Aircraft Super Thread Mk.VII

[captain america]

4 hours ago, mickyg said:

Yeah, the metallic sheen on the stealth planes is bizarre, to say the least.  I had the rare chance to see both the '35 and '22 up close at an airshow 2 years ago and they're definitely not the same coating.  But in both cases, I think you can achieve something convincing with a scale model by mixing metallic paint with grey tones.

In fact, I've been told the paint guide on the Hasegawa Raptor kit is darn close.  It recommends Gunze 'Super Metallic' (I hope I have that name right) mixed with various FS greys to get it close.  From there you can buff some panels to make it convincing.

I like the idea of graphite polished into a grey paint job though.  That has real merit!

Just from looking at pics, I think you'd be better off painting with regular colors, and then mix some pearl powder in with your flat basecoat. It will reproduce the subtle effect in the photos more convincingly than going with straight metallics.

[AN/ALQ128]

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a22791042/the-first-us-hypersonic-weapons-arrow-and-hacksaw/

 

[Vifam7]

Japan gets their first female fighter pilot.

www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/breaking-barriers--japan-gets-first-woman-fighter-pilot-10644742

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201808230057.html

Edited August 24, 2018 by Vifam7

[electric indigo]

Callsign "Edge"?

[F-ZeroOne]

And shes called Misa!

[derex3592]

you GO girl!  That's awesome! 

[Thom]

Fly the wings off that Eagle!!

[electric indigo]

Russian helos get an even more off-world look with digital camo

https://twitter.com/saidpvo/status/1032881909729243136

[AN/ALQ128]

11 hours ago, electric indigo said:

Russian helos get an even more off-world look with digital camo

https://twitter.com/saidpvo/status/1032881909729243136

Quite ugly, to be honest. Never was a fan of digital camo though.

[slide]

8 hours ago, AN/ALQ128 said:

Quite ugly, to be honest. Never was a fan of digital camo though.

It certainly doesn't look like that scheme itself would be very effective...

speaking of seemingly ineffective camo, this is India's Prototype Light Attack chopper:

 

Malaysia is doing it better:

 

it actually breaks up the outline of the bird [you know, what camouflage is supposed to do]

 

<<EDIT>>

The JASDF is doing it better too:

Edited August 26, 2018 by slide

[electric indigo]

I never quite got the purpose of digital (not splinter or dazzle) camo, other than screaming "21st century!" and looking nice occasionally

[sketchley]

1 hour ago, electric indigo said:

I never quite got the purpose of digital (not splinter or dazzle) camo, other than screaming "21st century!" and looking nice occasionally

 

See here for the reasons behind it: http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20160324-the-story-behind-chinas-minecraft-military-camo

As for the effectiveness... well, some of the examples in this post show how well different organizations understand the principles behind it, and who is just copying  what the others are doing.

[derex3592]

I'm glad I don't build military models anymore.....actually doing digital camo on a model would be a nightmare IMHO!!! 

[Sildani]

That same F-2A will be released by Hobby Master as a pre-built and -painted model. So if you want the camo without the work, there you are. 

[anime52k8]

19 hours ago, derex3592 said:

I'm glad I don't build military models anymore.....actually doing digital camo on a model would be a nightmare IMHO!!! 

this would probably make it easier: https://hlj.com/product/HQPDCMTL

[electric indigo]

Splinter camo is where I draw the line. Here's a new shot of my 1/48 Tarangus Viggen:

[slide]

1 hour ago, electric indigo said:

Splinter camo is where I draw the line.

someone say splinter camo?

[electric indigo]

Speaking of splinter camo, Hasegawa will release a Tomcat kit in the adversary scheme

[AN/ALQ128]

The first unmanned aircraft to be a permanent part of a carrier air wing has been picked by the US Navy.

https://news.usni.org/2018/08/30/navy-picks-boeing-build-mq-25a-stingray-carrier-based-drone

[David Hingtgen]

QVA-113, calling it now..

[Dobber]

On 8/27/2018 at 7:13 PM, slide said:

someone say splinter camo?

I sure did 

[electric indigo]

Another shot of the Splinter Gripen. Too bad this wasn't used a a regular scheme.

[David Hingtgen]

That’s always been considered one of the hardest schemes to do—it has four colors, whereas most have three.   

[electric indigo]

I can attest to that

[Sildani]

Maverick’s Rhino from Top Gun 2. 

 

[slide]

Just now, Sildani said:

Maverick’s Rhino from Top Gun 2. 

 

Given Tom Cruise's insistence on how his stunts look... I'm hopeful we'll get some HD Aerial footage on par with Le Chevalier Du Ciel:

 

[Thom]

12 hours ago, Sildani said:

Maverick’s Rhino from Top Gun 2. 

 

That's a nice paint scheme for the Bug.

[Smiley424]

So both a An-225 and a An-124 came to Guam last week bringing in relief supplies after Typhoon Mangkhut passed through.  Never thought I would see one of these land here.  The pictures don't do the plane justice, it's HUGE!  I wish I had gone up to the tower cab and gotten some pictures from there.

 

[Sildani]

Surprised Guam didn’t tip over and slide into the sea when she landed...

[David Hingtgen]

I've seen a -124 long ago, from a decent ways away, but the -225 has never come within 500 miles of me.  Some day maybe...

[Vifam7]

I saw the C-5M at the NY Airshow this weekend.

However, I think the C-17 is one of the best looking cargo planes.

[F-ZeroOne]

I saw an An-124 at the Yeovilton airshow in the UK a few years back. It almost seemed like an airship going over, it just seemed to "hang" in the sky.

[kalvasflam]

Geez, I didn't know there were many C5s left over.  Well, except for the ones used to ferry POTUS gears.

Edited September 19, 2018 by kalvasflam

[Shadow]

Hmmm. Tigers.

Edited October 2, 2018 by Shadow

[David Hingtgen]

They're flying as slow as they can for that photo, based on flap position.