Quote from: NARSES2 on April 01, 2024, 05:41:33 AMI like the idea of an air launched Bloodhound, but what would be the carrying aircraft ?

A Beverley, they could carry 4-5 of them at a time and just drop them out of the back, simples! 

one fits fairly well under the belly of a TSR-2 , its the main weapon for my ASAT version, but multiple under a V Bomber would look well cool 

Sling it under a Heyford...

I've been thinking about two under the wings of a Lincoln.  Of course the issue is getting a 1/72 Lincoln...


...ooh, but I do have an Airfix Shack.  Ping!  Lightbulb moment.  ARDU Shackleton (in Fanta Can scheme) carrying out air launching tests for a proposed Canberra long range interceptor.  A single missile mounted mistel style.

Good idea 

Quote from: zenrat on April 02, 2024, 03:11:05 AMI've been thinking about two under the wings of a Lincoln.  Of course the issue is getting a 1/72 Lincoln...


...ooh, but I do have an Airfix Shack.  Ping!  Lightbulb moment.  ARDU Shackleton (in Fanta Can scheme) carrying out air launching tests for a proposed Canberra long range interceptor.  A single missile mounted mistel style.

Sounds like fun!

I hope they don't have a similar issue to the 'Moonraker' 747... 

Anyone have any idea at what speed a Bloodhound's ramjets needed to be moving to operate?

I recall 600 mph minimum. But the boosters had it above M 1.0 IIRC.

So a Shack couldn't get it up to speed then.
A Canberra could possibly manage it in a dive.

I know the rocket boosters could do the job but I kind of wanted the launch plane to get it up to ram jet speed.  More thinking required.


I started assembling the front suspension of the Subaru (I can't help thinking it's name with the Kiwi pronunciation - Soo-Bar-Roo) this morning before work.  The way it's designed the wheels almost steer but are prevented by the tie rod being glued into place in the middle.  I think that with a little modification I can rectify that and keep the steering operational.

Hydra tank crew primed.  I have been pondering what colour Hydra tank uniforms would have been.  Not Black (although I primed them that colour).  More likely a shade of Brown.

Quote from: zenrat on April 03, 2024, 03:35:34 AMHydra tank crew primed.  I have been pondering what colour Hydra tank uniforms would have been.  Not Black (although I primed them that colour).  More likely a shade of Brown.

IIRC from the first Captain Puerto Rico America movie, the pseudo-HISS tank crew were wearing black. 

A super dark brown might work.

Quote from: zenrat on April 03, 2024, 03:35:34 AMSo a Shack couldn't get it up to speed then.
A Canberra could possibly manage it in a dive.

The Shack couldn't manage it going vertically downward from 30000 ft!

How about putting a rocket motor in the Cranberry's bomb bay, as they did in the RW a few times?

Quote from: PR19_Kit on April 01, 2024, 06:12:00 AM

Quote from: NARSES2 on April 01, 2024, 05:41:33 AMI like the idea of an air launched Bloodhound, but what would be the carrying aircraft ?

A Beverley, they could carry 4-5 of them at a time and just drop them out of the back, simples! 

RATOG units were trialled on a Beverley (December 1956)   but even with copious numbers of these, I can't see one of Blackburn's heavies achieving anything like the ramjet ignition speed Zenrat requires.    Although the thought of a trans-sonic Beverley does have a certain surreal charm

Quote from: scooter on April 03, 2024, 05:52:19 AM

Quote from: zenrat on April 03, 2024, 03:35:34 AMHydra tank crew primed.  I have been pondering what colour Hydra tank uniforms would have been.  Not Black (although I primed them that colour).  More likely a shade of Brown.

IIRC from the first Captain Puerto Rico America movie, the pseudo-HISS tank crew were wearing black. 

A super dark brown might work.

Sorry, not being clear.  I want them to obviously not be german tank crew  (hence the range of different hats) and so am not going to use black or another dark colour.  And green/OD/khaki would look too Allied.

Worked mainly on the Soo-BAR-Roo ( ) today,  I am confident I can get the steering to remain turnable but there will be some delicate capping of pivot pins required.  And it will be fragile.
I put the wheels together and was disappointed to find that the kits hollow vinyl tyres are narrower than the wheels.  A look through my spares showed that I have nothing the right size.  Most being larger rolling diameter and made for larger diameter wheels.  So I stuffed the tyres with foam which pushes the sidewalls out fit the rims.  I'll be interested to see if the vinyl tyres affect the foam.

I have one Stratos IV (TSR2) RATO booster left from the kit which became a Myasishchev.  I am thinking of an arrangement on top of a Shackleton consisting of a rocket boosted trolley onto which the Bloodhound is mounted.  The concept being that the rocket accelerates the trolley from its starting position at the tail end of the fuselage so that by the time it reaches the cockpit it is doing over 600mph (airspeed, not relative to the Shack) and the ramjets cut in...

Quote from: zenrat on April 04, 2024, 05:22:10 AMI have one Stratos IV (TSR2) RATO booster left from the kit which became a Myasishchev.  I am thinking of an arrangement on top of a Shackleton consisting of a rocket boosted trolley onto which the Bloodhound is mounted.  The concept being that the rocket accelerates the trolley from its starting position at the tail end of the fuselage so that by the time it reaches the cockpit it is doing over 600mph (airspeed, not relative to the Shack) and the ramjets cut in...

Sounds good, or should I say LOUD for the Shack crew. 

Quote from: PR19_Kit on April 04, 2024, 07:58:42 AM

Quote from: zenrat on April 04, 2024, 05:22:10 AMI have one Stratos IV (TSR2) RATO booster left from the kit which became a Myasishchev.  I am thinking of an arrangement on top of a Shackleton consisting of a rocket boosted trolley onto which the Bloodhound is mounted.  The concept being that the rocket accelerates the trolley from its starting position at the tail end of the fuselage so that by the time it reaches the cockpit it is doing over 600mph (airspeed, not relative to the Shack) and the ramjets cut in...

Sounds good, or should I say LOUD for the Shack crew. 

With 4 Griffons at full blast, and all one million rivets of the venerable airframe vibrating in close formation, will the crew even hear the extra noise?   And can we assume that the launching trolley  will not come to a sudden juddering halt above the flight deck, but will in fact sail in a graceful parabola over the nose of the carrier aircraft with a parachute deploying to soften its landing;  or will it plummet to earth and cause inconvenience to innocent passers by?