Crud crew bird, F-4J VF-31,1976. Monogram 1/72
One of the biggest concerns in naval aviation is corrosion of aircraft structures due to exposure to the sea air and back in the day the exhaust stacks of the fossil fueled carriers. Periodically an aircraft would be due for inspection and corrective maintenance by the crud crew [corrosion control shop], but it could be pulled back to service if it wasn't hard down for something more serious,
This is what I have attempted to portray here. I 'm not sure of the particular side number but as a plane captain I know I was assigned to the zinc chromate bespeckled bird at least once. it did look strange with all those spots. Eventually it got back down to the hanger bay and was finished up correctly.
This build may look familiar to the older members, awhile back I built it for the F-4 group build. I've just touched it up a bit and added the spots to simulate primer and sprayed it with a dull coat. I was going to build another VF-31 F-4, I built the kit but decided to use the old build and finish of the new one at another time.
Very interesting Rob. Thanks for sharing this insights from a real navy vet. Nice work on this 1/72 Phantom.
Excellent job, Robert! Really really interesting subject!
Oddball enough for me Robert
Nice job on this. @roofrat
Interesting look/mod of a very good model.
Nicely done with those speckles, Robert @roofrat
Very interesting to know.
Something one doesn't see represented much (if at all) in modelling. Did your aircraft suffer from bird poo as well? An excellent representation by the way.
Ours did. The bloody things got into the hangars to roost and nest. Every so often a rusty old nut would arrive, knocked off by a bird, left in a hurry during construction or repair in the 30s and 40s
Yes back on shore, We had a Chief with a bb gun,
Nice idea matey. I cannot think of a type I have worked with that didn't have some sort of patch after hangar rash, corrosion, checks or other work. Occasionally miss matched cam as parts got swapped. Years ago there was some info about a UH1D called "chicken ship" with a tail boom complete in zinc chromate. Over here ETPS had a Hunter in raspberry ripple scheme with one wing still in green/grey cam.
When I was with the Army in Germany we had an AH-1F Cobra that flew for months with a zinc chromate green tail boom.
This is a first to see for me. Well done, Robert.
Nice story and interesting speckled Phantom! Great job.
Strange looking with those spots, not the type you would use for a photo shoot or press release, but very realistic.
Interesting Phantom project - looks great! Something different for a Phantom Phamily project!
Very interesting post & paint work on this F-4. I’m my Air Guard days… we had cans of spray paint that were close to the original color that we used to spray over any repairs . It looked a little blotchy… but every few years the aircraft went for depot maintenance and would come back with a nice new paint job on it.
Ditto that, the crud crew took it a little further, sometimes repainting almost the entire a/c using spray guns. For depot level the plane went back to NARF, a Naval air rework facility.
Thanks all!
Interesting take on the Phantom, Robert.
Nice upgrade Robert, a different look.