History

The Messerschmitt Me 309 was a prototype German fighter, designed in the early years of World War II to replace the Bf 109. Although it had many advanced features, the Me 309's performance left much to be desired and it had so many problems that the project was canceled with only four prototypes built. The Me 309 was one of two failed Messerschmitt projects intended to replace the aging Bf 109, the other being the Me 209 of 1943.

The Me 309 project began in mid-1940, just as the Bf 109 was having its first encounters with the Spitfire in the Battle of Britain, the first aircraft to match the 109 in speed and performance. Already, Messerschmitt anticipated the need for an improved design to replace the Bf 109. The Reich Air Ministry, however, did not feel the same urgency, with the project given a low priority, resulting in the design not being finalized until the end of 1941.

T-14 Armata (Armament) was supposed to be the new top dog of all tanks. Designed in 2014, the new Object 148 rolled out on the parade field in May 2015. During rehearsals one of the tanks stopped moving (quite the embarrassment in front of the cameras) and it took a whole 15 minutes before it, once again, started moving. Here it is, 2022, no more than 20 tanks have been produced and may have had it's production stopped because of sanctions due to the current war.

Trumpeter Models has put out their version of the T-14 Armata this year (2022) and it looks like a little jewel. It only has five steps to complete this model, and, due to the pre-built tracks, pretty easy to put together.

I started out by painting the whole model on the sprues, but this caused a problem, none of the holes for the track, antennas, or track shields would fit. Live and learn. Other than that, everything else worked out just fine.

After the Battle were set up 50 years ago (in 1973) to publish magazines and books presenting the history of the world's conflicts through 'then and now' comparison photographs. Owner Winston Ramsey was a noted historian and his new approach to history presented a novel way at looking at the past. The magazine ran until 2020 when Mr. Ramsey retired and the company was bought by Pen and Sword Books, who announced that no new After the Battle magazines will be published.