Where there is conflict, there is pain. Where there is pain, there is anguish. Where there is anguish, there is rebellion.
The first trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has been released. The film is set to open this December.
Whispers
Barbarossa and The Bulge: Lego Style
In the “so you think you’ve seen everything” department, we came across this highly creative video portraying the opening stages of the German invasion of Russia done entirely with Lego bricks. Created by Brick Dictator, its a four-minute look at the war on the ground and in the air, complete with sound effects, explosions, pyrotechnics and some dialogue, expressed in Russian with English text overlays. Enjoy!
Meanwhile, on the western front, Raptor5120 has created a seven-minute recreation of the Battle of the Bulge. Again, well thought out and beautifully executed. I can’t help but think that these guys sure have a lot of time on their hands, but nevertheless applaud their fabulous efforts!
The Mighty Eighth Takes Wing in 2017
Originally entitled Master’s of the Air, HBO’s latest mini series, The Mighty Eighth, pays homage to the men and machines of the US Army Air Force’s 8th Air Force during WWII. Once again the magical movie pair up of film director, Steven Spielberg, and award-winning actor, Tom Hanks, looks at the exploits of the bombardment squadrons tasked with bringing the Third Reich to its knees, largely through precision daylight bombing raids flying deep into Nazi-occupied Europe and back. The series follows in the footsteps of Band of Brothers and The Pacific, two previously released mini series held in high regard by historians, military buffs and film goers alike. While Band of Brothers focused on the exploits of a paratrooper company in the ETO and The Pacific cobbled together the stories of several real-life veterans of the war against Japan, The Mighty Eighth attempts to encapsulate the story of the bombing campaign by avoiding the use of composite characters, focusing instead on the real stories of the actual figures who flew with Eighth Air Force, and in particular the “Bloody Hundredth” bomb group, one of the hardest hitting — and hardest hit– which alone lost 229 airplanes and suffered nearly 1,900 men killed or taken prisoner between June 1943 and April 1945.
The Six-Day War: Fifty Years and Counting
Next June is the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the Arab-Israeli Six Day War, perhaps one of the most pivotal conflicts of the twentieth century. In less than a week’s time, the outnumbered Israeli Defense Forces virtually destroyed the military apparatus of Egypt, Syria and Jordan, thereby enabling them to seize the Sinai peninsula, the West Bank, which includes Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. Much of this territory is still held today, buffer zones should hostilities ever erupt again and a testimony to excellent planning, training and a will to survive despite facing overwhelming odds.
To mark the occasion, we are hoping that several model makers recognize the importance of the event and, in so doing, create a brand new series of diecast military vehicles and aircraft that pays homage to the men and machines that fought on both sides of the conflict. Certainly much can be learned by studying the war in detail, and what better way to do it than with miniatures that help bring the conflict to life. Here’s hoping the model making community doesn’t let us down.
And You Thought You Had a Collection
A church usher who recently passed away, willed his house and much of its contents to the local church he served. When officials gained access to his home, they found more than 30,000 diecast replica automobiles neatly stacked around the house in glass cabinets, into his bathroom, along his kitchen and even on his bed.
You can read the entire story here: USA Today
Lockheed: How Fast is Fast?
Lockheed announced that it is currently developing a mach 6 capable warplane under its Hypersonic test vehicle program. The program’s aim is to comply with the DARPA Falcon Project, an effort to develop hypersonic vehicles capable of performing airstrikes anywhere in the world within one hour, a military goal known as Prompt Global Strike (PGS).
According to Popular Mechanics, “The HTV-2 and HTV-3X are proposed unmanned transonic aircraft that could perform long-distance airstrikes. The HTV-2 has been part of two launch tests, but the HTV-3X program was put on hold due to budget shortages in 2008.
The HTV-2 is an experimental aircraft that is capable of achieving Mach 20 speeds, or about 13,000 miles per hour, after being launched on a rocket. Two HTV-2 launch tests were conducted, one in 2010 and one in 2011. After the second launch on a Minotaur IV rocket in 2011, the HTV-2 successfully hit speeds between Mach 17 and Mach 22 before crashing into the Pacific as a safety precaution.
The HTV-3X, referred to as Blackswift before the project stalled out in 2008, differs from the HTV-2 in that it would take off and land conventionally rather than be launched by rocket. The HTV-3X would be the size of a conventional fighter jet.”
Oh Captain, My Captain
Our lookouts have been posted for some time now, scanning the horizon for Task Force Eaglemoss. Thus far, the warships seem to have taken a rather indirect route to reach our shores, avoiding the traditional sea lanes for perhaps a more scenic route. Or maybe we’re just suffering from sun stroke and seeing mirages.
Anyway, we’re now being told to expect several new ships in June, although we still don’t know as yet which ships will form the latest squadron. To date, they’ve been released in a non-sequential fashion, so its anyone’s guess which ships will make the cut and which will be delayed for the next assault wave. We will continue to review the sonar scans, feed the lookouts black coffee and monitor radio traffic to the best of our abilities and issue General Quarters once we have a solid lead.
The Motor Pool: Line Delineation
In an ongoing effort to make our business as transparent as possible while keeping everyone informed about the latest diecast we offer in our product portfolio, we have decided to add a special series of graphics to each manufacturer category called “series graphics.”
Three graphics have been created – limited edition, mass produced and partworks – which will be positioned on the initial category landing page just below the company information. These have been designed to clarify how each range is presented to the public and will hopefully help you to make a more informed purchasing decision, including the likelihood of return on investment should you be approaching this hobby from a purely financial standpoint.
We hope these graphics add to your enjoyment of the hobby!
Hobby Master: Time to Make the Donuts
Perhaps Fred the Baker of Dunkin Donuts fame said it best when he uttered those immortal words, “Its time to make the donuts!” With Chinese New Year now all but a distant memory, we were hoping to hear a bit of news concerning several models from Hobby Master, ones they’ve produced in the past but have now dried up due to high sales demand. Key among them is their 1:72 scale F-111/EF-111 Aardvarks, not to mention their recently introduced RA-5C Vigilantes, which blew out almost as fast as they arrived. We are now completely out of both aircraft types, thanks to strong demand, abbreviated production runs and generally high consumer satisfaction with both models. Likewise, we’re hoping to see their upcoming F/A-18E Super Hornet along with their MiG 23 Flogger sometime soon, which has obvious implications for a potential MiG 27 strike aircraft.
Sikorsky: When Super-Sizing isn’t Enough
Helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky is reporting that tests are currently underway on the replacement for the CH-53E Super Stalion Stallion heavy-lift helicopter, the CH-53K King Stallion. According to Flightglobal, “The Lockheed Martin-owned rotorcraft manufacturer says its second triple-engine giant achieved flight on January 22nd, and the two developmental aircraft have logged 35 flight hours since CH-53K flying began on 27 October.
Operating from Sikorsky’s flight test center in West Palm Beach, Florida, the first engineering development model (EDM) recently flew 120kts, just 21kts sky of its advertised speed of 141kts.
The programme, which entered development in October 2005, will deliver 200 “super-heavy-lift” helicopters to the US Marine Corps as a replacement for the CH-53E Super Stallion, which the service plans to phase out by 2027.
Powered by three General Electric Aviation T408-400 turboshaft engines, the King Stallion will introduce fly-by-wire controls, “fourth-generation rotor blades” with anhedral tips, and increase the payload capacity threefold. It will haul 12.2t (27,000lbs) over 110nm – 1.4t (3,000lbs) less than the original target set in 2005 but still significantly more than the Sikorsky CH-53E.”
Hopefully, the diecast modelmakers are listening, and a replica of this important rotary-wing aircraft isn’t too far behind.