50393 - 1/72 Mercury Spacecraft "Liberty Bell 7"
NASA's Mercury program was a series of manned spaceflights in the important buildup to putting man on the Moon. Spacecraft "Liberty Bell 7" flew 480km at a maximum altitude of 190km and maximum speed of 1,969m/s. The naming is because of the shape of the craft, as well as an association with the original Liberty Bell. Indeed, a "crack" was painted onto the side of the craft to add to the illusion. Of interest, the 1,286kg Liberty Bell 7 was the first Mercury craft with a centerline trapezoid-shaped window instead of two portholes.
Another innovation with this spacecraft was an explosive hatch release that allowed a rapid emergency escape. After performing its flight, Liberty Bell 7 splashed down in the ocean, although the craft subsequently sank to the bottom before it could be retrieved by helicopter. As a fitting final note, the Mercury spacecraft was salvaged 38 years later in 1999.
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56374 - 1/400 NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis w/SRB (STS-71)
NASA’s Space Shuttle fleet consisted of six craft, and the fourth operational spacecraft was Atlantis (OV-104). In fact, it was manufactured in approximately half the time needed to produce Columbia (the first Space Shuttle to fly into space), plus it was some 3.5 tons lighter. This Space Shuttle built by Rockwell International was delivered to NASA in 1985 and it undertook its maiden flight into space in October the same year. One of its most notable missions (STS-71) commenced on 27 June 1995, though, when the spacecraft blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center, docking to the Russian Mir Space Station.
The 80-ton Atlantis was the final Space Shuttle to fly, its last mission blasting off on 8 July 2011 before it joined the rest of the fleet in retirement. Atlantis had orbited the Earth a staggering 4,848 times and traveled some 126 million miles by the time of its well-earned retirement. However, STS-71 remains one of the most enduring milestones of the craft’s career. Collectors can celebrate Atlantis’ legacy with a fine 1/400 scale model from Dragon Wings. In remarkable and accurate detail, the model represents Atlantis as it appeared on this important mission.
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56265 -1/144 USAF AC-130H Gunship "Spectre" 16th SOS 8th TFW
The Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules is an extremely famous military transport aircraft, and it serves in air forces all around the world. One of the many variants it spawned is the AC-130 gunship, which first saw combat during the Vietnam War. The C-130 platform might seem an unlikely candidate to act as a gunship, but in fact the sturdy craft is able to carry a multitude of weaponry suitable for the ground attack role. Weapons are generally mounted on the port side of the aircraft, and as the aircraft performs a pylon turn, they can concentrate fire on the enemy. Today the US Air Force (USAF) uses the AC-130H Spectre and AC-130U Spooky, and they constitute part of Special Operations Command (SOCOM). AC-130H aircraft are based at Cannon Air Force Base (AFB) in New Mexico. Typical armament for an Early-Production AC-130H Spectre was two 20mm M61 Vulcan cannons, one L/60 Bofors 40mm autocannon and one 105mm M102 cannon. Today the USAF operates eight AC-130H Spectres, although, after 2000 the two 20mm M61 cannons were removed. The AC-130 has taken part in combat operations in diverse locations such as Grenada, Honduras, Panama, Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, Kosovo and Afghanistan.
Dragon Warbirds is offering a fine miniature version of the AC-130H Spectre gunship. Built precisely to 1/400 scale, the die-cast model employs some brand new toolings. This is necessary because the fuselage is different to that of a standard C-130H owing to the special apertures for the Spectre’s weaponry. The model bears the markings of an aircraft from the 16th Special Operations Squadron (16 SOS) based at Cannon AFB. Dragon Warbirds opens up a whole new specter for collectors with this model of an American special forces aircraft!
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