General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark Walk Around Part I

Photographs taken at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (NMUSAF) at Dayton, Ohio.

Women Warriors 217

Soviet Ace Lidya Litvyak with herYak-1b, 12victories

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician 1st Class Petty Officer Nichole Robinette

Col. Kristin E. Goodwin, 2nd Bomb Wing commander, in front of of a B-52H Stratofortress on Barksdale Air Force Base, La

Navy LT Stacey R. Black stands against a CH-53E Super Stallion after prepping it for flight Aug. 20, at Al Asad, Iraq. Black is a flight surgeon for Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361

ww465b_HannaBohmanKurdishYPG — **Canadian Hanna Bohman, Kurdish YPJ Volunteer**

ww465f_Syrian — **YPJ sniper team in Syria**

Seen here - Private (Pte) Chelsea Herberts — **British Army Private Chelsea Herberts in Afghanistan**

Beautiful Women in Ukraine Army - Ukrainian Military Girls — **Ukraine**

ww468_AirTransportAuxiliary — **ATA pilots with Spitfire**

ww268 — **ATA pilot Mary Ellis with Fairey Barracuda**

ww068 — **Australian Women’s Army Service with sound location equipment**

To see more Women Warriors, click on the tags below:

Sword Grumman Avenger Build in 1/72 Scale Part II

The fuselage halves go together without any issues. I prefer to sand and rescribe the major subassemblies separately as they are easier to handle. A little MEK in the scribed lines removes any burrs.

I had to fiddle with the wing tabs to get them to insert into the fuselage slots. There were gaps on the wing joins which I filled with Perfect Plastic Putty. The landing gear legs are intended to be attached with a butt join which would likely be too flimsy to survive handling. I drilled these out and inserted a short length of bronze rod to reinforce them.

At this point Phil posted in the comments that the FAA Avengers were equipped with bulged fuselage windows, which is absolutely correct. Sword actually provides the bulged windows, but the kit and the instructions call for the configuration seen here which was used on the USN aircraft.

A drill and fill session set things right. The first and third openings from the left were filled with superglue and sanded smooth. The second opening was rounded out with a drill bit. The fourth ovel opening was accurate and a new fifth opening was added to the far right.

I couldn’t find a canopy mask for the Sword kit at the time but did find one made for Hasegawa’s kit. This fit well with only a few modifications, still a much easier place to start than a roll of Tamiya tape. I ran a black Sharpie along the mating surfaces to prevent any glue from being visible through the clear parts when in place.

In between other jobs I painted up the props and wheels which will save time at the end of the build.

The canopy is slightly wider than the fuselage, most noticeably at the pilot’s sliding portion at the front. PPP was wiped in to fill any gaps before the joint was smoothed out.

The underside with the gear legs in place. With the bronze pin and a good MEK bond on the braces before painting the gear is very solid. I have also drilled out the exhausts, nose gun trough, and trestle points at the rear of the fuselage.

Part III here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2023/05/05/sword-grumman-avenger-build-in-1-72-scale-part-iii/

Fine Molds Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6/R6 of Oberleutnant Wolf-Udo Ettel in 1/72 Scale

Wolf-Udo Ettel joined the Luftwaffe shortly after the invasion of Poland at the age of 18. After training, he was posted to 4./JG 3 on the Eastern Front and scored his first victories, a pair of IL-2 Sturmovik, on 24JUN42. Two weeks later he was himself shot down and spent four days working his way back to German lines. He continued to score steadily and had reached 120 victories when he was shot down again by flak on 11MAY43.

Ettel was then transferred to the Mediterranean Theater as Staffelkapitän of 8./JG 27. He soon opened his account against the Western Allies with victories over two Spitfires and two B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. On 17JUL43 he was shot down an killed by flak while flying a ground support mission against British troops near Catania. He was 22 years old.

The model depicts Ettel’s “Black 6” of 8. / JG27 at Brindisi, Italy, July 1943.

Douglas C-47 / R4D Skytrain / Dakota Color Photographs Part IV

C-47 43-15972 loads cargo on the ramp at Patterson Field, Ohio. Unusual is the repetition of the aircraft serial on the port upper wing, and in a slightly different font as well. Medium Green was specified to be applied along the edges of the wing and tail surfaces to help break up the hard edges of the outline.

A C-47 crew poses in front of their aircraft at Goose Bay in Labrador, Canada during December 1942. The aircraft in the background displays a common anomaly. While the camouflage specification called for Medium Green to break up the outline of the wings and tails, it did not spell out which side of the wings and tails were to be painted, and many overzealous painters applied Medium Green to both the uppers and the lowers.

A C-47 Skytrain (I7-T, serial number 42-92879) of the 442nd Troop Carrier Group at Mount Farm, 1944. Image by Robert Astrella, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group .

Paratroopers of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne at Altavilla, Italy in September 1943. The red surround to the national insignia was changed to Insignia Blue by AN-I-9b on 14AUG43, but some units complied faster than others.

British Paras inside an RAF Dakoda during a practice jump prior to D-Day, showing some details of the cargo compartment interior.

A useful view for modelers of engine and propeller details.

In U.S. Navy service the Skytrain was designated R4D. Here are three sporting faded Blue Grey uppersurfaces, a change from the Olive Drab.

Another Navy R4D, this Natural Metal example is assigned to the Naval Air Transport Service and loads cargo from a civilian truck. A Beechcraft GB-2 Staggerwing is parked on the ramp in the background.

A Naval Air Transport Service R4D of VR-5 on the Marston Mat shows off the NATS insignia on the nose. Note the position of the HF/DF loop.

“Saylor’s Trailer” was photographed in Burma, and shows off variety of antenna. Modelers note the tonal shifts of the “standard” Olive Drab finish.

Part V here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2023/09/13/douglas-c-47-r4d-skytrain-dakota-color-photographs-part-v/

ACE Panhard AML-90 in 1/72 Scale

The French company Panhard designed a series of armored cars in various configurations. One version mounted a 90mm gun, making it one of the most heavily armed vehicles for its size. This kit was a challenge to get together, the parts are crudely molded and required a lot of teat-fitting and filing to get them aligned. ACE has released a re-engineered version, so hopefully the new kit is easier to build.

Construction here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2023/04/14/ace-panhard-aml-90-build-in-1-72-scale/

Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947 Book Review

Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947: From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber

Series: Classic Publications Number 33

By Luigino Caliaro

Hardcover in dustjacket, 276 pages, color profiles, line drawings, bibliography, and index

Published by Crecy Publications

Language: English

ISBN-10: ‎1-90653-759-3

ISBN-13: 978-1-90653-759-3

Dimensions: ‎9.2 x 1.4 x 11.4 inches

The Italian Savoia Marchetti S.79 Sparviero first flew in 1934. It was elegant and advanced for its time, setting several aviation records. It was first used in combat in Spain, and was the main Italian medium bomber type during the Second World War. It gained fame over the Mediterranean, used in the bombing role against Malta and as a torpedo bomber against Allied shipping.

Up to this point all the subjects in the Classic Publications series have been Luftwaffe aircraft, so this volume marks a departure from the paradigm. It does still maintain the high quality standards we have come to expect from the series. This is a large format book printed on glossy paper. It is lavishly illustrated with photographs, many in color. Several of these show details of construction or interior views and will be of much interest to modelers. Often these are reproduced in large spreads. In addition, there are ten pages of color profiles and nine of line drawings. The final chapter is on surviving museum examples and features large, full-color photography which is effectively a walk-around (and walk-through), the photos here are outstanding.

In between all the eye candy is the text, which covers the entire history of the type, before, during, and after the war. Derivative types are also represented, including the ungainly twin-engined version used by the Romanians and the civilian SM.83. Much of the text is devoted to the developmental history and record-setting flights before the war, as well as combat operations over Spain and during WWII.

Altogether this is a very well done book and an attractive history of the type. The Classic Publications series are generally regarded as definitive works on their subjects. They represent a great value for the money and a bargain while in print, and their prices skyrocket once out of print. If you are at all interested in the S.79 I can highly recommend this book, get it before it goes out of print!