Antonov An-124 Ruslan

[Spey_Phantom]

Back history (from the alt. armed forces news thread)

Leutonia sells Hadock carrier and buys AN-124.

Kapalua 22.09.07: after a while that the new carrier was put on for sale, finally a customer has been found. Belgium bought the carrier and its Shar FRS.1's and 4 UH-135's for a deal worth $3.2 Billion. the handover of the carrier is expected to be in October, after witch the carrier will serve as the F-955 "BNS Koning Boudewijn I" in the Belgian Naval Component.

with the money gained from the sale, the MoD made a surprise move and placed an order for 1 AN-124 with an option for a second, these aircraft will be fitted with an upgraded glass cockpit in C-130J style, souped-up rolls royce engines (similar to those of the A-380) and will replace the 3 C-146's witch have proved to be to light and have insufficient range. at first there was a political protest against the AN-124 purchase, one of the oposing congressmen said: "why does our country need such an aircraft, if we want to airlift our equipment to operational areas, why not ask the USAF or australians to help us out with the C-17A's." Minister of defence, R. Hood, responded saying that renting the service of foreign airlifters might end up costing more for the times we need to deploy.

the deal for the AN-124 is rumored to have costed about $250 million. but the sale of the carrier and its aircraft would be able to compensate the costs and make financing of future purchases possible.

the model is the giant 1/144 Revell AN-124 kit, witch will be build straight from the box, i already build the cargobays skeleton and decalled the cockpit (one piece cockpit, saves alot of work   ).
pictures will follow tommorow as my brother took my camera to Germany for the weekend.
as for the color sheme, im looking at a 2-tone grey like the dutch C-130H-30's. althought i could go for something like the australian C-130E's  B)  

[Spey_Phantom]

here's a quick profile of the paint sheme i have in mind  B)

another problem occured, i just noticed that i was missing 8 pages from the instruction booklet, but a quick visit to the revell website and the download of an internet copy solved all that.

although the grey sheme looks good (and kinda makes it look like a C-5) i also (as noted in the post above) have thoughts about a 3-tone australian color sheme  B)  

[Rafael]

Great project, Nils!!!

I particularly like the way you plan ahead and document your builds. A very commendable way to do business with plastic.

I can't wait to see her in model form!!

Rafa

[nev]

Interesting camo.

But who are Leuetonia?    

[Spey_Phantom]

Interesting camo.

But who are Leuetonia? 

here's a link to the county in the Alt. history thread, and if you visit the same section, go see Alt. armed forces news topic.

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/forum//index...841&hl=leutonia

the update
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/forum//index...463&hl=leutonia

[Hobbes]

The Revell An-124 is       . Which version are you building (gear up/down/kneeling, doors open/closed)?

[lancer]

Currently got one on the go which is being built with the back open and the ramp down. It was planned to go on my club stand at the nationals this year, but alas it'll have to wait until next year's display to be seen.  

[Spey_Phantom]

ok, got my camera back, and here are the first progreess pics  B)

1. the internal cargobay (wallshells have now been painted inside and pasted on)
2. the wingconstruction (compare the size with this 1/144 Sea Harrier   )

[ysi_maniac]

Nice giant mmmmm

[Hobbes]

2. the wingconstruction (compare the size with this 1/144 Sea Harrier   )

Why does that sound familiar?




Mine's at about the same stage as yours now, I'm getting ready to close up the fuselage. Any idea if the nose needs weighting? The instructions say to put 50 grams of lead behind the front wheels, but I suspect that's rather more than you really need.

[anthonyp]

Holy crap that's huge!

I keep seeing these things on the shelves.  I have yet to take the dive...

Looking forward to seeing this one done!

[gooberliberation]

A whiff.com An-124 is long overdue!

[nev]

3 on the go!    

[Mike Wren]

3 on the go!  

 

[lancer]

A whiff.com An-124 is long overdue!

When I've built the one I have on the go at the moment, I'll build another one as a wiff