The SOKO J-20 Kraguj (Sparrowhawk) was a small ground attack and counterinsurgency single-seat aircraft that was designed and built in the Former Yugoslavian Company SOKO. It was armed with two 7,7mm Colt-Browning machine guns (with 650 rounds each) mounted on the wings and it could also carry small bombs and rockets under the wings on hardpoints. Powered by a simple and reliable Lycoming GSO-480 engine producing 340hp, it had a maximum speed of 295km/h and a range of 800km.
The aircraft featured a fixed landing gear and was capable of STOVL (short take-offs and landings); in many ways it was a "Partisan" Aircraft, a plane capable of operating from unprepared runways or fields which could be easily repaired, rearmed and flown by people with the minimum of training.
To know more about their combat use, click here for the next picture:
www.flickr.com/photos/einon/53637417314
Eínon
© All Rights Reserved
The SOKO J-20 Kraguj entered production in 1967 with a total of 43 airframes being completed by 1989.
When the Yugoslav Civil War started, many of the Kraguj were initially used to perform Aerial patrols by the Serbians to intimidate the other separatist regions while at the same time some examples were captured on their airfields and re-used for sometime by those same Nations.
Currently, some airframes have been purchased by private operators who frequently used them on International Aerial Events.
To know more about this LEGO model, click here for the next picture:
www.flickr.com/photos/einon/53636194297
Eínon
© All Rights Reserved
About the model:
This was a very simple Plane to build but I really like the overall design. The rocket launchers were made by the Afol "Just-a-brick-setter" from Instagram; they are just part of his vast collection of custom parts to equip our planes.
It´s a pity that there are only a few books that talk about this and other similar Yugoslavian Planes; the fact that during the Cold War it was almost impossible to know details about Military equipment on Communist Nations and the fact that the Civil War destroyed most of the country meant that a lot of info about these planes never became available.
Hope you guys like it! Don´t forget to like and subscribe my Instagram page:
www.instagram.com/joaoeinon/
Eínon
© All Rights Reserved
This is a simple image that shows the two possible weapons configurations that could be fitted to the Fokker G.I when it was in production.
The first option was a combination of eight 7.9mm Browning-FN light machine guns with a large 4000 round magazine behind them. Although the British were already working on the Hawker Hurricane in 1936 (also armed with eight machine guns) the difference with the G.I was that all guns were concentrated on the nose, reducing spread and increasing its lethality. Most planes were built to this configuration.
The second option was a combination of two Danish-built Madsen 23mm auto-cannons (with 65rounds per gun) plus two 7.9mm machine guns (with 450 rounds per gun). This weapon configuration was a sensation at the time since it turned the plane into the most heavily armed aircraft in the world. This option was to be installed on the Danish Airframes that were never delivered due to the German Invasion in 1940.
Hope you guys like it!
Don´t forget to like and subscribe my Instagram page:
www.instagram.com/joaoeinon/
Eínon
© All Rights Reserved
Together with the Display that I made around the USS Long Beach (link here: www.flickr.com/photos/einon/53091170147) with all it´s missiles and equipment, I also made this, a small chest with all the Combat Ribbons awarded to the ship during it´s long career.
It´s something completely new and different from me, I even went to a shop to look for ideas of how to make a chest, designs and so on.
Amongst the many Awards, there´s a Vietnam Service Medal with six stars, a Humanitarian
Service Medal and a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with eight stars!
It was exhibited together with my Model of the USS Long Beach at Brickfair VA 2023 and the Military personnel that saw it were very impressed with the idea.
Hope you guys like it!
Don´t forget to subscribe my Instagram page:
www.instagram.com/joaoeinon/
Eínon
Tags: us navy usnavy warship nuclear cruiser cgn-9 uss long beach longbeach vietnam gulf war mig talos terrier tartar missile guided lego model toy shipmodel
© All Rights Reserved