The Duke's Latest Aircraft

[Duke Maddog]

Finally after a summer of misfortune and issues, I have managed to finish one model.

This is the latest Hasegawa A-37 Dragonfly in 1/72 scale, done up as a Vietnam bird. This is the first Dragonfly I ever built too:







Later on I'll be trying to get some ordinance under those wings.

This was built OOB and airbrushed with Testor's Model Master paints. I added the pilots since the cockpit was rather sparse so that there was some good visual interest. It was a fun little build.

That's all the aircraft for now. Feel free to check out my latest armor and my civilian car as well.

Thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

[BlackSheep214]

I did a Dragonfly kit by Hasegawa years ago. A fun kit to build indeed. Yours is looking like a mighty sweet bird. Well done!!

[Stikpusher]

Looks good Mark! But yes, those wings do not look right so empty. For a Vietnam war load they kept it pretty simple... bombs (slicks or snakes), napalm, and/or rocket pods. Ya gotta love the Tweet!
They used to fly playing Frogfoots against us at NTC in the 80's... Cessna made a real winner with these!

[Duke Maddog]

Thanks Blacksheep! I tried one years ago myself, but never finished it. The seats in the cockpit sat so high inside that the canopy would not close over it. They were almost 3/8" too high! This one was done right for a change.

Thanks Carlos! I agree, the wings do need to be loaded. I want to try a mixed loadout of napalm, GP bombs and some rockets. Just have to peruse my stash of weapons to see what I can use.

Sounds like fun running from those "Frogfoots"! Reminds me of a story my mother told me. One of her friends in Niceville (Yes, there is a town called that in Florida!) told how they and others in Niceville who had boats were approached by the Air Force. The Air Force requested that they take their boats out on the Bayou and allow the local A-10 pilots to practice by making gun runs on the boats while they dodged them. No ammo was used obviously, but they had great fun whipping around all over the water while these Warthogs 'strafed' them!

Th Air Force pilots were thrilled too, getting real time training against actual moving targets. They found out how difficult they can be!

[midnightprowler]

Well done. I need to get one of these.

[Duke Maddog]

I do highly recommend this one indeed. However, get a separate weapons set to add ordinance to the wings. The ones in this kit are so bland and look like a bunch of tanks underneath. I want ordinance!v

[Stikpusher]

Actually, one of the two most inner stations in each wing should be carrying tanks. That was standard. The outboard stations should be carrying ordnance.

[speedgraflex]

Congratulations, Duke!! That is a real beauty. This thread was fantastic to follow for the amount of information and details everyone contributed! You are all aces.

[Duke Maddog]

Carlos that is good to know. I do still have the tanks from the kit that I can do for it. Now to find the other ordinance and add it.

Thanks Bruce! I always love seeing your posts. I appreciate your comments so much.