Look what today came in my Menards Mystery Box!

Nice.  SCUD missile, everyone should have their own.

That's cool. Does it actually fire it?

Adriatic posted:

That's cool. Does it actually fire it?

Yes, it fires with a range of about two to three feet and has 3 to 5 seconds of sound playback when the button at base of launch tube is pressed (machine gun fire and then incoming projectile whistle). Headlights also flash during sound playback.

That is great. I'm glad everything works on the Red Owl... I'm concerned about the wall transformer voltage issue that people have posted about. I'm sure Menards will sort that out.

That missile looks vaguely Russian to me. Do we have comparable launchers? This is a SCUD missile on a TEL vehicle at the National Museum of Military History in Bulgaria, from Wikipedia.

I assume it is intended to represent a Russian (Soviet) weapon system.  The missile and TEL vehicle both have a Red Star symbol. 

I test powered the Red Owl store with an older Menards power unit which has been working well on other Menards structures.  I too feel sure that Mark and his associates at Menards will get this issue sorted out and resolved soon.

Actually its The Chinese DF-31 Missiles that Can Reach the US

Thanks for the identification. That is it!  Other than the whitewall tires and lack of camouflage paint scheme it is identical.  It even has made in China printed on the underside.

J Hartley CAE posted:

Thanks for the identification. That is it!  Other than the whitewall tires and lack of camouflage paint scheme it is identical.  It even has made in China printed on the underside.

Now you have something that can deal with unruly neighbors. Of course I never realized that Menards  was in the WMD business.

I thought it looked familiar. The Russian vehicles seem more off road oriented. I've watched them on YouTube before. Talk about going crazy and getting brave off road, those folks have big brass ones. They scare me and I've only known two folks willing to ride with me off road. Most screamed stop and walked the miles back to camp.

Adriatic posted:

I thought it looked familiar. The Russian vehicles seem more off road oriented. I've watched them on YouTube before. Talk about going crazy and getting brave off road, those folks have big brass ones. They scare me and I've only known two folks willing to ride with me off road. Most screamed stop and walked the miles back to camp.

When you have done some serious off roading with a 5t, Humvee, or M113 let me know. Some how, even you would have wet your pants. 

Maybe, maybe not. Do they break in half when you land?

If not, I'd likely be laughing to tell the truth. Im not prone to panic. I get calm and serious, and spout orders at those in shock when the stuff hits the fan. No military experience, its just how I am.

I've driven Hummers, but not truely abused one. I.was thinking about buting one for a bit, but they get stuck in the sand too easy compared to a buggy, and won't make it between a lot of trees in dense forest. The turning radius is scary, lol. But they were designed for something else too

I've driven one of the early Big Foot trucks off road pretty hard.( III or IV) Kinda boring and limited.

  I could float in my buggies and never got one stuck, nor failed to follow a Jeep trail (though a log was sometimes added up front to keep it down). Rocks I'd be SOL because I preferred speed and 2wd to get it done.

  Im no pro but the only guy to remain totally calm with me test drove Vipers for a living, and drives a twin hull boat that does near 180mph for fun. (no thanks. After a rip tide and near a mile swim...well, that was the last time I swamp. I like the shore fine.)

My late night antics as a youth landed me in the top 2% of points ever accumulated in my state. Insurance cost me 4g a year till the late 80s. Cops would ask which academy I attended and often let me go. I'm a natural driver..I also hung that crap up and took it off road before I could legally drink, and only got a couple BS tickets since. The record didn't help I'm sure. I deserved it in a way, but only I was at risk.. Wide open area is how I'd get caught.

Ive only been hit by others. My only accident over 5mp included me leaving skid marks from only the right hand wheels as I turned into it, rode the speed out, and set it down again. The folks at the stripmall applauded as I got out. My crew was outside and I never heard "I bet I'd out drive you" again. The offending car that T-boned my van was totaled.

I've been inches from a jackknifing semi in heavy traffic and was the last car to clear the mayhem. I almost choose to drive under it. That would have worked too I think, but I put the car sideways instead. Twice,  an S onto the left shoulder, waiting to see sparks off the downtown Detroit highway dividers that never came. The tankers rear hit the wall as I passed.

All that said,.driving a military monster or a fast TANK would be fun IMO. But I'll never know now though. An hour ride in a pickup on smooth pavement is beyond my willingly accepted pain tolorence. And its worse right now, I fell earlier and am rambling my pain away, lol. I think I'll be at the hospital in the a.m., so you guys might get a break from me for a bit. We'll see, I hate hospitals.

Egads.  Well, get healthy soon!  It's not as much fun without you razzing the gi-raffes!  

Mitch