If I recall, the Rotodyne was extremely noisy due to the ramjets.  That little Hiller looks terrifying on startup!

Some construction notes:

The gun bay doors don't have much contact area to the fuselage, only rows of tabs.  This, combined with the fact that the lower bay doors are just a touch too long, makes fitting the doors flush a little challenging.  Mine are not perfect despite my best efforts.

https://flic.kr/p/2gkpy5u][/url]TRIEBFLUGEL-18 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

The fins molded to the fuselage halves are missing the joint where they fair into their bases.  The separate horizontal fins will be used as a reference for scribing in the lines.  The plethora of recessed fastener detail Bish mentioned is apparent here.  They will need to be carefully restored after filling/sanding.  But the fit is pretty good.

https://flic.kr/p/2gkpf57][/url]TRIEBFLUGEL-19 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

The axles molded to the main landing gear fork are too small (or the holes in the wheel hub are too big), so the wheel wobbles around.  I might cut the axles off and redo it so that the wheel can be added after assembly and painting.

https://flic.kr/p/2gkp69e][/url]TRIEBFLUGEL-20 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

Ohhhh that's sooooooo cool! 

I am so tempted to pick one up to mark as a license build Japanese version. Or else as captured with USAAF or RAF markings. Operation Paperclip should have bought at least one back... 

I fixed the main wheel axle by removing the pins from the fork, drilling holes, then fitting a piece of plastic rod.  A piece of heat stretched plastic tubing (yes, you can stretch tubing just like sprue) was used as a sleeve to make up the difference in diameters of the axle and hole in the wheel hub.

https://flic.kr/p/2gqZs1h][/url]Triebflugel-21 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2gqZcCU][/url]Triebflugel-22 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

Now the wheel is no longer wobbly.  I still need to add German-looking brake lines ala Me-262.  The outrigger wheels didn't seat properly in their forks, so the shallow dimples in their hubs were drilled out using a drill with a slightly smaller diameter (to keep things tight), and now they snap in place.

https://flic.kr/p/2gqZrRj][/url]Triebflugel-23 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

Next up will be to scribe in the missing joint line at the base of the dorsal and ventral fins.

I think that maybe HGW's ME 262 seatbelts may be just the job for this?

This kit is on my list. I think I should build it and email miniart with faults that I found! LOL

Ha ha, you read my mind!  I bought HGW's Me-262b seat belt set to get two sets, one for each kit I have!  I also got their wet transfer Me-262 stencils - I have heard these are some trouble, but the sheet had everything I wanted, including the all-important "HIER AUFBOCKEN" stencil.  I mean, without it, where would the ground crew know where to bocken auf?  

Here is my own laundry list of complaints:

- Canopy shape is suspect; strange framing for the windscreen and no bullet proof panel

- And where is the emegency canopy jettison lever?

- Cockpit could really use a Heinkel ejector seat, and the headrest is tiny and goofy looking

- PE seat belts are featureless

- Excessive parts for the gun bays make fitting the cockpit module tricky

- Lower gun bay access hatches are a tad too long, and the tabbed locators are not a great idea

- Synchronized wing parts are in the kit, but not mentioned (but the joining method is terrible)

- Ramjets need exhaust tubes, as the hollow insides of the exterior fairings are very visible

- Missing panel joint line at base of dorsal and ventral fins

- Wheel cover attachment points are stupidly tiny

- Main wheel fit to landing gear fork is wobbly, and the outrigger wheels are too tight a fit

- Soft plastic may compromise vertical stance, as the outriggers are very flexy

- Miniart's original interpretation of the outrigger landing gear joint is questionable

- No fuel filler or radio access hatches

- What, no radio altimeter antenna, pitot tube or gun camera aperture?  Only D/F loop and IFF antenna are provided

- Decals lack a lot of standard service stenciling, like fuel grade triangles, oxygen filler, med kit location, and of course the trestle points (the hier aufbocken thing)

- The stabilizer mounted crosses are unnecessary I think, plus the fuselage crosses usually have a pair of numbers and/or letters before and after it

That may seem like a lot of complaining for a fictitious plane, but I am basing my observations on real Luftwaffe jets.  All problems can be overcome though.  I'm not sure I'll remake the canopy, as the kit parts are very clear.  i'll see how much it bothers me as I approach the finishing stage.

As to how to fuel the engines, that's actually easy.  You just mount the fuel tank on the same axel/axis the rotor has.  You then use a slip joint on the fuel line to handle any required axial rotor blade rotation.

Reaction Motor Inc actually made a add-on Hydrogen Peroxide gas generator unit for the hub of a Sikorski H-19 which added blade thrust to better handle take off, landing, and hover.  This was tested successfully in 1954, but poer-to-weight rations improved so much with turbine engines as to negate the gas generator bonus.

Now, for 2¢ the best 1945 landing solution would be a parachute i nthe nose and a flotation ring of some sort for water landings.

Well not that easy. The rotating wing was not supported by an axle, as is a rotary wing on a helicopter. That's an end use of energy. The problem here is that the fuselage has a continuous structure of a considerable diameter. I believe this thing was intended to have a big diameter roller bearing essentially on the exterior of the fuselage, which the wing spun around on.

Still, once the fuel got into the wings, it could easily be routed out to the ramjets. I think the Rotodyne type things had hollow blades that the fuel flowed through.

So there would be some big kind of fuel manifold with a complicated seal attached in some way to the roller bearing assembly, fed by a supply line in a swiveling sealed fitting.

Still, if I was a Flight Lieutenant in a Gloster Meteor (one can dream), I'd know where to aim my cannons at.

Nice work there fixing the landing gear. One thing I wouldn't want to do is set down something this top heavy on a set of wobbly wheels. 

GM, yeah there would have to be a set of roller bearings to support the “waistband” ring, with a swivel joint at the center feeding fuel to the engines.  An escape capsule would probably be as deadly to the pilot as Jabos.  Recall the F-111 and its crew’s comments regarding the use of its escape capsule.  Plus with 1945 tech, it would have been too heavy.

Gamera, the outrigger legs are flexy too due to the soft plastic.  Hopefully I don’t end up with a Leaning Tower of Pisa!

Parts are being glued together now and fit is generally good.

I thought a bit about how to address the hollow engine pods, first thinking about vac forming a tapering tube to fit the fuel injector cascade and exhaust outlet.  But that required that the front I.D. of the tube had to exactly match the O.D. of the cascade while at the same time the rear O.D. had to match the I.D. of the engine pod, and all that happening a precise distance from each other.  Too much calculation and too much headache.

So I got lazy and made two sets of tubes from 0.020" styrene sheet, taped around a fat Xacto handle and a brass tube, then dunked them in boiling water.

https://flic.kr/p/2gzd9p5][/url]Triebflugel-24 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2gzdFS1][/url]Triebflugel-25 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

I'm going to have to re-curl the exhaust tube edges, as they produce a kink which is much more visible in the photo than I thought.

https://flic.kr/p/2gzd9jq][/url]Triebflugel-26 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

With the exhaust tubes taken care of, that wraps up the internal work for the kit.  The wings will be glued together and be readied for painting.  I didn't take any photos of the aft fuselage, but the horizontal stabilizers are on, and the missing panel lines on the dorsal and ventral stabilizers have been scribed.  A small bit of filler was needed here and there, more so on the horizontal stabs' fuselage join lines.

The exhaust liners are done and only require a little cleanup and some paint before the wings can be glued together.

0.010" strip plastic spacers keep the inner/outer tubes centered.

Filling/sanding the aft fuselage continues.  It's not a lot of work, just some finesse and precision is called for to reduce the amount of collateral destruction of detail.

The seam line at the ends of the fins look horrible, but again, just a little patience and care should do the trick.

When it rains, it pours!  Amusing Hobby's 1/48 Triebflugel just landed in my office the other day.

A quick peek into the box reveals different interpretations of little details compared to the Mini Art kit, like canopy shape, outrigger leg cross section and engine fuel injector cascade.

IMHO it's a mixed bag - I like the canopy shape and simple construction better compared to the larger Mini Art kit, but the fuel injector cascades and landing gear bits are less appealing.  The main wheel hub looks kind of blah as well;  I'll source a resin replacement.  No PE is included, and the seat has no molded in belts.  I haven't taken a close look at the small stuff like the gunsight, but there are nice resin ones from Quickboost.

The fuel injector "plates" needed to be drilled out.  Nothing fancy, just used a 0.020" diameter drill to clean out the holes.

I only noticed last night that the wing trailing edges looked like popsicle sticks!

It is not as bad as it looks, as once assembled it is not so glaringly obvious.  Correcting the profile would lead to affecting the fit of the engine pods, so I'm leaving this issue alone.

There are a lot of detail differences between the Amusing Hobby and Miniart kits, like the representation of the raised fairings on the engine pod and the shape of the clamshell doors covering the outrigger wheels.

I like Miniart's interpretations better, but the Amusing Hobby kit is much easier to assemble.

The kit came with two fold-out paint and marking guides.  I'm going to do my own.  I'll also have to pick a second scheme for the Miniart kit.

Personally I don't think national crosses would be on the wings, as it would be a blur.  I'm also not going to make hard camo demarcations on the ring that carries the wings, as it would create an optical strobe effect that would be like saying "hey look at me!"  Swastikas on the dorsal fin and service stencilling will come from the spare decal folder.

A size comparison between the two kits.

There are a lot of detail differences between the two kits.  I think I am liking the Miniart version for its better refinement and little details.  But the Amusing Hobby kit is much simpler to build.

That's cool looking! So wierd I have to love it. 

Please keep up the good work G!!! 

A necro thread, but yet another Triebflugel kit has arrived to peruse!  This time, it's in 1/72 and resin, from A&B Models:

I was a little worried that the outrigger gear were not included with the kit, as they do not appear in the photos on their website.

This one looks like it has all the right features that I want in a Triebflugel (except for price).   The big 1/35 Miniart kit is still sitting around, but I am seriously thinking about redoing the cockpit opening and making a new canopy.

All these years we just had the Huma kit, now all these. I know resin kits are pricey, but somtimes you just got to do it. I am really thinking about getting that one.

I had hoped Revell Germany would do it back in the 1990-2000 period, when they were on the 1946 wagon.  I consider the Triebflugel a 1946 icon, since it was the design that got me into Luft '46.

I am a little surprised that no new injection kit of the Triebflugel in 1/72 has shown up.  A RoG kit would have been dirt cheap!

Ye, i'm surprised they didn't add that to their Luft 46 collection.

very very nice work so far.  This concetp jet is also my most favorite in my collection. I've built the 1/72 huma, and miniart 1/35 version just recently.

Looking forward to see it completed.