History
From their
first demonstration flight in 1953, the United States Air Force Thunderbirds
have impressed crowds around the world with their fighter jet formation flying.
Understandably then, the demonstration flight aircraft get all the glory
from modeling companies and modelers. However, unlike Judy
Garland and Mickey Rooney movies, the stars need help to “put on a show.”
Not only do the T-birds need their support crew, tools and parts to be
waiting for them at each stop, but to further their promotional mission the
public relations officer needs something to drum up interest in the local press
and therefore something in which to give rides to local media and VIPs.
The first aircraft used by the team spokesman was a T-33A which allowed a
passenger to be taken aloft and was painted in similar scheme as the
demonstration planes. As for the behind the scenes work, in
1955 the Thunderbirds began using a dedicated C-119F “flying boxcar” as
their support craft until 1958. It appears to have been their
first support craft also to be painted in the team’s red/white/blue stars and
scallops paint scheme. Also, at least at some point in 1955,
the Thunderbirds’ demonstration pilots lined up their F-84G’s in the
background and had their pictures taken next to a line of Ford Thunderbird for
each pilot.
Sixty years
later the public relations officer flies a two seat F-16D similar to the single
seat F-16 flown by the demonstration team and the support craft is a
non-descript C-141 Star Lifter. Harken back with us now to
yesteryear when things were different in the fifties. Those
specialized aircraft may be less well known but are just as impressive and just
as deserving of a modeler’s attention.
Click on
images below to see larger images
Construction
As to the
Thunderbird’s C-119, they used an “F” version but the only kits I could
find were made by Italeri and were either the “C” or “G.” A
lucky email conversation with a gracious authority on C-119s -- Chuck Lunsford
author of "Departure Message" & "Boxcar Down" –
confirmed the “F” was like the “G,” just with different antennae and
direction finder. So it was the “G” model with few
modifications would do. The Italari kit has a beautiful
flight and cargo deck. However, the former is next to
invisible when the halves are glued together and the later requires a flashlight
to even partially appreciate even with the clam shell doors open. There
are major seams in the wings that require major filling – not my strong suit
most of the time. Otherwise, the kit is fun to put together
and, in any case, really your only choice if interested in a C-119.
The T-33
came as part of Hasegawa’s “Thunderbird History Set” – presumably
because they did not make an F-84f or F-84g to complete the set and needed a
substitute. It is pretty straightforward kit but with little
cockpit detail. The only 1/72 scale Ford T-bird I could find
was made by Glencoe Models and came as part of a “Classic Roadsters” combo
set accompanying a MGTD. The kit is even more basic, as you
might expect, but with an inexcusably colored plastic windshield! I
used it only as a template for a piece of clear plastic that I had cut from a
package and used as a substitute.
Painting and Decals
There were so many
embarrassing disasters with the paint job of the C-119 that I’ve repressed
most of them (flashback example: with paint completed and decals affixed I
started to spray what I thought was a final gloss clear coat but which I quickly
realized upon application instead was gloss WHITE paint!! Ok,
its time to admit my wife is right and my 49 year old eyes may, just may need
bifocals. I use a magnifying head set when painting details,
but I didn’t think I needed them on when I grabbed the paint can!)
The decals of course were a problem. However, a great
set of T-bird C-119 drawings from “Scale Aircraft Modelling” magazine
allowed me to scan in the images, enlarge them and make almost passable decals
for the stars and scallops for the tail surfaces. Otherwise,
the drawing guided my hand painting of the scallops on the nose and engine
cowlings because I’m just not good enough at spray painting (I’m
not good enough at hand painting either, but at least it works from a distance).
The T-33 decals that came
with the kit appeared from the directions (they were in Japanese of course) to
be for a 1957 version of the jet and were not consistent with either the
drawings from “Scale Aircraft Modelling” or photographs from my official
Thunderbird resource “We Rode The Thunder.” Since I
wanted the plane to be during the time period of the C-119 and the Ford picture
taken in 1955, I used the magazine drawings as my guide and combined the
Hasegawa’s decals with decals (old and dissolving) from an old set of Micro/Superscale
#72-133 I had tracked down on ebay.
Click on
images below to see larger images
Conclusion
Despite all
my self-created frustration, this was a fun follow up project to my build of all
the Thunderbird demonstration team planes. http://www.arcair.com/Fea2/1001-1100/Fea1013_Thunderbirds_Hamilton/00.shtm
Maybe
somtime in the future, I’ll build the Blue Angels’ Public Information
Officer’s TV-2 and its Support Crew’s Constellation with their easy one
color Blue Angel Blue!
Resources
-
Bob Gore
& Carol Knotts, We Rode the Thunder: The Autobiography of the United
States Air Force Thunderbirds (2003)
-
“Scale
Aircraft Modelling” Vol. 28 no. 9 (November 2006)
Dan
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