Scale aviation modeller international

I applied a light coat of Future

to seal the paint for decaling. Once

the decals were on, more Future

was applied to seal them, and

then the whole model was covered

with a coat of Delta Ceramcoat

Matte Indoor/Outdoor

Urethane Varnish. This

was adjusted with some

Future to give it a dull

semi-gloss finish. I used

a pencil to outline the

control surfaces – wing

flaps, rudder, elevator, and

in-wing spoilers – while

the rest of the lines were

applied with the pastels.

I glued the underwing

supports on after the decals

were on, but before the final

varnishing. This was easier since

the struts go right in the middle

of the underwing call letters. I

now attached the windscreen;

the kit comes with four of them,

but I only needed one. The groove

worked as expected, and made

my life much, much easier.

MY BABY AND ME

This boxing of the Baby doesn’t

come with German decals, although

there is a version that does, so I

had to make my own. I had a very

specific machine in mind, which

made custom decals a necessity.

The question you’re asking is likely

“Well, what’s so special you needed

custom decals?” The answer is this:

Like many out there, my family

has been involved in both World

Wars. My mother’s family is of

British descent, and my father’s

family is from Germany, where

he was born just before the end

of WWII. As such, I have a rich

heritage of military history from

which to draw for inspiration.

It was going through my dad’s

mom’s (“Oma” to us) photo album

one day that we saw a picture

of some gliders on a mountain

slope. It was then I learned that

my Oma had been born in Grunau,

and she had worked at the factory

that produced the Baby! She had

personally worked on the planes,

and Fritz, her brother, had been

part of the NSFK before he became

a mechanic. We learned this years

ago, but sadly, the photos were

lost after Oma passed away.

Sadly, I had no photos of

“Fritz’s” plane, though. My dad

emailed his cousin (Fritz’s son) in

Germany, and they went through

their family photo albums.

Unfortunately, Fritz has passed

on, but his wife, Marianne, is still

alive. In the album were only two

photos of the Baby in action, but he

scanned them and sent them to me.

One shows a Baby with the

D-6 code (for Grunau-area craft)

taking off. The second was very

clear and showed a landed Baby

in a field. Oddly, this had a D-7

code, for a Grossrueckerswalde

Look at those wings! This is a comparison between the Grunau Baby and the FROG Ta-152H. The

Ta-152H was a high altitude fighter, and needed long wings for the job. The Baby’s wings are almost

as long!

This is the picture that started this whole thing. This is Otto Bräutigam’s Baby, and I believe that it

was photographed by my Great Uncle Fritz when it was at Grunau. The time would likely be the mid

to late 1930’s, possibly into 1940. Based on this one photo, I did my best to duplicate the airplane

using the AZ kit.

The tiny curved windscreen on the Baby is visible here. The part fits quite well, but

getting it cut out and properly curved isn’t easy. Note the holes on the cowling; this

part lifts off on a real Baby, but not on the kit. A razor saw will fix that

64 • OCTOBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

KIT REVIEWS

056-65-Reviews-1018.indd 64 14/09/2018 15:23