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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

The Absurdity of it All. Huge airplane models.


Clunkmeister

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Only one of these is an LSM.  The one in the back is 1/48 scale.  The one in the front is, of course, my Lanc project. 

I have ZERO idea where that monster in the back will be displayed.

And there’s actually people who want a 1/32 scale B-36...

03DB7ABA-ECE4-4A5B-B036-1DAA37A14893.jpeg

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I am with Gaz on the ‘58 ...

Btw, both exist as 1/32 paper models. I happen to have the B-58 paper model file. And this is an outstanding model. The same apparently can be said for the big Tupolev model.

Hubert

PS : Ernie, your bench is now more orderly, but methink you made it too small :) (although, whatever their initial size, benches end-up being a square-foot ;) )

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2 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

Martin, you KNOW that big Antonov 22 is in my stash of A-Monster kits. 

Ernie I am fully aware of your obsession with heavy lifters.  I have a soft spot for them too. In matter of fact I was eyeballing one 72nd scale Bear on evilbay last night and visualizing the rivet lines and sizing of every particular fastener.    Yet Is survived without ordering :) win win 

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11 hours ago, HubertB said:

I am with Gaz on the ‘58 ...

Btw, both exist as 1/32 paper models. I happen to have the B-58 paper model file. And this is an outstanding model. The same apparently can be said for the big Tupolev model.

Hubert

PS : Ernie, your bench is now more orderly, but methink you made it too small :) (although, whatever their initial size, benches end-up being a square-foot ;) )

Paper models...   that's just one place I don't want to go.

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Too fat?!  I'd say just big enough to hold a decent stash of 48th scale 109ers in its cargo bay.  ;)

The only thing that somewhat deters me from building an An-22 is the fact I've already built one as a commission build for Schenker Logistics in 2006.
From my personal experience, the An-22 fits and builds better than Amodel's significantly smaller kit of the An-12.
The biggest challenge was the sheer handling of the massive and unwieldy subassemblies. And that's quite exactly the reason why I'd never build anything exceeding a shelf area of 80x60cm. 

If I should ever tackle another Antei, it'll be this one:  

fvzm9X7.jpg

Just because it's one of my favourite planes, and given its 80x90cm footprint in 1/72,  probably the only exception to my self-imposed 80x60cm rule.
 

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Ivan, my Antei will be Antonov Airlines’ world traveler. That bunch of Ukrainians have just about monopolized the worldwide heavy lift market. 

Antonov has a huge market for new build An-124s, the world’s crying for them, yet in today’s geopolitical scheme, Russia won’t allow a supply of the basic component parts Antonov needs to restart the line.  It’s a crying shame, actually.   The 15 or 20 that are running around in civilian service now will be worn out and condemned before we realize it. They’re getting tired, I’m sure.

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A Model’s Antei looks perfect when built. They built in the perfect anhedral droop that the wings assume at rest, and there’s so much room for super detailing that cargo hold. 

I wish A Model would revisit their 124. Producing that kit without a cargo hold and lowered ramp was pretty silly. I know a lot of people in this Country who’d build a good 124 kit. People know the aircraft, as they’re a fairly common sight in our skies around here.

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3 hours ago, Martinnfb said:

Yeah, 1/72 scale is as much as I am willing to go. Even in such a small scale some of the heavies are pretty intimidating .

36636063095_d811d9c06c_b.jpg

Such is my reasoning with modern Russian fighter jets as well. 1/48 is a good size for them. An Su-34 or 35 in 1/48 is a nice size. 1/32 is nice, but I wouldn’t be able to build as many as I want to.

Early jets like the F-84, 86, and Mug-15, 17, 21 are cool in 32.

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16 minutes ago, Ivan Ivanovich said:

Didn't Antonov team up with a Boeing subsidiary to restart production of a "westernised" An-124 by the end of the year?

I had seen a press conference a few years back with Lockheed-Martin execs talking the same thing.  But others pointed out that it would fly in the face of reason with them, directly competing with the C-5a and C-17.

The 124 was westernized, I thought. But it’d be a world beater with Western power and systems.

Once upon a time, the IL-96 was supposed to receive Western engines and systems for sales to the west, but Boeing went nuts and Congress blocked the sale of engines.  The IL-96 would be a genuine Boeing and Airbus competitor with Pratt, GE, or Rolls engines.

A new build stretched IL-96;with two of those massive 777 style power units would be crazy wild

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China’s supposedly going to build the 225 in China and is buying the second airframe at Antonov.

Antonov needs to get off their collective arses and put these back in production.  They’ve said the market is easily 200+ for the civilian 124M alone.

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1 hour ago, Clunkmeister said:

I had seen a press conference a few years back with Lockheed-Martin execs talking the same thing.  But others pointed out that it would fly in the face of reason with them, directly competing with the C-5a and C-17.

 

C-5A has been gone for years, and C-5M's are only flown by us, so there is no worries of any competition. C-17 has a bit of a different role I imagine.

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I do love the C-5M and spent a ton of time watching them use a mere fraction of the runway at Travis that was for the A models. I have stared at the Annigrand kit many times hoping it would change into something descent right before my eyes. Still maybe one day.

P1010108 (2).JPG

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