INCOMING: TAMIYA 1:32 SCALE F-35 LIGHTNING II STEALTH FIGHTER

EAST MEETS WEST with this collaboration between Tamiya of Japan and Italeri of Italy.

INCOMING: 1:72 SCALE IRAN STEALTH HOAX-JET

David Jefferis: In February 2013, Iran revealed a so-called ‘stealth’ fighter plane, the Qaher 313 Conqueror. And now we have Fantastic Plastic revealing its 1:72 scale model of what proved to be a ground-hugger hoax-jet.

RUSSIAN T-50 STEALTH FIGHTER FLYING IN FROM REVELL

SMN report:

Pre-orders are now being taken for the Revell 1:72 scale Sukhoi T-50 Stealth combat aircraft, with deliveries of the kit due to start on April 7, 2012.

STEALTH JET OR JAMES BOND AUTOGYRO? YOUR CHOICE!

Stealth technology is standard-issue on military hardware today, but not so long ago, it was top secret and kept far away from detailed public knowledge. So model companies came out with various guesstimate-kits, based on informed thinking by experts. Among these was the MiG-37B stealth jet, a 'faction' model even given the notional NATO codename, 'Ferret E.'

DRAGON ‘OPERATION GERONIMO’ STEALTH HELICOPTER IN 1:144 SCALE

SMN report:

Here we have China’s Dragon providing us with a cool take on the stealth helicopter that took part in - and crashed during - Operation Geronimo, the night raid in Pakistan that resulted in the death of arch-terrorist Osama bin Laden. 

LIBYA LATEST - NATO ATTACK HELICOPTERS TO ENTER COMBAT ZONE

SMN report

It’s something of a helicopter time at the moment - the stealth machines used in the bin Laden raid, a possible European-issue NH90 stealth-design, and now the news that British Army WAH-64D Apache AH1s have been ordered into North Africa, operating from the amphibious assault ship HMS Ocean, in joint operations with French Eurocopter Tigers. 

British Army Apache at RAF Fairford.

BIN LADEN STEALTH AGAIN - THIS TIME A SCIMITAR-BLADE MH-47 CHINOOK

SMN report

The expert Italian aviation team of David Cenciotti and Ugo Crisponi have got together again to visualise a type of helicopter that Cenciotti thinks could also have taken part in the bin Laden raid in Pakistan.

Modifications to the Chinook

Like Crisponi’s visual of the MH-60, this Stealth-Chinook depicts many similar features of such a machine, including smoothed and faceted nose and air intakes, but the Chinook's signature fuselage sponsons are shown here modified with a similar treatment. The rotor heads have discs to cover the complex connection assemblies, and the blades themselves are spectacular hooked scimitars. 

Good starting point for a stealthy build.

BIN LADEN RAID STEALTH HELICOPTER - DOES NATO HAVE A ‘GADDAFI GRABBER’ READY TO FLY?

SMN report

After news of the secret US stealth chopper that crashed during the bin Laden raid, and the previous NATO bombing of Colonel Gaddafi’s villa in Tripoli, Libya, it struck us that maybe - just maybe - there might be a European-issue stealth helo flying quiet and unseen through the night skies. We had a close look at likely candidates and reckon that the NH90 military helicopter fits the bill pretty well. It has a composite fuselage, a fairly stealthy faceted fuselage, retractable landing gear, and enough room to carry a fully-equipped SAS snatch team.

Revell 1:72 scale NH90 kit box.

BIN LADEN RAID STEALTH HELICOPTER - SLEEK CONCEPT REVEALED

SMN report

Those news pictures of the crashed US stealth helicopter have certainly got the aerospace community hotted up with curiosity - and us model fans too. And now the respected Italian aviation writer David Cenciotti has linked up with skilled graphic artist Ugo Crisponi to show what a full-on stealth MH-60K could look like. The visualization, compared above with a standard machine, looks highly convincing and shows a sleek machine that's loaded with stealth features.

BIN LADEN RAID STEALTH HELICOPTER - AN OPPORTUNITY FOR KEEN KIT-BASHERS

SMN report

The May 2 helicopter raid that led to the killing of Al Qaeda’s Osama Bin Laden also revealed a reduced-radar signature ‘stealth’ modification to the Sikorsky MH-60K Blackhawks used by the mission's crack Special-Ops team. One of the helos crashed during the assault, and was blown up with explosives, but remains of the tail section survived for photographers to capture some teaser images.

The shallow dish covers the radar-visible rotor head mechanism.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY B-2 - 20 YEARS OLD TODAY

The big, black, and (for some) beautiful Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit first took to the air from Edwards Air Force Base, California, on this day in 1989. Borne out of Cold War requirements and developed as an ultra-secret ‘black’ program, the four-engined flying-wing has had something of a chequered career, primarily due to the stratospheric costs involved - spending on 21 B-2s has a price tag of nearly $50 billion USD.

Operationally though, the B-2 has proved itself - with air-to-air refuelling it can fly Middle East missions direct from US bases. The two crew (pilot and mission commander) are well catered for on these long flights, as they can rotate rest periods, use a toilet and heat up food and drink. It’s an expensive aircraft to maintain though, as special hangars are needed - without climate control the radar-absorbent and reflective surfaces degrade and become useless.

On the scale model front, the B-2 is not the best served subject; probably the best all-rounder is Revell’s 1:144 scale kit. This is neatly produced, has a reasonably detailed undercarriage and flight deck, plus an open bomb bay. It makes up into quite a large model, with a wingspan of 364 mm (14.3in), though since the B-2 is a flying-wing design, perhaps that shouldn’t be a surprise.

At the other end of the size and price scale, Banana Hobbies has an upcoming ducted-fan radio control B-2 under the BlitzRCWorks name. It looks amazing (bottom), and unlike other RC B-2s, this one needs no vertical stabilizers, so it’s as near true-scale as you’re likely to get, and is a biggie with a 1.8 m (72 in) wingspan. You’ll have to dig deep in your pocket though as this baby is currently $459.00 USD, but pre-orders gain a $40.00 USD discount on this - shipping date is August 10. Yes please!

The Revell B-2 is available from Amazon here, and you can visit Banana Hobbies here.