1 by Dave Bailey, on Flickr

The door of the office flew open, and the wind it generated brought a very brief respite from the Cuban heat. "Vasily, we have a problem. Operation Anadyr has been called off, we must return everything to Russia." Major General Volkov clenched his jaw and stared off into nowhere. After what seemed an eternity, he allowed a smile to appear, and asked "How many aircraft have been assembled and ready for flight?" "Only one, engine tests have been run, pilot training was to start tomorrow." "Then, Pyotr, I suggest we simply go now. What more can we do? We have been planning this for months, our new lives begin today!"

2 by Dave Bailey, on Flickr

In the White House, an aide approached the President nervously. "Mr President, we have been monitoring the ships leaving Cuba, all missiles are accounted for, but, um, there seems to be one aircraft missing." President Kennedy gave an amused smile, "An Ilyushin 28? What is it we named it, Beagle?" "Yes Sir, a medium range bomber, it could easily strike..." No worries, Fred," the president replied, "All aircraft are accounted for." "Sir?" "Yes, all accounted for, don't worry."

3 by Dave Bailey, on Flickr

4 by Dave Bailey, on Flickr

It was another 44 years before the aide, now an old man, found out the answer to the mystery. Two Russian pilots, determined to escape to the west, had flown the missing aircraft to America, where it was taken over by the U.S. Air Force, It was one of the first foreign aircraft to be evaluated by American pilots, and provided much information about Russian construction methods, engine and airframe developments, and control systems. Russia refused to admit that such an incident had occurred, but more than a few personnel lost jobs. A few days after the aircraft had been sent to the Tonopah Test Range, a Martin B-57 Canberra, a comparable but much more capable aircraft than the Beagle, streaked across Cuba at low altitude, and dropped some leaflets. Although unauthorised, the pilots were not disciplined, but were warned not to poke the bear again.

5 by Dave Bailey, on Flickr

Beagle by Dave Bailey, on Flickr

The Kit

The old Airfix kit, which I picked up at a local shop for a decent price. Definitely showing its age, and some warping was a problem. Worse, it was in the fiddly areas around the nose and tail, meaning lots of gluing, clamping, regluing, more clamping, swearing, drinking, and such. Still experimenting with the AK Silver Paste, don't use this stuff if you value clean fingers. It rubs off easily, but the flat black Tamiya I brushed on first seems to have held it fairly well. Decals are from an Airfix P-80, and went on easily. All canopy and other clear framing was done with a Molotow Chrome pen, could be better but I wanted to get this done.

Thats a hell polished paint job Dave..love it mate 
The back story is a goodin and I loved the lost cat advert 

Nice silver.

You have made a great looking model out of an old dog of a kit

 
Oh wooow Dave. That's looking good! Great story too!

I've used ak paste several times an usually without primer. Just on the (almost polished) plastic) and used very little paste and brush to apply the paste panel by panel. After drying ( thinner applied the sooner its dry) . I rubbed it with a cloth to the shiny result you show in the pictures. I'm still experimenting with the stuff. But works pretty good.

I like it very much!

David aka 63CPE

This silhouette with straight wing and swept tail is uncommon, especially with American colours. Great model!

Nice!    The Stars-And-Bars position on the hull is unusual?

Brought a smile to my face Dave   

Nice work. I quite like the IL-28 but the straight wings with a swept tail are odd aren't they?

The Il-28's a cracking looking aeroplane, and yours looks the BUSINESS flying out of Area 51! 

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on December 08, 2022, 11:28:01 PMNice!    The Stars-And-Bars position on the hull is unusual?

Not unusual for the Constant Peg program. The MiG-21 examples had it there, but with that design they had little choice. I could have put it behind the wing, but it looks more prominent where it is.

Quote from: 63cpe on December 08, 2022, 11:04:03 PM
Oh wooow Dave. That's looking good! Great story too!

I've used ak paste several times an usually without primer. Just on the (almost polished) plastic) and used very little paste and brush to apply the paste panel by panel. After drying ( thinner applied the sooner its dry) . I rubbed it with a cloth to the shiny result you show in the pictures. I'm still experimenting with the stuff. But works pretty good.

I like it very much!

David aka 63CPE

 

Quote from: SPINNERS on December 09, 2022, 03:26:48 AMNice work. I quite like the IL-28 but the straight wings with a swept tail are odd aren't they?

Just say 'Russian', and leave it at that.