High Speed release
SPECIAL HOBBY
T
his month we have
some more news of
the imminent releases
from Special Hobby, which
along with the 1/72 scale
P40N, should be available
by the time you read this!CASA C.212-100 “Tail Art” 1/72
The CASA C-212 model comes
on five grey styrene sprues and
one clear plastic sprue. This is
a Limited-edition re-boxing.
This ‘Tail Art’ edition offers two
attractive Portuguese military
machines both of which are
adorned with extremely elaborated
paintings on their tails. The decal
sheets (two of them in the box)
have been printed by Cartograf.SH72138 Messerschmitt Me 209V1
In the 1930’s, in the time of the
rearmament, Germany tried to
showcase their military power also
by breaking aviation records. This
effort, backed by the state, brought
many new records including the
most prestigious one, the world
speed record. Of interest might
be the fact that two German
aviation companies rivalled
to achieve the record, namely
Heinkel and Messerschmitt.
Messerschmitt’s answer came
very soon as Fritz Wendel achieved
755.138 kmh in a machine that was
for the record breaking attempt
named the Me 109R to fool the
public and make them think it is
just an improved variety of the Bf
109 standard fighter. But in reality,
it was a completely different type,
that had been designed as Project
1059 and got the designation Me
209 by the German Air Ministry
(RLM). This high-speed version
aircraft had been designed as
a small low-wing monoplane
with retractable undercarriage
and pilot’s cockpit behind the
wing. The plane was fitted with a
Daimler-Benz DB601 water cooled
engine with a system of wingsurface radiators. The cooling
water evaporated from those
radiators and the supply lasted
only for 30 minutes of flight. The
RLM placed an order for three
high speed prototypes and several
further prototypes of the planned
military fighter version. The first
prototype Me 209V-1 (W.Nr.1185)
with registration D-INJR was
taken aloft for the first time on 1
August 1938 with Dr.Ing.Hermann
Wurster at the controls and with
only a half full fuel and coolant
tank. Trouble with the engines
cooling system, plus stability and
other handling issues occurred
right during the first flight. Not
even the second prototype, the Me
209V-2 (W.Nr.1186) which made its
first flight on 8 February 1939 did
any better. What is more, it was
destroyed shortly after during a
crash on 4 April 1939. As at that
time, the world record had already
been broken by the He 100V-8, alleffort was made to prepare the
first prototype (Me 209V-1) for
the record attempt. The machine
got a unique DB-601ARJ engine,
its tail fin was enlarged and the
machine was also painted high
gloss blue overall. On 26 April
1939, Fritz Wendel managed to
break the record, his top speed
would not be surpassed until
1969 by the improved version
of the Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat
Conquest I (gained 820.824 kmh).
The Me209V1 comes on twoframes of grey styrene and one
frame with clear injected parts.
Smaller components have been 3D
designed and are produced using a
metal moulding block. The decal
sheet brings markings for both
known appearances of the record
breaking Me 209V-1. At first, the
machine flew in a natural metal
finish and the decals offer set of
stencils painted on the plane, later
during the record attempt themachine wore the blue finish and
the decal sheet has the registration
letters and other markings as
well to replicate this scheme.Blohm Voss BV 155B V1
Karawanken 1/72
The Blohm Voss BV 155B was
supposed to become just that
weapon to stop the new American
B-29 high altitude bombers.
However, these magnificent
machines were sent to the Pacific
area and the development of
the BV 155B was not brought to a
successful finish. The development
had really been rather complicated,
originally taking place at
Messerschmitt facility as the Me
155, originally designed as a naval
fighter for the planned but never
finished Graf Zeppelin carrier.
As the requirements of the RLM
changed with time, the type was
also redesigned to perform as a
high-altitude machine, the Me155B.
The Messerschmitt development
team was overburdened with
several other projects, so the RLMdecided to transfer the project work
to Blohm Voss, where, however, the
Blohm Voss‘chief designer Richard
Voght considered the project
to be quite bad and eventually
redesigned it completely. The
type’s designation changed as well
to the BV155, and the new plane
was much larger with a long span
wing. A four-bladed propeller
was driven by a turbo-charged DB
603U engine, with engine radiators
hung under the wing. The first
BV155V-1 made its maiden flight
on 1 September 1944, equipped
with a pressurised cockpit and a
Rb 50/30 camera behind the pilot’s
seat. The planned armament
was to consist of a 30mm MK108
cannon in the propeller shaft and
two 20mm MG151/20 cannons
in the wings. Several problems
occurred during the first flights,
although the team was able to
tackle some of them eventually.
Another two prototypes, the V- 2
and V-3 had also been partially
built. Richard Voght considered
also the BV155C, a version which
was to have its radiator in the
forward fuselage. The advancing
British troops brought an end to
all these plans when they seized
the Blohm Voss factory and also
Hamburg – Finkerwerder airfield.
The RAF supposedly test-flew
the BV155, at least an inventory
number was assigned to the type.
At first, the Bv155 was sent to the
UK, consequently, it was sent to
the USA. The incomplete airframe
is stored at the National Air and
Space Museum depository.
The model of this unique
high-altitude fighter prototype
was already produced by our team
and is no longer available. This
model from Special Hobby is a
completely new one, and some of
its components are produced using
metal moulds. The kit comes on
three grey styrene sprues, one
sprue with clear parts and also
contains two nicely detailed
resin items. The decal sheet is
expertly printed by Cartograf.WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • FEBRUARY 2018 • 47
042-47-News-0218.indd 47 12/01/2018 11:57