Air Force 1 Tears a Page Out of the History Books

Air Force 1’s US Army Bell UH-1H Huey Helicopter – Sp4 Joseph G. LaPointe, B Troop, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division, June 2nd, 1969

It’s comforting to see a model company draw its inspiration from one of the most heroic deeds a soldier could make. Back in 1969, Specialist Fourth Class Joseph G. LaPointe, Jr., a member of the 2nd Air Cavalry Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division, was awarded the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in Quang Tin Province on June 2nd, 1969.

SP4 LaPointe distinguished himself while serving as a medical aidman during a combat helicopter assault mission. SP4 LaPointe’s patrol was advancing from the landing zone through an adjoining valley when it suddenly encountered heavy automatic weapons fire from a large enemy force entrenched in well fortified bunker positions. In the initial burst of fire, two soldiers in the formation vanguard were seriously wounded. Hearing a call for aid from one of the wounded, SP4 LaPointe ran forward through heavy fire to assist his fallen comrades. To reach the wounded men, he was forced to crawl directly in view of an enemy bunker. As members of his unit attempted to provide covering fire, he administered first aid to one man, shielding the other with his body. SP4 LaPointe continued his lifesaving duties until he was again wounded and knocked to the ground. Making strenuous efforts he moved back again into a shielding position to continue administering first aid. An exploding enemy grenade mortally wounded all three men. SP4 LaPointe’s courageous actions at the cost of his life were an inspiration to his comrades. His gallantry and selflessness are in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

To commemorate his valor, Air Force 1 will be offering a 1:48 scale UH-1H Huey helicopter on which he served (AF10151). Expected this August, this venerable chopper will come with the usual heavy display stand and detail everyone has come to expect from this up-and-coming model maker.

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June Swoon? Think Again Fellow Collectors…

Corgi’s 1:72 scale RNZAF Vickers Wellington Mk. IC Medium Bomber – R1162 / AA-Y, “Y for Yorker”, No.75 (NZ) Squadron, RAF Feltwell, Norfolk, 1941 is still on track for a June fly-in

Its the first day of June and we’ve already been bombarded with loads of new product announcements and updates. Besides getting word that the first Solido shipment is on its way to us, we’ve learned that Hobby Master has quite a spate of new products expected for the holiday season, covering everything from a Su-35S Flanker to new MiG-23s Floggers, and best of all their intent to climb back into the armored vehicle turret. Even Corgi provided us with an updated schedule, which looks pretty promising this summer, and Oxford announced their wares for the coming year.

The latest Hobby Master A-10 Warthog is pegged for an October ship

We’ve posted everything new to our web site, along with the most current shipping schedule, which could still fluctuate based on changes to the manufacturers’ release calendar.

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Marketplace Update: 8% Ebay Bucks Till June 1st

Ebay is currently running a promotion where buyers receive a generous 8% Ebay Bucks reward for any purchases made by June 1st at 11:59PST. Said discount can be applied with no minimum purchase and across all categories. This discount may be deducted from any future purchases once the buyer has been notified, which generally happens one month later.

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Hobby Master Claims Its Own Stake to the Vehicle Throne

 

Hobby Master makes a land grab in the diecast military space with its first ever M60 Patton tank

As some of the budget-minded partworks lines slowly fade into the sunset, comes word that Hobby Master is looking to get back into the 1:72 scale military vehicles arena in a big way. Earlier today, as part of their October product announcements, comes word that they will soon offer both a US-built M60A1 Patton main battle tank as well as a Russian-built ISU-152 self propelled gun. On a personal note, I find it interesting that this news comes just a day after we posted our opine that Modelcollect is making a bid to claim the armored crown, unseating Dragon from its longtime position as the dominant player in the vehicle game. Coincidence, perhaps, but the news concerning these two new entrants is certainly welcome, nonetheless, and could signal that other manufacturers are looking to dabble in the motor pool (sic) so long as inexpensive partworks lines have run their course and no longer pose a credible risk to their business model.

Earlier this year, Hobby Master announced plans to offer a ISU 122 self-propelled gun. Bigger and more robust, plans also call for a larger ISU-152 self-propelled gun
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The King is Dead: Long Live the New King?

Modelcollect’s Rheintochter 1 surface-to-air missile may appear strange and unfamiliar, but serves as a testament to the lengths with which the Company is prepared to go to assume the diecast throne

For the better part of the 21st Century, most collectors of scale armor would agree that Dragon produces the best array of 1:72 scale armored fighting vehicles. Sure, there have been contenders for the crown as well as a few drop outs along the way, but Dragon, barring a few dry years in which models were promised but never delivered, was seen by many as the king of the diecast battlefield.

Despite its longstanding run on the throne, Dragon may have to hand over the crown shortly to Modelcollect, still a relative newcomer to the armored ranks, who has, nonetheless, quietly built a stable of high quality diecast replicas that have reignited passion in the hobby and moved the ball forward where others continually fumbled. Where Dragon seems content to churn out the usual diet of WWII vehicles, Modelcollect has dabbled in the more obtuse subjects, releasing a wondrous array of less familiar subjects that have garnered respect and admiration from the community. 

In recent months, they have offered all manner of mobile missile launchers and other transporters in model kit form, which will no doubt be ported over to the pre-assembled market. In the meantime, they have also cranked out a number of intricately detailed pre-assembled models, and stand ready to deliver more this summer. We’ve already posted information on their upcoming E-100 series of armor, and today we learned that they will also be offering a Rheintochter 1 surface-to-air mobile missile launcher set atop an E-100 chassis (AS72062). There’s a good bet that the Rheintochter will also be wedded to both their E-50 and E-75 chassis, making it available in three different forms. We are also awaiting news concerning their Landkreuzer P.1000 Ratte mega tank, something the German Waffenamt never seriously considered as a weapon of war due to its immense size.

Anyway, keep a careful eye on Modelcollect as it continues to build out its order-of-battle and looks to become the de facto king of diecast armor.

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New Flat Rate Shipping Pricing

Every six months, we regularly review our costs of doing business, which continue to rise for all manner of reason. Beginning June 1st, we are increasing our flat rate shipping cost to $9.95 from $4.95 for net orders totaling at least $25 or more. While we regret having to make this change, the fact remains that shipping costs continue to escalate for all the major carriers, especially for shipments we must send across the country to the west coast. When taken in conjunction with other promotional offers we may be running, we oftentimes end up barely breaking even on such shipments. As always, it pays to consolidate orders to help defray such shipping costs, particularly for less expensive items.

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ModelCollect Keeps Churning out Their Favorite Models

Drawn from today’s headlines, ModelCollect has wasted no time replicating this modified T-72 tank from the Syrian Civil War

In a bid to produce models based upon every conceivable version, variant and livery of the Russian-built T-72 and T-90 tanks, ModelCollect has announced three more examples of these ignominious vehicles. As far as the T-72 goes, they have announced a Syrian T-72BM Main Battle Tank with Kontakt-1 ERA which was deployed to Aleppo, Syria, in 2016 (AS72054). The T-90 gets two new flavors as well: the first is a Russian T-90MS Main Battle Tank – Nizhny Tagil Arms Expo, Russia, 2012 (AS72056) while the latter is a Russian T-90MS Main Battle Tank – Weapons Show, Desert Camouflage, 2014 (AS72060). This is now the 15th look at the T-72 from the eyes of ModelCollect, which means they have certainly gotten their money’s worth out of the tooling.

Armored enthusiasts can look forward to two more T-90 replicas, putting it contention with ModelCollect’s T-72 tank for the most prolific number of models offered
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Calibre Wings Takes it to the Next Level

Calibre Wings announced plans to model the General Dynamics F-16, which could be moved ahead of the Eurofighter Typhoon, Sukhoi Su-24 and MiG-29 already hinted at

There seems to be a mad dash, of late, to see which manufacturer can lay claim to replicating some of the most iconic aircraft of the modern era. While Hobby Master is taking on the Su-35S Flanker-E and Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-25 Foxbat, Calibre Wings has set its stakes on other high profile aircraft, the most notable now being the General Dynamics F-16 Flying Falcon. According to several postings on their Facebook page, the Company is already hard at work putting the finishing touches on the CAD program for the F-16, rather than porting over model kits, which could contain their own anomalies. This permits the Company greater flexibility when attempting to model the intricacies of each Falcon variant, and shows the lengths with which this newcomer to the replica game is prepared to carve out its own niche in the marketplace.

Sophisticated Computer Aided Design (CAD) programming is now utilized by most serious manufacturers rather than reliance on porting over model kits
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Company of Heroes Comes to Life

Company of Heroes anyone?

If you’re an avid gamer like I am, and a huge fan of Company of Heroes like, well, I am, then you may find the accompanying news a bit on the incredible side. Fellow devotees of the real-time strategy game went so far as to model one of the featured maps of the game, right down to the buildings, terrain and road net. Modeled in 1:48 scale, the folks at B+B Models expressed their love for the game by breathing life into the Angoville Farms map, including adding troops and vehicles so they could portray a mock battle. You can see the fruits of their labor here: http://www.companyofheroes.com/blog/2017/05/25/coh-10th-anniversary-angoville-farms

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Films in Focus: Top Gun 2 – Promise of a Premise

Yesterday, actor Tom Cruise leaked word that he and director, Jerry Bruckheimer, were working on the sequel to Top Gun, the 1986 box office smash hit that helped propel Cruise to stardom and give US Navy recruiting a kick in the pants. Little is known about the plot for Top Gun 2 or where it will be set. However, since its now 30 years later, we can likely presume that Cruise’s character, Pete Mitchell, is a flying instructor at the Naval Flying School, and that a younger, fresher face will almost certainly sit in the cockpit this time around, defending the world from whatever is thrown our way. With territorial disputes around the world, and tension rising in a number of geo-political hot spots, it wouldn’t be difficult to presume the enemy could be Iranian, North Korean, Russian or Chinese, flying the latest stealth aircraft or perhaps piloting them remotely with the aid of UCAVs. And, with the Grumman F-14 Tomcat long since retired from the Navy’s active duty roster, and the new Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) aircraft carrier completing its testing and sea trials, its more than likely that whomever is taking on the central role this time around is doing so from the cockpit of a Joint Strike Fighter embarked upon our pride of the fleet. Whew! That’s a lot of speculating going on, but one not without its merits.

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