# Crazy Luft '46 Thingie



## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

This is Das Werk's new 1/32 scale Junkers Ef-126, a crazy modular proposal for Germany's late war Miniature Fighter Program. The model can be built one of 3 ways, with 3 different proposed tail sections. I picked the craziest looking.

Pics:


Das Werk Junkers Ef-126



Late in the war Germany's manufacturing was "decentralized," meaning different airplane parts were built in different slave-labor salt mines in different parts of the Reich. Thus when they were whacked together in final assembly, the paint schemes didn't always match. You saw planes at the end with different camo on wings, nose section, tail section, etc. So that's what I did here.

The pilot figure is by ICM. I don't paint figures very well, but I thought it needed one to show how small this thing was.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

very closely resembles a V-1 buzzbomb with an extra jet engine and a cockpit.
nice build


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## scooke123 (Apr 11, 2008)

That's crazy and cool all in one package.Looks like a premature explosion waiting to happen!


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## Phillip1 (Jul 24, 2009)

John-Very colorful and attractive subject!

Phillip1


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

John P said:


> ...The pilot figure is by ICM. I don't paint figures very well, but I thought it needed one to show how small this thing was.


Yeah, yeah. I actually like the pilot more than I like the plane.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Very well done--including the pilot.  I like the way you photographed it in the pre- and post-flight configurations--assuming a pilot would survive long enough to land it. The gadgets on it are pretty much sci-fi. Those take off rockets are impressive.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Oh, everything there was real. There was a prototype built. The takeoff rockets are the same used for the Bachem Natter, and the main engines are V-1 pulse jets.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

John P said:


> Oh, everything there was real. There was a prototype built. The takeoff rockets are the same used for the Bachem Natter, and the main engines are V-1 pulse jets.


Oh, yeah. I didn't doubt they were real. Just referring to how futuristic everything looked on it--quite advanced rocket tech for the time.


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## Faust (Dec 1, 2012)

That looks fantastic! 

Kicks the crud out of the Luft '46 I just posted, too! I think the Pilot turned out great, and it was a smart move to put him there for scale. Great work!


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

Very nicely done, John! 
It looks like another one of these planes that didn't have its own landing gear, so it must have slid to a landing on the grass? If so, this makes it even crazier.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

SJF said:


> Very nicely done, John!
> It looks like another one of these planes that didn't have its own landing gear, so it must have slid to a landing on the grass? If so, this makes it even crazier.


Yeah, I guess they needed to save rubber or something, or maybe it was just cheaper to skip the gear and use a skid. Desperation made some interesting designs.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

And a real challenge to land!


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

John P said:


> Yeah, I guess they needed to save rubber or something, or maybe it was just cheaper to skip the gear and use a skid. Desperation made some interesting designs.


I always figured it was a weight-saving measure to give the plane more fighting time in the air.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

The Allies had defeated their air support and fighters and bombed their air production facilities/supplies to dust. Along with the air fields. To the extent the ally bombers could almost freely bomb out the rest of the German production processes.

These rocket planes were cheaper to build and maintain over the Messerschmidt jet planes but were low altitude only and pretty much (along with the pilots) dispensable.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Well, they were intended as bomber interceptors, so they were indeed high altitude, just with very short flight duration. Get up there, salvo the rockets into a formation and hope you hit something, maybe make one gun pass at a specific bomber, then try to land without dying.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Yeah, I noticed that reference as well about them being bomber interceptors and low altitude flight. Didnt match up for me either and might be why they were not that effective.


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