Thought I would show a project I have been working on for awhile. Minuteman missiles were frequently transported by rail and in fact the Air FOrce wanted to create rail garrisons to move these ICBMs around so the chance of destroying was minimal. Being a former Missile Launch Officer iI have had a keen intrest in the minuteman and rail transport and I wanted a true 1/4 scale model of the Minuteman 1B to use with my trains. Those models available were not accurate ( approx 1:40 ) and expensive so I decided to make my own. After much research and having to make my own decals, I have a fairly accurate representation of a " display" MMI. This is modeled after a display prototype at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. These are made from american maple and turned by hand. The larger unit is about 13" and the first one I made. Realizing that the size would make the mountains look small
I made another in S scale that works better with traditional size trains. In the real world these were transported in a container/ trailer on a flat car and without the reentry vehicle ( warhead ). However, it is possible that a display - deactivated missile could go this way. My next project will be in actual combat colors. I hope to add a depot depicting the unloading of missiles as they arrive.
