SF2 A-4E(65) VA-164 'Ghost Riders' 1967 v1.1

A-4E (65) Skyhawk, VA-164 'Ghost Riders' Vietnam 1967-1968 Skinpack by Nyghtfall v1.1

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*** SF2V required for A-4E_65-model, tested in full 5-merged installation ***

The skin represents A-4Es from VA-164 'Ghost Riders' between June 1967 and January 1968 aboard the carrier USS Oriskany in Vietnam.

All BuNo are correct for this squadron, but unfortunately I couldn't find the correct assignment for all modex to BuNo.

The plane number 406 (152048) is an early version of the well-known "Lady Jessie", named after Jessie Beck, an owner of a casino in Reno, Nevada by Richard Perry. As a young man, he worked in the casino, they befrieded and he later became her pseudo-adopted son, until he was commissioned in 1957. Part of the training took place at Fallon near Reno and she always took good care of him and his comrades with baskets of goodies. Even after R. Perry was assigned to VA-164, she took care of him and the entire squadron by sending care packages. At some point R. Perry painted "Lady Jessie" on one of the squadrons birds as hommage to Jessie Beck. In October 1967 R. Perry was shot down while on a raid over Haiphong, but Lady Jessie continued her care for the squadron and after that date it was common use to apply "Lady Jessie" on the 401 plane until the decommisioning of VA-164.

The interesting story well-written:

http://jeanettevaughan.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/lady-jessie-bell-and-the-navy-ghostriders-belle-of-steel-12/

Some highlights on this skinpack are:

- new Baseskin with highter resolution (2048x2048)

- a lot new maintenance markings (a big thank to Soulfreak for the pattern!)

- new Decals for nearly everything :)

- gray rudder

- corrected Nosecone

- updated data.ini is included, which contains the working canopy (SHIFT+0) and landing light (thanks to Wrench).

Installation

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1. unzip to a temporary folder

2. copy 'Objects'-folder from the zip to your mods 'Objects'-folder, if asked to overwrite, say 'yes'.

3. enjoy!

Credits

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- Thirdwire and TK for a great game, nice models, skins and some decals I used as pattern

- ZScout370, wikimedia - USAF Insignia

- Wrench, updated data.ini

Thanks

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- Soulfreak, for your decalpattern, which was a BIG help to improve the baseskin and fill it with "life"!

- Wrench, ikon71, Stratos, CrazyhorseB34, cocas, EricJ for your help with the color-issues

- Blowhard, for the weathering-tutorial at http://www.eaf51.org/Photoshop/Tutorial/Basic_Weathering.htm

- all modders at CombatAce for their work and inspiration!

P.S.

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If you have any problems with this skin or have suggestions and hints, feel free to PM me