Tupolev Tu-95 (Bear); 1:200 Herpa .....the first 'B' lands

Model has length of ~9 inches and a wingspan of ~10 inches. The real aircraft (RF-94116) still serves with the Russian Air force

Which aircraft lover does not know of the Bear. The fastest prop driven aircraft in series production, for a long time the longest ranged too and even today its 19-hour endurance is up there with the best. A unheard of 35-degree swept wing mated to four of the most powerful production turboprops and 32 contra-rotating props thrashing to give it a top speed of 926 kmph and an unrefueled range of 15,000 kms +. The engines each developed 14,780 ehp (effective hp - ie the rotating hp of the shaft plus the thrust generated by the residue efflux going at the back). Weapon payload ~15,000 kgs of air-to-surface missiles, cruise missiles or free fall bombs.

The Tu-95 was developed in to the Tu-126 AWACS, the Tu-142 long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft and the Tu-114 commercial passenger aircraft. It serves with Russia even today 66 years after the prototype flew in 1952. A tribute to Soviet engineering.

It is rumoured that when the Indian Navy purchased the Tu-142 we discovered the air craft had no toilet! 14 hour patrols and no toilet!! It is rumoured the Navy corrected this gap. I sure hope so.

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I had guessed right

Wow thats some model and definitely a rare one ! Very well detailed. Love the detailing on the propellers. I guess this was ordered from Herpa directly ?

The Indian Navy retired the aircraft last year after 29 years of accident free service. It's replacement is the P-8i which is no where as exciting as the "Bear". https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...w/57890659.cms

Purchased it from diecastairplanes.com. Cost me a bomb after courier & tax. But as this was a rare find I decided to go for the kill. After all what else do you do in your evening years

For appreciative eyes.....

Second 'B' on the way

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Hogan 1:200 Thai Airways Boeing 777-35RER Registration "HS-TKT"







The real plane.


Next to a diecast KLM 777-300ER, detailing of the plastic Hogan model is nearly as good.



Hopefully the last in my collection of 777-300s (4) and 777-200s (3).

Wow!!!! That's an amazing looking model. Congratulations. Wonder what was tye name of this particular Bear, based on the name painted in Cyrillic in the front part of the fuselage.



A Tu-142 has been put up on static display on the Ramakrishna beach in Vizag. I believe it is open to visitors and you can get inside the aircraft.

I was there in Vizag in Sep last year when they were about to open the place for the public. I watched it from the outside in the night all lit up with flood lights. Unfortunately I had to leave Vizag on the day it opened(next day). So eagerly waiting for the opportunity to visit Vizag and the Bear-F again.


Superb!!!! Add an AI 777-300 to your colection to add some Indian favour to your 777-300 fleet.

The only issue i have with HG 777 models is that the nose is too pointy and slightly longer than the actual 777.

Congratulations. Beautiful looking 777. By jove you have 7 now. Time to start an airline :-)

It says Sevastopol. In honour of the siege of Sevastopol in WW2.

1:200 Hogan Diecast China Airlines Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation Registration "B-1809"









The Real Plane.


Some interesting facts about the Constellation:

The last commercial flight of the L-1049 Super Constellation was in 1993 (aircraft first flew in 1951), when the Federal Aviation Administration banned all airlines from the Dominican Republic that flew Constellations to the United States (due to safety concerns). The Dominican airlines were the last operators of any version of the Constellation.

The Indian Air Force and Indian Navy used former Air India L-1049C, E and G versions converted by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for use as Sea Air and Rescue aircraft. They were retired between the years of 1981 and 1983 and were replaced by Tupolev Tu-142 aircraft. The Indian Military was the last military operator of the Constellation.

After Narayan posted so many pics of his two "Contis" I just had to get my own However mine is no where is beautiful as the Air Ceylon one he has.

Aaahh the old siren of yesteryears whose gorgeous looks never fade and whose lustre makes you turn around for one more look. Congratulations. Beautiful asset in your hands Foxbat. Oh the sound of those turbo compounds. When I was a teenager these giants would fly low over our house making a righteous reverberating roar that would rattle the crockery and my mother!
More the merrier :-)

Some relics from my childhood: These are plastic models which I assembled, painted and added decals from kits about 17 years ago

German Army King Tiger Tank


Soviet Air Force Mig-23 MF


Yamaha XT250


US Army Air Force Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress


German Army Panzer IV Tank




US Air Force P-51 Mustang


Grumman TBM Avenger Torpedo Bomber. George Bush senior flew on one of these in WW-II and was shot down over the Pacific and rescued by a passing US Navy submarine in 1944.


Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard of The Argentinian Navy carrying an Exocet anti-ship missile made famous in the Falklands war.

You need a big compliment on your skill and patience in putting together these models and painting them. I really like that MiG-23 and the Dassault Super Etendard. Thank you for sharing these old joys. Looks like you finally got home and opened up your old trunk.

Wow!!! The Hogan Connie looks much detailed and beautiful than what is seen in the pictures on the internet. Congratulations and fantastic addition to your collection. You got this DBJets?

Really admire your skills. May be you should get back to your old hobby. The SuE looks great, other than the missing canopy. The Weathering and wear & tear effects looks nice on the model.
I never had the patience to learn how to paint and assemble models from kits. I have an Academy AH-64A kit lying at home.

Coming soon to me: From Russia with love and a Nordic beauty.

Thank you Narayan. The only reason they have survived because they were in a display case in the corner of the living room. Over the years many little kids visited and played with them resulting in many broken models which I have not bothered to photographs.


Thank you Skanchan. Yes its from DBjets, but unfortunately is missing the stand and the wings are a bit corroded but I still intend to keep it. I doubt I have the patience nor the time to start building models again. It requires a lot of skills also built up over the years, I probably started when I was 8-9 years old.
The weathering effects on the Entendard are due to 17 years of storage and were not there when I built the model

Looking forward to the Russian additions to your collection, perhaps a Phantom killer Mig

A model collector friend of mine had recently shared this on FB as a joke. A perfect way to shoo away fellows who think these scale models are toys



The weather effects looks fabulous and realistic anyway. The weathering is almost like salt weathered Argentine Navy SuEs that were based for a short time on the ArA 25 de Mayo.

AV72 1:72 JAS-39C Gripen Czech Air Force
A Saab JAS-39C Gripen, serial number 9237 of Czech Air Force's 211th Tactical Squadron. The model is armed with two AIM-9 sidewinders & a centerline drop tank.













The real 9237:




Flying 9238 in the flight sim Strike Fighters 2


The Swedish Saab manufactured Gripen was introduced to the service in 1993. The fighter uses Volvo RM12 engine(license copy of the American GE F404 engine) with maximum thrust of 80.54 kN. Czech Gripens are equipped with single 27 mm Mauser BK-27 cannon, air-to-air missiles AIM-9M Sidewinder and beyond visual air-to-air missiles AIM-120C-5 AMRAAM.

When the Czech Republic became a NATO member in 1999, the need to replace their existing Soviet-built MiG-21 fleet with aircraft compatible with NATO interoperability standards became apparent. In 2000, the Czech Republic began evaluating a number of aircraft, including the F-16, F/A-18, Mirage 2000, Eurofighter Typhoon and the Gripen. One major procurement condition was the industrial offset agreement, set at 150% of the expected purchase value. In December 2001, having reportedly been swayed by Gripen International's generous financing and offset programme, the Czech Government announced that the Gripen had been selected. In 2002, the deal was delayed until after parliamentary elections had taken place; alternative means of air defense were also studied, including leasing the aircraft.


On 14 June 2004, it was announced that the Czech Republic was to lease 14 Gripen aircraft, modified to comply with NATO standards. The agreement also included the training of Czech pilots and technicians in Sweden. The first six were delivered on 18 April 2005. The first six planes arrived at their home base - 21st Tactical Air Force Base "Zvolenská", in Čáslav on April 18, 2005. All of them are part of 211th Takticka Letka (Tactical Squadron). Czech Gripens provide air security over the Czech Republic by being part of NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence System NATINAMDS since June 2005. The lease was for an agreed period of 10 years at a cost of €780 million; the 14 ex-Swedish Air Force aircraft included 12 JAS-39C single-seaters and two JAS 39D two-seat trainers. In September 2013, the Defence and Security Export Agency announced that a follow-up agreement with the Czech Republic had been completed to extend the lease by 14 years, until 2029; the leased aircraft shall also undergo an extensive modernisation process, including the adoption of new datalinks. The lease also has an option of eventually acquiring the fighters outright. In 2014 the lease was extended to 2027 and the Saab service contract was extended to 2026. More recently, the Czech air force decided to upgrade its fleet to the MS20 software configuration(MS 20 upgrade includes integration of the MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile and Boeing GBU-39 Small-Diameter Bomb, improved radar modes and a new laser designation pod (LDP) among other things)

The JAS-39 Gripen is the jet that I wished had replaced our ageing MiG-21 & MiG-27 fleet. I always felt it was the perfect piece to piece & role to role replacement for our MiG fleet (keeping American objections aside). Ex-MiG-21 operators Czech Republic & Hungary are extremely pleased with their Gripens. Instead the MMRCA got needlessly and wastefully dragged for years and in a repeat of history, is further getting dragged with MMRCA 2.0.


Herpa 1:200 MiG-21SM 234th GvIAP, 9th IAD, Soviet Air Force
A 1970s fighter escort for Narayan sir's Tu-95.

MiG-21SM Red 18 of Soviet Air Force based at Kubinka AB. The aircraft was built at MiG's Gorky plant and belonged to the 3rd Sqdn, 234th Guard Fighter Regiment, Kubinka Air Base. It is adorned with the Order of Lenin and sports the logo of the Komsomol, the youth organisation of the Communist Party and the titles "Komsomol Garantiya“ with which they guaranteed flawless servicing (warranty), whatever that is supposed to mean!!!!

The MiG-21SM variant was introduced in 1969 (Izdeliye 15/95M; NATO "Fishbed-J")
S = Sapfir (referring to the Sapfir-21/RP-22 radar).
M = Modernizirovannyy ("Modernised")
It was an upgrade of the MiG-21S using the R13-300 engine and with a built-in GSh-23L cannon, as well as a considerably updated avionics package.

The model came with a runway cardboard cutout to place the model on. Herpa 1:200 fighter models are not as strong, crisp and as detailed as Hogan's 1:200 fighter models. However, the Order of Lenin & other markings look very nice but are too minute for my camera to focus on clearly. It is armed with 4 X K-13 Atoll IRMs and a centerline drop tank.








The model comes with an extra "open type canopy"




A similarly awarded MiG-21SM Red 19.


234th Guards Red 19 in the flight sim Strike Fighters 2

Finally managed to bring the Emirates 777 home, here you go:


Along with the Hogan Plastic Thai 777.


Joins its plastic twin brother in the Emirates Fleet. I checked and all three do have the Emirates logo on the belly of the aircraft.


As pointed out by Narayan I must be running low of shelf space and I finally have run out. I have put a temporary halt on purchase of any big models.





A unique and rare addition to your fighter collection.

I guessed right, a Phantom killer Mig No doubt the jewel in your fighter collection I only have one Herpa diecast model and its also not as detailed compared to other brands diecast models.

Just what we all need.
+1 to that. CVC, CAG and CBI keep bureaucrats from taking decisions. There is no upside and a lot of potential to taking a decision. There is no downside to not taking one. Guess what will happen. The assumption that the politicians will take a cut started publicly with the HDW sub deal and the Bofors 155mm and has bedeviled us since then.

So handsome. The ideal MiG-21 armament configuration of that era. Beautiful. Congratulations. The export version of the SM was built by HAL as the Type 88.

Those big models look meaningful. You are really enjoying getting back to this hobby. Congratulations on your 777 fleet.