We don’t usually focus on the aero side of scale but this model looks cool and definitely provides the speed factor! Welcome the 1:40 scale Amalgam Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird”. This is a limited production of 10 pieces which of 7 are already sold. If interested, an investment of $52K US is required.
Product# TBD
HOLY SHIT!! $52,000!!! Bruh I can buy myself a BMW with that money
I bought myself a 1/48 version made by a professional modeller a while back. It was a couple of hundred and looks much better. But I guess they’ve sold 7 so it works for them. If they try and get in on the aircraft market I think they’ll take a hiding though.
I was super excited. Don’t get me wrong, as soon as I saw the name, I knew it might be a bit on the pricey side. But man.. 52g’s?! US?!?! 😲😲
I’m a huge fan of the Blackbird and this is a relatively smallish scale all things considered.
Sadly, I don’t have that type of cash kicking around. Maybe if the scale was a bit bigger…🙂. Then again, they’ll probably ask 100g’s for it. 😔
Amalgam have made a very nice scale replica, but $52,000 seems an awful lot of money for this model. Especially compared to other very large scale models I’ve encountered.
For example, on display in Hangar 1 at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, Cambridge is a spectacular 1/12 scale Concorde beneath the real thing with full interior detailing:
https://www.diecastxchange.com/threads/bac-a%C3%A9rospatiale-concorde-scale-model.207906/
And if you walk across to the US aircraft hangar, you can take a look the real SR71 Blackbird, with the engines on the ground for a very detailed look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn9U6hAlf14
Pure Madness! Amalgam prices=pure madness! But as you can see, 7 people have already bought it.
All power to those who can afford to buy these models, clearly individuals for whom money is no objection and have massive disposable incomes (multi-millionaires and up). However IF I were that wealthy and wanted a Blackbird model in large scale for this kind of money I would much rather commission a metal model. The Amalgam would fall short of the mark for me for two major reasons: resin construction (as all their models are, but less of an issue for the “cheaper” 1:8 car models), and the use of decals. If you visit the official product page https://www.amalgamcollection.com/products/lockheed-sr-71-blackbird and zoom into the photos the drawbacks of the decals clearly show up.
Some of us also collect construction models and know about CCM and the brass models they used to make in the past. Handmade brass, extremely sharp and high-detailed, handpainted. E.g. https://ccmodels.com/shop/cat-d11r-track-type-tractor/. THAT is the kind of construction fidelity I would expect for a 50K USD price tag.
Of course with this Amalgam Blackbird model I imagine the bulk of the cost is due to research and model tooling costs, to ensure maximum accuracy. The body does look sharp especially the corrugations on the wings.
Anyway this comment is more wishful thinking since I will never be able to buy either this (or any large Amalgam) model much less a custom brass model! :)
Deifinitely not looking like 52k $.special.