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Great subject Mike! I will follow it with interest.
My subject is a big leap in time as it will be the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk.
Wiki says:
The RQ-4 is an unmanned (UAV) surveillance aircraft. and performs a similar role as the Lockheed U-2. The RQ-4 provides a broad overview and systematic surveillance using high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and long-range electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors with long loiter times over target areas. It can survey as much as 40,000 square miles (100,000 km2) of terrain a day.
The Global Hawk is operated by the United States Air Force. It is used as a high-altitude platform covering the spectrum of intelligence collection capability to support forces in worldwide military operations. According to the United States Air Force, the superior surveillance capabilities of the aircraft allow more precise weapons targeting and better protection of friendly forces.
I will use the Italeri 1/72 kit for this campaign.
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The kit is a rebox from the Platz kit.
Part count of this kit, without weapons and cockpit, is limited, only 36 parts are present on the sprues, so I hope for a quick build. The number of parts doesn't say anything about size though, as the RQ-4, like the U-2, has an enormous wingspan (+50cm in 1/72 scale).
A size comparison with a Mig-15 of the same scale:
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For sure, the most interesting aspect of the RQ-4 is its technology (which is impossible to model), because most of these machines are looking pretty boring, mostly overall grey. However, I found the picture below, which allows me to play with some 50 shades of grey:
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Jelger
Interesting build, I don't think I've seen one done yet. And I can honestly say that I did not know they were that big!