Here I am trying to build as many kits as possible this year, telling myself I can beat my one-a-month average, and I've had a three month dry spell! Well I'm over it now, and here's Fantastic Plastic's little bitty Luft '46 subject, the Horton Rocket Wing.

http://www.inpayne.com/temp/howing-001.jpg
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/howing-003.jpg
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/howing-005.jpg

I thought it needed a little extra sting, so I mounted a pair of Mk 103 30mms in the wing roots. What the heck.

And since I can NEVER get vac canopies to fit, I went right ahead and did it open. I carved a couple of hinges out of square stock to use as glue points.

Other than that - straight 1945 fighter camo of 81/83 over 76. A few little red tulips from a Bf-109 decal sheet for accent. :)

Aaaaaaand nobody cares. :(

Actually John...somebody cares....I love all this speculative stuff and especially your build ups. Three months is nothing...I've been suffering Modellers Block now for about a year....just cant seem to get into it....attempting my Dune Ornithopter and Sandcrawler now....

Well, I think it's just cute as hell whatever it is! :thumbsup:

I care too. you think maybe hobbytalk has jumped the shark?

Actually John...somebody cares....I love all this speculative stuff and especially your build ups. Three months is nothing...I've been suffering Modellers Block now for about a year....just cant seem to get into it....attempting my Dune Ornithopter and Sandcrawler now....

Glad I'm not alone! :)
But if I ever stop building for too long, the wife will kill me for wasting enough money on models to side the house, landscape the yard and put a second floor on. :lol:

Looks pretty sweet... Wierd design though...

:thumbsup: ---Midnightrun--- :wave:

You said it needed a little extra sting....what was it originally proposed to be armed with????

Probably a pair of 20mm. The kit had to little bitty gun barrel stubs at the points where I put the bigger cannons. Although it may have been a pair of Mk108 30mms. The Mk 103 had a longer barrel with the muzzle brake, and a longer effective range.

Is this an actual Luftwaffe design? The poor pilot has almost no forward visibility.

It's a "paper project." Never made it off the drawing board. This kit is actually the first time I've heard of this particular one.

I imagine the pilot can see forward about as well as any other. :shrug: He has less nose in front of him that most WWII fighters actually had.

I just found this thread. GREAT WORK as usual, John and a really incredibly cool subject here.

I'd feel a little exposed and looking over one's shoulder would be difficult in that position. But then, if it's fast enough, no one will ever be creeping up behind to take a shot at the pilot.

Neat paint schemel--very German looking though applied to an unusual shape.

...I imagine the pilot can see forward about as well as any other. :shrug: He has less nose in front of him that most WWII fighters actually had.
Its his prone position, and lack of headroom, which really limits the forward visibility. I'm surprised the nose is not clear. But then, maybe thats why it didn't make it off the drawing board!

Looks more like something out of an SF film than the drawing board from the Second World War. I love these "What If?" Luft '46 models. Great job, John!

Sean

The prone position would severely limit your upward and rearward visibility, without mirrors or rear-view cameras...

On a lighter note, if one of the rocket engines flamed out, the thing looks like it would make a damn effective boomerang. Wouldn't want to be the one climbing out of the cockpit afterward, though.

The prone position would severely limit your upward and rearward visibility, without mirrors or rear-view cameras...

Well, you're going at least 100 MPH faster than anything else in the sky (so you don't need to see if anyone's chasing you). As a point-defense interceptor (which is all the rocket planes were good for, since they only had a couple of minutes of fuel), you're basically going straight up, shooting at one bomber, diving away for your life, then gliding to a dead-stick landing. In that whole scenario, you may not need to look anywhere but straight ahead.

This isn't the only prone design they tried back then, so they must have seen something of value in it. I understand it was mostly an attempt to make it easier for the pilot to handle G-forces without blacking out.

A couple of other prone-pilot designs:
http://www.inpayne.com/models/dfs228.html
http://www.luft46.com/henschel/hs132.html
http://www.luft46.com/gotha/gop60a.html

And, really, there have been some warplanes down thru history with truly crappy upward and rearward visibility, so that's nothing to gripe about with this one. :)

She be a little beauty, nicely done John..i think i feel a visit to my flight sim design program coming on :)
Cleanly executed as always.