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CD72021: 1/72 EC-121 Warning Star


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Would love to see these in 1/144 as well....I only have room for one 1/72 kit, but have 3-4 of the 1/144 kits in the stash

I second (or 3rd) this motion as well. I love me some 1/72 scale (got about 4 or 5 Heller Connies stashed away), but there's only so much display space to go around!

-Scoobs

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vq1_zpsjdt33soe.jpg

Awesome!! Any chance for some the special Navy "spook" variants of VQ-1 / VQ-2, electronic aggressors of VAQ-33, or Hurricane Hunters of VW-4? Lots of options still out there!

Was this the EC-121 that was shot down in the late '60's? Or was it PR 21?

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Was this the EC-121 that was shot down in the late '60's? Or was it PR 21?

PR-21 (BuNo 135749) was the EC-121 of VQ-1 that was ambushed and shot down but North Korean MiGs on April 15, 1969 with the loss of all 31 Americans on board. As you can see there's a little confusion as to what the aircraft actually looked like at the time of loss. Hopefully this confusion can be straightened out - as nondescript as they might be, I'd love to see some decals honoring the brave crew of PR-21.

On a related note, almost 10 years earlier on June 15, 1959 another VQ-1 aircraft, this one a P4M-1Q Mercator, was also attacked by North Koreans while operating off the coast of North Korea. Although the aircraft was badly damaged and one crew member was wounded, the crew able to get the aircraft back to Japan. Both the pilots received the DFCs and the remainder of the crew Air Medals for the efforts. The junior pilot (3P) on the crew was a flight school buddy of my Dad.

http://www.silent-warriors.com/p4m-1q_mercator.htm

PR-21_2_zpsvudbduy2.jpg

ec121_NK_zpsyhfjofcz.png

Edited by scoobs
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Thanks for the clarification Scoobs. I have plans to build PR 21 as a tribute build to the crew that was lost. I have quite a few recce types that are all based on aircraft that were downed during the cold war. I thought I had read somewhere that PR-21 never recieved the white over grey paint depicted in the painting. At the time of the downing, she still carried the white over engine grey or whatever the dark paint was called. Not really a Navy type so my apologies.

Maybe we can sweet talk Kursad into including PR 21 with his third EC-121 sheet.

Don

Edited by Drifterdon
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Thanks for the clarification Scoobs. I have plans to build PR 21 as a tribute build to the crew that was lost. I have quite a few recce types that are all based on aircraft that were downed during the cold war. I thought I had read somewhere that PR-21 never recieved the white over grey paint depicted in the painting. At the time of the downing, she still carried the white over engine grey or whatever the dark paint was called. Not really a Navy type so my apologies.

Maybe we can sweet talk Kursad into including PR 21 with his third EC-121 sheet.

Don

Not to further muddy the waters but I came across this undated photo of PR 21 in the white over grey scheme - looks like the painting depiction might be accurate. The loss of PR 21 represented the greatest loss of life of any of the Cold War shoot downs of American reconnaissance aircraft - it would be great to see some decals honoring their sacrifice.

vq1_ec121_28feb2003_zps8z61oqwi.jpg

Not all cold war shoot downs involved recon birds - this past Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of the loss of navy KA-3 Skywarrior tanker BuNo 142653 of VAH-4, Det Charlie to Chinese MiGs over Hainan Island on April 12, 1966. The aircraft was returning from Cubi Point in the Philippines to the USS Kitty Hawk on Yankee Station off the coast of North Vietnam when the aircraft strayed off course due to unknown reason and was shot down. All four crew members on board - LCDR William Glasson, LTJG Larry Jordan, AT2 Reuben Harris, and PR2 Kenneth Pugh - were lost and remain listed as MIA. LCDR Glasson was a friend of my Dad and squadron mate from his S-2 flying days. Here's a picture of the aircraft in happier times - would love to one day find decals to honor it as well.

8672773382_34dfe41b01_b_zpse6q8txeq.jpg

Edited by scoobs
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I'd say that pretty much answers the question of what color PR 21 was at the time of her loss. I was able to get my hands on one of the Japanese pre-built EA-3's in 1/144 but would love to find decals to do up in a special scheme. Thanks for posting the updated pic on PR 21.

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  • 2 months later...

Kursad,

For the third sheet, consider representing at least 1 a/c from the 552nd AEW&C Wing based in Sacramento. 53-3400 had some interesting nose art (Camellia City 49er), and 53-0555 is in the AF Museum. Wings of Fame Volume 20 (published 2000) had a nice article on military Constellations with many photos including 53-3400 and a 552nd EC-121Q (53-0556) in color.

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Hi David,

Thanks for the suggestions - I will definitely consider adding these to the sheet. Wings of Fame volume 20 is one of the two missing volumes in my WoF collection, and I have been looking everywhere for a reasonably priced copy : I wish I had one when I was designing the first two sheets.

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  • 3 months later...
On 3/27/2014 at 3:22 PM, KursadA said:

The second EC-121 sheet (CD72022) will feature two USAF (551 AEW and the sharkmouth Batcat) and two more Navy (VW-13, and NADU VW-2) examples. Also coming next month (April).

I am basically doing these because I like the EC-121, and I have a couple in the stash. I realize they are not likely to be blockbusters or anything remotely like that, so they are limited to a print run of 250 sheets each.

KursadA ,

Any possible way you would re-release the EC-121 (CD 72021) sheet my Father was an observer on VW-1's TE-2 and I would love to do his plane also would you  consider doing these sheets in !/144 scale 
We were stationed at NAS Agana Guam from 66 to 70 

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49 minutes ago, COChef said:

KursadA ,

Any possible way you would re-release the EC-121 (CD 72021) sheet my Father was an observer on VW-1's TE-2 and I would love to do his plane also would you  consider doing these sheets in !/144 scale 
We were stationed at NAS Agana Guam from 66 to 70 

COChef,

I have never dealt with this store, but if you're willing to give them a try it looks like they have at least one example of CD 72021 for sale.

http://www.martola.com.pl/ss1563/produkty54745/

Edited by David Fifer
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4 hours ago, David Fifer said:

COChef,

I have never dealt with this store, but if you're willing to give them a try it looks like they have at least one example of CD 72021 for sale.

http://www.martola.com.pl/ss1563/produkty54745/

David ,

Thank you very much for the link.

The site was a bit funky but I did place an order with them now it's just a matter if it's really in stock 
I was sent an email saying they would sent me a confirmation of the order with payment instructions so we'll see what happens. 

Thanks,

David Smith (COChef)

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  • 5 months later...

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