late skywarrior schemes

[Streakfalcon]

hey guys, just read the A-3 was actually in Desert storm. I can find only one pic of a lo-vis whale from 89. In 88, thers a pic of an A-3 trapping next to other types which are all apinted typical lo vis, but the whale still has a subdued gull gray- sea gray finish. What is the official name for the scheme that followed the early 70s high vis(is that the right term?) and preceded the current lo vis (all markings gray shades scheme)?

[+Dave]

TPS Tactical Paint Scheme

[Streakfalcon]

got it, thanks.

 

lookey

Edited February 23, 2012 by ikon71

[Wrench]

this might be of use too,

 

http://military-machine.blogspot.com/2011/12/aerograph-5-douglas-3-skywarrior.html

[Streakfalcon]

wow, good stuff there

[Icarus999]

The reserve squadrons VAK-308 And VAK-208 had a Couple of TPS + low vis KA-3Dskywarriors in the early to late eighties, but most of thier birds were gull grey with full color or occasionally low vis grey insignia.

 

It would be great to have some late Skywarrior skins.

[+Soulfreak]

Would like to see some too...

Here are some pix i found on Airliners (low viz pix are hard to find).

Edited February 24, 2012 by Soulfreak

[Wrench]

I can have the VAH-13 done in a few days....needs BuNums. Completly revamped pit (based off my work on Buny's B-66), fixed lights, wing folds, avionics, loadout, canopy glass, lots of little details, etc etc etc.

 

(unfortunately, unable to fix the massive decal bleed on the right rear fues, right smack dab where the insigina goes!)

in screenie below, all markings are decals (partly retemplated to remove stuff)

 

most of those showing in the picc are "Queers" -- the elint birds (EA-3B?). look at all the antenna bulges/blisters

[Icarus999]

VAK-308 KA-3B's high vis

Edited February 24, 2012 by Icarus999

[Wrench]

the Whale tail marking is cool!

 

by the skyline, I'd guess NAS Alameda (been there!)

[Icarus999]

the Whale tail marking is cool!

 

by the skyline, I'd guess NAS Alameda (been there!)

 

Yep they were out of NAS Alameda, I've got more images if you're interested. that scheme was a constant with the squadron from the mid 70's right up until the end in the late 80's the only thing that really changed were a few birds done in either gunship grey or medium blue grey markings for the low vis schemes.

[Wrench]

(re) modded pit ... was able to move the AoA indexers back into sight. As I'd forgotten how important those are for getting the bird back on the boat....

however, was unable to move the standby compass to upper frame; kept disappearing behind it,so you won't have one

 

and yes, the cockpit ain't perfect, and has much more sophisticated avionics than it should (and the radar screen should be shifted right .25 m, and Whales did NOT have gun/bombsight -was all handled via radar and it's operator next to the pilot, and most assuredly didn't have an RWR!!), but everything works and is MUCH closer then the pit that was issued with their release.

 

Had even given thought to using the Intruder pit...but that would require way too much work to get to fit right. Too many meshes linked to move thing properly. Maybe at another time, when I'm not too buried with terrains... (yah, like THAT'll ever happen!)

Edited February 25, 2012 by Wrench

[Streakfalcon]

Sweet!

[Wrench]

guys, i'm at my wits end with this POS ... canNOT get the bird back on the boat!!! It just won't catch the wires.

 

I'm gonna try ONE more thing.........then package it with the 'no-carrier functionaly' caveat, and release it "as is". Maybe somebody eles can figure out what hell I missed!

[Streakfalcon]

That is good news. After doing some google research, it seems that there was an interesting "unofficial scheme" for a time in the very early 80s. Correct me if Im wrong but the standard gray and white colors in use from about 1954 to about 1979 had a transition period before becoming the boring TPS(lo-vis) camo. I have seen pics of planes from the same squadron evolving from the true gray and white with large colorful markings of the 70s to all over light gray with markings only toned down, then light gray with smaller dark gray markings before going to true lo vis around 1983. A check of the skins in the MF tomcat download seems to confirm this. Ive read that these transition schemes seem to have been dictated by wing commanders and were certainly not uniform amongst the different aircraft types. Fighter squadrons having the most differences and patrol planes adhering to the old scheme the longest. Either way, not including the ferris schemes, there is a great deal of variation and many possibilities for skinning early 80s navy planes.So with the release of SF2NA pending and being set around this time frame, Im glad the Whale is getting a makeover.

[Icarus999]

That is good news. After doing some google research, it seems that there was an interesting "unofficial scheme" for a time in the very early 80s. Correct me if Im wrong but the standard gray and white colors in use from about 1954 to about 1979 had a transition period before becoming the boring TPS(lo-vis) camo. I have seen pics of planes from the same squadron evolving from the true gray and white with large colorful markings of the 70s to all over light gray with markings only toned down, then light gray with smaller dark gray markings before going to true lo vis around 1983. A check of the skins in the MF tomcat download seems to confirm this. Ive read that these transition schemes seem to have been dictated by wing commanders and were certainly not uniform amongst the different aircraft types. Fighter squadrons having the most differences and patrol planes adhering to the old scheme the longest. Either way, not including the ferris schemes, there is a great deal of variation and many possibilities for skinning early 80s navy planes.So with the release of SF2NA pending and being set around this time frame, Im glad the Whale is getting a makeover.

 

yep the transitional scheme was overall 36440 light gull grey. The markings varied from full size full color- to full size low vis- reduced size full color - to reduced size low vis.

[colmack]

Hi guys

 

I have been using this as a stand in for the EKA-3, it uses the canoe model from one of the old ®A-5 viggies

[Talos]

I know this is a bit late to the game, but I hope this might help someone. It's the TPS scheme layout for the A-3 taken from MIL-STD 2161A (1993), complete with markings guide and FS-595 colors.