Japanese Horten 229 Flying Wing Fighter

[TheChronicOne]

This is awesome!!! I think it looks great..... better like this than the German liveries.

[TheChronicOne]

I forgot to ask this earlier, but what would have been the purpose of the two black parts (One on either side of the nose at the front leading edge.) on the leading edge of the model? They are parts that came with the kit and were shown in the instructions. Could they have been flash suppressors for when the guns were firing? What are they?

Hmmm.....  good question....     (my post made a new page in the thread so I wanted to make sure this didn't get missed)

Jokingly.. they look like something to flip omelettes. Hazarding an actual guess... I'd suspect they were some type of or attached to some type of instrumentation.  Truth of the matter is I have no idea.

[seadude]

Hazarding an actual guess... I'd suspect they were some type of or attached to some type of instrumentation.

Maybe, but doubtful. Look at Steps 22 and 23 in the below instruction page. Step 22 shows the gun bays (and covers) on either side of the nose gear well. Step 23 shows the parts that I had mentioned fitting into the exit ports where the guns would be firing. So the parts must be related to the guns somehow, right?

[TheChronicOne]

Yeah... I would agree, for sure. Definitely to do with the guns since they are in the gun ports. hehe 

Trying to wrap my mind around what would make sense there... 

I now recall a story of an aircraft, may have been the B-25 when they mounted the guns on the side, that they had to put an extension on the barrel because the firing of those guns was damaging the fuselage. Looking at this one, perhaps they wanted to extend that concussive action past the intakes, which are very close by.

I was liking your theory of flash suppressant, too, though, I just can't see that being a good reason considering where this this thing fights and flies...  hiding gun flame wouldn't be much of a priority up there... if anything, if they wanted to achieve stealth, they'd load up with ammunition that didn't contain tracer rounds.

[Old Wombat]

I'd suggest they're muzzle brakes to reduce the recoil effects of the Rheinmetall‑Borsig 30mm MK 108 cannon they were designed to carry on the relatively light structure of the plane. The alignment, I think, should be vertical, rather than horizontal, as this would also send the ejected gasses above & below the wing instead of into the front of the wing & the intake. As none of the 3 Horten 229's built included weapons, it's probably a model design error.

[Dizzyfugu]

These are/were muzzle brakes, but these are normally associated with the 30mm MK 103 cannon:



Very different beast from the later, compact MK 108 which was widely used in late war fighters and attack aircraft, e. g. in the Me 262 or Me 163. The MK 103 was an earlier design, much bigger (esp. with a long barrel) and had much more range and firepower - it was, for instance, used against tanks as special equipment under some HS 129 or Bf 110. It was a good choice against bombers, too, but, IIRC, rare. Due to the much lower velocity of the MK 108 projectiles it would not need or carry muzzle brakes, so I'd assume that the model depicts OOB a Go 229 with two MK 103?

[Old Wombat]

The sources I read said the Ho.229 was meant to be fitted with MK 108's but, I guess, MK 103's are just as viable. It is a whif-in-a-box after all is said & done.

[dumaniac]

very nice - great concept

[NARSES2]

The sources I read said the Ho.229 was meant to be fitted with MK 108's but, I guess, MK 103's are just as viable. It is a whif-in-a-box after all is said & done.

And it's Japanese so the guns can be whatever Seadude want's them to be  How about 40mm Ho 301's fitted with flash suppressors ?

[Old Wombat]

You could stay with smaller calibres such as the Ho-155-I (or the later light-weight -II);

Specifications (Ho-155-I)
    Caliber: 30 mm (1.2 in)[2]
    Ammunition: 30 x 114 (235 g)
    Weight: 50 kg (110 lb)
    Rate of fire: 450 rounds/min
    Muzzle velocity: 700 m/s (2,300 ft/s)
    Range: 900 m

or the Ho-204

Specifications (Ho-204)
    Caliber: 37 mm (1.45 in)
    Ammunition: 37 x 144 (475 g)
    Weight: 130 kg (285 lb)
    Rate of fire: 400 rounds/min
    Muzzle velocity: 710 m/s (2,330 ft/s)

Having had a quick read, I'm not sure the Ho-301 is a suitagle weapon - the Ho.229 may have ended up shooting itself down!

Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho-301_cannon

Of the above weapons, I think the Ho-155-II would be the most suitable.

[nighthunter]

I'd love to get one and put it in USAF markings