I have need of a Monogram 1/48 scale “F-19 Stealth Fighter” model kit. It need not be pristine and unopened; it can be partially or even completely assembled, so long as it is intact-ish and complete (and preferably with instructions). They pop up form time to time on ebay, but they’re too expensive for my budget. If you have one you’re willing to part with for a reasonable sum, let me know: 
I would have committed unspeakable acts – perhaps going so far as getting a job – to have gotten this when I was a kid and “Airwolf” was on the tube.
A bit pricey, but it’s 3D printed. I don’t see much point to the “completed and painted” version unless they take care of the rather obvious printing lines. Those will have to be sanded smooth; the tail boom also looks like it’ll need substantial modification (it’s oddly fat at the tail). The sides of the fuselage will also need substantial modification; the nose looks like it might be too pointy. Someone will have to vacu-form some windows for it.
$225.00
$325.00
From the National Archives, a few photos dated 1979 of a Lewis Research Center model of a “Tanker Airplane.” *FAR* higher resolution versions of the photos are available at the links.
And…
That’s certainly an unusual configuration. If it hadn’t originated at NASA, I’d think it was a college students design project. But then… there’s one more photo which might shed a little bit of light onto the subject:
Huh.
The text on the wing reads:
To
LRC from LeRC
November 8(?) 1979
This would seem to be some sort of a gag gift from Lewis Research Center to Langley Research Center, but the details of what, who, and why are not available to me. If anyone can shed light, please do so.
Work on the “Enterprise” continues…
Recently for sale on ebay was a display model of the Saro “Princess” turboprop flying boat, as Convair planned to modify it into a nuclear-powered research prototype. This late 50’s design was ballsy if nothing else: a nuclear reactor would be installed within the fuselage, providing superheated air from the reactor to the inboard above-wing modified turboprops. Unlike the NB-36H, this aircraft would have been actually powered by the reactor.
A description of the concept was written up HERE. A set of detailed diagrams are available as Air Drawing 8.
Cruising along…
Difficulty: stuff’s in Finland.
I was directed to an online auction of space replicas. The first items were things like 1/72 scale Space Shuttles and 1/72 scale Saturn V’s and Atlases and Redstones… nice enough, but nothing out of the ordinary.
BUT THEN…
And…
And…
And…
And…
And…
And not last and certainly not least:
Gimme gimme gimme gimme…
Where would I put a 1/10 scale Saturn V if I had one? I have no friggen’ clue.
The auction appears to be a bankruptcy auction:
Online bankruptcy auction under the authority of trustee Mr. M.W. Schüller of Lexington Advocaten in Hoofddorp concerning the inventory originating from the bankruptcy of John Nurnimen Events B.V. at Schiphol. The goods are located in Finland.
“John Nurnimen Events” still has a functioning website, but was declared bankrupt in the Netherlands, so I’m a bit confounded as to what’s going on here. On one hand I’m saddened that such a collection of awesomeness was apparently not a profitable enterprise; on the other hand… it’s Finland. I’m unclear that that would be the best place for such a thing. The specific website for the “NASA – A Human Adventure” traveling exhibition is offline, though it’s archived.
Opening bids on all these things are 100 Euro each. I have no idea what they’ll go for, though I imagine shipping costs could be a bit spendy.
Recently finished, the CAD model for a 1/144 scale kit for Fantastic Plastic. This Convair idea utilized the same “landing boat” that Fantastic Plastic recently released in 1/48 scale. It’ll be a fairly simple kit. The design was illustrated in a number of renderings from the very late 1950’s/early 60’s, used often by or in conjunction with Krafft Ehricke as he tried to sell Americans on the future in space that they would soon have.
The vehicle had a landing boat at the top and a habitat module below it; below that is the stage with three RL-10 rocket engines, with six drop tanks around it. *Presumably,* the tanks, along with the landing gear, would be dropped shortly after launch from the Moon, with fuel in the main core providing not only the boost back to Earth but also a braking thrust to at least slow the ship, because I have *serious* doubts about that boat surviving a lunar re-entry.
It has been officially decided to go with 1/288 scale for the IXS Enterprise, making the model somewhat larger. Progress continues; the pylons have some more detail, the warp rings have been split into three inner segments, four outer segments, with a wall thickness of about an eighth inch and a hollow within, allowing lighting for those so ambitious.
My first book contract had the due date for the manuscript in July, 2020. But guess what, a pandemic came along and shoved that back a full year. So I got a *second* contract, with a due date in January 2021. But guess what… pandemic pushed it to March. That book is *almost* done, but I’ve taken a bit of a break from it to work feverishly on a completely different project: a CAD model of the “IXS Enterprise.” This is a notional spacecraft designed by artist Mark Rademaker to illustrate what a spacecraft based on an Alcubierre Warp Drive might look like; NASA has used various renderings of this vehicle quite often for that purpose.
The CAD model, which is being produced with the assistance and approval of Mr. Rademaker and Dr. Harold White of NASA, will be used to 3D print master parts for a 1/350 scale resin model kit to be released by Fantastic Plastic. As originally designed the IXS Enterprise had a length of 62.3 meters (which is being changed due to recent updates in the design) and the overall diameter is 41.3 meters. The model will thus be 17.8 cm/7 inches long by 11.8 cm/4.64 inches in diameter. This will put it in scale with the Polar Lights NCC-1701 Enterprise kit and the Moebius XD-1 USS Discovery kit, along with a whole bunch of ships.
UPDATE: there has been discussion about the scale of the model… chances are fair that it will get bumped up to 1/288 scale from 1/350. That would make it 8.5 inches long by 5.6 inches diameter.
The project to convert the original CAD model into a printable kit is proceeding at a good pace.
