Su-25

Rumor that Clearprop is doing a new Su-25.

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An interesting story

...from the end of the cold war.  I recall that the Israelis did something similar stealing an entire SA-2 or SA-3 SAM radar unit from the Egyptians back in the 70s.

Italeri MiG-21bis

Announcement here.  I am unclear if this is a new mold or if Italeri is leasing another company’s mold.  I am interested as this version hasn’t been done by Eduard (yet).

WTH?

Reason #6742 why the sooner we stop relying on the Russians for astronaut transport, the better.  It is the shame of this country that we were ever in this situation to begin with. (post in memory of Mike Nofsinger)

 

UPDATE:  As I was saying.

A hero passes

The second to last US Korean war ace has died.

H-6N

Photos have emerged of the latest Chinese version of the venerable Tu-16 bomber.  Apparently it has been adapted to carry an air -launched version of the DF-21 ballistic missile.  The apparently necessitates removal of the bomb bay.  Noted in the picture leading the article that the aircraft pictured is carrying the upgraded version of the old “Silkworm” version of the Russian “Styx” missile as well. I believe this is a version of the C-603 missile.

Hotspot

As you know the South China Sea is a hotspot I watch closely.  However adjacent to it, in the  Sea of Japan (North China Sea) a little tussle is developing between North Korea and Russia.  These two nuclear armed, third-rate powers are apparently scrapping over fishing in each other’s waters.  Both countries are economically desperate and North Korea simply has to have as much protein as they can find so I could easily see this one flaring up.  Stay tuned.

AS-1 build

No, not mine.  This is one from about 12 years ago when the Amodel kit was still marketed under the MP Models label.  It is built by master modeler Yufei Mao.  This is something to tide you  over until I get my but in gear and do some posting of my build.

Walking the dog #1

I’ve been a cat person most of my life.  While, my family had a small dog or two when I was younger, I’ve never really been a dog person, until recently.  About a year or so ago, my older daughter’s desire for a dog could be put off no longer and the modelwife and the girls adopted Charlie, who is a very good dog.

Charlie

One thing that comes with dog ownership is walking the dog.  It has the virtue of getting me out and moving when the weather is nice and getting me the exercise that I might not otherwise get.

Well, as I was walking the dog the other night, I was thinking about the recent incident in Russia wherein an explosion took place and radiation was released.  As I’ve said before, I think that Russia is, pretty much, a paper tiger, though one with nukes.  Russia doesn’t have the money to maintain the forces it does have, much less a bunch of extra money to pour into weapons development.  This makes the attempt to develop a hypersonic, nuclear powered cruise missile all the more irrational, or does it?

This is the thought that occurred to me as I was walking Charlie.  Because Russia is so cash starved, deep down they know that they can’t keep up conventionally.  In fact, their attempt to prop up their man in Syria is a drain on their meager resources.  Given this situation, investing in “Hail Mary” types of technological leaps makes a certain sense.  Very similar to what Germany did in the latter stages of WWII, pouring money into the V-1, V-2, etc.  It is even possible, but unlikely that one of these long shot investments might pay off and result in a great leap forward that staves off impending Russian military irrelevance.  I doubt it, but you can’t completely discount the possibility.  Viewed in that light, the recent radiological incident makes a bit of sense.

AS-1

I am currently building the AModel AS-1.  I had previously started a resin version of the AS-1, but due to wing warping and other issues I stopped that build.  One of the things I have to decide is the color scheme.  I have an interesting set of choices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is overall painted silver.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a ground launched version in a Cuban museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a gray one with a white radar nose.

 

 

 

 

 

And here is a museum example red, with a yellow nose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I am going to go with overall bare metal as illustrated on the boxtop, since I want to push myself with a bare metal finish.