Perhaps because they are located off the beaten trail in Dubois, Wyoming, The National Museum of Military Vehicles has been increasing its awareness by steadily releasing a series of videos discussing US participation in the Second World War. Over the course of the last few weeks, we’ve covered several of their most recent discussions, posting videos that explain the evolution of US tank destroyers and light tanks, as well as a discussion on the development of the M26 Pershing tank. Earlier today the Museum added yet another video — this one detailing the lessons learned from our earliest defeats in both the PTO and ETO and how these translated into the meteoric rise in US arms production during World War II. We hope you get a better understanding of how the US proved to be instrumental in stopping then turning back the Axis powers once our military forces and defense production was ratcheted up to provide badly needed reinforcements across the globe.
Anatomy of War: The Pershing
In the wake of their excellent series on both US light tanks and tank destroyers that saw service during WWII, comes news that the National Museum of Military Vehicles has produced yet another video — this one dealing with the Pershing heavy tank. The discussion traces the evolution of the so-called T-20 series of heavier tanks and why it took so long for it to enter combat towards the latter stages of the Second World War. Designed, in effect, to deal with some of the latest German tanks, and running contrary to US military doctrine of the time, the Pershing arrived just as US forces were entering Germany proper, only to be parceled out to a couple of US armored divisions. They proved successful nonetheless, and demonstrated why they were needed when most war planners had considered the war won and the Sherman a war winner.
Hobby Master Taps the YF-23
No sooner than we post information concerning their latest product announcements comes an important addendum – the roll out of the YF-23. Built by the Northrop/McDonnell Douglas consortium in the 1980s and flown in a run off against the YF-22 in 1990, the YF-23 is an American single-seat, twin-engine, supersonic stealth fighter aircraft technology demonstrator designed for the United States Air Force (USAF). The design team was a finalist in the USAF’s Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) demonstration/validation competition, battling the YF-22 team for full-scale development and production. Two YF-23 prototypes were built.
While we applaud the decision to tackle the YF-23, it does come with a measure of moribund curiosity given Hobby Master’s penchant for choosing subjects that has “legs” — meaning several liveries or operators are available to justify the exorbitant cost of producing the mold. With only two demonstrators ever being built, and the aircraft never seeing service with either the USAF or any other user nation, we wonder what spurred them to give the YF-23 the green light.
Frankly, given the number of collectors who would give their right arm for a fully built-up replica of the YF-23, we think it’s a good choice, and hope this signals that Hobby Master is willing to bet on other short-run aircraft that haven’t been addressed by other model makers. While no price point has been established as yet, the YF-23 will likely fetch somewhere on the order of $150 US; possibly more as they await the initial reaction to the announcement. Production forecasts could be “up-in-the-air” too, perhaps numbering several thousand examples in an effort to earn back the costs of making and researching the mold. So, while we will list the model on our web site and continue to follow-up on the announcement, we’ll hold off on listing a price for now, at least until we hear back from either the manufacturer or distributor.
Update: After speaking privately with William Liu at Hobby Master he indicated that no one museum, distributor or entity commissioned a YF-23 replica and that it was undertaken purely at the behest of Hobby Master. Some collectors have speculated that it must have been an outsider, such as either the National Museum of the United States Air Force or the Western Museum of Flight — where the YF-23s are on display — who saw an opportunity in promoting and selling a replica of the YF-23. While a joint venture would surely have made sense given the economies of scale and risk spreading a collaborative undertaking would have created, Hobby Master saw an opportunity, likely based upon collector interest, and went for it. No doubt these models will likely be shown and offered to both Museum’s gift shops but for now, the YF-23 venture is being funded and hawked solely by Hobby Master.
No price point was discussed so we are awaiting word from our distributor to determine its ultimate cost. The “Black Widow”, or all-black version of the prototype YF-23 will almost certainly follow up on the “Gray Ghost” although no details were discussed. We also brought to their attention that a naval version of the YF-23 was considered at the time so its conceivable that a notional take on a navalized version of the YF=23 could one day see the light of day.
Interestingly, there is a possibility that Hobby Master will produce a Japanese version of the YF-23. According to sources, the Japanese have long sought to build an advanced next generation aircraft that can compete against several adversarial aircraft, particularly the PRC’s fifth generation Chengdu J-20 “Mighty Dragon” fighter. Several options have been looked at over the years including an upgraded version of the YF-23. As the National Interest points out, the Japanese have had a continued interest in resurrecting the YF-23, perhaps adding thrust vectoring to the aircraft to make it a more agile dogfighter. While this would make the aircraft heavier and likely less speedy, newer and more capable engines could offset the weight increase.
In other news, Hobby Master indicated that other new toolings were in the works although we are not at liberty to discuss them as yet. This marks a departure for the company, who had relied upon some older toolings to see them through in recent years. So expect some other product announcements shortly, many of which will come as welcome news to collectors.
Anatomy of War: Base Building in the Pacific
In a growing sign of the times, and a demonstration to the Peoples Republic of China that the US is prepared to defend its interests in and around the Indo-Pacific region, the US Marine Corps has refurbished its airfield on Peleliu and begun flying aircraft in and out of the tiny island. Seized by the US Marines from the Japanese during their island hopping campaign in the Second World War, the Marine Corps had largely abandoned the island in recent years, preferring to locate its assets to other more robust island bases. However, with the PRC continuing to flex its muscles and repeatedly indicating they are prepared to take Taiwan by force, if necessary, should diplomacy fail, US war planners have upgraded and re-certified the so-called “Sledge” runway (named after Marine Corps veteran, Eugene Sledge), thus spreading out their forces across the Pacific should a surprise attack by the PRC take place. Along with this, the Marine Corps has been rapidly expanding and hardening their other Indo-Pacific bases, most notably on Guam, and introduce newer weapons platforms to bolster their force structure.
For more information, feel free to stop by Task and Purpose and review their latest analysis on the Indo-Pacific region.
Hobby Master Keeps ’em Coming
Over the weekend, Hobby Master announced a bevy of new products slated for a Winter 2025 release. While no new toolings were shown in their latest promotional leaflet, several important additions to their lineup were made, including an F-22 currently undergoing testing at Edwards AFB that is fitted with a pair of “stealth pods”, or as the military likes to call them, Low Drag Tank and Pylon (LDTP) pods. The LDTP pods could be used on the upcoming NGAD platform, as a means of increasing its range and maintaining a stealthy profile capable of defeating the latest IRST efforts being put forward by Russia and China. Each of their F-22s routinely sell well as soon as they are introduced, so the latest Raptor will no doubt help to build momentum and spur sales even after the holidays have come and gone.
Other notable additions include a MiG-29 flown by the 733rd Fighter Aviation Regiment and a sleek-looking Republic F-105F Thunderchief.
Helos and Hellfire Inbound
Late last night we received word from our distributor that the balance of Panzerkampf’s eagerly awaited helicopters are expected to arrive at their facility next week. The shipment includes two additional Mil Mi-24V Hind gunships along with a trio of MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. The cache also includes a pair of JC Wing aircraft (F-14 and F-15) as well as several new Neo Dragon Armor subjects. We’ve updated each of their respective sections accordingly and will begin processing any orders we’ve received to date towards the end of next week. Arrival at our warehouse is tentatively pegged for mid July due to the slowdown in carrier operations caused by the July 4th festivities.
Tales of Transparency: Uniform Pricing Policy
Some time ago, I indicated we would be pursuing a uniform pricing policy for several categories. What this means is that most items will conform to a single price point within each category, which may fluctuate over time as costs rise and new items are introduced. The reason for this strategy is simple. In certain categories, such as Hobby Master aircraft or Forces of Valor tanks, we’ve left up listings of various products for referential purposes so people can see what was released years ago even though we are more than likely sold out of said products. In the case of Forces of Valor, for example, we recognize that its silly to leave up items that were first released way back in 2002 at their introductory price of say $39.99, when newer items are fetching on the order of $130. What this means is that we’ve increased the asking price for the older products to what they would likely sell for in today’s market if they were once again available.
In a related development, we are also in the process of updating the graphics for a number of categories. You can see the fruits of our labors in both the Hobby Master aircraft and military vehicles categories. Eventually, we will be doing similar treatments for some of our most popular categories, among them Forces of Valor and Dragon Armor. We’ve also been introducing YouTube videos for a number of our newer product offerings, which help to discuss the background for each item or the unit’s that operated them. We hope these improvements are met with a favorable response.
Anatomy of War: US Tank Destroyers of WWII
While perusing YouTube for some of the latest military-related videos, I came across this excellent narrative that provides a lengthy overview of how the US Army planned to grapple with Axis armor in both the ETO as well as the PTO. Prepared by the National Museum of Military Vehicles which is based in Dubois, Wyoming, the video describes the way in which the US Army created its nascent tank destroyer branch, covering everything from the earliest 37mm towed anti-tank gun to half-tracks to the larger and much more capable self-propelled tank destroyers. Each weapon is shown in detail, along with its main gun, projectiles, engine and armor. Since many of these weapons were provided to our allies, the narrator also explains why some of the vehicles had to be modified to conform to each nation’s armament. Enjoy!
And, if you’re interested in learning about the evolution of the US Army’s light tanks during the Second World War, the National Museum of Military Vehicles has published a similar treatment in the accompanying video.
Dragon Gets Re-Skinned
Ahead of the arrival of several important new subjects, we’ve decided to re-set our entire Dragon Armor section to both bring it up-to-date and reflect some of the changes you can expect to see in the coming months. We’ve broken down several sections to make them easier to find and stripped out some sub sections that no longer have any relevance to the line and average collector.
Our distributor is still working up our latest shipment and all of the new items that are currently showing as en route should be in stock and ready for immediate shipment by the second week of June. This cache will include a few Cyber Hobby releases, which will likely be augmented with other new limited edition products over the course of the next few months.
In a related development, Dragon announced eight new 1:72 scale vehicles are being added to their Neo Dragon Armor range. The octet, which were posted to our web site in June, include several of the standard Sturmgeschutz III assault guns along with a pair of Sturmhaubitze ’42. As expected, Dragon will be offering a StuG III based upon the legendary panzer ace, Michael Wittmann, when he served in Russia at the outset of Operation Barbarossa.
Anatomy of War: Turtles and Cope Cages
Admittedly, I haven’t been following the day-to-day coverage of the Russo-Ukrainian War as I should be, largely due to other previous commitments that take up most of my time. That said, I do try and review some of the news and videos that circulate online, all in an effort to see how they can be adapted to our business model.
Recently, I watched with curiosity some of the field modified vehicles both sides have been deploying in response to the latest anti-tank weaponry being tested and operated on the battlefield. The Russians, for instance have modified some of their older T-72 tanks with all sorts of added if strange-looking protection, which give these once proud main battle tanks a peculiar look. These “turtles”, as they are being called by some analysts, resemble small barns or quonset huts with a gun protruding out the front, which prevents the gun from rotating its turret a full 360 degrees and, for all intents and purposes, turning the tank into an assault gun.
On the other side of the ledger, some of the older US-built M1A1 Abrams tanks have been similarly “upgraded” by the Ukrainian army, all in an effort to protect them from top down drone attacks that have destroyed or disabled many a tank. As the accompanying videos demonstrate, both adaptations create problems for the crew to both enter and leave their vehicles, to say nothing of the loading of the vehicle’s main armament. While I have no comment regarding the effectiveness of this “hillbilly armor” that have been used in previous conflicts, I do wonder how new systems such as the M10 Booker and T-14 Armata can survive on the battlefield if they are already being outgunned by the latest anti-tank weaponry reaching the battlefield.