THE EMPIRES TWILIGHT

[sotoolslinger]

WOW I had never heard of the Nord Griffon ,......or Nord for that matter.TOO COOL

[Mossie]

I'll echo it too, nice Griffon!   FM kit?

[thedarkmaster]

yes mate the f.m. kit, very basic but still nice. Saw it on the Hannant's website and just had to have it, it seemed to speak to me 

[thedarkmaster]

Hawker Sea Hawk gr1 ( Rhdesian Ridgeback )

After a long and useful service with the Royal Navy the Sea Hawk was phased out of service by 1964, but many of the airframes soldiered on with the cash strapped Royal Rhodesian Air Force which aquired many of them (112) at knock dowm prices and proceded to modify them into two seaters and to add extra hardpoints under the wings as well as uprated French engines.The conversions carriedout at Salisbury Iron and rail works managed to produce over 50 airframes from the available stocks.

The aircraft was put into service in Namibia against Cuban backed incursions into the territory and at home against rebels operating in the bush and from former Portugese colonies. The Aircraft was a great sucess and extermely popular with its crews and soon earned the Rhodesian Ridgeback nickname.

The ridgeback lasted in service in dwindling numbers until 1986 when it was replaced by the Ridgeback 2. The Aircraft illustrated is in service with 5 Sqd RRaf in 1979 based at Salisbury and flying missions in support of local forces fighting insurgents.



















The aircraft is I believe an old Novo kit the paint is Vallajo and the decals are from xtradecal.

[Mossie]

Twin tube Sea Hawk, looks better than I thought it would!  Where did you get the canopy & tanks?

[thedarkmaster]

the canopy is an old vacform offering for a Czech Delphin and the tanks are from the spares box but i think they are mig or Sukhoi

[thedarkmaster]

THE SHORTS BLACK EAGLE

During the summer of 1978 Operation Hickman was held in the North Atlantic and Canadian coast, the senario was based around the possibility of The New Commonwealth re-enforcing Canada in times of Trouble.

As usual the U.S. took a great interest in what was said and done in these manouvers and how the New Commonwealth responded to probing from its bombers and elint aircraft.

As usual U.S. aircraft took off from bases in Ireland and delved deep into the Atlantic coming upon the Carrier Groups from the East and South, well away from possible New Commonwealth interceptors..........or so they thought.

The Carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth was steaming on a roughly Westerly heading after completing the days traing schedule, she was broadcasting in a clear radio code and was using her search radar to sweep the area, in effect she was lit up like a Christmas tree for the elint aircraft and like moths drawn to a flame they started to cluster around her.

Then the radio intercept ratings upon Queen Elizabeth heard it, the clear cry of a startled pilot, a cry warning of air interception radar locking on. The consternation was infectios and a babble voices was heard warning of radar and of white painted aircraft closing in, aircraft that drew along side, aircraft where the crew waved and took hand held pictures, aircraft where the crew could be heard laugh over the radio, but most of all aircraft with the God dammed British roundel.

The British Ambassador reported that the lights in the Pentagon burned long into the night over the sudden apperance of the new long range interceptor. The US Airforce had no answer to this at the moment and their bombers where now vunerable in places they had previously thought safe.

Thus was the world made aware of the exisance of the shorts of belfast Black Eagle, ( named for a soaring eagle which flies 100s of km every day ) the new very long range interceptor and patrol fighter of the RAF and New Commonwealth airforces as well as the Commonwealth allies of Portugal and Poland.

The aircraft is portrayed as one of those on that first day high over the Atlantic, she has the standard mixed armament of 4 Skyflash missiles and 2 Blue Bamboo ii Nuclear tipped missiles. She also carries the two extended range tanks which enabled the plane to complete this mission sucsessfuly.

The Black Eagle was only ever a limited service aircraft and its numbers where always limited and never revealed by any New Commonwealth source, but the did become a familiar sight to US, Soviet and Red Chinease bomber crews far from base












The actual is an A-model kit of the Anaconda, possibly the worst fiting kit i have ever had. She is undercarrige up as i just couldn't get the bits to fit togethet never mind onto the aircraft, paint is wilco's again and decals, lumps, bumps and stores are spares box.






and finally as we now have a cat i am allowed shelves in the house       



thanks mate.

[sotoolslinger]

AWWWW cute kitty

[Captain Canada]

Another cool looking model and a good little read....thanks ! And that is a cute little kitty !

[pyro-manic]

Another excellent build for the New Commonwealth! The missiles look great in blue against the anti-flash white.

Is that the La-250? I was looking at picking one of the A Model kits up recently, but didn't in the end - I've got a Yak-28 from them, and it's gone back in the box until I'm a much better modeller! Nicely detailed, but the casting is dreadful.

[Taiidantomcat]

So cool seeing your whole collection up there! 

[Mossie]

I'm glad Pyro spotted it was the La-250 as I was struggling to identify it, I only very vaguely recognised it.  Another nice addition to that growing collection on your shelf!

[thedarkmaster]

Got this one from the book

" New Commonwelth Secret Projects "

jet bombers 1956-1991

It is an unamed Avro project for a supersonic recon aircraft, believed by the author to have been in service with 1 sqd in the RAF, but alas bound by the 50 year rule he had no more to offer.





















made from bits of a resin kit i had in the spares box and also bits of a sr71 i had lying around, paint and decals as usual.

[Just call me Ray]

but alas bound by the 50 year rule he had no more to offer.

Oh pfft, I know what that is, it's a....


*SAS storm in*



NOTHING TO SEE HERE.

[Rafael]

This Empire's twilight series is awesome!!!!

Rafa
(who likes a loooot all the subjects depicted here)