Northrop SM-62 Snark Cruise Missile (1952)

Scale: 1/81
Initial Release: 1957
Medium: Styrene
Kit Rarity: 3

About the Design

Conceived just after the end of World War II, the Snark was America's answer to the much cruder Fieseler Fi-103 V-1 "Buzz Bomb." It was, in fact, the USA's first "cruise missile," a winged warhead delivery system powered by a combination of rocket motors and jet engines. 

Although the missile was rolled out in 1952, actual testing didn't begin until 1956, and the system was not declared operational until 1959.

The missile did not perform particularly well. Test vehicles tended to crash so often off Cape Canaveral that locals joked about "Snark infested waters" -- and just one year after its deployment, the missile was decommissioned, having been declared obsolete and of little military value.

About the Kit

The same year that Revell issued its 1/47 scale BOMARC, it also released this handsome smaller-scale Snark kit.  Ironically, although it failed as a weapons system, the Snark turned out to be a favorite among model manufacturers.  During the 1950s and 1960s, Snarks were produced by Comet, Aurora and Monogram.  In the 1980s, Lindberg released a massive 1/48-scale version of this seminal cruise missile.

Revell re-released their original 1950's model in 1982 as a "History Makers" kit.  This is a copy of that "History Makers" issue.