Blohm and Voss Ae 607
1/72 scale
Kit No. 92087
Price: $20.00
Decals: Four versions – two Luft ’46 machines; one captured machine in American markings; one captured machine in Soviet markings
Comments: Delicate engraved panel lines and recessed rivet detail; detailed cockpit, wheel wells and landing gear; one-piece canopy
History
The Blohm & Voss Ae 607 was a jet-powered flying wing design conceived by Blohm & Voss in 1945. As it was conceived only shortly before the end of World War II there is not a great deal of available information on it, and for many years it was not included in the known list of late-war Luftwaffe development projects. Since it was a flying wing design with a single Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 jet engine chosen as the power plant, the cockpit had to be positioned off-center. The wing had a compound sweep, starting at 65 degrees and changing to 55 degrees. There were two fuel tanks, located in tandem on the starboard side of the air intake. Three MK 108 30 mm cannon were the planned armament.
The Ae 607 was a modified delta wing design with the wings sharply swept at approximately 45° and the wing tips angled downward, giving them a slight anhedral. The HeS 011 engine with its duct running down the center of the airframe was capable of 2,866 lbs. of thrust. The pilot was seated in the cockpit well aft and to the left of the center line, with the fuel tanks located within the starboard wing. A small vertical tail provided lateral control and stability, while two small, forward-swept canards on either side of the nose intake functioned as elevators.
The undercarriage comprised main wheels retracting outwards and twin tailwheels retracting on either side of the engine exhaust duct. This tail-dragger arrangement with its marked, nose-up attitude was proposed despite many other comtemporary German jet-powered designs that featured tricycle landing gear. It was also unusual in featuring four individual legs for its landing gear: two long-legged main gear and two short tailwheel gears.
An interesting late-war fighter design that never left the drawing board, its estimated performance is unknown, but the relatively small area accorded its control surfaces combined with the speeds at which it would have travelled might have made it a difficult aircraft to fly without modifications.
The Kit
RS Models’ Ae 607 is injection molded on two sprues in grey plastic and consists of 66 parts, including a single clear plastic part for the one-piece canopy. The two main parts are the upper and lower halves of the flying wing, into which the fuselage is integrally molded. These parts feature delicate engraved panel lines and recessed rivet detail. The cockpit assembly includes a seat of detailed molding, a floor with raised rivet detail, sidewall panels with raised instrument detail, and a control yoke. The main instrument panel likewise features an unusual degree of raised detail, given its diminutive size.
While there is no internal intake trunking, the kit features both a nose intake assembly and a jet exhaust assembly for the front and rear of what was a centerline turbojet engine. Two additional parts provide detailed, boxed-in wheel wells which are cemented into the lower half of the wing, and there are parts for four (4) Ruhrstall X-4 air-to-air missiles, each mounted on its individual pylon beneath the wing.
The kit may be depicted with the gear up or down. If a gear-down configuration is chosen, the landing gear are nicely detailed to match the level of raised detail within the wheel wells, down to the detail on the hubcaps and the engraved radial tread on the landing gear tires. Interestingly, there is no nose wheel but rather a pair of tail wheels at the rear of the ventral side of the fuselage just forward of the jet exhaust. The internal landing gear door detail is impressive for this scale.
Markings
The decals are in register with a high gloss and should present neither difficulty nor motivation to replace them with aftermarket substitutes. They provide fictional markings for four versions: First is a Luftwaffe example circa 1945 with a green/dark green and black-green splinter camouflage pattern over RLM 76 under surfaces; second is a captured machine in Soviet markings circa 1947 featuring a mottled camouflage pattern of green and black green upper surfaces over a mottled camouflage pattern of Hellblau and RLM 76 under surfaces; third is a captured machine in American markings circa 1946 based at Wright Field, Ohio featuring a mottled camouflage scheme of black-green over RLM 76 upper surfaces with RLM 76 under surfaces; fourth is a Luftwaffe 1946 example painted in a scheme of green overall with black green stripes and a thin white outline separating these two colors, again with RLM 76 under surfaces.
Conclusion
Overall this kit is a richly detailed example of a Luft ’46 aircraft, although care will have to be taken with any sanding due to the delicate nature of the engraved panel lines. Highly recommended.
References
- www.luft46.com
- www.militaryfactory.com
Surviving Aircraft
Hawaiian Airlines owns the world’s only CH-300 known to be in flying condition. The aircraft, which was acquired new in 1929 by Inter-Island Airways (renamed Hawaiian Airlines in 1941), was used for sightseeing flights over the island of Oahu for two years before being sold in 1933. Acquired from an aviation enthusiast in Oregon in early 2009, the aircraft was restored at the Port Townsend Aero Museum and was unveiled at the Honolulu International Airport on October 8, 2009. Finally, a CH-300 Pacemaker is displayed at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. This aircraft formerly served with Alaska Coastal Airlines. Bellanca CH-300’s were operated by the United States, Canada, El Salvador, Mexico and Norway.
The Kit
New from Dora Wings of the Czech Republic is the Bellanca CH/J-300. The kit is crisply molded in grey plastic and consists of 75 parts, including three clear plastic parts for the the cockpit windscreeen and side windows. The kit features a detailed radial engine representing the Wright J-6, resting on the forward exterior of a six-piece cowling and including at least eight individual exhaust pipes. A cowling ring is included for two of the three versions.
The cockpit features a remarkably small main instrument panel with tightly grouped dials (true to the original), dual control yokes, photo-etched rudder pedals to be affixed to the forward bulkhead, and bench seating for the pilot and co-pilot. Curiously, the cabin interior features three additional windows in both fuselage halves, one of them oval-shaped, which in each case will require a thin panel of plastic to be removed with a hobby knife. However, since no clear plastic parts are provided for these additional windows, modelers will have to scrounge them from some other source.
There are three options for the landing gear: plastic spats which must be assembled; resin spats requiring no assembly; and a third version with no spats and the wheels exposed. The wings feature separately molded ailerons complemented by photo-etch actuators; likewise the tail assembly features a separately molded rudder and elevator flaps, which also have photo-etch actuators. A series of support struts for the elevators, wings, and main landing gear complete the final stages of assembly, along with the propeller.
Markings
Decals are provided for three versions, each of which call out paints in the Mr. Color (Gunze Sangyo) line only. The first is “Lituanica” (serial no. NR 688E) in which Steponas Darius and Stasys Girdenas attempted a New York-to-Lithuania flight in July 1933, which unfortunately ended in tregedy when they crashed in bad weather in Poland after 37 hours of flight time; this aircraft is painted in overall Orange-Yellow with an aluminum cowling and cowl ring. The second is “Cape Cod” (serial no. NR 761W) in which Russell Boardman and John Polando successfully made a New York-to-Istanbul flight in 1931; this aircraft is painted in overall Orange-Yellow with the top half of the fuselage, cowl ring, leading edges of the wing and wing struts in Black. The third scheme is the “Cape Cod” aircraft in an earlier livery from 1930 but with the same serial number, operated by Russell Boardman from East Boston Airport on behalf of the American Legion for that year’s convention. In this livery the aircraft is painted in a scheme of Light Gray with Blue Gray wings, wing support struts and tail unit.
Conclusion
An interesting and fairly detailed example of a civilian Bellanca aircraft of the 1930’s, something too rarely seen in injection molded plastic and a welcome addition to Golden Age offerings. Highly recommended.
Reference
www.skytamer.com