Germany's Falke

[NARSES2]

Designed as a competitor for the Messerschmitt Bf 110 the Fw 187 Falke suffered from the twin problems of a) being designed as a single seater when the Luftwaffe had wanted a twin seater and b) Focke -Wulf not having the political contacts of Messerschmitt. Never the less the company was sufficiently confident enough in the basic soundness of its design that it persisted with it and to placate the Luftwaffe hierarchy added a second seater. Although looking at his situation I have no idea what he did other than keep the pilot company. His view out was extremely restricted and with the 20mm canon magazines in front of his knees, handling the radio must have been awkward to say the least. The Luftwaffe was still not keen however and when bribery failed Focke-Wulf resorted to good old fashioned blackmail. Needs to say the details of this are far too sordid for a family site such as this but they did involve a senior Luftwaffe policy maker and one of Focke-Wulf's employees.

Thus with a small contract under their belts Focke-Wulf proceeded to produce a small number of A series machines for test purposes and this model represents one of those machines flying with 1./ZG 52 based in Northern France in July 1940. The Falke was as successful as any other German aircraft in the Battle of Britain and indeed was much liked by its pilots, no records survive of the second seater's opinions however !

Those pilots who flew both the 187 and the 110 in the main preferred the 187 and after the Battle and the inevitable inquests Focke-Wulf were given permission to farther develop the design. With the C model the aircraft returned to its original single seat configuration and at long last the Luftwaffe had a decent heavy fighter. The C model proved relatively successful in both the Russian and Mediterranean theatres but by 1944 and the advent of the D series most had returned to northern Europe and home defense. They took a heavy toll of the initial USAAF bomber raids but increasingly heavier armament installations having detrimental effects on performance and the provision of long range fighter escorts for the bomber streams meant that they suffered heavier losses as time went on, however with no replacement in site they soldiered on until the bitter end and were still capable of inflicting damage if the conditions were right.

As for the Me 110 ? After the Battle of Britain it remained in service with the Zestroyer Gruppe but as it was replaced by the Falke it was withdrawn to Homeland defense units. It was here it found its true niche with the addition of radar as a night fighter and it too was forced to soldier on to the end of the war as the Luftwaffe's procurement policies let it down again.

I've detailed the build above so won't go over that again other than to say that this was possibly the best short run kit I've ever built. There is a problem with the canopy fit as it protrudes very slightly over the forward "ledge" but that is me. Not sure exactly what happened but I think the pressure from the clamp used was not perpendicular. Paints were Xtracrylic with Humbrol, GW and Vallejo for the details. Transfers came from a Me 110 sheet by Techmod giving 3 Me 110 C's from 1939/1940.

I enjoyed this so much I have plans for a second which will be a single seater and possibly even a third which would use the engines from an old Italeri Me 410 that I have in the stash.

[Hotte]

Nice work 

Hotte

[Army of One]

That looks smashing......!! Can i ask.....were you tempted to paint part of the cowlings/rudder yellow at all...?

[The Chaos]

looks like very cool. Gread Joob. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Nice! 

[PR19_Kit]

Oh yes, I DO like that Chris!  

[RAFF-35]

That's fantastic, I love it     

[zenrat]

Wicked cool...


...said a passing youth.
Very good said me.


I particularly like those spinners.

[NARSES2]

That looks smashing......!! Can i ask.....were you tempted to paint part of the cowlings/rudder yellow at all...?

Nope mate. It's the scheme as worn by a real Me 110