Tupolev Voron reconnaissance drone in 1/72

[KiwiZac]

Hi all,
Tupolev Voron 2 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

During the Cold War the Soviets recovered a crashed Lockheed D-21 hypersonic recon drone and Tupolev OKB was given the responsibility for copying it and producing it for their use. It would've been named Voron (Raven) and, from memory, could be launched by the Tu-144 airliner.

Tupolev Voron 1 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

As far as we know they never actually built one. I've had an Italeri 1/72 D-21 floating around for years and this seemed like a cool use for it...except that it would probably have the same lack of markings as the US machines. So I decided to compromise and give it topside stars and stencils and a bare minimum of underside stencils (unfortunately I can't get the underside photo to link).

Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr

[Captain Canada]

Where does the pilot sit ?



Neat idea tho.

[Scotaidh]

I had one of those, once, and was at a loss about what to do with it.  It finally ended up as a subordinate vehicle on the warp sled of Grabthar's Hammer ...

Piccy



This is a rear view - the drone is mounted ventrally between the two main warp engines.

[Dizzyfugu]

Where does the pilot sit ?



Neat idea tho.

It was an unmanned drone, just like the D-21. However, I have seen a 1:72 D-21 in Soviet marking with an added cockpit some time ago, but that looked quite wacky. IMHO the D-21 needs some substantial changes to become a more or less plausible manned fighter - but some day I might tackle this challenge (already have a D-21 stashed away...).