Hobby Master

Hobby Master Proves Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

It never ceases to amaze me how collectors can’t have enough of a particular warbird. I’m not talking F-4 Phantom IIs or even the venerable F-14 Tomcat, both of which have their own unique critics, fans, and well wishers. Friends, I’m talking the Fairchild A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft, a much maligned aircraft that the Air Force has been trying to shed and re-embrace for several years. First introduced into the Hobby Master lineup back in 2007, and priced at just $39.99, the latest incarnation (HA1322) sold out in a matter of mere weeks this holiday season, even though it was offered at nearly three times the price of the inaugural tank buster.

The next version (HA1323) is currently poised to hit the streets in February and, in many respects, looks very similar to the most recent one that quickly sold out, meaning there’s still hope for those of you looking to pick up a “Warthog” even at current market prices. Goes to show beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.

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Product Spotlight: Chasing Astronauts

“First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space, and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

– Excerpted from President John F. Kennedy’s speech delivered before a joint session of Congress, May 25th, 1961

STS-3 was NASA’s third Space Shuttle mission, and was the third mission for the Space Shuttle Columbia. It launched on March 22nd, 1982, and landed eight days later on March 30th. The mission involved extensive orbital endurance testing of the Columbia itself, as well as numerous scientific experiments. STS-3 was the first shuttle launch with an unpainted external tank, and the only mission to land at the White Sands Space Harbor near Las Cruces, New Mexico. The shuttle was forced to land at White Sands due to flooding at its originally planned landing site, Edwards Air Force Base.

Before landing, Northrop T-38 Talon chase planes flew alongside the shuttle, helping to guide the unpowered craft down and onto the flat desert floor. To commemorate this momentous occasion, and to kick off their latest aircraft tooling, Hobby Master has announced plans to model the Northrop T-38 trainer, and, in particular, the lead chase plane used at the conclusion of STS-3 (HA5401). Look for this sleek replica to streak across the hot desert sands some time in April.

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Product Spotlight: “The Mighty One”

“The F-35 is the fighter plane of the future that will allow Israel to maintain its aerial superiority and its technological advantage in the region… The F-35 will give the IAF better capabilities, both near and far, to help strengthen Israel’s national security.”

– Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak

On December 12th, the Israeli Air Force will take delivery of its first pair of Lockheed-Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters, which will then be operated from the Nevatim Airbase, near Beershba, in Israel’s Negev Desert. The Israeli version will be a modified “A” variant and, as customary with the IAF, will carry its own name to distinguish it from the same aircraft flown by other air forces. The “Adir” or “Mighty One” represents a significant departure for the IAF, who will, for the first time, possess a low-observable fighter/attack aircraft that can penetrate enemy air defense networks with little fear of retaliation.

Thus far, 50 aircraft have been ordered by Israel, and perhaps more will be necessary since they are replacing 326 aging F-16 fighters flown by the IAF, as well as several dozen F-15 Eagles.

Unique adaptations have been made to facilitate the integration of Adir with the IAF operational fleet. One of the most critical elements was the introduction of command, control and communications applications necessary to operate the new fighter within the IAF indigenous Command and Control environment. The development of this application has been completed at IAI’s labs and is now in production for the aircraft destined for Israel.

A first batch of 19 aircraft Israel is expected to receive will be the standard model operated by the US Air Force and other partner nations, it is expected to carry a limited weapon’s load comprising of two Boeing GBU-31s (JDAM) and two Lockheed Martin GBU-12s (Paveway laser guided bombs) or two Raytheon AMRAAM beyond visual range (BVR) air/air missiles. All will be carried internally.

Further adaptations expected to mature for the second batch will include the integration of certain ordnance types operated by the IAF, such as the Rafael Spice 1000 guided weapons. The more complex task is the integration of weapons carried in the internal weapon bay, thus maintaining full stealth capability of the aircraft. Other types can be taken as external stores, must also go through the lengthy integration process.

Hobby Master’s upcoming look at the IAF F-35A “Adir” Joint Strike Fighter (HA4410) is expected in May 2017, and we will post pictures of it just as soon as they are made available.

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Product Spotlight: “The Santa Tracker”

“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”

– Editorial that appeared in the New York Sun, September 1897

Norad Tracks Santa is an annual Christmas themed entertainment program, which has existed since 1955, produced under the auspices of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Every year on Christmas Eve, “NORAD Tracks Santa” purports to track Santa Claus as he leaves the North Pole and delivers presents to children around the world. The program is the tradition of the September 1897 editorial “Yes, Virginia, thee is a Santa Claus” in the New York Sun.

Today, NORAD relies on volunteers to make the program possible. Each volunteer handles about forty telephone calls per hour, and the team typically handles more than 12,000 e-mails and more than 70,000 telephone calls from more than two hundred countries and territories. Most of these contacts happen during the twenty-five hours from 2 a.m. on December 24 until 3 a.m.MST on December 25th. A website called NORADSanta.org was established to allow project access for Internet users.

Google Analytics has been in use since December 2007 to analyze traffic website traffic. As a result of this analysis information, the program can project and scale volunteer staffing, telephone equipment, and computer equipment needs for Christmas Eve. Volunteers include NORAD military and civilian personnel.

In 2014, NORAD answered more than 100,000 phone calls. In 2015, more than 1,200 U.S. and Canadian military personnel volunteered to staff the phone lines.

Presently, the Hobby Master S-3 Viking “Santa Tracker” (HA4904), which plays on the program’s activities and features a caricature of Santa’s back as if he had collided with the aircraft, is scheduled to arrive some time in December, although its unclear if it will make it in time for Christmas delivery. Should things change, we will update our web site accordingly and indicate whether or not collectors can count on it as a Christmas present. If you are not keen to have Jolly St. Nick slathered across your warbirds, then a similar plane can be purchased in the form of HA4905.

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Product Spotlight: “Good Golly, Miss Molly”

“Illegitimi non carborundum” (a mock-Latin aphorism meaning “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.)”

– Motto of VF-111 “Sundowners”

Nowadays, it seems as though every manufacturer is either producing or planning to produce their version of the venerable F-14 Fleet Defense Fighter. So, when Hobby Master jumped into the game earlier this year, several model makers took notice, as did the bulk of the diecast collecting community. Pretty far along now in the production process, we recently received images of their next warbird: one nicknamed “Miss Molly,” and attached to the VF-111 “Sundowners”, then embarked upon the USS Carl Vinson (CV-70) during 1989.

The VF-111 Sundowners was a U.S. Navy fighter squadron flying the F-14 Tomcat until disestablished in 1995. The Sundowner tradition lives on in the form of VFC-111 as an aggressor squadron flying F-5Ns, it was made official in November 2006.

In October 1983 VF-111 returned to NAS Miramar following a world cruise on the maiden deployment of the USS Carl Vinson. The Sundowners accumulated over 1400 landings and 300 flight hours during the cruise.

In 1986 VF-111 accumulated over 7000 accident free flight hours and won the COMFITAEWWINGPAC Third Quarter Safety Award. The squadron earned COMCARGRU 3 and COMCARWING 15 endorsements to receive the ADM Joseph C. Clifton Award which designates the recipient as the best fighter squadron in the Navy.

In the spring of 1986 VF-111 began another busy work-up cycle, completing a successful series of training evolution and exercises in preparation for their June 1988 Pacific/Indian Ocean deployment. VF-111’s seventeen month work-up was capped by a history making event, FLEETEX 88-2, the first time since World War II that a carrier, USS Carl Vinson and a battleship, USS New Jersey operated as a Battle Fleet.

VF-111’s eventful 1988 deployment began in June and ended in December. It included operations in the Northern/Western Pacific, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean, providing support of tanker escorts in the Persian Gulf and included a transit of the Bering Sea, the fourth such transit in four deployments. Interoperability with U.S. and foreign air assets was stressed through exercises with the USAF Alaskan Air Command and Air Forces of Malaysia, Japan and Thailand.

In preparation for another deployment in 1990, VF-111 deployed aboard USS Carl Vinson from September to November 1989 as participants in PACEX 89. This landmark exercise had the Sundowners operating in the Bering Sea, the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan as a part of the largest naval exercise since World War II.

Look for “Miss Molly” (HA5213) some time in November.

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Product Spotlight: From Interception to Defection

Hobby Master’s first MiG 25 Foxbat interceptor, based upon the mount flown by defecting pilot Viktor Belenko

“In terms of speed, MiG-25 can fly at mach 3.2 but after that flight – and it will be short one, I don’t know how long but it will be short one – but after that flight you must change its engines.”

– Lt. (Sg.) V. Belenko, Russian pilot who defected to the West with his MiG 25 interceptor

When it was first unveiled to the world in the late 1960s, the Mikoyan Gurevich MiG 25 “Foxbat” caused a great deal of consternation in the West, appearing as if the Soviets had gained the upper hand in fighter aircraft design. However, at a time when Western military planners were still unsure as to the exact purpose of the MiG 25, fate and a good bit of luck would turn things around and give the Soviets a headache of their own.

Inaccurate intelligence analysis caused the West initially to believe the MiG-25 was an agile air-combat fighter rather than an interceptor. In response, the United States started a new program which resulted in the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. NATO obtained a better understanding of the MiG-25’s capabilities on September 6th, 1976, when a Soviet Air Defence Forces pilot, Lt. Viktor Belenko, defected, landing his MiG-25P at Hakodate Airport in Japan. The pilot overshot the runway on landing and damaged the front landing gear. Despite Soviet protests, the Japanese invited U.S. Air Force personnel to investigate the aircraft. On September 25th, it was moved by a C-5A transport to a base in central Japan, where it was carefully dismantled and analyzed. After 67 days, the aircraft was returned by ship to the Soviets, in pieces. The aircraft was reassembled and is now on display at the Sokol plant in Nizhny Novgorod.

Look for the MiG 25 to carry a wide range of short- and intermediate range anti-aircraft missiles

To pay tribute to this amazing warbird, Hobby Master has announced their intent to build a 1:72 scale replica of the MiG 25P “Foxbat-A” interceptor (HA5601). More importantly, Hobby Master has chosen to recreate the aircraft flown by defecting Soviet pilot, Viktor Belenko, as its first foray into the land of the MiG, the same aircraft he flew from Russia to Japan in 1976, and returned to the Soviet Union some two months later.

We anticipate extremely strong sales for this aircraft when it gets released some time this coming March, so we advise placing your pre-orders as soon as possible since it is entirely possible we may not have enough for general sale once it does arrive.

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Product Spotlight: “Dolfo”

HA8702

“As England, in spite of her hopeless situation, still shows no sign of willingness to come to terms, I have decided to prepare, and if necessary to carry out, a landing operation against her. The aim of this operation os to eliminate the English Motherland as a base from which the war against Germany can be continued, and, if necessary, to occupy the country completely.”

– Fuhrer Directive No. 16, announcing Unternehmen Seelowe (Operation Sea Lion), the invasion of England, July 16th, 1940

Hobby Master’s second 1:48 scale look at the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter is nearing its operational readiness date, and this one is ever-so-important to historians and collectors alike. HA8702 portrays Oberstleutnant Adolf Galland’s Bf-109E fighter, when he was attached to Jagdgeschwader 26 “Schlageter”, then deployed to Audembert, France, June 1940.

HA8702a

Undoubtedly one of the best known Bf 109Es of them all, Galland’s famous E-4/N was marked with Kommodore markings, 57 victory bars on the rudder and the familiar black and white mouse personal emblem. But the writing was on the wall for this aircraft by December 1940. Having scored an additional three kills with it, Galland then received a new Bf 109E-0, and proceeded to fly both types from Brest in early 1941. The Bf 109Es scope protuding from the windscreen was not a telescopic sight, but just a straightforward telescope, which enabled Galland to identify between friend and foe at a greater range.

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Product Spotlight: Celebrate General Chuck Yeager’s Upcoming 94th Birthday in Style

“You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can’t, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don’t give up.”

– Chuck Yeager

As legendary ace, Brigadier General Chuck Yeager, nears his 94th birthday this February, Hobby Master decided to pay him hommage with a replica of his P-51D Mustang, “Glamorous Glen III.”

Stationed in the United Kingdom at RAF Leiston, Yeager flew P-51 Mustangs in combat with the 363d Fighter Squadron. He named his aircraft Glamorous Glen after his girlfriend, Glennis Faye Dickhouse, who became his wife in February 1945. Yeager had gained one victory before he was shot down over France in his first aircraft (P-51B-5-NA s/n 43-6763) on March 5th, 1944, during his eighth mission. He escaped to Spain on March 30th with the help of the Maquis (French Resistance) and returned to England on May 15th, 1944. During his stay with the Maquis, Yeager assisted the guerrillas in duties that did not involve direct combat, although he did help to construct bombs for the group, a skill that he had learned from his father. He was awarded the Bronze Star for helping another airman, who had lost part of his leg during the escape attempt, to cross the Pyrenees.

HA7735a

Despite a regulation prohibiting “evaders” (escaped pilots) from flying over enemy territory again, the purpose of which was to prevent a second capture from compromising resistance groups, Yeager was reinstated to flying combat. He had joined another evader, bomber pilot Captain Fred Glover, in speaking directly to the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, on June 12th, 1944. With Glover pleading their case, they argued that because the Allies had invaded France and the Maquis were by then openly fighting the Nazis alongside Allied troops, if Yeager or Glover were shot down again, there was little about those who had previously helped them evade capture that could be revealed to the enemy.

Eisenhower, after gaining permission from the War Department to decide the requests, concurred with Yeager and Glover. Yeager later credited his postwar success in the Air Force to this decision, saying that his test pilot career followed naturally from his having been a decorated combat pilot, along with having been an aircraft mechanic before attending pilot school. In part, because of his maintenance background, he also frequently served as a maintenance officer in his flying units.

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Product Spotlight: Defending the Motherland

HA5301

“Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you.”

– First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Nikita Kruschev, commenting on Capitalism

While Hobby Master has been content to replicate some of the most iconic western jets of the modern era, their record at offering adversarial aircraft has been a bit spotty. Until now. Their first ever Mikoyan Gurevich MiG 23 Flogger has now been released, one that represents a warbird from the 787th IAP, then deployed to Eberswalde, Finow AB, Brandenburg, East Germany, during the 1970s (HA5301). Like their F-14 Tomcat, their inaugural MiG features variable geometry wings, thereby enabling the collector to display their aircraft in multiple configurations.

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Painted in a light grey exterior and bearing all the hallmark detail we’ve come to expect from Hobby Master, their first ever MiG will no doubt kick off other variants and schemes in the months to come, and will likely usher in a bevy of other adversarial aircraft in the coming year.

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is considered to belong to the Soviet third-generation jet fighter category, along with similarly aged Soviet fighters such as the MiG-25 “Foxbat”. It was the first attempt by the Soviet Union to design look-down/shoot-down radar and one of the first to be armed with beyond visual range missiles, and the first MiG production fighter aircraft to have intakes at the sides of the fuselage. Production started in 1970 and reached large numbers with over 5,000 aircraft built. Today the MiG-23 remains in limited service with various export customers.

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Product Spotlight: Hobby Master Hoists the Jolly Roger

HA5203

“Obsolete weapons do not deter.”

– British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

We’re starting to find ourselves knee-deep in Grumman F-14 Tomcats, so anytime a truly important release catches the third arresting wire on our flight deck, we have to sit up and take notice. This month, we are expecting the latest in the Hobby Master stable of F-14s – an “A” variant that was attached to VF-84 “Jolly Rogers,” then embarked upon the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), during 1977 (HA5203).

HA5203a

Strike Fighter Squadron 103 (the Jolly Rogers) is a Strike Fighter Squadron flying the F/A-18F Super Hornet and is based at NAS Oceana.

In March 1993, VF-84 deployed on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the only F-14 squadron in a reconfigured airwing that included Marine F/A-18, CH-53 and UH-1 squadrons. VF-84 flew critical TARPS reconnaissance missions during Operation Deny Flight, providing information about Bosnian Serb positions around Sarajevo. The squadron also flew in support of Operation Southern Watch, enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq.

VF-84 returned to NAS Oceana in September 1993. It was to be the squadron’s last Mediterranean deployment.

Due to the downsizing of the Navy after the Cold War, the Navy disestablished several squadrons, and VF-84 was one of them. The squadron spent its last eighteen months of existence participating in several joint service operations, honing its skills in air-to-air combat, strike and TARPS. The squadron also made another memorable appearance in another motion picture, Executive Decision. VF-84 was disestablished on October 1, 1995, but VF-103 Sluggers adopted the name and insignia of the Jolly Rogers. From its transition to the F-14 until its disestablishment, VF-84 had been a part of CVW-8.

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