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Topic starter
15/01/2023 5:27 pm
Harken back to the late 50s when our military planners were looking for a solution to the hordes of Soviet tanks puring through the Fulda Gap into West Germany. The US/NATO solution... tactical nuclear weapons. One way of delivering a precision strike was the M65 280mm Atomic Cannon (AKA: "Atomic Annie" that was named after a similar caliber German railroad gun "Anzio Annie"). Oddly, the West German citizenry weren't too thrilled with this idea. First tested in 1953, it fired a 15 kiloton W9 warhead about 7 miles into the Nevada Desert and I remember as a kid watching footage of the test shot and was totally mesmerized. At least 20 of these cannons were built and deployed to both Europe and South Korea.
As some of you may remember, I finally had to sell my old bachelor pad condo which was stuffed to the gills with no extra room in my house to put anything. It had basically been uninhabited for almost 30 years so I hardly remembered what I had. Well, underneath the basement stairs I found the Ideal Toy Company's "Atomic Cannon" that probably came out in 1958. The original box had moldered away from probably water damage or just high humidity. Unlike today's boring Nerf type projectile that couldn't kill a gnat, these 'nuclear' projectiles have a range of a good 10-12 ft. Now I don't have room to display another 1/43 diecast, let alone this setup that spans about 40", but, I'm going to clean it up and do some restoration and.... then I don't know where the heck I'm going to put it.
15/01/2023 8:01 pm
Interesting but cumbersome. Thanks for sharing Rich. Your collection is far more diversified than mine.
Tony Perrone and Rich Sufficool reacted
15/01/2023 9:06 pm
Interesting model. Renwal had a plastic model kit of the atomic cannon, I believe in 1/35 scale. I did not build one, but remember the kit. I do not remember the Ideal Toy Company model. Thanks for showing a piece of military history.
Ed Davis
Inverness, Illinois, USA
Tony Perrone reacted
15/01/2023 10:27 pm
I remember this one but I have not seen one for years. I still have a few Ideal Toy Company models but not this one. It was likely just too big at the time.Great pictures and post. Thank you.
Tony Perrone reacted
15/01/2023 11:09 pm
That atomic cannon looks excellent ! A real collectors item. Ideal made a lot of cool and really interesting toys. Also, Lionel trains made a special box-car (I think it was O-gauge) that fired a nuclear-tipped missile from a launcher inside that was revealed when the sides dropped away.
Tony Perrone reacted
16/01/2023 2:58 am
what an extraordinary piece! Love the Me262 and Me163 diorama below it.
Rich Sufficool and Tony Perrone reacted
Topic starter
16/01/2023 10:03 am
@mikedetorrice The companion piece was an exploding box car which you sort of rigged like a mouse trap so if the missile hit the car broadsige, all the sides and roof would fly apart. I should still have them ... somewhere.
David Green and Tony Perrone reacted
Topic starter
16/01/2023 10:06 am
@geoff-jowett On the shelf below that is another dio featuring an Me 110 "Wespe".
Geoff Jowett reacted