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Topic starter
26/05/2022 10:21 am Â
Fritz von Opel strapped himself into this 24 rocket powered car at the Avus Speedway near Berlin in 1928 packing 264 lbs of explosives that, providing 3 minutes of thrust propelled him to 278 km/hr. This exhibition run before a crowd of dignities and celebrities was done more to demonstrate the potential of rocketry for air and space travel that would be ultimately used in WWll's V-2 ballistic missile and the Messerschmidt 261 Komet interceptor. The third iteration, the RAK 3 was a rail car. Basic aerodynamics at the time touted the bullet as the most drag-free design and the downward turned wings and small front air dam were utilized to keep the on the ground.
This was the RAK 3 also in 1928:
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26/05/2022 2:01 pm Â
My goodness, man! My jaw is on the floor! You must have the most eclectic model car collection on the planet Earth! Â
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Topic starter
26/05/2022 2:46 pm Â
@marty-johnson It goes well with my Flash Gordon and Ming spaceships. It's very Fritz Lang-ish. Note the "Maria" robot from "Metropolis".
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26/05/2022 3:23 pm Â
I'll echo Marty's thoughts...  I know my replicas pretty well Rich, but you (YOU!) seem to pull models from thin air or find them hiding is whole cloth! Just where you get these obscure recreations is beyond me. You never fail to surprise me.
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Marty Johnson and Marty Johnson reacted
Topic starter
26/05/2022 4:11 pm Â
@chris They're mostly interesting designs that really stuck with me as a kid. Things like the Martian machines from "War of the Worlds", the Nautilus from "20000 Leagues Under the Sea", the space ship XR-1 from Disney's "Tomorrowland" the old Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers matinee serials, old German Sci-Fi movies like Metropolis and "Frau Im Mond". That last movie has a space ship that looks like that Opel. Not a coincidence that Fritz Lang was one of the dignitaries invited to the unveiling of the RAK 2. A lot of these models were available as resin kits by fairly local (but very talented) artists that sold their "garage kits" at local shows to avoid licensing fees. I used to go to those shows twice a year and if you saw something extraordinary, you bought it on the spot because you'd never see it again.
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Marty Johnson and Marty Johnson reacted
26/05/2022 4:18 pm Â
...that helps to explain "your condition." LoL  (Thanks! 😀 )
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26/05/2022 4:49 pm Â
Incredibly cool rocket cars ! Who did these Opels ?
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Topic starter
26/05/2022 5:13 pm Â
@mikedetorrice Best of Show (BOS) I forgot who did the 1/43 Rak3
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