Revell Fieseler Fi.103A/B V1 Flying Bomb (03861) 1:32

[Mike]

Fieseler Fi.103A/B V1 Flying Bomb (03861)

1:32 Revell

 

 

Toward the end of WWII Hitler was scrambling around for technological ways to dig Nazi Germany out of the hole he had dug for them by attacking almost all of Europe, thereby turning most of the world against them.  He relied heavily on nebulous "Wunderwaffe", or wonder-weapons that would save his bacon at the last minute, forgetting (or ignoring) the fact that continuous development of new weapons and technology saps manufacturing capacity and scientific knowledge away from existing projects that are already proving their worth.  The Vergeltungswaffen-1 was one such weapon, known as the V-1, V-1 Flying Bomb, Doodlebug or Buzz-bomb due to the rasping note of the pulsejet that powered it.  It was made using minimal strategic materials, mostly welded steel for the fuselage and plywood for the wings, with an Argus pulsejet engine, a glorified blowlamp, mounted high on the rear of the tail, short straight wings and elevators, the controls for which were made by compressed air that also pressurised the fuel tank.

 

They were launched from a ramp because the pulsejet won't work properly until it has substantial airflow, which was achieved using a rocket-propelled trolley that was jettisoned at the end of the ramp.  They could also be air-launched by specially adapted He.111s, and their range was adjusted by adding or subtracting fuel and pointing it in the direction of London.  Their downfall was the size of the gantries, which were static and easily spotted for destruction, plus the relatively small explosive payload.  Once the Allies pushed into France they were no longer able to be launched from ramps due to their range, so air-launch was the only option, and that slowed down their influx to a relative crawl.  The newly completed Tempests were perfectly suited to shooting them down, and there are stories of them being tipped off course and shot down, as well as downed by Anti-Aircraft fire.

 

 

The Kit

This is a reboxing of a new tool kit by Special Hobby.  It arrives in an end-opening box with a painting of a V-1 over what looks like the industrial areas of that there London, with a Hurricane coming in guns blazing in an attempt to intercept it.  Inside are three sprues of mid-grey styrene, a small decal sheet, and an instruction booklet.  The Doodlebug has none of the niceties such as cockpit, landing gear etc., so it should be a quick build that is made to stand out by its paint finish and weathering.

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the combined fuselage and pulsejet housing halves, with a rusty colour used inside the combustion tube.  The intake and baffles are added to the front before closure, and that's the fuselage almost finished.  The nose cone can take one of two forms.  A bucket-shaped protective cover, or the most usually seen pointed nose-cone with spinner tip, both covering a bulbous front insert that has a decal supplied in case you wanted to leave the cone off.  A length of conduit connects the nose to the engine, and the tail planes are added to the slots in the rear under the pulsejet.

 

The wings are kept level by the use of a styrene spar part that should make installing them simple, as well as strengthening the join.  The spar has two marks that must show one on each side before they are glued in place.  After that has set, you can slide the wings on, which are both made from top and bottom halves, plus a small bulkhead at the root, which will be useful if you are showing your model with the wings stowed.  That's the bomb/airframe built, but there's a trolley that goes with it, making displaying your model an easier task.  This has four twin castor wheels, a rectangular base frame, pull handle and twin trestles to hold the fuselage in place.  If you are stowing the wings, there are two additional trestles that have grooves in for the wings, which store tilted against the fuselage.  A nice addition that will save you from having to build a launch ramp in the garden!

 

 

Markings

The decal sheet is small with decals for three options, and consists of stencils only apart from a later B variant that has a pair of interlinking red crosses on the forward fuselage to tell it from its externally identical brethren that were loaded with less powerful explosives.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• Fi-103A V-1, Wk.Nr. 256839 – Tramm/Dannenberg, 1945
• Fi-103A V-1, Wk.Nr. 708153 – Tramm/Dannenberg, 1945
• Fi-103B V-1, Flakregiment 155/W - France, Summer 1944

 

 

 

Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas.  You will be pleased to hear that the red crosses for option C are included for your convenience, with as little carrier film “web” between the arms as possible without making the task too difficult.

 

 

 

Conclusion

I've always found the V-1s fascinating, and having a nice new tooling of one in a scale where the painting can be done in greater detail is a tempting proposition.  It's also tempting to stand one next to a Special Hobby Hawker Typhoon or one of HK's Meteors too.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Currently, Revell are unable to ship to the UK from their online shop due to recent changes in import regulations, but there are many shops stocking their products where you can pick up the kits either in the flesh or online.

 

 

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

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[john224]

Range was controlled by a mechanical numerical counter, which counted down from the number set by the rotation of the small nose mounted propeller. When it reached 0 the elevators were snapped over into a steep dive, the g-force of this action quite often caused an interruption in the fuel supply which stopped the engine. Surplus fuel was desirable, as it added to the explosive force, as did the increased velocity if the engine didn't stop.

Edited July 8, 2021 by john224