Nice build. I been thinking about getting this kit for a while, rather than the highly pricey resin one from Planet Models. I had read a review on the Huma kit, and i seem to recall they said the same thing about the undercarrage.

You have done a really great job on this one, great job. Though i am curious as to the title of the thread, why stupid.

I always love the off the beaten path subjects and its always great to have some narration to go with it. Great looking build with nice details,thanks for taking the time to share the pics!

Very well done!!  Always nice to see a sow's ear turned into a silk purse.  That requires real skill.

Thanks guys for the compliments.  I got some pretty weird stares when I asked my local hobby shop to get me this model.  They reminded me of who the manufacturer was and what it cost, but I already did a little poking around so I knew what I was headed for.  The kit isn't Tamiya or Hasegawa, but assembly was actually pretty easy and the parts count was low.  It was certainly much better than Huma's first generation of kits; the Focke-Wulf Triebflugel was really blobby.

I have sort of a reputation as the Luftwaffe 1946 guy, and got a lot of guff for it.  Not that I cared one whit that the stuff I built had no historical significance or won any wars.  The ones that reached harware stage are partcularly fascinating to me, especially when they are as wacky as the Ju-287.  The thread title "Stupid Weapons of the Luftwaffe" is actually something I adopted as my personal tongue in cheek label for my 1946 model collection.

As far as the real Ju-287 is concerned, the V1 verified the low speed handling characteristics of the FSW configuration, but flutter was encountered at higher speeds.  Hindsight is 20/20, and today we can see that a FSW heavy bomber was probably not a really good idea, even if digital flight controls and damping were available.  I believe the V1 met its demise at the hands of Allied bombers while on the ground.

Anyway, thanks for looking!

Good build and a 1st rate weirdie. But to my mind, the champion is the Blohm & Voss 141: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxV1FkD-oL4&feature=player_embedded or:

Great build Real G. Out of all i like unusual desing .. even if this is "really"

Pieces seems from various other planes (just comparing my he-117 fuselage with this is almost identical) .

Not sure can be defined luft 46, this plane seems made some flight !

Out of all the finish is damned good!

TomZ2 - Huh huh huh.  Oh yeah.  I forgot about that one!  And the Germans built around 20 of those things.  Too bad MPM hasn't given us something better to play with than the Airfix kit.  There were three versions of this wacky plane, IIRC:  Ha-141, BV-141A, BV-141B.  Each one differed enough to be visually distinct, the Ha-141 having a different less glazed cockpit pod, and the BV-141B having a BMW 801 engine and offset tailplane.

Bsyamato - I guess you are correct, the Ju-287 is a Luftwaffe 44-45, as it was built and flown.  Even the follow on V2 and V3 reached hardware stage.  And you are also correct in noting the fuselage is from a He-177 bomber.  The V1 was a real Frankenstein monster made from other airplanes' parts.  (Okay, hurrying back to the OYW GB now...)

Real G

Bsyamato - I guess you are correct, the Ju-287 is a Luftwaffe 44-45, as it was built and flown.  Even the follow on V2 and V3 reached hardware stage.  And you are also correct in noting the fuselage is from a He-177 bomber.  The V1 was a real Frankenstein monster made from other airplanes' parts.  (Okay, hurrying back to the OYW GB now...)

Actually loving the 177, i'll try to made of it my best build but actally is in stand-by mode

I'll follow for now the OYW gb just collecting more courage to start the gouf.

TomZ2 the bv-141 looks too like a frankenstein plane cockpit seems from fw-189 and wings.. i see on another plane but not remember. Like it  Similar to the bv p-194 , revell printed a good kit of it.

Wow, great job on a strange looking bird. Not only are the forward swept wings weird looking but I love the four engines with two under the cockpit. Looks like the engineers just decided what the heck let's bolt 'em on here, good a place as any. And those whacky fixed landing gear with spats like a Ju-87.

Course to be honest she doesn't look really any more bizarre than a Fisher P-75 Eagle.

And again really nice work on the model. Love to see people make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Panel lines look good to me, I tend to make a mess out of mine.

Nice build.

I think I would have titled it "Desperation Weapons of the Luftwaffe."

the designers  were brilliant  even though we looking back some 70 yrs later see some error

Real, i don't suppose you have any pics of that triebflugel kit do you. I happen to have it in the stash, and it does look like it will be alot of work.

I am a big fan olf Luft 46 ai9rcrfat myself, so you won't get any harsh words from me for building them.

ARGH! Where did the pics go? Not showing up on my screen...

must be somthing your end Vance, i can see them fine.

Same here; the pictures work just fine. I like unusual builds.

Now that is weird - it's like a stealth plane lol! Nope, still can't see them. Are they hosted on Photobucket or another sharing site?? Some "social networks" are blocked on the office server, the could be getting hung up in there somewhere.

Bish,

Here ya go.  This was my first Huma kit as well as the first of many Luft '46 projects of mine.  All of the panel lines had to be filled in and rescribed, as you know the ones molded on are inconsistent.  I added some basic cockpit detail like foil seat belts and a gunsight.  I recut the poorly defined windscreen separation line with a razor saw after polishing the thick canopy.  The outrigger landing gear struts were replaced with wire, both to save time in cleaning up as well as adding strength to the spindly units.  The main wings were also pinned in place.  The kit decals were frosty looking, so I substituted items from several Microscale sheets.

Man, we really need a new plastic kit of this wacky plane!  Zoukei-Mura-San, you listening?

Incidentally, this model was one of two that made it into the reader's gallery of FSM many moons ago.  A friend who is a freelance photographer offered to shoot some photos for me, so I took him up on the offer.  This was back in the days before digital photography was commonplace, as I only had a Kodak Instamatic film camera at the time.  The other kit?  It was my second Huma model, the Lippisch DM-1, converted to a P.13.  The decals and heat formed canopy have turned nice shades of yellow, so I might strip the model, repaint it, and make a new canopy.  I normally never do this, but the model was my first major conversion project, so it holds sentimental value to me.

WOW, nice job. I haven't looked at mine that closely, so hadn't noticed the panel lines. I will check it out. I was thinking of adding a PE Me 262 cockpit to mine, and decals from the spares box. Nice idea for the landing struts, might have to copy that.

This is the only Huma kit i have at /he moment, failing somone else bringing out a Ju 287, i p[lan on getting that as well. I have been trying to get their DFS 230, but that seems to have vanished at the moment.

Thanks for posting those pics, and its not hard to see how it made it into FSM. A very nice job on a rarely seen kit.

There we go - I linked in on a different netowork & can now see what all the buzz is about! haha -- yep, she's a little trenchy, but it looks great. I always love these Luftwaffe "special projects" nice job on the RATO bottles & camera. I like the mis-matched panels too, really adds to the "put a bunch of parts together" feel of this one.

Thanks for the background on this weird aircraft. It's always a pleasure to see something unusual. 

Hey the triebflugel is awesome too! Great job on a not so great kit.

Thanks for letting us see her.

Great looking builds and interesting subjects. I too love these off the beaten path planes. But the concept of forward swept wings continues to fascinate. NASA tested forward swept wings in the early 90's with the X-29

The Russians did also in the late 90's with the S-47

Thanks guys for the comments!  I'm glad you enjoyed the pics.  I hope I have infected  inspired some of you to jump on a project.  It's like going to kindergarten and spreading your cold germs.    "Hey guys, guess what I've got!  Cough-cough."  (Don't worry, the Triebflugel's spots aren't contagious!)  But seriously, I think sharing is an important part of a forum, as seeing other people's work really gets my modeling juices flowing!  Believe me, you guys are a huge help to get me off my butt.

Okay, last one for the road.  These little guys are the aformentioned Huma DM-1 and P.13.  The P.13 was inspired by the insanely overpriced 1/48 Mauve kit.  I figured the DM-1 was close enough to pull off a conversion, and the base kit was around $11.00, as opposed to the $80-90 for the Mauve kit.  The P.13's intake was from an old Rapidograph pen handle, and the exhaust was formed from a sheet plastic box that was faired into the wings with Miliput epoxy putty.  The canopy was heat formed from scrap blister packaging, which has yellowed terribly over time.  The trolley was made from sheet plastic, using photos of the Mauve kit as featured in Tamiya Model Magazine.  Thankfully there were enough clear photos to get the basic proportions and details.  The funny thing is that Revell Germany reboxed the 1/48 Mauve kit - and sold it for around $11.00!  I wonder if I should do a 1/48 DM-1 conversion now?

Waikong,

Yes, the FSW concept is possible today thanks to the advent of digital flight controls and active damping.  Back in the analog days of WW II, the designers had to rely on the instincts and reflexes of the test pilot.  Them were wild and wooly days!  It is interesting to note that to date, the Germans are the only ones to have pulled off a production FSW aircraft, the Hansajet.  I'd like a nice 1/72 kit of that one!

Now those are very nice. The Germans certainly had some strange designs. And there are some nice kits out there, especially if you don't mind pricey resin. Would be nice if Revell would bring out some more Luft 46 kits, as they have a few nice ones.

Nice to seen another fan of the what if's, i'll never get tired of seeing them, especially when they are of that quality.

Bish

...The Germans certainly had some strange designs....

They certainly didn't feel restrained by "what an airplane should look like" did they?

VanceCrozier,

Hey, they didn't know what should look right back then!  The Germans were desperately pushing the boundaries of theoretical aeronautics at the end of WW II, and there was really nothing out at the time to tell them if they were headed in the right direction.  But the old adage "if it looks right, it will fly right" was true back then as it is today.  Poor, poor Richard Vogt, designer of the BV-141.  He's one of my aircraft designer heros.

BTW, has there ever been a GB for freaks, flops, and failures?  (I got a closet full of them!)

Real G

Thanks guys for the comments!  I'm glad you enjoyed the pics.  I hope I have infected  inspired some of you ..

that's smells like teen spirits a sort of weid flying things gb feeler .... sniff

And who knows how many of them may have actually worked. After all, the flying wing would have looked, and still des look, like an odd concept.

What ever happened to the idea of the FSW. Did the US decide it was a no go.