Modelcollect has certainly proven it has the wherewithal to produce models of subject matter no one else has dared to touch
When the US-led Coalition forces sought to free Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991, they were initially unprepared for Saddam Hussein’s Scud missile barrage, and the mobile missile launchers that were carrying them. Based upon the Nazi’s V-2 rocket technology from WWII, the Scuds were certainly old technology, but nevertheless a potent thorn in the Allies’ side, launched at fixed sites deep within the Allies’ rear areas where they could do the most damage. What made them so effective wasn’t necessarily the missiles themselves, but the mobile missile launchers that schlepped them around Iraq, which would pop out of a hidden enclave, fire off a salvo, then hide again, making them particularly difficult to target and annihilate by strike aircraft.
Last week, Modelcollect, as part of their deluxe vehicle series, announced plans to replicate the Scud and its mobile missile launcher, thereby, in an ignominious fashion, paying tribute to the death and destruction they once wrought. Thus far, only a model kit has been shown, but its just a matter of time before the Company makes available a pre-assembled set, further demonstrating its prowess as a model maker par excellence.
Corgi’s 1:72 scale replica of a USAAF Consolidated B-24H Liberator Heavy Bomber – Colonel Jimmy Stewart’s “Male Call”, 453rd Bombardment Group, RAF Old Buckenham, England, 1944
Looking to leverage the legendary star power of Hollywood, Corgi announced plans to build a 1:72 scale replica of a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber that was piloted by none other than screen actor, Jimmy Stewart. While several legends of the silver screen enlisted in the military when their nation called upon them, Jimmy Stewart could be one of the most famous, leading an entire bomb group to reek vengeance over Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe during the latter stages of World War II. While he reportedly flew several bombers, “Male Call”, the lead ship of the 453rd Bombardment Group (AA34018) may be his most noteworthy, surviving the war having completed an impressive 95 bombing missions. In fact, she is thought to have been the only survivor of the original 61 aircraft assigned to the 453rd Bombardment Group, which arrived at RAF Old Buckenham airfield on January 21st, 1944. Look for “Male Call” to be called to action in October.
If you’re interested in learning more about Jimmy Stewart and his wartime experience, we strongly recommend Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe, which is available on Amazon.
“He maketh wars to cease in all the world. He breaketh the bow and snappeth the spear in sunder and burneth the chariots in the fire.”
– Matthew 16:21-28
In 2014, Russian ground forces invaded and quickly occupied wide swaths of Ukrainian territory which included, among other things, the entire Crimean peninsula. The Ukrainians, looking to resist Russian aggression, called upon its meager forces, both on the ground and in the air, to turn back the invaders, or at least give them a bloody nose and perhaps a moment’s pause. As attempts were made to seek help from the West and mediation by the UN Security Council, two aircraft in the Ukrainian inventory would answer the call in the name of freedom: both were produced by Suhkoi.
The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, all-weather attack aircraft developed in the Soviet Union. This variable-sweep wing, twin-engined side-by-side two-seater carried the USSR’s first integrated digital navigation/attack system. It remains in service with former Soviet air forces and various air forces to which it was exported.
The aircraft was officially sanctioned on August 24th, 1965, under the internal codename T-6. The first prototype, T-6-1 was completed in May 1967 and flew on July 2nd with V.S. Ilyushin at the controls. The initial flights were performed without the four lift engines, which were installed in October 1967. At the same time, R-27s were replaced with Lyulka AL-21Fs. STOL tests confirmed the data from S-58VD that short-field performance was achieved at the cost of significant loss of flight distance as the lift engines occupied space normally reserved for fuel, loss of under-fuselage hardpoints, and instability during transition from STOL to conventional flight. So the six-engine approach was abandoned.
The Sukhoi Su-25 (NATO reporting name: “Frogfoot”) is a single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by the Sukhoi Design Bureau. It was designed to provide close air support for the Soviet Ground Forces. The first prototype made its maiden flight on 22 February 1975. After testing, the aircraft went into series production in 1978 at Tbilisi in the Soviet Republic of Georgia. Russian air and ground forces nicknamed it “Grach” (“Rook”).
Early variants included the Su-25UB two-seat trainer, the Su-25BM for target-towing, and the Su-25K for export customers. Some aircraft are being upgraded to version Su-25SM as of 2012. The Su-25T and the Su-25TM (also known as Su-39) were further developments, not produced in numbers. The Su-25, along with the Su-34, were the only armored fixed-wing aircraft in production in 2007. Su-25 is in service with Russia, other CIS states, and export customers.
Look for both defenders of the sovereign state of Ukraine (CA722402 and HA6103) to fly again in the name of freedom this September.
Earlier today, the US Supreme Court narrowly ruled in favor of allowing states to collect taxes from online sellers, even if the seller may not be physically located within their jurisdiction. Up til now, a seller was required to collect taxes only from customers purchasing product that were located within the same state as their business. Essentially, it is now up to Congress to determine how the ruling will be handled, since there are more than 12,000 local tax jurisdictions, making the task of collecting taxes onerous at best. Moreover, many smaller online resellers may not have the resources to handle the new tax impositions, which could require loads of paperwork to complete and an inordinate amount of time to fully address. A simple solution would be to impose a flat tax across the entire union, perhaps somewhere in the neighborhood of 4%, which might be low enough to dissuade customers from shopping elsewhere. For more information on the ruling and what it could mean visit USA Today.
Out of curiosity, we sometimes get asked why we do not have a new item physically in stock even though it may be marked as such on our web site. The simple answer is time or perhaps more to the point, time management. We run a tight ship here at The Motor Pool. When a noteworthy item comes in that has been pre-ordered up the gazoo, we begin the arduous task of searching our ordering system for the item in question then wedding it with other items that may already be held for the customer or other newly received items expected around the same time frame, thereby reducing shipping costs for everyone concerned. For instance, when the 1:32 scale Forces of Valor vehicles start appearing on the horizon, we may need several days head start to address each new item, contacting the customer if we do not have their proper billing information, editing orders to prevent redundancy, adjusting inventory counts, and such. If we waited until the merchandise actually arrived, then we’d get swamped with new orders as well as old, potentially undermining the process of getting product out in the most expeditious manner possible. As we get larger, and make our products available on additional venues, this issue can easily get exacerbated, so we make every effort to keep everything correct, up-to-date and ship-shape, particularly during the hectic holiday shopping season.
Every so often we call attention to the monthly roster of Hobby Master products rolling in through our doors. June seems to be a particularly noteworthy month, since it contains a wealth of important subjects spread out across a number of scales, categories, and eras. Perhaps the most significant release is their first ever Suhkoi Su-25 “Frogfoot” ground attack aircraft (HA6103), the Soviet’s equivalent to our A-10 Thunderbolt II. Their first foray in the world of the Frogfoot is certainly memorable, bearing the Soviet’s trademark red star on its tail and representing a warbird that served in Afghanistan throughout the 1980s.
Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale Imperial Japanese Navy Mitsubishi A6M2 “Zero” Fighter – Tetsunzo Iwamoto, 201st Naval Flying Group, Rabaul, November 1943
Also in the hopper is Japanese ace Tetsunzo Iwamoto‘s Mitsubishi Zero, a 1:48 scale IJN fighter that was based at the Japanese fortress of Rabaul (HA8803). Other notable aircraft include a 1:48 scale Corsair from VMF-214 “Black Sheep” (HA8218), a huge 1:32 scale Dauntless dive-bomber (HA0209) and a pair of Soviet ISU-152 self-propelled guns (HG7053 and HG7054). Indeed, the June shipment should be of interest to a wide swath of collectors, cutting across the entire spectrum of diecast military products. Enjoy!
Air Commander’s latest F-4 Phantom is still slated for a June arrival.
So, we received an update from our distributors regarding which items/ lines are still expected by the end of June, hopefully before we close for vacation from July 2nd to the 10th. Here is what is still on tap:
Hobby Master – en route to us and should be in stock by the third week of June
Air Commander – late June
Forces of Valor – late June
War Master/Solido – late June
Air Force 1 – late June
The Forces of Valor shipment includes several back ordered warships that we have been out of for awhile. Nothing new is expected, unless there’s a surprise in store that we aren’t aware of. We’ve pushed back Wings of the Great War, Modelcollect and Eaglemoss into July, and are on the fence regarding several Corgi releases. Keep in mind that the shipments may have to be delayed by several days if it appears as if they might arrive while we are away. We have instructed our distributors to hold our shipments until our return.
It’s been awhile since we received a handsome piece of WWII-era self-propelled artillery, particularly a US M12 GMC 155mm self-propelled gun clad in a flocked winter camouflage scheme.
Part of becoming a successful retailer in today’s fast-paced global market is establishing a presence on each of the major marketplace sites. We’ve had a thriving satellite store on eBay for 19 years and thought it was finally high time we created a similar store on Amazon. Earlier today, we began listing a portion of our product portfolio on Amazon and will continue to do so over the course of the next few weeks, thereby building out our global footprint and servicing even more people than before. Later this summer, we will be creating like-minded stores on Walmart’s marketplace as well as Jet.com, reaching even more customers both here and abroad. Our ultimate aim is to offer the widest possible array of diecast military products as possible to the broadest possible audience, all the while continuing to pay careful attention to our core web site, themotorpool.net. We hope you appreciate our efforts and look forward to even greater things in the not-too-distant future. To visit our Amazon store, simply click on the image above.
Perhaps one of the most poignant moments in Star Trek lore was when Captain Kirk demonstrated his prowess as a star ship captain by skillfully defeating the Federation-created Kobayashi Maru training exercise. Thetraining exercise in the fictional Star Trek universe was designed to test the character of Starfleet Academy cadets in a no-win scenario. The Kobayashi Maru test was first depicted in the opening scene of the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and also appears in the 2009 film Star Trek. Screenwriter Jack B. Sowards is credited with inventing the test. The test’s name is occasionally used among Star Trek fans or those familiar with the series to describe a no-win scenario, a test of one’s character or a solution that involves redefining the problem.
The notional primary goal of the exercise is to rescue the civilian vessel Kobayashi Maru in a simulated battle with the Klingons. The disabled ship is located in the Klingon Neutral Zone, and any Starfleet ship entering the zone would cause an interstellar border incident. The approaching cadet crew must decide whether to attempt rescue of the Kobayashi Maru crew — endangering their own ship and lives – or leave the Kobayashi Maru to certain destruction. If the cadet chooses to attempt rescue, the simulation is designed to guarantee that the cadet’s ship is destroyed with the loss of all crew members.
Look for the Eaglemoss replica of the Kobayashi Maru (EMSTSP14) to test your knowledge some time in August.
We’ve known for some time that Modelcollect was getting into the model train market, combining its expertise in military modeling with aspirations of becoming a major player in yet another hobby sector. Earlier today, the first two fully assembled items were unveiled – a pair of German flatcars circa 1943. While flatcars aren’t exactly going to set the world on fire, it does demonstrate that they have big plans ahead, likely offering armored trains in the not-too-distant future and perhaps other ancillary products aimed at building out the category. Both products have been listed on our web site in Modelcollect’s Railway Series sub category, along with a pair of two new tanks and some updated photos for several soon-to-be-released vehicles.
