshuesch's description of the action is below.

Quote
So, on this day four of us were on a "search and destroy" mission over Southern Japan. Normally, this was a great mission where we were free to search for targets of opportunity. However it was not a good day because we had a heavy overcast at 1000 to 1100 feet, so our ability to see ahead was quite limited.

We found some targets and attacked them, but wanted to find something more. I headed in a westerly direction and on the horizon saw an island, which was Goto Retto, a Japanese naval base, but we didn't know that. The mountain tops were up in the overcast, but there was a valley between two of the peaks which formed a "V" shaped opening through which we could see the water on the other side. As we approached, we were surprised to see a destroyer followed closely by another one sail across the space. Our P-61's had no bombs that day, just our four machine guns and four 20mm cannons, but we decided to make a strafing pass, not expecting that we could do much damage except to the personnel. Because of the narrow opening, we had to go in in trail. We took them by surprise. I gave a burst on the destroyer in view, and turned left because the harbor was not very wide and on the other side there was a range of mountains, their tops all in the cloud cover. It was a fateful turn! The other three turned right which was a stroke of luck because that let them exit the harbor. If all four of us had been inside the harbor, like I was, the destroyers would have surely shot down some of us.

As I turned to the left, I saw directly in front of me the naval base, and they started to unleash their anti-aircraft guns. I quickly turned right hugging the far side of the harbor, which was not far enough away to keep me out of the range of the two, now alerted, destroyers. I had seen ack-ack many times before, but nothing compared to this. The sky was filled with tracers and explosions, and they were all aimed at me. I don't know what was behind me, but it was awesome in front of me. They seemed to be shooting above me, so I couldn't pull up through all that flak into the clouds. I had to dive but there wasn't much space to do that. I decided if I was going to get "it" I would do as much damage as I could before they hit me. I dived and turned into the rear destroyer. I let go a long burst aimed at the water line of the ship. I must have hit the ammo magazine because the destroyer exploded. It was a terrific explosion--a huge, gigantic ball of fire which I had to fly through because I was too close to avoid it. As I burst out of the fireball I was heading for the "V" under the clouds, so I exited the way I had come in.

One of the guys in the flight said: "What the hell was that?" Another voice said: "I think Lee dove into the destroyer." By then, my heart had gotten out of my throat so I told them that I was OK, but damaged. We got together and returned to Okinawa. I had sunk the destroyer, but my poor P-61 was so riddled with shrapnel and debris from the explosion that it had to be scrapped. I don't know what happened to the other destroyer, but it must have been severely damaged by the huge explosion so close to it.

At one of the reunions, one of the crew chiefs said: "I don't know what all he did, but I know one thing, he is one of the luckiest guys in the whole world." I couldn't disagree with that.


Cheers,

Logan
« Last Edit: December 17, 2013, 01:28:00 PM by Logan Hartke »

Offline Tophe

  • He sees things in double...
  • twin-boom & asymmetric fan
    • my models
Re: Logan's Profiles - Northrop P-61F - "Little Girl" - Capt. Grossheusch
« Reply #462 on: November 27, 2013, 07:51:34 PM »
 :-* Thanks to have completed this P-61F (I voted for her)...

Online GTX_Admin

  • Evil Administrator bent on taking over the Universe!
  • Administrator - Yep, I'm the one to blame for this place.
  • Whiffing Demi-God!
    • Beyond the Sprues
Re: Logan's Profiles - Northrop P-61F - "Little Girl" - Capt. Grossheusch
« Reply #463 on: November 28, 2013, 02:47:25 AM »
Sweet.
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline lauhof52

  • Dutchie
  • The Decimator Guy!
Re: Logan's Profiles - Northrop P-61F - "Little Girl" - Capt. Grossheusch
« Reply #464 on: November 28, 2013, 03:20:18 PM »
This is a very nice one! Logan. :) I also voted for the P-61.

regards
Lauhof

Offline apophenia

  • Perversely enjoys removing backgrounds.
  • Patterns? What patterns?
Re: Logan's Profiles - Northrop P-61F - "Little Girl" - Capt. Grossheusch
« Reply #465 on: November 29, 2013, 11:34:11 AM »
It is beautifully done ... and I'm a sucker for rudder stripes  :-*
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline Logan Hartke

  • High priest in the black arts of profiling...
  • Rivet-counting whiffer
Re: Logan's Profiles - Northrop P-61F - "Little Girl" - Capt. Grossheusch
« Reply #466 on: November 29, 2013, 11:52:35 AM »
Thanks, guys!  I thought this one turned out well.  It does look nice with those rudder stripes, too.  You might be seeing more P-61s with them.

Thanks again,

Logan

Offline Logan Hartke

  • High priest in the black arts of profiling...
  • Rivet-counting whiffer
Re: Logan's Profiles - Vought V-187 Viking - Brazilian Viking
« Reply #467 on: December 01, 2013, 02:42:33 PM »
Here's one that's been in progress for over three and a half years.  Now that it's finished, I've submitted this to the Clear Your Workbench GB.  I'm glad to have finally finished it.  As per usual with the Vikings, note that this is reduced to 33%.  Click on the profile to see it on Photobucket where you can click again and see it at 100%.



In 1938, the Aviação Militar do Exército Brasileiro (Brazilian Army Aviation) purchased 26 Vought V-187 Vikings which received the registration numbers 105-130.  The V-187-BR, known as 'Vikings', equipped the 1º Regimento de Aviação, based at Santa Cruz. On November 8, 1939, one of these aircraft, piloted by Maj. Clovis Monteiro Travassos and Sgt. Alfredo Amaral Barcelos (mechanic), conducted a direct flight between Fortaleza and Porto Alegre, covering a distance of 3,240 km over 11 hrs and 45 min.

With the creation of the Ministério da Aeronáutica in 1941, the aircraft were incorporated into the Força Aérea Brasileira (Brazilian Air Force).  During World War II, these aircraft were used in anti-submarine patrol missions.  On August 26, 1942, V-187-BR '122' of the 3º Regimento de Aviação in Canoas and manned by 1st Lt. Alfredo Gonçalves Corrêa (pilot) and Sgt. Carlos Zell (radioman and gunner), surprised a German submarine 50 miles from Araranguá, along the Paraná coast.  The attack took place at 1400 hrs and the Viking was so low to the water when it dropped its payload that the shrapnel from the explosion damaged the cowling and exhaust manifold of the V-187-BR, forcing the crew to land at the emergency landing strip at Osório.  On the 28th of the same month, V-187-BR '107', piloted by Capt. Manuel Rogério de Souza Coelho, attacked a submarine near Iguape, although without acheiving any visible damage to the enemy vessel.

Cheers,

Logan

Offline lauhof52

  • Dutchie
  • The Decimator Guy!
Re: Logan's Profiles - Vought V-187 Viking - Brazilian Viking
« Reply #468 on: December 01, 2013, 05:11:21 PM »
This one is really beautiful, Logan! 8)

Offline Logan Hartke

  • High priest in the black arts of profiling...
  • Rivet-counting whiffer
Re: Logan's Profiles - Vought V-187 Viking - Brazilian Viking
« Reply #469 on: December 01, 2013, 10:42:43 PM »
Thanks, lauhof!  I'm happy about how it turned out!

Cheers,

Logan

Offline Geist

  • Never give up from your dreams!
    • Duhr Aviation Art
Re: Logan's Profiles - Vought V-187 Viking - Brazilian Viking
« Reply #470 on: December 03, 2013, 05:31:27 AM »
Great work and info. :)
This fact is entirely new for me, despite of being part of my country history.
Check out my other works at my website, leave your comments and download the wallpapers!
http://www.duhraviationart.com

Offline Logan Hartke

  • High priest in the black arts of profiling...
  • Rivet-counting whiffer
Re: Logan's Profiles - Vought V-187 Viking - Brazilian Viking
« Reply #471 on: December 03, 2013, 05:40:10 AM »
Thanks!  Good to hear it meets Brazilian approval!  The history is, obviously, a modification of the real history of the Vultee V-11 GB2.  The site below has a good deal of history on it.

http://www.rudnei.cunha.nom.br/FAB/index.html





Cheers,

Logan

Offline Geist

  • Never give up from your dreams!
    • Duhr Aviation Art
Re: Logan's Profiles - Vought V-187 Viking - Brazilian Viking
« Reply #472 on: December 06, 2013, 08:11:20 AM »
Thanks for the link.
I know the owner of the site. It sounds ridiculous, but I didn't know he had it.
Anyway, keep posting your profiles. They're great.
Regards
Check out my other works at my website, leave your comments and download the wallpapers!
http://www.duhraviationart.com

Offline Logan Hartke

  • High priest in the black arts of profiling...
  • Rivet-counting whiffer
Re: Logan's Profiles - Vought V-187 Viking - Brazilian Viking
« Reply #473 on: December 06, 2013, 09:12:42 AM »
Thanks, Geist!  I'm not surprised you know him.  I imagine the online Brazilian historic aviation enthusiast community is small enough that you bump into each other every now and again.

By the way, as I pointed out, I've been planning this profile for years but kept getting distracted.  Fortunately, I saved the image of the very dapper caiman astride the bomb back when I initially looked at doing the profile.  Since then, however, I could not find the darn thing online for the life of me.  Do you or Rudnei happen to know who the original artist was for the graphic?  I'd love to give credit to the appropriate person.  Feel free to show the Viking to Rudnei and thank him for his site which I took advantage of in doing my research for this profile.

I hope he's able to update the site soon, especially the navigation.  The 800x600 format is beginning to show its age at this point.

Cheers,

Logan

Offline Logan Hartke

  • High priest in the black arts of profiling...
  • Rivet-counting whiffer
Re: Logan's Profiles - Vought V-507 Vagabond - VF-1 Wolfpack
« Reply #474 on: December 06, 2013, 03:49:29 PM »
As always, click on the image below to see the picture at 100% or view it at my DeviantArt page.  It's another Vought V-507, LTV's submission to the VFX competition actually won by the Grumman Tomcat.



Quote
VF-1, "Wolfpack" was re-established on October 14, 1972 at NAS Miramar, at the same time as VF-2, these units were the first F-14 fighter squadrons. VF-1 received the first F-14As on July 1, 1973. The squadron's insignia was a red wolf’s head designed by Grumman Commercial Artist, George M. Kehew who himself is a WWII combat veteran. The Squadron Insignia is registered in the Library of Congress.

Under the command of Cdr. George M. Furlong, Jr.--better known as "Skip"--VF's first cruise came in September 1974 onboard Enterprise. The end of the cruise saw the Vagabond's combat debut, as VF-1 and VF-2 flew cover over Saigon for evacuation of US personnel in April 1975 as part of Operation Frequent Wind.  Skip Furlong, the pilot of the aircraft depicted in this profile, would go on to become a rear admiral after commanding VF-1.  He had a long and distinguished flying career serving as the F-14 Program Manager, the first F-14 CAG, the first S-3 CAG, and the last fleet pilot to check out in the Vought F-8 Crusader.

It was, perhaps, the radar intercept officer of this aircraft, however, that would go on to be more famous than the pilot.  Lieutenant (junior grade) Dale Gardner was involved in the initial F-14 developmental test and evaluation before his cruise with VF-1 on the USS Enterprise in 1974.  In 1978 he was selected as an Astronaut Candidate by NASA and would go on to fly on the Space Shuttle Challenger in mission STS-8 in 1983.  He later flew on the Discovery's second mission, STS-51-A.  This mission launched on November 8, 1984, Gardner's 36th birthday.  During STS-51-A, Gardner completed two space walks totaling 12 hours and participated in the recovery of two wayward satellites.  During his NASA career, he would spend over 14 days in space and make 225 orbits of the Earth.


First of all, I wanted to go roughly chronologically now that I got the requisite VF-84 bird out of the way.  VF-1 was the perfect starting point.  Next, I needed to pick the actual aircraft to represent.  The CAG bird was a good one, but finding the details on the crew was a little tougher.  There's a great profile of the plane I patterned this aircraft off of in this book and it even has enough fidelity to make out the names of the crew under the cockpit.


http://www.amazon.com/Tomcat-Grumman-F-14-Aircraft-Specials/dp/0897475364

"CDR SKIP FURLONG" and "LTJG BILL GARNDER"

First of all, I thought that "Garnder" was a misspelling and should be "Gardner".  Some quick searches reinforced that, but I still couldn't find a "Bill Gardner" associated with Skip Furlong.  Thankfully, I had another (much older) book I was using as a source:


http://www.amazon.com/Grumman-F-14-Tomcat-Aero-25/dp/0816805903/

Although 32 years older than the book I was using for the profile and even more than a decade older than me, it was the better source in this case.  On one of the last pages, it has a picture of the right side of this very aircraft in good enough quality that you can make out the name.  LTJG DALE GARDNER.  Now I could write the story for it and make it pretty interesting and give it the personal touch.

I also wanted to show an aircraft in the "clean" configuration to show off the fine lines.  Fortunately, most of the VF-1 Tomcats from that first cruise were also clean.  I removed the Sidewinder pylons, too, since that was common with the F-8 Crusader when they were not in use.

Cheers,

Logan
« Last Edit: December 07, 2013, 01:33:34 AM by Logan Hartke »