1. Plastikmodellbauclub Nürnberg e.V. |
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Grumman AF-2W Guardian, Special
Hobby 1/48 |
Anti Submarine Squadron 21, on board of CVE-115 Bairoko, 02-04/1953 |
The Original:
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The unseparable pair. Conceived in 1944 as a replacement for the TBF
Avenger Grumman's new two seat XTB3F torpedo bomber with mixed propulsion (Pratt&Whitney R-2800-34W radial in front,
Westinghouse J-30-WE-20 jet engine in the rear)
offered a speed advantage of 100 knots and a considerably higher
weapons load, but difficulties with the jet engine and its air intake led to
a protracted development. On Jan. 29th 1947, the war was over by now, the BuAer of the US Navy
having discarded the category TB meanwhile, Grumman was offered a new
contract for an aircraft fitting into the new category "Attack".
Both parties agreed that the mission search
and destroy hostile U-boats could not be fulfilled efficiently by a single
aircraft. Deleting the jet engine offered ample space for
equipment and associated crew. One version of the new AF-2 named
Guardian would be the search aircraft (AP-20 radar and associated
electronics, no weapons), the other one carrying the weapons, one torpedo in
the internal weapons bay as well as water bombs and rockets under the wings,
but also with auxiliary electronics for fine tuning the course (and a
periscope behind the weapons bay). In June 1950 evaluation units received the
new AF-2W search/warning aircraft (1 pilot, 1 ECM, 2 alternate radar
operators) and AF-2S strike (1 pilot, 1 ECM, 1 radar operator/bombardier). In
September 1950 regular US Navy squadrons began to utilize their new mounts.
Quite astonishingly embarked on the small escort carriers of the Commencement
Bay class (CVE-105 ff.). With a wing span of 60 feet the Guardian was the
largest carrier capable aircraft on the smallest carrier. With an associated
accident rate. 1952 de mothballed fleet carriers (USS Leyte and others) took
over the hunt of Russian submarines. In 1955 the Guardians were
replaced by Grumman A2F Trackers, the remaining aircraft soldering on in the
Naval Reserves until 1957. Afterwards two
aircraft were used by the Californian Aero Union as fire bombers (the sole
surviving Guardian in the Pensacola museum is one of them). For a day or night mission one might assume the
AF-2W search aircraft flying at a high altitude to cover a vast portion of
the search sector. But, in contrary, the actual height was no more than 1000
to 1500 feet, for a periscope or snorkel presented a rather small radar
reflecting area. In the search mode one of the two radar operators
watched his screen while his crew mate rested on a separate seat. In the
after compartment the ECM operator sought to lock onto a sub radio message
through which a relative bearing to the target could be found. If a firm
contact was established the AF-2S flying in parallel got course information
and now it was its part to take over. How many Russian subs were actually detected in the
vicinity of Korea and other locations all over the world is open to question,
but actual destruction would have raised a diplomatic storm. |
Modell AF-2W |
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Modeling:
According to the wingspan of the actual aircraft one
gets a model of considerable size. On a first look it could be taken as
1:32. A closer look reveals Special Hobby's love for detail. What I liked most
is the representation of the fabric covering. No hanging waves, no prominent
ridges à la Cessna. The slits in the outer wings aren't as may be expected the
usual depressions, no, there is a cutout in the wing to be filled with an inner
and an outer part to create a very convincing representation with thin edges.
The vertical "finettes" on the horizontal
tail were a delight to fix. Hardly was there any putty necessary. To make it
short there are many thoughtfully made parts too, partly resin, partly photo
etched (i.e. separate cylinders for the engine, scissors for the main u/c, and
so on). Though locating pins are missing as is usual with so called short
run kits fit of parts is excellent. Building this kit was a delight. Special praise
goes to the construction leaflet with detailed painting instructions in color
for each step.
But as usual there are some points not so well. The
cockpit is rather sparse and most decals are incorrect (see remarks below). One point escaped my attention when building this model. The
main wheels show eight spokes whereas the real ones had only six. Correction
was easy, see AF-2S page, also for additional detailing of
this model.
In case you intend to build this interesting "off beat" aircraft type/s there is something that
separates airbrush artists from real modelers: AF-2W and AF-2S were based on
aircraft carriers. As can be seen in every picture or movie there are two
decidedly different situations on an aircraft carrier: Either aircraft
are preparing for launch or having landed seconds ago, or parked aircraft. In
the first case wings are spread with a pilot in the cockpit. Parked aircraft
are empty and wings are folded. Folded wings are mandatory to get as many
aircraft as possible onto the confined space of a carrier deck. As the Guardian
kit doesn't have a pilot figure you either need one or you have to fold the
wings. Sorry, an empty plane with wings spread is very, very unrealistic.
But don't panic, making folded wings is easier as you might think. - Just
try!
As scale parts of the hinge are fragile and tend to
break another solution is needed: A steel or (preferably) brass wire is
inserted instead of a hydraulic actuation arm or if such a part doesn’t exist
the wire is inserted in a place not visible from the outside. How it is done in principle see page
"folded wings".
In case of the Guardian it was made as follows:
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As the Guardian wings rotated back there was no hydraulic arm to fix
the outer wing onto it. Instead the steel wire (was a mistake as it was too
rigid, brass wire would have been better) to fix the outer wing onto
would run on the insides being concealed by the wing skin and bulkheads.
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Colours:
"Glossy Sea Blue" (FS 15042) on
airframe, wheel wells, undercarriage and wheel hubs. Naturally except the radar
radome which had a light wood colour
(differing in the original). Antiglare black was used in front of the
windscreen, extending down halfway of the fuselage. Concerning the outsides,
please note: "Sea Blue" is not dark blue, as it was composed of five
components including 5% green. "Black-Blue" comes closer. As the
original color makes the model appear too dark (it's
fine for a 1:1 model in bright sunshine) I mixed Revell
Midnight Blue 54 and 7 Black with a tiny amount of Green, radome tan and white, also Revell.
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Cockpit colour
varied. Early Guardings still had an "Interior
Green" bottom, extending to the lower edge of the instrument panel (rest
black), later on black all over. I chose the former one though not absolutely
sure how it looked in the original VS-21 plane (internet photos show wrecks,
Grumman photos of early aircraft show only black and white). One point not so well done by
S.H. are the panels on the side consoles, showing small holes instead of protuding knobs. A throttle is missing too (on the other
side a ventilating tube on the instrument panel hood is furnished). To make a
panel with knobs standing out I used sheet aluminum from a food tray, with a
needle I made depressions in the appropriate places on the back side.
Then the front side was painted "Dark Gull Gray" (FS 36231). After
this had dried thoroughly thinned black paint was applied. This made the
knobs to appear again, some slight rubbing made them visible even more. From
the usual viewing distance it looks quite right (in the photo larger than the
original). Contrary to the construction
leaflet the shoulder straps did not go over the back rest of the seat (it
would chafe). As was usual Grumman practice the straps went over a horizontal
bar behind and slightly above the seat (kit PE parts modified by adding the
loose part for adjusting). A seat cushion was added after this photo was
made. |
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The resin-motor is another highlight of this kit. Finely engraved
separate cylinders, five part crankcase with separate ignition ring; the
pushrods have to be added from wire or plastic, exact measurement is given.
To get the lower ends of the ignition cables (thin copper wire) fixed I had
to make a new ignition ring. Contrary to the construction
leaflet cylinder color is not "Dark Iron" as Light Gray as was
usual on all P&W motors. Ignition ring not black but either chrome silver
or brass (color differing sometimes). The front of crankcase was often
painted in the outside colour (Sea Blue paint after
photo wss made). |
Decals:
Very thin with much adhesive power, but nevertheless
the weak point of this kit. Discernible on the first sight are the to thin red
bars in the national insignia. Height should be 1/3 of the white bar. On the
wings the numbers inside of the squadron letters should be 2/3 in height not of
the same. On the underside of the right wing "NAVY" is loo large, the
maintenance stencils being a trifle on the large side too, but acceptable.
The red bar could be covered with a strip cut from an
old decal of appropriate colour. The rest came from
spare Microscale decals.
Ageing:
No bleached paint, no exhaust stains, no chipping
paint. All this never seen on an actual Guardian. As missions lasted only weeks
there wasn't enough time for bleaching and Korea waters aren't famous for
their tropical climate. As the exhaust tubes extended well outside the
fuselage, openings outward, exhaust gases were blown clear. Paint chipping on
USN aircraft? - Never! Corrosion protection is mandatory on carrier aircraft.
Display:
As mentioned above parked carrier aircraft need folded
wings. And a deck. Though US carriers had wooden decks at this time they never
showed bare wood. Decks were always painted in a so called
"deck stain" (early WW II blue-gray, later blue-black, see page Ship Camouflage).
Painting was for two simple reasons: A tan deck against a dark blue or
blue-gray ocean gives a very noticeable contrast (concealment needed); secondly
water overspill would soak wooden planks making them heavier and so influence
the balance of the ship. - Well, US Navy is not US Air Force.
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