Harriers in the Horizon

Greetings again. Sorry for the late entry. But as usual, it is the busy schedule and the hectic days that have brought me to my delay.

In proceeding today, we shall focus on the Harrier AV8Bs. These were the versions that were improved from the Original Harriers and were also adopted as a close air support for the US Marine Corp.

These VSTOL aircraft have been the primary aircraft that have remain as the one and only VSTOL close air support aircraft in the world. It is a capable plane that has the ability to have a vertical take off.

It has remain the dominant VSTOL aircraft for the best of 20 years or so, but it will most definitely be retired as soon as the F35 VSTOL version get into full production after development progress.

Nonetheless, it will be marked in history as a revolution in aircraft design and development.

On a sidenote, Josh and I have acquired Todd Mcfarlane's Figures, which look exceptionally awesome. The details are jus insanely good and also we have taken pictures that we will be developing soon.

I have also finally cave in and bought a 12 inch figure that i wanna equipped and make it look like a Modern Day Soldier of My own Army :p.

Model Progress for the Ticonderoga has been uberly slow and even as I have pending models to build an dpaint, Im considering to acquire GHQ products of the Russian Udaloy Destroyers and other stuff.

Money Money Money.. Going away real fast.

The eye of the A-10 Thunderbolt II

Im back again!

This time , the picture feature is the A10 Thunderbolt targetting a BLurred out T-80 tank in the foreground. Like a Swooping hawk ready to attack its prey, the A10 can unload a variety of weapons to eliminate the T-80. From its vulcan cannons to hellfire missiles, this tank killer of the sky is a close air support provided by the US Air Force not to be mess with.

The A-10 saw combat for the first time during the Gulf War in 1991, destroying more than 900 Iraqi tanks, 2,000 military vehicles, and 1,200 artillery pieces. One has to wonder, which is more fearful for a tank crew. To be eliminated by the shear power of a M1 Tank's 120mm Gun or getting wipe out from above by the A10.

It is known for an A10 to easily cut through a Russian Tank Platoon with ease and can be said to be more efficient than the M1A1 in taking out heavy armour.

But while record shows its strength, we must understand that in every conflict that the A10 has been in, it is in the environment of which US has Air Superiority.

It can be debatable that if there is no achievement of Air Superiority, the A10's operating range could be limited to zone which are potentially not covered by Enemy Air Support.

Regardless, in modern day conflict, its always the country with the highest technology and experience in war that holds a very strong upperhand.

In the case of today, That would be noneother than the US of A.

Bradley Car Crush

Hey Military fans!

Thanks for the great responses and the discussion that followed...JQ and I really appreciate your readership and support.

For today, we have one of JQ's micromachine M2 Bradleys crushing a hapless car that got in its way.

This was another one of those photos that was perhaps inspired by the boyhood fascination with tanks crushing cars under their sheer weight...for those C&C fans out there, the color scheme of this tank reminds me of the Nod light tank, which was actually a M2 in grey color scheme (not that I remember seeing one like that in real life).

Of course it is possible to state that it is indeed sad that wars have almost always occurred in the vicinity of civilian centers and cities, where civilians not only get killed by cross-fire, but are executed and even tortured for 'strategic purposes' or even ideology. Most of us are fortunate to live in places not touched by war, and yet can we remain blind to what's happening in warzones elsewhere? I find it somewhat disturbing that my life is completely detached from what others are going through right now in wars and insurrections (news on TV is perhaps the closest I'll get), and I wonder what can I do in response? Pray for peace? Donate money to the care of displaced persons? Preach against war and hatred for another?

Well, I hope I didn't bring down your mood for the day, and it's something that I've been thinking about. Thanks again for visiting this humble blog, and allow me to pass the blog back over to JQ!

The Ubiquitous Humvee

Hey Everyone!

For today we have a feature on JQ's 'modified' Humvee micromachine. I guess it is quite noticeable many of our models (especially the recent posts) are all from the US..

I don't know if you'll find this piece of trivia interesting, Lamborghini, the famed makers of classics like the Countach, Diablo and Murciélago, actually made the Cheetah: a competitor with the Humvee for the US Army's search of a dedicated military transport vehicle. Considering the jeeps and mutts of the past, the Humvee provided a much increased level of protection for its crews, and yet it was found short of armor when it went against insurgents in Iraq.

Well, isn't it true that 'victors write history'? Looking at the present situation, we commonly believe that the Nazis were evil (I don't deny that, but I just question the wide generalization), the US did the world good through foreign intervention, Sadaam was an evil ruler ought to be removed etc. History is not as fixed as it seems, and can prove to be fluid under the influence of dominant parties. This happens in religion too, when marginalized groups get exaggerated beyond their beliefs, that they strike us as heretics. The West has a stronger hold on the media than other regions, and especially in the US...the news corporations are indeed very powerful.

On a model collecting perspective, maybe that's why there are much more US models out there than other nations...

M2 Bradley

Hey Everyone!

Thanks for your continued support and readership, it really drives us on to shoot our models and post them on this blog.

This time, we have JQ's M2 Bradley in formation with M1A2 Abrams tanks (note the sculpted CITV, Commander Independent Thermal Viewer).

The Bradley was designed as a response to the Soviet BMP family and brought one crucial aspect over the M113: the ability to move in formation. Interestingly, the M2 stores its fuel in the center, instead of to the left and rear in the M113A3 (which aimed to minimize fires in troop compartment). Although tests have shown that this serves to make the M2 more vulnerable, no modifications have been undertaken by the US Army, and the M2 was still able to serve as a safe vehicle for troop transport when hit by enemy fire.

It is intriguing to note that M2 development was marked with hierarchal opposition, as LTC Burton (who wanted to conduct rigorous testing on the M2) had to have the support of the press and Congress before he was able to conduct the tests he wanted...which actually resulted in a re-design that saw a lowered number of casualties in M2s.

As much as military vehicles are products of engineering prowess, they are still man-made products subject to politics and red-tape...and the very lives of the operators really depend upon the decisions made in designing the vehicle, which might add a sense of 'stress' for the designers!