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#12 in the Vermont ANG history, now complete all the way to about 2006 or so.  PLEASE someone do decals for their GE-powered Vipers in 72nd....

 

Revell kit, Pavla cockpit (much needed improvement).  Alclad finish. 

Decals scrounged from 2 Scorpion kits plus Hasegawa and Microscale sheets for the F-4, F-102 and F-100, some Repliscale lettering.  Some lettering from A.I.R. (Aircraft In Review) decal sheet #8 for ANG markings, but it was old and the letters tended to crack apart leaving me to desperately try to piece them together on the airframe.  Easy to find decals for Tomcats and Vipers, but almost non-existent help for F-89's! :bandhead2:

 

Very bland markings on this bird overall; there were some D's with a stripe on the tail and some sort of unit badge, but no clear view of said badge and absolutely no decals, of course.  Had to go with this option.  As my friend Brian P once told me when looking at my F3H, "It's amazing to think they used to build airplanes like that!"

 

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Thank you! 

And it's true! Before I built the 89J, I figured it would be like a weaponized T-2C, as the layout looks so similar.  Boy was I shocked when the kit arrived; she was a beast, the size of several T-2's!

 

In my research I came across a funny story about the Vermont Guard's Scorpions.  At that time they shared the airport with an active frontline (non-ANG) Interceptor squadron, the 37th. The 37th of course had the frontline stuff and the Guard had the hand-me-downs.  

When Vermont had Scorpions, the 37th had F-102's.  The rivalry was thus between the supersonics and the non-supersonics.  

Apparently one of the 37th's F-102's blew out a bunch of the town's windows including at a church.  The Guard quickly took the opportunity to claim responsibility, spreading the rumor that their F-89's were powerful enough that they had done the deed!

Edited by Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy
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3 hours ago, 11bee said:

Nice work.   Always liked the F-89, it's so ugly and yet it has a certain charm about her.

The same could be said for many aircraft, including the B-45. BUT, Paul Boyer built a superb model of the B-45!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I always liked the Scorpion.  The first real one I saw was at the Air Force Museum back in 1970.  They had most of the aircraft outside and the F-89 was tucked under the Valkyrie.  The only other one I saw was at Lackland in the Security Police training area sitting next to a C-119.  I've been meaning to build a F-102 with the Green Mountain Boys markings.  If I remember right they were from Vermont.  We had one land at Dover A.F.B. while i was there.

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  • 4 months later...
16 hours ago, 11bee said:

Just looking at your build for the second time and noted what an awesome job you did on the NMF.   What did you use?   

Thank you! Actually an article with better photos will be coming out on the HomePage tomorrow or Friday (depending on Steve's schedule of course), since he's been running my entire series.

The finish is Alclad, using a combination of Polished Aluminum, Airframe Aluminum and regular plain ol' Aluminum.  Watercolor wash after that.  Was pretty thrilled with the result, just wish there were some decent aftermarket decals for the stencilling/standard markings.  

 

Thanks also for all the kind comments everyone!  I've learned much in 21 years here with such great company. :worship:

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Nope, I didn't...I've debated sometimes whether I should or not.  I do recall 20+ yrs ago using Testors Metalizer Sealer over their Aluminum buffing, and it was like covering it with dullcoat; completely changed the finish.  So I've been hesitant about trying anything similar.

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  • 2 months later...

Great work Andrew!

 

I plan to build a VT ANG F-89 as it would have looked during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and I am wondering if you have some research on that.  I see pictures of the aircraft in natural metal finish, but the pictures of the gate guard aircraft are in grey paint.  Do you have any dated photos?

 

I also want to build a VT ANG  F-16ADF.  I have plenty of photos of those, but I'm going to have to make the decals.  I've scanned in a sheet of VT ANG F-16A decals, which are almost right, and redoing them without the yellow.  

Edited by Rocky
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1 hour ago, Rocky said:

Great work Andrew!

 

I plan to build a VT ANG F-89 as it would have looked during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and I am wondering if you have some research on that.  I see pictures of the aircraft in natural metal finish, but the pictures of the gate guard aircraft are in grey paint.  Do you have any dated photos?

 

I also want to build a VT ANG  F-16ADF.  I have plenty of photos of those, but I'm going to have to make the decals.  I've scanned in a sheet of VT ANG F-16A decals, which are almost right, and redoing them without the yellow.  

 

Thanks Rocky!

I'm afraid I don't have any info on what the specific markings were used during the CMC.  I found a few different photos of the 89D's with variations to the markings, but not sure which are from what exact year.  All the F-89D's were natural metal.  Their F-89J's which replaced the D's started out in NMF as well, with some hi-vis Arctic-type markings, but late in their service life they ended up in ADC gray, which is what you see on the gate guard.  

 

I did the entire Vermont line from P-47 to F-35 (featured last fall on ARC home page) except the GE-powered F-16C; desperately hoping someone does 1/72 markings for one of them one day.  

 

Here are the links to my F-89D and F-89J builds from my Vermont history:

F-89D: http://www.arcair.com/Gal17/16001-16100/gal16025-F-89-Desautels/00.shtm

F-89J: http://www.arcair.com/Gal17/16001-16100/gal16026-F-89-Desautels/00.shtm

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Rocky, here are the best pics of the D's that I managed to scrounge up; I definitely like the markings shown on the first 3 pics best, but alas, no good way to recreate the badge on the tail....so instead I opted for the aircraft on the last pic.

 

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Thanks for the pictures!
 

I was born in Rutland when the VT ANG was flying F-89Js.  Its hard to believe that I'm so old that I was being protected from Bears by those pterosaurs.  On the other hand, at the time the Air Force was flying F-106s that had more performance than an F-35A. 

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All so true! I came along only a few years later in Vermont's F-102 years, born in Burlington within earshot of their afterburners.  Haven't been back to VT since '83, it's LONG overdue....would love to show my sweetheart where I grew up, especially since she's seen so very little of the USA.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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