Hobbycraft Summer Specials

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A quick heads up that Hobbycraft have the following summer special offers on just now:

 

Airfix 1/76th Land Rover FC 1 Tonne GS for £3.99

The Land Rover 101 FC (Forward Control) 1 Tonne truck entered service in 1975 and served with the British Army up until the late 1990s. The body parts were detachable allowing it to be airlifted to forward operating areas.

The 101 FC was capable of 60mph on a good road and could tow up to 4000lbs. It was primarily used as a tractor for the 105mm L118 Light Field Gun and Rapier AA Missile launcher. TA infantry battalions were also issued 1-tonners as transport for their 81mm mortar platoons.

Airfix 1/76th Bristol Bloodhound for £3.99

The Airfix Bristol Bloodhound missile set is a real blast from the past. The set includes the missile and launcher, missile trailer and a 1/2 ton Series II SWB Land Rover, plus 6 dodgy figures and an even dodgier dog!

An RAF Bloodhound Mk 1 Squadron site had 32 launchers, which were spilt into two fire units of 16 Launchers. There would also be a Launch Control Post Building, Works Services Building and two Type 83 Radars and their Control Cabins. These 16 Launchers were set up in two Sections of 8, each tied to one of the radars. 

The Bloodhounds were mostly deployed to protect main airfields in the Midlands. Jim Callaghan's review of Britains defences in 1977 found that there was only had one spare 'reload' per launcher. The 'plan' up to then had been to buy more missiles from Sweden if we needed them, in the middle of a shooting war, with the Soviet Union! Well done THAT Civil Servant! 


The Bloodhound missile is't what excites me, it's the Land Rover! OK, it's a simple model with no seats or internal detailing but this is a good opportunity to pick up some cheap SWBs for your Territorials, or civvie Land Rovers for rebel an revolutionary forces.

If you are in the States, take a look at ModelExpo-online.com.

Cheers

Mark

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