Roden OV-1A Mohawk

Started by Colin Gomez · 15 · 2 years ago
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    Colin Gomez said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    I can't think of a more atmospheric and artistically inspired box art painting than this one by Valeriy Grygorenko. The lonely jungle setting streaked with rain is beautiful in every detail. The monkeys startled by a passing aircraft seem ironically untouched by the war it is speeding towards. So may details to explore: the treetops of the bamboo forest, the crumbling ruins, but everything supports the portrait of the aircraft in its element. I was never much interested in the Mohawk, but this box art and an equally inspired one for a sub variant completely won me over. I bought both kits plus resin and etch detail sets. I recently got after market decals to replace the problematic wing walkways in the kit. Now I will definitely build it. No details on the kit tonight. Just want to post this for now and memorialize a great artist.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    A wonderful entry, my friend @coling! Indeed, the boxart is one of Valeriy's most atmospheric ones.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    Great entry, Colin @coling
    Besides a beautiful aircraft, the boxart is indeed amazing, a Mohawk in its natural habitat.

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    Stephen W Towle said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    The Mohawk flying in the weeds . . . the aircraft is really quiet. Having seen several flying examples. The painting reminds me of Apocalypse Now. It definitely, captures the Jungles of Nam. Go for it Colin. The painting is the gate way drug for modeling. 😉

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    Colin Gomez said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    Thanks, Spiros, John and Stephen. I have some materials (shown below) to get this done. Your recent build, Spiros, was a big inspiration to pull this kit from the stash. Your version will be a hard act to follow, but I have some ideas. I will start by trying to super-detail the cockpit. The resin and photo-etch I have will probably be enough, but I am not yet sure about the resin ejection seats, I may build these up myself from the kit seat to make painting easier (as with the DH Venom I am finishing up now).

    Here are the bits and pieces I have on hand.

    The True Details pit is pretty complete but I like to use etch for the IP at least, so I have both. Whatever is left over for both sets I will use for my OV1B/C, which I plan to do up as the MiG killer OV-1C of the 173rd AVC Company (low-vis markings), discussed on this site awhile back. Here is the other Grygorenko boxart for that. It is another beautiful image of a dawn flight, lacking the specifics of place in the OV-1A boxart. As for the marking in this OV-1A build, I will use the Caracal decal sheet to do Option 2 of the 73rd AVN Company in High Vis markings. It's great that Caracal provides the wing walk decals, as these are the weakest part of the Roden kit.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    This is a wonderful set of extras, my friend @coling! I can only imagine the gorgeous outcome!
    The kit wing walk decals did present some issues, your Caracal ones look vastly superb!

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    Tom Cleaver said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    The MiG-killer Mohawk was a JOV-1A flown by Major Ken Lee. The JOV-1A was the only armed Mohawk. The OV-1C is a recon-only airplane. I know for sure about this, since I am the guy who broke Ken's story back in 2003 in Flight Journal.

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    Morne Meyer said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    Definitely an interesting story Tom. Do you have any information on the markings of the Mohawk that downed the Mig?

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    Those extras will make this kit looking even more beautiful, Colin @coling
    Looking forward to the assembly.

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    Tom Cleaver said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    The Mohawk was just a bog-standard airplane in the standard markings of the period (February 1968). Ken never wrote down the serial number in his logbook. The story is re-told in full in "Going Downtown" which comes out in May.

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    Colin Gomez said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    Thanks for that clarification, Tom. I was going to consult you once again but thought I could get clarification on the model by reviewing previous posts. I will probably have to switch subjects and do this first one as Ken Lee's JOV-1A, since the OV-1A kit is probably closer in form to the JOV-1 than the OV-1B kit is. Were there major differences in the airframe between models or was it just pylons for the load out? Also, I wanted to do one high vis and one low vis version. I kind of thought the earlier models would be high vis. Obviously there are both finishes for Vietnam War aircraft. The 173rd AVN planes appear to be all low vis, from the profiles and photos.

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    Tom Cleaver said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    @coling - the JOV-1A has the short wings. The B/C/D all have longer wings. Also the others only have the single pylon for a drop tank.

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    Stephen W Towle said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    I live near American Wings Air Museum. Lee has visited the museum. I asked a staffer and they have several airframes however, it still remains a mystery at which a/c was involved in the downing of the Mig.

    https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Nonprofit-organization/American-Wings-Air-Museum-438130183028214/

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    Colin Gomez said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    Thanks, Tom. Good to know.

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    Colin Gomez said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    Nice detail image of the Mohawk cockpit on Facebook link. Thanks, Stephen.