25 replies to this topic

[general melchett]

Hi again, this is the Amodel kit of the mighty KH-20/ AS3 X-20M cruise missile developed in the late 50's as a long range air launched cruise missile intended to be carried by the Tu-95 Bear B and C's of the Long Range Aviation TBAP units of the Soviet Air Force. The main reason I built it is that it was also intended to be used by the operational version of the Myasischev M-50 Bounder, the M-52. Trials were to be carried out on the M-50 but the project was terminated before the missile became operational. I just thought it would sit nicely alongside my Bounder in a large diorama idea I have for SMW 10..
Model was the usual Amodel standard with vague panel lines, and iffy fit, but basically accurate and went together quite quickly with minimal clean up.
The thing really was huge, basically bigger than a MiG 19 and powered by an afterburning Lyulka AL-7F turbojet.(as used in the big Sukhoi SU-7 Fitter), It carried a 5000-lb nuclear warhead, the largest and most powerful ever fitted to an air launched missile...
Painted once again in Alclad metallics, duralumin, aluminium, magnesium, semi matt aluminium, jet exhaust and airframe aluminium, with Promodeller dark and light washes, the model using over 70 decals!!..some of them incredibly small,( I spent more time doing this than anything! ) and the build took about 3 days ..Nice touches are the FOD covers and fully detailed loading dolly that come with the kit.....................Something just a little bit different...


Hope you like it,

Cheers,

Melchie....




The real thing under a TU-95 Bear...







And one being test dropped...like releasing a fully loaded MiG 19!!




































A ZiL refueller alongside to give the thing scale...









Over 70 decals are included..





And alongside the Bounder...

Edited by general melchett, 06 March 2010 - 05:36 PM.

[F111Fan]

Good god, I'd read and heard about this but I had no idea it was SO huge! Great little thing, general, and an interesting subject!

[keefr22]

BEAST !!! (no, not you Andy - the missile!!! ) What a cracking model, can't wait to see the dio - roll on November....!!!

Keef

[general melchett]

Good god, I'd read and heard about this but I had no idea it was SO huge!

...

Well thanks for saying so Tom...don't like to boast but since you mention it!!...

Yup it was a bit of a beast....the guidance system wasn't terribly reliable in the early stages and it took up to 22 hours to prepare for use!...later they got that down to 4 hours and with an updated GS the thing was a lot more reliable....not to mentiion deadly...


Thanks Keef, just sorting out the beloved hex taxiway sections that the Ruskies used..................think this one's going to end up needing a table of its own!!

(Now I'm just going to have to get a Trumpy Bear to go with it!!)...

Edited by general melchett, 05 March 2010 - 11:10 PM.

[keefr22]

(think I'm just going to have to get a Trumpy Bear to go with it!!)...

I should say so....!!!

Did you see the downloadable hex section prints that someone posted on ARC? If not I've got them saved & can e-mail you copies if you want.

K

[general melchett]

Sounds good to me Sir!!.............pm away...thanks ..

I've got some 1/72nd and a couple of 1/48th plastic (vac?) pieces, but not nearly enough to go round sadly.......just wish I could remember who made them!..........damn memory malfunction again!!

Andy..

[martin hale]

Looks great! The diorama sounds interesting.

Martin

[Deon]

Excellent build as usual Melchy, i look forwards to the dio

[smuts]

General sir, knew the thing was big but next to the Bounder that shows its true size, great work as usual.

Andy.

[general melchett]

Some idea of the size of the beast when compared to a MiG 21 SMT....big innit!!...

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

Wow - General she's big. What was the warhead yield on the missile, any idea?

Great model too, btw - nice NMF

Jonners

[Bandwagon 106]

Great stuff General Andy!
I believe the warhead had an 800 kiloton warhead, no idea about the conventional version. With a warhead of that size, you don't need to be accurate, the right ocean will do! Am I right in thinking this was made by the MiG bureau, there's something definately MiGish about it!
Brilliant, love the aircraft models too.
Joel

[general melchett]

Cheers Jon, it was a bit of a beast, actually it carried a 5000-lb nuclear warhead with a yield of 3 megatonnes, more than enough to ruin your day! , sufficent for its intended use. It was a very early attempt at a flyable nuclear weapon and as such was not particularly reliable until a lot later on when the guidance system and set up times were much improved. By then though newer, more accurate systems were available such as the AS-4 Kitchen as fitted to the TU-22 Blinder.

Thanks Joel, it was indeed a product of I.M.Gurevich of MiG fame. The manufacturer was actually the Raguda company but the design was loosely based on the MiG 19, (more the flying surfaces than fuselage)...only a fair bit bigger...


Here's one under a Big Bad Bear...

Edited by general melchett, 06 March 2010 - 07:42 PM.

[Bandwagon 106]

Even bigger than I thought! You can almost see the Bear leaping 100 ft higher when it drops that thing!
Joel

[David H]

Holy Crap, General!!

You built that AND a Bounder to go with it??

I have GOT to share this with Bill Dye. He's gonna have a fricking spruegasm when he sees it.

Cheers,

david

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

Cheers Jon, it was a bit of a beast, actually it carried a 5000-lb nuclear warhead with a yield of 3 megatonnes, more than enough to ruin your day! , sufficent for its intended use. It was a very early attempt at a flyable nuclear weapon and as such was not particularly reliable until a lot later on when the guidance system and set up times were much improved. By then though newer, more accurate systems were available such as the AS-4 Kitchen as fitted to the TU-22 Blinder.

Cheers General, with a 3Mt yield you only need to be close-ish to get your target ( doesnt really bear thinking about does it). I'm imagining the Bear or M2 would get it to witihn stand off range and then of it would streak - was it designed to be supersonic ( if its a Mig 19 base, then I assume as much). Probably would have been a pretty easy target for US or UK air defence aircraft, though it you fired enough - then the leakage would have been enough to kill a whole, whole , whole lot of people.

Christ what a world we lived in. MAD was just so so apt

Jonners

[general melchett]

Thanks Dave, be gentle with the old fella!...don't want him to pull something that he shouldn't

The Bounder was built last year and as I wanted something to go with it on the table I thought maybe this and several of these should do the trick..























Just need the 'hex'style taxiway ( which 'Keef' is supplying me with) and revetment, sky background ( which I've already built and painted), refueling crew and lots of trees and grass and I'm good to go!! ............(displaying it might present a few logistical problems though )....

[general melchett]

Jonners, it was designed to have a dash speed of Mach 2 to target. As you say it would have been a pretty easy target to hit as it was just so huge, but that would have created its own problems... .... ...........

Although it was designed to be used with early Bears it was also trialed on an M4 Bison (where it was found to be just too big!!) and touted for the M-52, the developed version of the M-50 Bounder.....hence the idea for the dio...

[catcow1234]

I've never heard of this before. Very nice build

[keefr22]

Just need the 'hex'style taxiway ( which 'Keef' is supplying me with)

Hi Andy,

Did you get the e-mail? I sent it this morning. If not let me know & I'll try again!

K