O-2A Cessna Skymaster, Italeri 1/48

[rtfoe]

Hi,
I've always been intrigued by the odd planes of the Forward Air Control units that flew during the Vietnam war. They were Grumman OV-1 Mohawks, O-2 Cessna Skymasters, Bird Dogs and OV-10 Broncos. So far I have built one that is the O-2 which is featured here. My next would be the Mohawk although it was more of a Surveilance support aircraft than FAC.



I haven't taken any extra shots since finishing this so will load more later. I'll feature a build blog on it as it had quite a lot done and has a scratchbuilt interior radio compartment in the back. The kit itself being an old Testors reboxed kit had its fair share of problems like raised panel lines. The decals Don't Shoot are from Decal Draw.

Cheers,
Richard

[papa 695]

Great work Richard

[Dave Ward]

Richard,
that's very nice - I would have thought that the newer ICM model might have been favoured............
I have the Roden 1/48 Mohawk OV-1B in the stash, and keep on looking at it - I fancy the Geological Survey Version...
Dave

[rtfoe]

Thanks Ian, you've got to be a real plane enthusiast to like that shape. :smiling2:

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

Thanks David, I had this in the stash for a while and the box was starting to disintegrate so it had to be built and even before ICM promo'd theirs.
The Mohawk OV-1A is the next one I'm building. I like the box art of it...gives the mysterious nature these planes played in the part of the conflict.



Cheers,
Richard

[Tim Marlow]

Looks fantastic Richard. Beautiful clean finish. Does it have “don’t shoot” on the underside in Vietnamese?

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
Excellent. Love the decals.
Jim

[Guest]

Another one I’ve always liked the looks of (I want to build one in 1:72 someday …) and the DON’T SHOOT really makes for a cool plane

[Guest]

That's very nice Richard, and an unusual subject that has me tempted...

[rtfoe]

Thanks Tim, Jim, Jakko and Andy,

The Don't Shoot was for trigger happy fighter jocks to avoid accidents. I saw these decals being used on a similar build and sought after them from Decal Draw. I think they have them in 1/72 as well. The Testors/Italeri kit may be hard to find but the new ICM kit may be a better build with recessed panels being a newer tooled kit.
My old kit had twin boom warping issues and lots of panels needed cutting open for the clear canopy parts to make the observation version.

Cheers,
Richard

[Ian M]

Nice one. The finish looks silky smooth. Like the Don't shoot markings.

[rtfoe]

Thanks Ian, I used Tamiya paints for this after a coat of primer and pre-shading. I normally use Mr Color but to get better coverage for white I used Tamiya instead.

Cheers,
Richard

[yak face]

Beautiful job richard , ive always liked the O2 ever since building the old airfix as a kid . Top marks for getting a result out of the old testors moulds too, must have been a tricky build . Cheers tony

[colin m]

That looks a very tidy, well executed build. Great job. I did ask myself why 'Don't shoot' but you explained that. Imagine the actual need, to apply this to a real aircraft !

[rtfoe]

Thanks. Tricky it was Tony which you'll see in my build blog once I've sorted the images. I have seen one fly over my house a couple of times and makes a different sound than the single engine Cessnas.

Thank you Colin. Don't Shoot markings were only applied to a flying museum aircraft if I'm not mistaken. There were none with this particular marking in Vietnam as the decal instruction says. The whole top of the wing is painted white for crying out loud and against a jungle canopy it can't be mistaken for a North Vietnamese aircraft with the characteristic push and pull props.

Cheers,
Richard