Fly Bachem 349 "Natter"

[CDW]

I go away for a day and this happens .....

Thats some crazy, brilliantly done, camo mate .... I suppose playing "spot the difference" could be an option but am i right to assume that they wouldn't have had any masks or similar and that these sorts of patterns would be random on the original aircraft anyway ?

 

[stona]

The scribbled camouflage was definitely random. You can see on the picture of Sieber boarding for his brief and fatal flight that someone has applied it with a spray gun (and maybe a step ladder ).

It's not dissimilar to the camouflage on the one in the US,I believe it was Vaughan who posted a picture back up the thread. It's not a "professional" job. You can see that the sprayer wasn't bothered about maintaining a distance or even the density of spray in some areas. There's plenty of overspray. A MAP inspector in a British factory would have had a heart attack if presented with that for approval.

My biggest variation from the profile and accepted wisdom is to have applied that scribble in a dark green RLM 83 as opposed to RLM 74.

The "Natter" project was staffed by 200 "wounded" SS men and then,apart from a few Bachem Werke skilled personnel, largely by at best semi-skilled workers provided by the SS whose project it was. The Natter,despite its performance,was pretty much a wood work project!

Continuing our theme that models should also enlighten here's the wooden frame of a fuselage at the Bachem plant.

The wings were of similar construction,even the main spar was wooden. The skins were screwed and nailed on,as here on a rear fuselage section.

And then the joins were sealed and smoothed.

You can see all four workers in that picture are women. It must be chilly as they are dressed warmly. I'm almost certain that the chap in the white lab coat is Erich Bachem.

Cheers

Steve

 

[yak face]

Ive been watching this from the sidelines steve, superb work as usual! The camo is fantastically done and the whole thread has been a pleasure to follow. Great pics too , fascinating stuff the desperate measures that were attempted at the late stages of the war . Looking forward to the finished item ,cheers tony

 

[colin m]

German engineering during the war was amazing. Mind you, it's not too bad these days.

 

[stona]

Decals today. It's obvious that the upper wings were marked with a 2 and a 3 and those come with the kit. My quandary is that a witness to the fatal flight said that the lower surfaces were marked with a 1 and a 4 as well. As far as I know there are no photographs showing the underside. This is a quandary! Do I trust to fallible human memory,recalling facts some time after the event,or just leave the underside of the wings unmarked?

If I do mark the black undersides do I do it with red or white numerals? Aaaaaaaaah!

Cheers

Steve

 

[Kressy13]

That really is a good question. Why would they have those numbers on the separate surfaces of the wing? If they had a 2 and a 3 on the top side then it would sound plausible that the 1 and 4 could have been on the underside. Tough call really. I am sure either way it will look great. By the way love the camo job you have done. Looks great.

Cheers

Kresten

 

[stona]

There's a lot of confusion due to an almost complete lack of Bachem records. The 2+3 on the wing have always led people to assume that the prototype in which Sieber made his flight was M-23. Hans Zubert,a fellow test pilot who was present for the flight,said that infact that aircraft was known,at least at Bachem Werke,as M-9. The M-9 prototype is one about which nothing is known,there are no contemporary references. It must be possible that M-9 was rebuilt or developed into M-23 whilst retaining its earlier number,at least colloquially at the plant. It is also possible that it was M-9. Noone can explain why the aircraft would have a 1 and a 4 on the lower wing surfaces unless they were to serve as orientation markings on the film of the event. Numbering the wing surfaces 1,2,3,4 is not entirely illogical,this was after all a test aircraft. This also raises the possibility that this was indeed M-9 and not M-23 as Zubert suggested.

Anyway I've applied a white 1 and 4 to my wings. It looks interesting and makes my model even more unique!

Decals currently being Microsoled!

The only acrylic paint on the model is in the two red fuselage bands and the nose cone. I'm very pleased with how well it matches the red of the upper wing numerals. Obviously Fly and Xtracrylics have a similar idea of RLM 23!

Cheers

Steve

 

[spanner570]

That is a terrific paint job Steve, and thanks for a very interestion bit of history too....Don't you just love a mottled cammo?!

Cheers,

Ron

 

[stona]

I've finally got this one done.

I'll post a couple of quick piccies now and either add some or do a "completed" thread when the light is a bit less murky!

Notice no swastikas or other national markings. Not allowed on disposable aircraft or missiles,that's why you won't see them on a V-1. Any pictures with swastikas are post war. The americans liked to add them to captured aircraft.

Cheers

Steve

 

[papa 695]

Iv'e been watching this Steve from the beginning and what a build its been loads of building tips and plenty of history lessons 5 stars from me

 

[yak face]

Superb job steve, lets have some more pics , cheers tony

 

[Vaughan]

Looks great Steve, I'm loving that camo it's a perfect finish. Looking forward to final pics.

 

[treyzx10r]

Looks great as usual Steve ,looking forward to seeing more pics!

 

[CDW]

Nicely done sir .... but .... errrrr .... where's me little dio ?????

 

[Vajled]

superb painting... great work

 

[stona]

As promised a sort of fictional walkaround.

This aircraft took off vertically,rolled onto its back and arced back to earth with poor old Lothar still aboard!

Had it worked it might have flown like this but without the boosters which would have been jettisoned after about 12 seconds.

Cheers

Steve

 

[mobear]

just stunning steve,for such a small and nondetailed craft you`ve done awesomely

mobear

 

[Vaughan]

Steve 5* is all I need to say.

 

[stona]

Nicely done sir .... but .... errrrr .... where's me little dio ?????

That will have to wait I'm afraid. I'll be off on tour again fairly soon and I'm hoping to make a start on my Hummer. I'm just waiting for someone (who could that be?) to lead the way

I do intend to have a go at scratchbuilding the original experimantal launch tower,that's why I've attached the four booster rockets.

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. It's an interesting subject and though Fly's kit might not be like Tamiya it is the only one in this scale and I for one appreciate them producing such an unusual subject. It's still a good kit,just needs a bit of fettling. I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to have a go at one of these crazy rocket 'planes.

Cheers

Steve