A trio of new warbirds are slated to join the Calibre Wings air armada, including the vaunted Sukhoi Su-25 “Frogfoot” ground attack aircraft
Some times it doesn’t take much to cause a stir online. Early last night, Calibre Wings posted new pix on their Facebook account, suggesting, in rather subliminal form, that three more warbirds will be added to their foot locker in 2018. The three images include a French Dassault Rafale multirole fighter, Russian Sukhoi SU-25 “Frogfoot” ground attack aircraft and Russian MiG 35 multirole fighter. Earlier in the week, as part of the run-up to the upcoming San Diego Comic Con convention, the Company also indicated plans to offer Robotech merchandise, although this range will be offered to a new distributor that caters to a significantly different market. On the surface, it would appear as if this relatively new manufacturer plans on ramping up in a big way, competing with the likes of Hobby Master, Century Wings and Air Force 1 for their own stake in the modern military space.
Modelcollect’s upcoming 1:72 scale German Flak40 128mm Zwillingsflak Anti-Aircraft Gun
As part of their burgeoning World War II era collection, Modelcollect has added a number of new 1:72 scale products in recent weeks, many of which have never been produced by any other publisher. Take, for instance, this handsome German Flak40 128mm Zwillingsflak Anti-Aircraft Gun (AS72071), routinely founded guarding sensitive areas in the Reich and atop several of the immense Flak Towers located in the heart of Germany and Austria. The Company is already offering a kit-based model of the FLak Tower still in existence in Hamburg, so its anyone’s guess if they will also produce it in pre-assembled form and potentially with crew-served figures.
Modelcollect’s German Jagdpanzer E-100 “Salamander” Heavy Tank Destroyer
Also up for review is this monstrous Jagdpanzer E-100 “Salamander” super heavy tank destroyer (AS72070), something of a conjectural “paper panzer” that never made it off the drawing board yet could have just as easily seen battle had the war dragged on into 1946. Part of the Entwicklung series of standardized panzers the German war planners were working on, the “Salamander” could have easily fended off some of the heavy tanks and destroyers the Allies were fielding at the start of 1945. Goes perfectly with some of the other “paper panzers” that have formed the backbone of their World War II era series.
One ardent Star Trek fan with a bit of time on his hands got together a bunch of his friends to create a stack of quick reference cards for each of the Eaglemoss starships released to date. Beautifully illustrated and labelled, the cards can be downloaded, snipped, and added to each starship in your library, all free-of-charge. Here’s a link to each of the downloads created thus far with more to come:
Earlier this year, we reported on the imminent release of Churchill, a feature length film which covers the impact British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had on WWII during the 96-hour run up to D-Day. Today, we learned of another film based on the life of Churchill entitled Darkest Hour, which takes a more macro look at the Prime Minister, from his appointment just prior to the German invasion of France and the Low Countries to his defeat at the polls following the conclusion of the War in Europe in mid-1945. Darkest Hour is slated to open some time this November.
Just when you thought you had things figured out comes word that one of our newest manufacturers seems to be headed down an unexpected road. Earlier today, Calibre Wings posted a titillating teaser on their Facebook page which indicated, in rather unabashed form, that they will soon be offering Robotech-related merchandise.
Robotech is a science fiction franchise that began with an 85-episode science fiction anime television series cartoon adaptation produced by Harmony Gold USA in association with Tatsunoko Production and first released in the United States in 1985. It was adapted from three original and unrelated – though visually similar – Japanese anime television series (Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada) to make a series suitable for syndication.
In the series, Robotechnology refers to the scientific advances discovered in an alien starship that crashed on a South Pacific island. With this technology, Earth developed robotic technologies, such as transformable mecha, to fight three successive extraterrestrial invasions. (courtesy Wikipedia)
Presently, we have no idea as to what they plan to offer, although the image does hint that more information is forthcoming at the soon-to-debut Comic Con Convention being held in San Diego from July 20th-23rd.
Unveiled at the San Diego Comic Con on July 21st, Calibre Wings’ first pair of Robotech F-14s are shown here.
The Iraqi Air Defense Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25PDS “Foxbat-A” Interceptor that was piloted by Lt. Zuhair Dawood of the 84th Squadron, January 1991
“I’m telling you right now, don’t believe what you’re being told. It was that MiG that shot Spike down.” – A pilot on the same mission as downed pilot, LCDR Scott Speicher, January 17th, 1991
Ordinarily, I’m rather loathe to pointing a spotlight at an adversarial aircraft that shot down one of our own, however, in the case of this particular incident I’ll make an exception due to its wide public nature at the time. Way back on January 17th, 1991, during the opening stages of Operation Desert Storm, Iraqi pilot, Lt. Zuhair Dawood, flying a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25PDS “Foxbat-A” interceptor, successfully downed a Coalition pilot by the name of LCDR Scott Speicher. LCDR Scott Speicher was flying an F/A-18 Hornet fighter, BuNo. 163484, from VFA-81 “Sunliners”, when he was shot down 100 miles west of Baghdad, on the first night of Operation Desert Storm. His plane crashed in a remote, uninhabited wasteland known as Tulul ad Dulaym. He was the first combat casualty for American forces in the war.
The U.S. Navy maintained in a 1997 document that Speicher was downed by a surface-to-air missile. A pilot on the same mission stated: “I’m telling you right now, don’t believe what you’re being told. It was that MiG that shot Spike down.” Subsequently, in an unclassified summary of a 2001 CIA report suggests that Speicher’s aircraft was shot down by a missile fired from an Iraqi aircraft, most likely a MiG-25, flown by Lieutenant Zuhair Dawood, attached to the 84th squadron of the Iraqi Air Force. Speicher was at 28,000 feet and travelling at 0.92 Mach (540 Knots) when the front of the aircraft suffered a catastrophic event. The impact from the R-40 missile threw the aircraft laterally off its flight path between fifty and sixty degrees with a resulting 6 g minimum load.
LCDR Speicher was initially listed as a probable MIA but later changed to KIA, on May 22nd, 1991, several months after the end of the Gulf War. Sadly, Speicher’s status was changed to Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered (KIA/BNR). Navy Commander Buddy Harris, who was a friend and fellow naval aviator of Speicher’s, became a strong advocate for searching for Speicher, often meeting with U.S. officials. On August 2nd, 2009, some 18 years following his status change, the Navy reported that Speicher’s remains were found in Iraq by United States Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines belonging to Multi National Force-West’s Task Force Military Police and Marines from Marine Wing Support Squadron 271 belonging to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. His jawbone was used to identify him after study at the Charles C. Carson Center for Military Affairs at Dover Air Force Base. According to local civilians, Speicher was buried by Bedoiuns after his plane was shot down. Senator Nelson attributed the delayed finding to the culture of the locality: “These Bedouins roam around in the desert, they don’t stay in one place, and it just took this time to find the specific site.”
Hobby Master’s second Sukhoi Su-35S “Flanker-E” multirole fighter was “blooded in battle” over the skies of war-ravaged Syria
We’ve been waiting for more versions of their soon-to-be-released Sukhoi Su-35S multirole fighter to be added to Hobby Master’s inventory, and now we finally have one. The second “Flanker-E” scheduled to hit the market is based upon one of four aircraft dispatched by Russia to Syria to help bolster the Assad regime in 2016. Formerly attached to the 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment, 303rd Guards Composite Air Division, 11th Army Air Force, “Red 6” represents a warplane that operated out of the Russian-built Khmeimim Air Base, near Latakia, Syria, during 2016 (HA5702). Painted in a sky-blue camouflage scheme and wearing Russian markings and insignia, we anticipate their latest Su-35S to do quite well at retail, since it is one of the first Flankers to be “blooded” in battle, and thereupon analyzed by Western intelligence agencies to see how it would stack up against current fourth- and fifth generation aircraft in service with NATO forces.
Note: A second version of HA5702 has been announced, hereupon referred to as HA5702, which will come with a set of decals so collectors can portray any of the Russian Su-35 Flankers currently seeing action in Syria.
The “F/A-18XT” and “Block 3 Super Hornet,” Boeing’s Advanced Super Hornet is an upgrade of the company’s current F/A-18E/F fighter jets.
The US Navy can’t be faulted for resting on their laurels. Planners are currently mulling over ways to bring their active duty warships up to Trump’s 350-ship goal, which include dusting off several mothballed Oliver Hazard Perry class destroyers to active service. Meanwhile, as a means of closing the fighter gap that exists until more F-35Cs can be brought online, they have also given Boeing the green light to produce what has been coined as the Advanced Super Hornet, also known as the as the “F/A-18XT” or “Block 3 Super Hornet.” According to Fox Business, “Boeing’s Advanced Super Hornet is an upgrade of the company’s current F/A-18E/F fighter jets. Among other improvements, the new design features “advanced network architecture” and “advanced cockpit displays” on the inside, and conformal fuel tanks — adding 100 to 120 nautical miles to the plane’s range, and providing a stealthier radar profile — on the outside. The new design is not as stealthy as a Lockheed Martin F-35C. But at a mooted price of $79 million, the Advanced Super Hornet is also a heckuvalot cheaper than the $122 million price tag that Lockheed hangs on an F-35C.”
Judging by a recent posting on their Facebook page, it would appear as if ModelCollect will soon be offering a litany of pre-painted and pre-posed military figures. Shown alongside a 1:72 scale tank, the first set of figures look to represent Russian infantry, complete with gear and weaponry. If so, this marks another departure for this Chinese model maker, who has steadily built an impressive array of pre-built as well as model kits cutting across a number of eras. No further information was posted on their site, so we are guessing actual SKUs, pricing and dates of availability will be disseminated shortly.
Announced way back in 2016, it would appear as if TSM Model Wings has finally put their stamp of approval on their long awaited range of 1:72 scale aircraft carrier deck, vehicles and launch team personnel that completes their Top Gun collection.
Needless to say, these very same products are designed to work in conjunction with any type of 1:72 scale US naval aircraft, making them versatile in their own right and an excellent means of displaying aircraft in their launch mode being prepped for takeoff. Based upon information supplied to us, we anticipate their availability towards the end of August.
