COMING SOON - The Cobra Low Altitude Skimmer!

COMING SOON FROM NEXUS MINIATURES!

The Cobra Low Altitude Skimmer!

Coming in at a nice chunky size of 105mm long, 95mm wide, and standing 65mm on its landing legs - the MK I Cobra L.A.S. (Low Altitude Skimmer) is THE light defense and transportation vehicle of choice.

When Captain Sylvester 'Cobra' Cobretti (who also held a Doctorate in Physics and Bachelor's degrees in aerodynamics, flight mechanics, and aircraft design) retired from the U.S.A.F just before the Year of Chaos, he returned to his first love - Aircraft Design. Unfortunately, with High Altitude Air Travel now prohibited by disasters all over the world above the cloud line. All Air Travel, was reduced to sub-sonic low altitude flyers. 

The MK I Cobra L.A.S. (Low Altitude Skimmer) was the breakthrough in low altitude flyers, it literally draws the energy needed to power it from the atmosphere in the form of Muons.

Earth is bombarded by particles of "Cosmic Energy" (for want of a better term) all the time, these high-energy particles arriving from outer space are mainly (89%) protons – nuclei of hydrogen, the lightest and most common element in the universe – but they also include nuclei of helium (10%) and heavier nuclei (1%), all the way up to uranium. When they arrive at Earth, they collide with the nuclei of atoms in the upper atmosphere, creating more particles, mainly Pions. The charged Pions can swiftly decay, emitting particles called muons. Unlike Pions, these do not interact strongly with matter, and can travel through the atmosphere to penetrate below ground. The rate of muons arriving at the surface of the Earth is such that about one per second passes through a volume the size of a person’s head.

The Muon is an unstable subatomic particle, and as such it was felt had no practical use - as it had a fairly fast decay rate. By covering the Cobra with millions of tiny scale like receptors to catch the Muons as they hit the surface of the skimmer, Cobretti found a way of using the weak interaction created by the Muons decay rate to power an engine; and the I.P.S. (Ingrid Power System) was Born! (named after his Wife Ingrid Cobretti).

This was an astonishing, unbelievable breakthrough (one might say "out of this world") because an important advantage of Muon non-ionizing radiation is that it is safe for humans, plants, and animals - so it seemed like a dream come through.

There were drawbacks of course, the ship had to be very light - as Muons don't provide much power, and so even though they are equipped with weaponry (what weaponry depends upon who's using them) any direct impact, or blast tends to have a catastrophic effect. Cobras can be fitted to carry cargo (known as Pythons), but the heavier weight means much lower speeds.

MK I Cobra L.A.S. are seen in use all over the world, in particular by Uni-Tech and NATO.

OK - Now the Boring stuff.

The MK I Cobra L.A.S. is a pre-release prototype Kit, and will only be available in very limited quantities - Cast in two parts in resin, it is an expert level kit and will require some sanding and filling - as usual, please be careful when working with resin use a mask!. The MK I Cobra L.A.S. is supplied with its landing legs, cast in metal. 

(Uni-Tech Officer Not Included, he's just there trying to hitch a ride.)