Crius

Glad to hear everyone is okay. You won't be the only one that will be heartbroken if anything happens to those beautiful dogs.

So are you actually in russia, or is your house in ukraine? Any idea who was launching the missiles you heard last night? We're living in a scary world, but I'll be sending out positive waves for you. Oddball says positive waves always help, we'll see if he's right.

sevoblast

Crius,
Sophia and Kristl'Yannah were beside themselves. Sophia actually stirred herself (she's 14 and can barely walk now) but Krista, aka Hurricane, went cast iron nuts. We put Sophia in her room to calm her down as as before, it worked

Sevastopol and Krimu were never a part of Ukraine. I arrived in Sevastopol in 2006 and the fighting between the locals and the Ukes was ongoing then and never stopped. No one got dead but some on both sides were badly injured. Sevastopol, where we live, was never, is not and never will be a part of Ukraine regardless of the fond wishes of Foggy Bottom (who fully intended to base the US Black Sea Fleet in our harbor) and/or EU. US Navy cadre were already in an established contingent in Sevastopol and had even published their plans for our city, mainly North side. USN HQ was to be at the west end of Bogdanova, the main east-west street on North Side. They planned to bulldoze the existing boarding school there and build their HQ with attendant other buildings. The entire west end of North Side, Rahdio Gorkha Region, was to be emptied of locals and become 'little America' and this new entity was to have the finest beaches in this berg and extend all the way up to Kachya and Lubimovka. Belbek Aerodrome was to have US Navy air wing based there. Every word of this plan was published, in English, and publicly available. I've read it end to end.

Ye'Katarina Bolshoi ended the war with Turkey, putting the Turks out and their Tatari allies down, this in 1783. The Russian Black Sea Flot has been based here ever since. After the coup in Kiev in early 2014 (which your and my tax dollars paid in excess of 5 billion dollars for) the locals said no way, the Ukes were barricaded in their bases and on their ships by unarmed civilians. A referendum was held using UN rules and regs. 96% of the Sevastopol locals and 95% of Krimians voted to return to Mother, aka Russia. The rest is history. There is a lot more to this tale but I will put only truth here that I witnessed eyes on.

Shagnifico

I would like to read it. Where can I find it?

sevoblast

I'll see if I still have a copy. If not I try to find one. It was pretty detailed considering, roughly five pages or so and written by obvious native English speakers. They had even signed contracts to replace the roofs on School #4 & #11 which were in process when revolution arrived. School #4 on Ulitsiya Simonuk is not the same as Gymnasium #4 at the end of Bogdanova.

sevoblast

We are under attack for the third time this day. So far nothing has made it to City, air defense is working overtime. It is 17:54 local time as I type. Governor today instituted a heightened security status and ordered all air raid shelters inspected again and the populace has been informed as to which one they go to from their home.
30 mikes ago something very large was shot down some klicks outside our harbor mouth. Whatever it was, the explosion of destruction shook our house and we're three klicks from harbor's mouth.

Children and VCO are sleeping peacefully, everyone is exhausted from the heat today (39.5 C at 13:00) although Aleksandr did growl in his sleep.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. For every orc missile or drone sent our way, roughly five times that number of Kalibr's head north within minutes besides the 24/7 normal contingent of gifts for up north.

sevoblast

Busy night. Don't know how many were shot down but none made it past VDV air defense. Couple of 'em were pretty big, a good size house shaker when they exploded after defense hit 'em.

Crius

Glad to hear everyone is still safe, I appreciate these updates from you since you're right there on the ground. Kind of like real live fpv.

I think where they screwed up was way back when the Soviet Union came apart. They knew these regions were full of Russian people who would probably be more comfortable as part of Russia than ukraine, in my opinion they should have had an election and let the people vote on what they were going to do. But, that's getting dangerously close to talking politics, something I didn't want to do.

The good news is that the tube assembly for the rocket launcher truck is in the paint booth right now and should be fully dry by the time I get home from work. I went with 12 tubes, two layers of six tubes each. The real BM 21 has about 40 Rockets but I think that would be just too much for what we're doing here and since I've seen trucks with all different numbers of tubes I think I can get away with a little artistic license. I'm seriously thinking about mounting this one on the little blue Toyota pickup truck, paint it OD Green first and then use a little black and brown for a field applied camo. The next step is to test the tube assembly and see if the Rockets will actually launch. If I'm successful with that then I'll worry about mounting it to the truck. I'll try to post a photo or two tonight when I get home from work.

So what do you guys think about the platform? Should I go with the little pickup truck as in the photo above, or should I try and convert a ural into a rocket launcher truck? I'm leaning towards the pickup truck but I'd like to hear what you guys think.

Pah co chu puk

I think you should do the Toyota first. You can work out the engineering aspects like elevation and traverse on the Toyota, then do the Ural.

To be operational, I'm thinking you need aluminum launching tubes, with a 3d printed mounting. The mounting would need to elevate and traverse. You thinking of servos to aim the rockets? Send me some specs of what you want....

I drove a Toyota just like those WPL trucks years ago. The idea of modeling my old truck, WITH A ROCKET LAUNCHER IN THE BACK, sounds uber cool. I think I need one.

Crius

The tubes are 10mm I.D. aluminum, but my plan is to scratch build the mounting from sheet and strip styrene. I'm using the Danbury Mint rocket launcher Jeep as a guide and I'm trying for a setup like that in the pickup truck. The rockets in the pickup truck won't have rotation, only elevation. But if and when I do the ural it will be full function, elevation, traverse, all the bells and whistles. I'll see if I can get some pictures of where I'm at when I get home. The paint should be dry by then.

Pah co chu puk

Cool! Yes, post those pictures.

sevoblast

What really happened, and this is simply truth, not 'political', is thus. In 1953 Secretary Krushchov moved the administration, and ONLY the administration, of the Autonomous Republik of Krimea from Moskau to Kiev in Ukraine SSR. This move was totally against SSSR law and regulations which clearly stated that any change of administration location had to be allowed only after a referendum by the citizens of same. This did not happen ergo the move was and is null and void. Nobody worried too much about this little happenstance, after all SSSR was forever, wasn't it. Well, is wasn't, and Sevastopol was never mentioned in this turmoil and ongoing fracas.


Somewhere in the early '90's as SSSR technically ceased to exist and the locals hereabouts were getting restless, a referendum was held with the question of:
Krimea will remain as part of Ukraine, yes or no.
Sevastopol will remain as part of Ukraine, yes or no.
After the 'referendum' Kuchma, the local top dog in Kiev simply announced that the referendum had 'failed' and both entities would remain in Ukraine. No vote tally was ever given but the locals both here and in Krim knew this was a lie hence the relatively low keyed fighting started and continued until 27 February 2014.

The citizens demanded another referendum using UN and Russian rules and regs and this time, with national and international observers at virtually every voting booth on this island and in this city, 96% of Sevastopolets and 95% of Krimeans voted to return to Russia. I attended this election and I must say I've never seen such an aboveboard and legal vote in all the years I've been on this rock hurtling through space.

Of interest is that on or about 28 February 2014 a report came in that 'someone' was burning papers at the City Zags Office. Zags is where all births, deaths, marriages, current verified address of living quarters, most everything involved in life...including all the ballots with tallies after any vote of any kind, are stored under lock and key.

By the time 'we' got there and put a stop to this destruction enough ballots had been burned, roughly 15%, that defacto the vote was null and void, it would be impossible to get an accurate and verifiable count of the ballots. The fools doing the conflagration were armed but surrendered instantly when they figured out our lads were armed, too.

Since everyone down to the pet cats and dogs knew Kuchma had falsified the original referendum it was a given that on Nahximov Square in City Center on 24 February 2014 the citizens had already decided to oust the current government, installed their own and petitioned Moskau to be accepted in to Russian Federation.

My wife has told me in clinical detail of what happened to her life as SSSR collapsed. To say 'times were rough' is an understatement of vast proportions. She went to bed one evening a happy single lady with a good education, excellent vocation and some money in the bank and woke the next morning with her company gone along with her job and her bank gone along with her money. It is not a pretty story but she never gave up, never quit and ended up doing rather well. And then she met me.....

Crius

I had a feeling there was a lot more to it than what they're telling us over here. Unfortunately, the American media is not to be trusted. If they tell me the sky is blue I go outside and make sure. Lately I've been getting most of my news from places like australia, tokyo, and india. They have their own bias involved so you have to watch that, but it seems like I get more accurate information from foreign news agencies than I do from the ones in my own country.

The people in China are currently experiencing what your wife did as far as money and banks are concerned. The media doesn't say much about it, but the Chinese economy is on the verge of collapse. That's one of the things that really concerns me about the affair in the Taiwan strait, China might just decide that this is their last chance to take Taiwan by force, in another few years they're not going to have the money for it. The world has definitely turned into a very crazy and screwed up Place compared to how it was when I was a kid. Of course, I would imagine most people say that.

tankme

Just as a follow up to rocket launchers available, on Cults they just released the TOS 1A launcher that can be used on a T-72 tank chassis. Doesn't say 1/16 scale anywhere, but that's the scale most of the stuff on his page is set at.

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various/tos-1a

sevoblast

What many of you have no information about is thus. In the event of a 'nato' attack on SSSR, the initial advances would have started from west Ukraine bordering EU. However, the counterattack would have been from the DNR/LNR regions. Soviet units would have been transported to the west border of Russia Proper with Donbas. In Donbas were vast storages of every imaginable scrap of equipment for the counterattack, from the latest MBT's down to medical supplies and everything in between.

The problem was, and is, that no one person or bureaucracy knew what was in those storages, many underground, in any real detail. It was these vast storages that initially armed the fledgling units of the local defense units and carried the fight to the Ukes. Because of this lack of knowledge in clinical detail of what was in these storage lagers this does lead to some reasonable 'poetic license' to modify any vehicle that would have been in them, and I'll qualify that with 'within reason'.

On local news, Sevastopol and Krimea are to all intents and purposes closed. No trucks allowed in from any border area. Roving DPS patrols are stopping trucks all across the peninsula for document checks of both vehicles and occupants and are now including POV's. Least problem and you're out, period.

Our summer 'guests' have been quietly advised to leave, ergo TPTB have some info we ordinary workers and peasants don't have. 'Guests' would normally up stakes and leave by this weekend coming, school starts on September 01 so plague with children will leave early to prep for school. This also includes the grandparents who babysit for the toddlers. At least those nasty PITA will be gone. They are getting quite insufferable and that is being kind.

Drone attacks again half the night but noting made it past defense anywhere, either the island or this rather large village on the coast. Thank you gifts were promptly dispatched after each flash in the skies.

Pah co chu puk

Here ya go Gary, this one would be cool to build. It's called VAMPIRE, and it's soon going to be an optional feature available for pickup trucks in Ukraine. It's a slide in, self contained unit, controlled by the driver using a tablet, so any kind of truck can carry it.

Crius

Thanks, Paco, that does look pretty cool and I'll keep it in mind for the future, but right now I've already got my rocket tubes assembled. Two layers of six for 12 tubes total. I wanted to get a test yesterday but real life got in the way so hopefully I'll be able to test it after work tonight. I'll definitely set up the video camera but it will be just one short test. Just to test my theory about tucking each fuse into the tube next to it so that the flame from one rocket lights the fuse of the next tube. I'll still have to extend the fuses because I have to get the Rockets further up in the tube. If I have them at the very back of the tube then I have the stick hanging out and we're trying to avoid that. I also still have to do the tests to figure out how much of the stick I can remove before it makes the rocket unstable. I'm also thinking a slightly longer fuse on each rocket will be better because it will add a little space between the firing of each rocket. I'd like to have it so that the Rockets go off a half a second to one second apart. Of course, once you touch it off all 12 tubes are going to go, one at a time, but that should work for what I'm doing. Still lots to do, and I haven't even ordered extra fuse yet. That stupid thing called real life keeps getting in the way!

Crius

And the truck I'm using is JJRC so that has advantages and disadvantages, an advantage would be that it has a true four link suspension and not those flimsy single leaf springs used in wpl trucks, the disadvantage is that I still have to put in a proper ESC and a steering servo, and hopefully I'll be able to find a place to hide a sound system in there.

Crius

Test fire!! I'll let you watch and decide for yourselves. Any constructive comments or suggestions are, as always, welcome.


I think this system could easily be mounted as a calliope on a sherman, or on just about any wheeled vehicle you want to put it on. I still have lots to work out, like making the model rocket igniter go off with battery voltage, but eventually the goal is to see the truck pull up and stop, elevate the tubes and fire all 12 rockets.

Pah co chu puk

DUDE! THAT ROCKS!

I can't wait to see it on a RC truck.

tankme

Worked great...lol

Crius

OK, first test with all twelve tubes loaded. Totally forgot that the fuse rubbing the side of the tube provides enough friction to hold the rocket in place, but once the fuse burns the rocket can just fall out. DOH!! No problem, though, I just need something at the and of the tube for the stick from the rocket to rest on so the whole rocket doesn't just fall out. Maybe just a little washer, the fuse can still pass through but I'll have a little lip all the way around for the stick to rest on. But the good news is that the model rocket engine igniters are going to be just perfect. It lit that fuse instantly, exactly what I was looking for. I do plan to look for some thinner fuse, maybe more in line with the fuse in the rockets, and that should help a lot with loading. With these thick, stiff fuses it's kind of a pain to get things all connected. We'll keep working on it, and the material to fix the trouble with the 1/6 Nebelwerfer is on the way so the next videos of both those projects should be much, much better. At least we hope.


Any Jeff Dunham fans out there? I keep thinking of Jose, and thinking this project should include the words "On a Steeck" somewhere.

Pah co chu puk

Is there a way to put a steel pin or bolt through the tubes right where the bottom of the rocket motor sits?

The stick and fuse (and exhaust fire) could easily go past the steel pin, but the rockets could sit on the pin and only go out the top of the tube.

Keep up the good work!

Crius

Hopefully this will be the last failure, but this one went wrong because I foolishly thought the tubes would be stable enough just sitting on the carriage. Wrong again. But, I mentioned before that I plan to put tabs underneath to secure the tubes to the carriage and I think that will do the trick. Sooo, I'll get the tabs installed and reload and we'll try again, but that might not be till Friday or Saturday. In this video you can see the first rocket launch and that went well but then the whole tube assembly fell forward off the carriage and the rockets just shot into the grass and exploded in the tubes (no damage). But that first rocket launched just right so it gives me hope. I still want to experiment a bit with thinner fuses. The smoke from these is way too much and almost blocked the view of the one rocket that did launch. That will require more investigation, but I'll keep y'all posted and hopefully we'll get a successful test in the next few days, after I fix what I hope will be the last problem. And sorry my big head was in the way for a bit there.