Trumpeter 1/48 Cessna A-37B Dragonfly

[Steve Ski]

Whoa, my memory ain't that good, MP, but that is about the time I would have been there, what a trip. Now if Barney was there too, that would be pretty wild. I was a yellow rope, still got it in a box somewhere, lol. I was love sick for my girl back home, so the shoe shiner wasn't on my radar. What a waste though, my girl back home Dear John'd me in short order, WAAAAA! No regrets, my pretty little woman of almost 36yrs is a keeper, and she does love my model bunker! I don't remember much of the layout of the base, but I do remember we gave each other haircuts to save $$.

It doesn't matter that the model bunker keeps me out of her hair, it's the fact that she loves it, right?

It would be a sweet thing to find Tweety in 1/32nd scale, then the detail potential would be incredible. Oh well, back to the bunker I go.

 

[moon puppy]

Sorry Steve, no joy on those decals. Must have sent out with the kit.

 

[Tojo72]

That cockpit is just outstanding

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Whoa, my memory ain't that good, MP, but that is about the time I would have been there, what a trip. Now if Barney was there too, that would be pretty wild. I was a yellow rope, still got it in a box somewhere, lol. I was love sick for my girl back home, so the shoe shiner wasn't on my radar. What a waste though, my girl back home Dear John'd me in short order, WAAAAA! No regrets, my pretty little woman of almost 36yrs is a keeper, and she does love my model bunker! I don't remember much of the layout of the base, but I do remember we gave each other haircuts to save $$.

It doesn't matter that the model bunker keeps me out of her hair, it's the fact that she loves it, right?

It would be a sweet thing to find Tweety in 1/32nd scale, then the detail potential would be incredible. Oh well, back to the bunker I go.

Yeah Steve, I will occasionally build smaller, but I prefer the detail hog 1/32 scale builds.

 

[Steve Ski]

Sorry Steve, no joy on those decals. Must have sent out with the kit.

Thanks for the look, MP. I've already been mentally prepping for the job the hard way, can't be avoided. One thing is for sure, I'll learn how to design my own decals and I have a template to work from.

Thanks, Tony!!

Yeah Steve, I will occasionally build smaller, but I prefer the detail hog 1/32 scale builds.

There's just something about these larger bird kits that attract my attention more so that the smaller, and it's the potential for serious detail. My only issue would be space when finished, that is at a premium, HA!

 

[Sharkmouth]

One thing is for sure, I'll learn how to design my own decals and I have a template to work from.

Where are you located? Stateside?

 

[Steve Ski]

Where are you located? Stateside?

I am, NE WA state, 90 miles north of Spokane. Did you find a wonderful set of decals? That would be awesome, Saul.

 

[Sharkmouth]

I am, NE WA state, 90 miles north of Spokane. Did you find a wonderful set of decals? That would be awesome, Saul.

I will look, and if found, send... For free of course!

 

[Steve Ski]

I will look, and if found, send... For free of course!

That would be great, Saul. If ya do find em, zap me a PM.

 

[Rhino]

I will look, and if found, send... For free of course!

Saul took good care of me! A creative and honorable man.

 

[Sharkmouth]

That would be great, Saul. If ya do find em, zap me a PM.

Of my three kits, I only found the unused sets from Trumpeter and one Monogram (seems the other was used for the stencils). Yours if you want them but I also have a large stash (5 binders) of decals, many generic, so might be able to cobble up codes and serials, at the least.

 

[Sharkmouth]

Columbian Air Force (FAC) with the Howard 24th TASS OA-37B in 1989:

OA-37B at Howard, note the Panama stripe and rather simple low-visibility markings, photographed in 1987, at a Guatemalan base:

1990, perhaps an old scheme not overpainted?

Nice article on the Golden Jaguars, simply click the picture of the Uruguayan with the OA-37B in the background. Caption:
SGT Edwardo Agular, Uruguayan tactical air controller, stands guard over a 24th Tactical Air Support Squadron (24th TASS) OA-37B Dragonfly aircraft during a training exercise between the 24th TASS and members of the Uruguayan Air Force. Agular is armed with a 7.62mm FN FAL rifle.

 

[Sharkmouth]

MP, if you've got those decals and they are still viable I would gladly pay you for them, shipping and all. As it stands right now, I have to refab my own in word, if possible, and even use an inet copy and repaint each and every detail, to remove the blue backdrop, before attempting to copy and print to decal paper. I'm not sure if I'm going to have much success, my printer is not the greatest.

Please let me know, MP, I'll give you my first born, wife, kids, and all, HA!

The Encore decals, made by Aeromaster, doesn't have a Howard aircraft on it. Click to download instructions:

 

[Sharkmouth]

Looking through my decal scraps, I did find these which should be passable on a dark scheme. Note, the 'H' in the HR405 are a tad small. I will scan and see if I can print them out for you corrected.

 

[Sharkmouth]

OK, now to find the serial for AF 73-104 and repeated 104 characters.

 

[Steve Ski]

Saul, thanks for digging through your stash, Brother, I greatly appreciate that. Thanks to everyone who did some digging.

Wow, that decal pic for HAFB is better than the one I've got, so I can reproduce most of the lettering, but not so much the TAC and Sqdrn patch or some of the smaller ones. It's that blue tint in the background that has to be eliminated. Funny you've got a pic that has one of the guys I worked with for almost two years, Brad. You can see him over the nose of the bird with the comms tower to his left. I also remember that crew chief at the nose, but I don't remember his name, what a trip.

I left there in Oct 87, so nothing would have changed on the camo pattern, I don't think, but the tail art did. I will be using the camo scheme from my photos as I have quite a few shots of Tweety on the line and in the hanger, plus the one you posted. The box art colors are certainly off, but they are just references, lol.

As far as the Panama decals go, Squadron used to carry them long ago, so they were an after-market set as my ref pic indicates. At any rate, I will do what I can and fake the rest, HA! What's the government saying, "fake it till ya make it."

Thanks again, Saul, we Ruck On from here.

 

[Sharkmouth]

Saul, thanks for digging through your stash, Brother, I greatly appreciate that. Thanks to everyone who did some digging.

Wow, that decal pic for HAFB is better than the one I've got, so I can reproduce most of the lettering, but not so much the TAC and Sqdrn patch or some of the smaller ones. It's that blue tint in the background that has to be eliminated.

Isn't that what I have in the red box? Properly scaled too?

As for the blue background, it is gone and it printed quite acceptably on paper at the right size, reproduced below. Laser will be best. I have clear decal sheet to try for you, if needed.

Or, this one:

 

[Steve Ski]

Wow, awesome, ok, I misunderstood what you were saying. Those in the red box will work, I'll make em work! That would leave the Squadron patch.

I just did a test run, Saul. I'm going to PM you now.

 

[Steve Ski]

Cleaning up the Cockpit

I wanted to get an update in earlier, but yall know how outside work takes precedence this time of year. Hopefully, once the summer routine gets established, bunker time will be more frequent.

After reviewing what I posted earlier there were several issues that were bothering me, so I went back and cleaned up the cockpit wash, touched up a few features on the instrument panel, and finished the oxygen hoses, plus I added some details to the ejection seats. I’m calling this done for now, but after the camo pattern has been applied, I will finish the HUD and dull down the dash to get rid of that glare.

So, just for the record, the central 6-dial panel is a decal, so is the 4-dial set right center, and the far-left white buttons, lower quadrant. The rest had to be hand painted because, as mentioned before, the decals flew the coop. Those 0000 W&N brushes are mighty handy.

More to follow as time allows and thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.

 

[Sharkmouth]

@Steve Ski, any update on the markings? Let me know if you'd like me to send what I photographed.