Howdy guys,
The Titan II Launch Complex 374-7 just north of Damascus, Arkansas, became the site of the most highly publicized disaster in the history of the
Titan II missile program when its missile exploded within the missile silo on September 19, 1980. An Air Force airman was killed, and the complex was destroyed. At about 3:00 a.m., the missile exploded, blowing the 740-ton launch duct closure door 200 feet into the air and some 600 feet northeast of the launch complex. The W-53 nuclear warhead landed about 100 feet from the launch complex’s entry gate; its safety features operated correctly and prevented any loss of radioactive material.
This was my states (Arkansas) first "Broken Arrow" incident.
The W-53 nuclear warhead has a yeild of approx. 9 mega-tons and can really ruin your day.
Anyway, more on this story can be found in google by searching for "Damascus titan II explosion".
So, I have been sitting at home for three weeks now and unable to build a model due to my neck. Well, today i couldnt take it anymore and, without regard to my own personal well-being, (lol), I built REAL SPACE MODELS 1:72 scale TITAN II ICBM. And while paint was drying, I rummaged thru my "junk box" and with the help of a paper towel tube, built a POLARIS submarine launched ICBM too.
Well, my neck is letting me know that it is not happy about what I did, but I am glad i did it, the TITAN missile is awesome......over 18 inches long and goes together great.
you can find REAL SPACE MODELS WEBSITE here:
http://www.realspacemodels.com/html/72icbmpg.htm they have numerous launch vehicles and the resin castings are superb.
Anyway, I have talked enough, here is a photo of the box, the TITAN II and the POLARIS missile i made from "junk"
Oh, by the way, it was too dark to take the pics in my driveway tonight, but, i might take some more tomorrow, maybe one looking up from the engine along the missile into the sky. Have a good day, greg PS: I just found this little tid bit of info on the W-53 nuclear warhead...... " Assuming a detonation at optimum height, a 9 megaton blast would result in a fireball some 1 to 1.6 kilometres in diameter (0.6 to 1 mile) lasting 12 seconds. The radiated heat would be sufficient to cause lethal burns to any unprotected person within 28.7 kilometres (17.8 miles). Blast effects would be sufficient to collapse most residential and industrial structures within a 14.9 kilometre (9.2 mile) radius; within 5.7 kilometres (3.5 miles) virtually all above-ground structures would be destroyed and blast effects would inflict near 100% fatalities. Within 4.7 kilometres (2.9 miles) a 500 rem dose of ionising radiation would be received by the average person, sufficient to cause a 50% to 90% casualty rate independent of thermal or blast effects at this distance." SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B53_nuclear_bomb
TITAN II ICBM 1:72 scale 
Linear Mode
