Nuclear Weapons

Well, I haven't gone Nuclear lately and was digging through the photo files and ran across these shots from the USAF Museum at Dayton of a real extra "Little Boy" less Uranium I hope. It's under the wing of "Bockscar "along with a replica of "Fat Man" the Plutonium bomb. Another great thing to see at an incredible Museum! Nukes everywhere! Check it out! 

Max

Hodakamax

Ah, here it is, the largest and craziest 50 MT nuclear weapon ever detonated in 1/72 scale! No need to scratch build this one. But wait, $38 + freight? Well it is on sale. Now to find a Bear!  

Max  

 

Love those tires that look like they bhave some weight on them. News to me.

I did peek into the SAC FB-111A kit. Yep, you're right. Tanks on the wings for the long flight to blow people up. Nukes stored internally, two I think. Still OK, just exploring possibilities. It'll be a good kit to show what uncle George flew and commanded. All this reminded of a story he told me after he became the commander of one of the two squadrons. On one of his checkout flights he asked the instructor if he could do a roll. Not rated said the instructor. May be necessary he said after completion. Life's heros, gone now, still heros then and now.

Max

Hodakamax

Again, has anyone nukerized anything lately? I did see the 1/72 Tsar Bomb and transport at the last model show. It even won something. I took a picture of it for you guys but I'll be darned if I can find it.

I was a bit bored this morning and thought I'd bring this to the top. It was always a fun post at least for me. Nukes are unfortunately in the news everyday. Reminds of the song Blowing in the Wind, "When will they ever learn?"

I'm still waiting and reminding others for someone to build the 1/72 Bear and modify it to carry the worlds largest nuclear weapon. My list is full.  

I have added a nuke carrier to the stash, A 1/72 SAC FB-111A. It will be interesting to see if I can arm it for a nuclear strike mission. All crazy of course. 

later,

Max

 

Yup, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Seems like the ways of the world move in circles and cycles over time. I did build the B-61 shapes that came with my sidelined 1/48 F-117. I might put them on a bomb cart just for a little display when I get around to finishing up my initial batch of ground support equipment. 

IIRC, the SAC FB-111s usually carried their nukes internally in the weapons bay so that the wing hardpoints were freed up for drop tanks. Do any F-111 kits come with the open weapons bay? All the older kits that I ever built had the bay molded closed and no interior. It would take some a good bit of conversion work to change that.

Again, has anyone nukerized anything lately? I did see the 1/72 Tsar Bomb and transport at the last model show. It even won something. I took a picture of it for you guys but I'll be darned if I can find it.

I was a bit bored this morning and thought I'd bring this to the top. It was always a fun post at least for me. Nukes are unfortunately in the news everyday. Reminds of the song Blowing in the Wind, "When will they ever learn?"

I'm still waiting and reminding others for someone to build the 1/72 Bear and modify it to carry the worlds largest nuclear weapon. My list is full.  

I have added a nuke carrier to the stash, A 1/72 SAC FB-111A. It will be interesting to see if I can arm it for a nuclear strike mission. All crazy of course. 

later,

Max

I was looking through the photo file and stumbled upon a picture of an actual Mark-41 nuke and me at the USAF Museum in Dayton. This has always been a fun post and discussion. What a shot to bring it back to the top! Ker-Boom!

Max

The Testors F-117 kits come with B61 shapes in all the three scales of kits. So that is a cheap source for those. And the Monogram 1/48 B-58 kit has some small nukes as well as the weapon & weapon/fuel pod as ordnance. The 1/48 Revell B-1B kit has a load of SRAMs for a couple of the rotary launchers in the bomb bays.   Besides the 1/48 Revellogram F-84E & G kits coming with their nukes, theit 1/48 F-84F also has a single underwing nuke of a similar type. 

Anyone nukeified anything lately? Czar bombs? Bears? Don't forget the F-84G in the '50s with its toss bomb nuke, A really cool 1/48 Kit by Revell that will amaze you and your friends for peanuts!

Just bringing it to the top!

Thermonuclear Max

Courtesy of Max's Comparitive 1/48 Aircraft Museum. (Really just my office.)

OK, One more weapon for our nuclear arsenal to build, the air to air Nuclear tipped .25 Kt. GAR-11 Nuclear Falcon. I'm 5' 10" for scale. Make sure you are far enough away before launching!

Max

I've been digging through my photo files from the USAF museum and ran across these two somewhat unsettling pictures of Nuclear Madness, I call it. In the first picture I wonder if the small boy understands what he is looking at, a Peacemaker (strange name) missile "Bus" carrying 10 warheads and able to wipe out 10 cities. Scary.

Max

Yeah, I have a Tu-142 Bear in my stash now. I do need to start it soon.

Ok, just kidding, but it would be a cool project, first I need to get caught up on all my silly other projects! (And build on to the museum, that would be a large model, like 30'' wingspan.)  

Max

Update, I did look it up and the Bear is 100 bucks plus freight and the cost of enlarging the museum. Something to think about! Probably on hold for now but I'll do a little more research on it for fun.  

Hodakamax

Ah, here it is, the largest and craziest 50 MT nuclear weapon ever detonated in 1/72 scale! No need to scratch build this one. But wait, $38 + freight? Well it is on sale. Now to find a Bear!  

Max  

 

Trumpeter...

Ah, here it is, the largest and craziest 50 MT nuclear weapon ever detonated in 1/72 scale! No need to scratch build this one. But wait, $38 + freight? Well it is on sale. Now to find a Bear!  

Max  

Wow, really tight fit installing the 25 megaton B-41 Nuclear weapon in the Hasegawa 1/72 B-47. Someone's scale is off slightly and it wasn't mine. I had to shorten the bomb slightly to get it to fit. The 2 bomb configuration was something I dreamed up at the time and this more like it should be. Now if I can find my Slim Pickens hat, I'm off for a test flight! LOL!

Max

Hodakamax

This is the next scratch build project, a 1/72 B41 nuclear weapon for my B-47 to replace the bogus pair I dreamed up in the original build. I'm going with the single whopper for the 1/72 B-47. The dimensions were 12' 4" long x 4' 4" diameter. Weight 10,670 pounds and a yield of 25 Megatons, KER-BOOM! (of course at 1/72 it will have a much lower yield.) It came in silver, green and white which I'm going for.

 

A bit of progress. I've measured everything in the shop and house to find a 1/72 B-41 nuclear bomb casing. With the help of my wife and her infinite supply of make-up, this lip stick tube is the perfect diameter. It's a start!  

Max

 

 

 

 

Cool stuff Chris! A fascinating subject for sure. In the 1950s a scientist that worked on the Manhatten Project came to our school and gave a lecture on the building of the Atomic bomb. I was in early high school and several of us "science nerds" were chosen to attend the classroom lecture. I was in awe. Everything I wanted to know about atomic bombs was being told to me over a one hour period.

At about the same period my uncle was a B-47 pilot in SAC. When he would come home, I'd drill him for all possible info on the subject and he would tell everything he could about  SAC, B-47s and nukes. I was hooked. I even studied Nuclear enginering as a career and began to assemble hours in enginering until I finally realized my mathmatical limitations were insufficient for such a career. Even though that road eventually ended , I was still hooked.

It seems I too am rambling, but I still find the subject fascinating. What a strange weapon, one that is incredibly powerful that in truth that can never be used without changing the history of mankind and not for the better. Scary is the word. Trillions of dollars have been spent on an unusable deterrent. Strange thinking for a civilization.

The USAF Muesum ay Dayton has an amazing array of Nuclear weapons on display that I once could only imagine what they looked like. After building my 1/72 B-36, the next thing on the list was to scratch build the monster weapon that it carried. I also have a 1/72 B-47 that needs to be correctly weaponized that is on my list of things to do. 

Thanks for your story Chris, I read every word twice. It is an interesting subject that makes you think, "what were they thinking?"

Max

I believe there is a kit in 1/72 of the Tsar Bomba. Amodel maybe, but not sure.

Speaking of yield, open this up and pretent to destroy the cities of your choice. You pick the location, yield, air or ground burst, and a host of other choices.

http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

I was on 155mm SP artillery in Germany back in the late 80's. I spent a year on what we called SWAT (Special Weapons Attack Team), and our job was to meet an ammo unit who would come in by CH-47 and deliver us a 155mm M-45 casing containing a W-48 .072 kiloton warhead. If the East Germans were to attack (our AO was the Fulda Gap), then we would take over one of the guns from our parent battery and fire this baby into their ranks. A typical 155 round weighs about 98 pounds. This roundwas over 100 and in it's shielded carry case was 495 lbs. To train with it we had a matching dummy round and case. Our training room was on the 4th floor so we six-man carried that darn thing up and down twice a day. Never got to handle the live weapon though.

From the Wiki world:

The W48 was an American nuclear artillery shell, capable of being fired from any standard 155 mm (6.1 inch) howitzer, e.g. the M114, M198 or M109. It was manufactured starting in 1963, and all units were retired in 1992.

The W48 was 6.1 inches (155 mm) in diameter and 33.3 inches long. It came in two models, Mod 0 and Mod 1, which are reported to have weighed 118 and 128 pounds respectively. It had an explosive yield equivalent to 72 tons of TNT (0.072 kiloton), which is very small for a nuclear weapon.

Pardon my rambling, just love nukes.

Chris

This is the next scratch build project, a 1/72 B41 nuclear weapon for my B-47 to replace the bogus pair I dreamed up in the original build. I'm going with the single whopper for the 1/72 B-47. The dimensions were 12' 4" long x 4' 4" diameter. Weight 10,670 pounds and a yield of 25 Megatons, KER-BOOM! (of course at 1/72 it will have a much lower yield.) It came in silver, green and white which I'm going for.

Reporting,

Max

Speaking of nuclear weapons, I did find the dimensions along with a pictures of the bombs needed for my B-47 posted under the Aircraft header. Looks like I may be back in the Nuke business soon! Yikes!

Max

Hodakamax

Wow, A bit of Googling and here it is with picture and dimensions. RDS-202 50MT Nuclear weapon. 26' long, 6.9' in dia., 27 metric tons. The Tu-95 (if we find one in 1/72) will have to have bomb bay doors and internal fuel tanks removed. 

That's my report!

Max

 

So that's what that beastie looks like. Trumpeter makes a 1/72 scale kit of the Tu-95 bomber; it's an expensive beast though. I have the Tu-142 variant in 1/72 scale. I do need to try and build that someday.

Wow, A bit of Googling and here it is with picture and dimensions. RDS-202 50MT Nuclear weapon. 26' long, 6.9' in dia., 27 metric tons. The Tu-95 (if we find one in 1/72) will have to have bomb bay doors and internal fuel tanks removed. 

That's my report!

Max

Let's see if we can find some pictures of "The Bomb."

Max

Yeah !

 The scary thing is the miniaturising of those things . Oh well , nobody make any mistakes , Please ?   T.B.

Wow, that would be a neat model with the biggest bomb ever dropped, the RDS-202 which was about 50MT as I remember. It scared the pilot so bad that he never flew again. Keep us posted if you find one!

Max

The Czar bomb is next? Is there a 1/72 Tu-95 kit out there?

Yes, motorcycles are cool also! That was at Topeka Kansas Raceway about 25 years ago. The modified RZ-350 was a hoot to ride! Being a modeler you might like the current 1/1 project on the above website. Talk about scratch build, almost everthing has been modified. It's called the Day One Project by Hodakamax of course. Its documented from day one as we do models on this site.

Max