Author Topic: Logan's Profiles - 8x8 Scimitar  (Read 367285 times)

Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #350 on: March 31, 2013, 06:54:45 PM »
Now that is nice...... :)

Offline von hitchofen2

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #351 on: March 31, 2013, 08:12:16 PM »
fantastic!  8)...not so much a "what if", as "what did it actually look like?"

a fine addition to your He 100 profiles

looking forward to the Finnish and Romanian ones [hint, hint]

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #352 on: April 01, 2013, 03:20:19 AM »
Actually looking at that one makes me wonder what a float plane version would look like...maybe even as a Schneider Trophy style racer...
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Offline finsrin

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #353 on: April 01, 2013, 03:32:43 AM »
Has a genuine designed-built in Japan look.   :)

Offline ysi_maniac

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #354 on: April 01, 2013, 11:50:36 AM »
Beautiful!! :-*

Offline dy031101

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #355 on: April 01, 2013, 12:15:43 PM »
Actually looking at that one makes me wonder what a float plane version would look like...maybe even as a Schneider Trophy style racer...

Or something posing even more surprises to USN dive/torpedo bomber crew......
Forget about his bow and arrows- why wait until that sparrow has done his deed when I can just bury him right now 'cause I'm sick and tired of hearing why he wants to have his way with the cock robin!?

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #356 on: April 02, 2013, 12:50:19 PM »
Thanks for the compliments, everyone!  I'm glad you all liked it!


fantastic!  8)...not so much a "what if", as "what did it actually look like?"

a fine addition to your He 100 profiles

looking forward to the Finnish and Romanian ones [hint, hint]

Thanks!  That is it indeed.  I wish we knew whether they painted any additional markings on them or not.  As for the Finns and Romanian ones, they're a comin', they're a comin'!  Talos and I were just commenting the other night how we need to clone ourselves just to get the projects we want done.


Has a genuine designed-built in Japan look.   :)
Thanks, finsrin!  That's just what some people were saying on DeviantArt and the What If forums, too. :)  I don't think it's entirely coincidental.


Actually looking at that one makes me wonder what a float plane version would look like...maybe even as a Schneider Trophy style racer...

Or something posing even more surprises to USN dive/torpedo bomber crew......

 :icon_ninja:

Cheers,

Logan

Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #357 on: April 02, 2013, 02:09:38 PM »
Q: could we see He100 in Royal Yugoslav Air Force markings?

Quote from Wikipedia: In April (1938), it looked like Yugoslavia would be the next user of the He 112. It placed an order for 30 aircraft, but later cancelled the order and decided to produce other designs under license.

Your work is, in a lack of proper term, excellent.  :)
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Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #358 on: April 03, 2013, 01:43:15 PM »
Thanks very much, Vuk!  I was planning on doing an He 100 in Yugoslavian markings, but not until 1945 in JRV service.  I had planned on keeping the Bf 109 orders intact for Yugoslavia and Switzerland as I didn't think the RLM was likely to grant export licenses to those two countries in 1939 for its latest fighter.  I could see Japan and likely even Romania, but I just didn't think the other two were as likely.  Maybe I could do one purchased before the invasion for evaluation.

On to the current profile, though.  I've also submitted this to the Asiarama GB over at the What If Forums.  Click on the image below to view the profile at 100%.



In mid-1940, Imperial Japanese Navy testing of the Heinkel He 100 (designated AXHe1 by the IJN) proved very successful and Hitachi was contracted to begin license production of the aircraft as soon as possible. A subsidiary of the Hitachi petrochemical concern, known as Hitachi Kokuki K K, was established in May 1939 expressly to produce the fighter at a new factory constructed in Chiba on the eastern side of Tokyo Bay. Intended for the land-based interceptor role, the ‘A-’ designation was carried over from the AXHe experimental He 100 purchased from Heinkel. Following on the designations for the A7He (Heinkel He 112) and A8V (Seversky 2PA-B3), the license manufactured He 100s were designated A9He. Unlike the US Navy, whose company designations reflected the manufacturer, in the Japanese Navy, the company designations reflected the designer, in this case Heinkel.

To power the new aircraft, Aichi license built the DB 601 as the Atsuta for the Navy, while Kawasaki built DB 601s for the Army as the Ha-40. In an effort to get more of the aircraft produced even sooner and as insurance against possible delays from the relatively inexperienced Hitachi, Nakajima was also contracted to begin production of the He 100 in late 1940. This led to the somewhat amusing scenario of Aichi producing Atsuta engines and delivering them to Nakajima to power A9He interceptors, while Nakajima was producing Sakae radial engines and delivering them to Mitsubishi to power the famous A6M “Zero” fighter, while Mitsubishi was producing Kinsei engines and delivering them to Aichi to power their D3A dive bombers!

The most major change to the He 100’s design was the replacement of the troublesome retractable radiator with a fixed radiator aft of the wing and cockpit. This led to a reduction in top speed, but improved cooling drastically, something that would prove essential for use in the Pacific theater. In anticipation of the aircraft's service with the IJNAF, the Allies assigned the He 100 the nickname "Herman", reflecting its German heritage. The profile above depicts the prototype A9He1 produced by Hitachi. As the Aichi Atsuta engines were not yet ready, it was powered by a DB 601.

Cheers,

Logan

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #359 on: April 03, 2013, 02:24:37 PM »
Nice.
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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #360 on: April 03, 2013, 02:25:59 PM »
Of course having mentioned Switzerland, the idea of a Swiss He-100 is appealing...as would be a Swedish one ;)
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #361 on: April 03, 2013, 08:26:34 PM »
Oh man that is nice.........

Offline apophenia

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #362 on: April 08, 2013, 12:17:21 PM »
Love the operational Hitachi 'Herman' with its Hein radiator bath  :-*
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Offline Talos

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #363 on: April 08, 2013, 11:05:52 PM »
Love the operational Hitachi 'Herman' with its Hien radiator bath  :-*

When I was drawing it, I kept mentally calling it the Hienkel.  ;)

Offline apophenia

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #364 on: April 09, 2013, 07:25:10 AM »
"Hienkel"  ;D  And why not, it's a perfect match!
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Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #365 on: May 17, 2013, 01:26:25 PM »


Sorry, you guys will get the full size and full backstory tomorrow.

Cheers,

Logan

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #366 on: May 18, 2013, 03:26:10 AM »
 :)
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Offline apophenia

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #367 on: May 18, 2013, 04:10:07 AM »
Beautiful work! Were you ever tempted to incorporate that 'Hienkel' radiator into the float pylon?
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Offline lauhof52

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #368 on: May 18, 2013, 12:14:08 PM »
Very beautiful Logan!

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #369 on: May 18, 2013, 03:17:59 PM »
Thanks for the kind words, everyone!  As always, click on the image below to see the picture at 100% or view it at my DeviantArt page.  I've submitted this to the All Things Floaty GB and also submitted this to the Asiarama GB over at the What If Forums.



Full backstory below:

Quote
Realizing an immediate need for a fighter plane that could operate in remote areas of the Pacific where the construction of airfields was impractical, in late 1940, pending production of the fighter floatplane N1K1 Kyofu (code named “Rex”), the Navy issued 15-Shi specifications to Nakajima Kikoki K. K. to develop a floatplane fighter version of the A9He1. Work began on the project, which was known as the AS-1, in February of the following year. Eliminating the undercarriage and retraction mechanism, which was faired over, a unique triangular main strut and two secondary struts were used to mount the single main float; the outrigger floats were mounted on single slender struts. This float system ensured the least amount of drag, yet was sturdy enough for practical seaplane use. The tail wheel was removed and faired over, and to increase lateral stability, a long narrow fin was added to the bottom of the fuselage below the tail assembly and the rudder was extended downward.

The 15-Shi floatplane flew for the first time on 8 December 1941, the same day Operation Hawaii (the attack on Pearl Harbor) was carried out. Production began in April 1942, and under the designation A9He1-N Type 2 Floatplane Fighter, the Navy accepted the new float fighter in July 1942. The type was first encountered at Guadalcanal, later being assigned to the Fifth Air Fleet during the Aleutians campaign, being based on Kiska and Attu, serving as a defensive fighter and reconnaissance fighter.

On the 5th of August 1942 the Dai 5 Kaigun Kokutai (Fifth Air Fleet) was formed with fighter and reconnaissance seaplanes originating from the Tokoh Kaigun Kokutai. Of the twelve fighter seaplanes with which the Kokutai was to be equipped, only six were in working order, those were coming from the Tokoh Kaigun Kokutai. On the 8th of August, during an attack carried out by United States destroyers and cruisers on the seaplane base of Kiska, the fighter seaplane forces were reduced to eight, following the destruction of four of those that were anchored at the aforementioned precarious naval base. The US Navy seaplanes that had been catapulted from the US cruisers also participated in this attack. Ship’s Lieutenant Yamada and the 3rd class naval pilot claimed the destruction of one of these. At this time, the Allies had in the zone a squadron of heavy bombers, two squadrons of medium bombers, four squadrons of fighters, including a Curtiss Kittyhawk squadron belonging to the RCAF (all under USAAF command), a squadron of Grumman F4Fs and another of flying boats, both belonging to the US Navy. During the rest of the month of August, Dai 5 Kaigun Kokutai was involved in the interception of bombers and the US seaplanes, which attacked the Japanese military establishments at Attu and Kiska, failing to obtain any positive results. On the 7th of September, however, the Japanese pilots claimed to have inflicted damage on an enemy seaplane and three bombers. According to the United States’ sources, one seaplane was lost during these actions.

Nakajima’s Koizuma plant built total of 327 A9He1-Ns were produced through September of 1943 when production was terminated. The Allied code name for the A9He1-N was “Wade”. Despite the weight and drag of the floats, these fighters were fast and powerful. They served their mission very well initially, but in a short time they were unable to effectively counter Allied land-based fighters.


This was one of those profiles that just made sense, as far-fetched as it may seem on the surface. When you think “Japanese license-produced He 100 floatplane variant”, it seems like a bit of a logical pretzel to get there, but it was a very natural progression. The IJN wanted to license-produce the He 100 and initially assigned it to Hitachi. Nakajima was eventually contracted to license-build the A6M Zero because they needed enough to equip the land-based squadrons as well as the carrier squadrons. I figure that the IJN would really get excited about the He 100 once they got a good chance to evaluate it and got the production jigs from Heinkel, and would decide to have Nakajima license produce it instead of the A6M since Hitachi was new to the game. So, why would the He 100 become the floatplane fighter instead of the Zero? Because that’s what Nakajima would have been producing at the time, the main reason it was the Zero in the first place.

Sorry it took so long to get this all together.  I hope you all like it!

Cheers,

Logan
« Last Edit: May 18, 2013, 03:20:12 PM by Logan Hartke »

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Japanese A9He1-N "Wade" Floatplane
« Reply #370 on: June 15, 2013, 10:12:33 PM »
Hey guys, sorry it's been a while since there's been an update.  Talos and I are working on some stuff for the '46 GB and should have a profile or two done for it.

Cheers,

Logan
« Last Edit: June 16, 2013, 04:01:51 AM by GTX_Admin »

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Northrop P-61F - "Marge" - Maj. Bong & Johnny Myers
« Reply #371 on: July 16, 2013, 11:43:39 AM »
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 Asiarama GB over at the What If Forums.



After the unqualified success of the famous mission to kill Admiral Yamamoto in the summer of 1943, the Fifth Air Force spoke with Northrop about the possibility of developing a variant of the P-61 to serve in the very long range day fighter role. This variant would be primarily intended to escort the B-29 in its missions over Japan. After a visit to Northrop to inspect the mockup of the fighter escort proposal, Northrop was given a contract to build 500 long range escort fighters. In order to speed up the development process, the AAF contracted Northrop to build several prototypes to test the various aspects of the new variant. Two XP-61D prototypes would test the turbo-supercharged R-2800 engines on converted P-61As. Two XP-61E prototypes converted from P-61Bs would test the new two seat center fuselage layout with guns in the nose. Finally, a single XP-61F prototype would combine the new features in a final flight test program as the first production aircraft were coming off the line.

The urgency afforded the program would pay off, and the XP-61F first flew in the autumn of 1944. In an effort to further speed up the process of getting the aircraft into combat, experienced P-38 Lightning pilots were sought to train units on the P-61F. Shortly after marrying his sweetheart, Marge Vattendahl in February 1945, Major Richard Bong was asked to return as an instructor to his old unit, V Fighter Command, the first combat unit slated to receive the new aircraft. In preparation for this, Northrop customized a newly completed P-61F for Maj. Bong’s demonstration tour. Based on his famous P-38, the presentation aircraft carried his full 40 kills, the red markings, and even the signature “Marge” photo print.

In spring 1945 both he and the first P-61Fs would arrive in the Pacific and begin combat operations. In order to convince the units coming from P-38s, P-47s, and P-51s of the big new fighter’s considerable speed and maneuverability, famed Northrop test pilot Johnny “The Maestro” Myers accompanied Maj. Bong and put the new aircraft through its paces in front of the best pilots in the PTO. After one flight, they were convinced. The P-61F was the best fighter in the theater and soon it would get a chance to prove itself.



You can see in the detail shot above how much work Talos put into the fantastic graphics for this profile.  On Bong's P-38, the photo of Marge was a pasted on print that was hand-colorized by a member of the squadron.  It often came off in flight and had to be replaced.  Just like the original, Talos painstakingly colorized this one himself.  He went through a number of iterations, but I think you'll agree that it all paid off in the end.  He did the "Marge" text on the aircraft and the customized kill markings, as well.

Cheers,

Logan
« Last Edit: July 16, 2013, 01:02:13 PM by Logan Hartke »

Offline Talos

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Northrop P-61F - "Marge" - Maj. Bong & Johnny Myers
« Reply #372 on: July 16, 2013, 11:52:28 AM »
Colorizing that picture was a pain, but it turned out okay. That was the first time I had ever done anything like that, so before I could do it I had to learn how to do it.  ;D The rest of the stuff was simple, the normal kind of graphics I'm used to.

Offline Matt Wiser

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Northrop P-61F - "Marge" - Maj. Bong & Johnny Myers
« Reply #373 on: July 16, 2013, 01:30:50 PM »
Great job, Logan! And looks like Bong's added to his score from OTL: he had 40.
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Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Logan's Profiles - Northrop P-61F - "Marge" - Maj. Bong & Johnny Myers
« Reply #374 on: July 16, 2013, 01:48:09 PM »
Thanks!  On the kills, no, that was a kerfluffle of mine.  I put the markings together a few weeks ago, giving myself extra so I could decide which direction to trim (vertically or horizontally) once I got them on the aircraft.  Well, in between the time I made up the layer and I finished the profile, I forgot that I had done that and in an effort to get the profile done in time, I didn't bother to count them all.

I've fixed the images, by the way, but it may take Photobucket a few hours (if not a day) to update the images in all their server caches, so your mileage may vary.  Also, obviously, you'll need to clear your own browser's cache for the past day, but that should do it.

I don't think he'd officially add to his score.  His flight to the Pacific with V Fighter Command was only to be a demonstration flight with test pilot (and civilian) Johnny Myers.  As with Lindbergh, combat would have been expressly forbidden, albeit likely.  I wouldn't have expected him to bag any more.

Cheers,

Logan