The Force meets the Royal Air Force

[major_clanger]

I was in our local WH Smiths the other day and saw that they had a load of Star Wars kits in, including Revell's kit of the Snowspeeder from The Empire Strikes Back. It was only £6, and I wanted to have a simple kit to practice some painting and weathering techniques on. Well, I had a free weekend for the first time in ages, and during a recent sort-out I'd gathered together all the left-over decals from other kits I'd done. An idea started to form itself...

Snowspeeder GR.1 of 9 Squadron, RAF







It's a very easy kit to put together, and ends up about 10cm long. It says on the box it's 1:52 scale; that's hardly a common scale for model kits, and I suspect someone's just divided the size of the full-size filming prop by the size of the model. That being said, from the size of the two crew this is more like 1:72, and I suspect that the filming prop probably wasn't 'full size' or in proportion.

Pedantic nit-pickers will note that the serial is from the early 1960s (it's from a Gnat kit) and the RAF markings are of a style not used on front-line aircraft since the early 1980s. I suggest that given the subject matter we can all suspend our disbelief a little...

Finally, here she is zipping her way through the Welsh valleys on a low-level sortie:

Comments

[watervole]

Amazing how the backdrop brings it to life.

[hano.livejournal.com]

I wonder how much utiitiy an aircraft would have on a modern battlefield. A pair of fixed forward firing laser cannons, present targetting difficulties, especially under fire and/or at speed. Unless said speeder is capable of firing while stationary and is fitted with modern fire control and stabilisation systems?
Also, I have questions as to the defensive capabilities of such an aircraft. And is a harpoon guided rope adequate for the needs of the 21st Century?
Just asking...

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

Interesting to see the close air support argument take a different direction to the American F-35 vs A-10 debate.