1:72 Supersonic Low-Altitude Missile Pluto

Supersonic Low-Altitude Missile Pluto 1:72 Mikromir

An injection-molded plastic kit in 1:72 scale from the Ukrainian brand Mikromir, which works with short-run technology and picks unusual and unbuilt subjects. The real subject is not an aircraft but an unmanned supersonic missile of the American SLAM project, to which the Pluto program also belongs.

The real subject

SLAM, the supersonic low-altitude missile, was an American project started in the middle of the fifties. It was to be powered by a ramjet with the core of a nuclear reactor: the air drawn in was heated not by a chemical fuel but by fission. Two test reactors, Tory-IIA and Tory-IIC, ran on the ground in the Nevada desert, the first for a few seconds in May 1961, the second for 292 seconds. The reactor had no shielding, so the missile would have left a radioactive exhaust behind it. It was to fly low and at supersonic speed so radar would not find it, and to navigate to its target by matching the terrain. Its crude, wingless outline earned it the nickname the flying crowbar. The project was canceled on July 1, 1964 and the machine never flew: not even a prototype airframe was finished. The reasons were the unsolvable problem of testing an unshielded reactor, the cost, and intercontinental missiles, which were at the target sooner.

Building and painting tips

A short-run mold means heavier flash and sprue stubs, weaker locating pins and the need for more dry-fitting. Seams on a body of revolution sand down more easily than on an aircraft, but they are harder to hide. Paint over a primer and flatten the whole thing at the end.

Who the model is for

• collectors of unbuilt and prototype subjects
• modelers with experience of short-run molds
• anyone interested in Cold War technology

The model is supplied unassembled and unpainted. Glue, paints and accessories are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.