Syria’s Fighting Texans
I set out to
recreate the entire Syrian Arab Air force from its inception in 1947 to the
present day. Sounds like a difficult task, well it’s even more difficult than
that. The Syrian Air Force is the second most secretive in the world, so good
luck finding reference photos or walk-arounds. Still, I managed to gather over
50 different kits in 1/72 scale and got working. After having had 11 kits built,
detailed, filled, sanded, primed and ready for painting, I had an unfortunate
accident where a heavy wooden shelf fell on them and smashed them to bits. So
back to the drawing board and re-ordering all the kits and detail sets. Oh well,
looking at the bright side, I can now avoid all my earlier mistakes and do a
better job. My first submission is of the Academy Hobby T-6G Texan which was
part of the Syrian Arab Air Force. This specific model still stands today in the
courtyard of the Military Museum in Damascus, Syria.
The kit used was the
Academy Hobby model Kits and was built straight out of the box. I thought the
kit came together quite well with minimal need for any filling, the joints lined
up pretty well. After sanding and priming, I used Model Master Lacquer Aluminum
Non-Buffing metalizer followed by Model Master Sealer for Metalizer, with Tamiya
Flat Black XF-1 and Tamiya Flat yellow XF-3. Followed by a coat of Future then
used decals from a combination of sources including homemade ones coated with
MicroSol (many coats, lost count). Another coat of future was followed by Pro
Modeller black weathering wash and the sealed with Model Master Acrylic Flat
Clear coat. The antenna wire was made from a strand of hair that my gorgeous
wife, Ruba, had so generously donated…
Click on
images below to see larger images
“The Ten Day
Conflict”
The second phase of
the Palestine War, called the Ten Day Conflict, began on July 8 with an all-out
Israeli effort to conquer the UN-designated Arab areas of northern and central
Palestine. The Syrian forces appeared to have been taken by surprise and it was
not until two days after the fighting re-erupted that SAF Texans returned to the
battle—at dawn on July 10—in support of their ground troops. One of the
pilots who took part was Lt Faisal Nadif, on his first combat mission.
Nevertheless, the missions proved so effective that the Israeli Northern Front
HQ demanded air cover from the Israeli Air Force.
Two Avias were
promptly sent up from Herzliya, the IAF’s fighter base north of Tel Aviv.
These soon encountered two Syrian Texans patrolling at about 6,000ft (1,830m)
above Mishmar Ha’Yarden. Since the rear or observer position of SAF Texans had
been fitted with guns, the two Israeli Avias attacked from below.
Maurice Mann, a
former RAF pilot now serving as a mercenary in the IAF, claimed to have shot one
Texan which reportedly crashed in Arab territory near Mishmar Ha’Yarden, its
crew supposedly being killed. Evidence from the Syrian side, however, suggests
that this Texan did not crash and that its crew were unhurt. The second Texan
(serial number 206), flown by Sergeant al-Abed with First Mechanic Muhi al-Din
Wadi as his observer/gunner, retreated across the Syrian frontier pursued by an
Avia flown by another mercenary pilot, Lionel Bloch from South Africa. The final
confrontation came near Qunaytra, the regional capital of the Golan region of
Syria. Here Bloch came in to finish off the Texan whose gunner/observer had
apparently been wounded. But the T-6’s gunner, Muhi al-Din Wadi, returned fire
and hit the Israeli fighter which crashed outside Qunaytra, killing Bloch.
The SAF Texan
returned to its base safely, though its observer-gunner, Muhi al-Din Wadi,
subsequently died of his wounds.
The kit used was the
Academy Hobby model Kits and was built straight out of the box with the
exception of cutting out a part of the fuselage top in the back and building a
browning machine gun. I thought the kit came together quite well with minimal
need for any filling, the joints lined up pretty well. After sanding and
priming, I used Model Master Enamel Afrika Braun 2102, Model Master Acrylic
LichtBlau RLM 76 4786, Model master Acrylic Dark Green 4726 and Tamiya Flat
Black XF-1. The camouflage was done using 3M Blue 471 vinyl tape. This was
followed by a coat of Future then used home made decals coated with MicroSol.
Another coat of future was followed by Pro Modeller black weathering wash and
the sealed with Model Master Acrylic Flat Clear coat. The antenna wire was made
from a strand of hair that my gorgeous wife, Ruba, had so generously donated…
I decided to build
it in flight mode to match the photo of the actual plane in flight.
Hope you enjoyed
this and stay tuned for more to come!!
Majd Abbar
Click on
images below to see larger images
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