Coming soonever from Fantastic Plastic: a 1/48 scale model of an early Grumman lunar lander concept. I’ve recently finished the CAD model for this, based on diagrams, art and display models. As modeled it has a basic interior; your average LEM model doesn’t have an interior, but at this early stage int he design the windows were HUGE, which made the interior kinda mandatory. The windows were gigantic because the crew were seated and thus recessed from the skin of the vehicle; by going to standing crew, they could put their faces right up next to the windows… allowing the windows to be far smaller.
NOTE: I suspect the idea I had that I lay out below is not exclusive to me. I would hope that those who could make this sort of thing happen are already working on it. But just in case I somehow dreamed up something new, I present the following…
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Because why not, here’s an open suggestion regarding an idea from yesterday about Ukrainian model kits. As I said, I’d plunk down money I don’t need to to buy kits depicting scenes of Ukrainian farmers trundling off with Russian armor… assuming those kits were *Ukrainian* kits.
Right now, and likely for the foreseeable future, though, Ukrainian model kit companies are unlikely to be in any sort of position to do any such thing. In contrast, European, American and Japanese companies *are.* So… how about this: a company like, say, Revell, Monogram, Tamiya, *somebody,* that is in a good situation gets in touch with whatever they can of a Ukrainian company such as ICM, and they collaborate in whatever capacity they can. Revell gets going on setting up the molds and the initial production; the kits are sold as a joint venture until such time as the kit makes back whatever Revell spent, and then the following proceeds go to ICM. And when the nonsense is over and ICM can return to functionality, the molds are transferred to ICM in Ukraine. This would not be done to enrich Revell, but also not to drain their wallets; even if they don’t make a dime from the venture, even if they lose some, it should be good PR.
A secondary issue would be the rights involved. One of my favorite videos that I posted yesterday shows two John Deere tractors hauling off a Tor anti-aircraft armored vehicle. I suspect that John Deere would be amenable to having such a kit manufactured, if one isn’t already available of the tractors shown. As for the Russian tank, if someone complains about intellectual property, now would be the time to tell them to go ᛖᚪᛏ ᚪ ᛒᚪᚷ ᚩᚠ ᛞᛁᛣᚳᛋ, Ivan; Russia has declared that it’s ok to steal the IP from other countries, so *yours* is now fair game.
And this one. Two bits of video, the first I’ve seen before, the second I haven’t; I don’t know what the witnesses are saying, but I love *how* they’re saying it:
As a followup to this idea I had a few weeks ago… a YouTuber with suggestions regarding those interested in Ukrainian model kits and kit companies. Assuming Putin doesn’t nuke or otherwise salt the earth of Ukraine when he’s driven out like the little ᛒᛁᛏᛣᚻ he is, those model kit companies will probably be back… in some form, some day. I don’t doubt that some, many, most, maybe all of them might need to start from scratch; injection molding equipment tends to react poorly to bombardment and exposure to the elements. Relevant part starts around 3:24.
I’m not big on armor models, and I’ve never given a moments thought to building kits of farm equipment. But you know what? When this bullcrap is over, if Ukrainian companies start putting out kits of Ukrainian farmers towing Russian armor… I’ll buy them all.
Because why not: someone has posted the 1979 disaster “epic” Meteor to YouTube. It is pretty awful on every level, but to me the worst of it is the incredibly half-assed miniature work on the spacecraft. That said, it’s entertaining in it’s awfulness. Just thing thing to MST3K.
When I was ten, this movie was awesome. Now… well, here ya go.
Here is a movie review from the period:
And here is a TV movie, “A Fire In The Sky,” from the year before “Meteor,” based on a similar concept.
Let's be fair and give some credit. I'm not sure if that's the original source, but the pic was found at FB account of Polish model makers. pic.twitter.com/DRKfHZO2RZ
— Jarosław Kociszewski (@JarekKociszewsk) March 10, 2022
Given current events, perhaps buying model kits is not the top priority… but if it *is,* now might be the time (if it’s not already too late). In recent years, Russian and Ukrainian model kit companies have done a fine job of producing unusual subjects and high quality kits, and sometimes both at the same time… but now, it’s safe to assume that for the time being nothing will be coming out of Ukraine, and the only things coming out of Russia will be via expensive back channels.
Examples available from Amazon (remember, if you buy *anything* after going through these links, I’ll get a pittance, so if you want to support this blog, here’s a way to do it):
Ukranian company “Mikro-Mir” produced a surprising range of submarine model kits in 1/350 scale, 1/144 scale and even 1/35 scale. You can click on this link to see the wider subjects, or here are a few specific kits that might be of interest (just text links to save space; as of this typing, they are listed as available):
A Russian kit company with a really good reputation for quality is Zvezda Models, which has a wide range of armor and aircraft, military and civilian. Really far too many to link to, but here are a few of interest:
Also Ukrainian is the company Amodel. They have a bunch of different aircraft kits, but these two might be of particular interest:
And under the circumstances, the German Revell AN-225 might be of interest, because that plane, even if at this very moment it’s intact, is almost certainly doomed. If fighting doesn’t damage/destroy it, when the Russians are eventually driven out they will either steal the plane or wreck it.
Might be of some interest to some… a forthcoming 1/48 scale model of the 1962 Grumman take on the LEM. Lots of details to add, but these get the idea across.
Four years after first unveiling its hypersonic airliner concept at #AIAASciTech 2018 @Boeing has revealed a refined, more realistic Mach 5 reusable air-breathing design targeting military and space launch roles at @aiaa San Diego event pic.twitter.com/CtpxA5OJGn
