Great What-if accessory: Brengun's Natter Trailer!

[Faust]

One kind of modelling that has always been near and dear to my heart is "What If" stuff. I love project aircraft (particularly Luft '46, but others too) and weapons of all sorts. Of course, What If can encompass a whole range of things, from Nazi UFOs to simply applying some different markings to a particular vehicle to represent it in an alternative service or capacity in which it was never found.

The one kind of What If that's pretty hard to come by, though, is a "real" What If. In other words, hardware that was developed, but only barely made it into prototype or limited production but didn't get used. One example of this is the Bachem Natter; the Ba-349 was produced in small numbers, and was deployed in Operation Krokus. However, Natters never saw action (much to their pilots' relief, I'm sure) and while a few were captured, nothing ever became of them.

To go along with such a rare "real" What If, Brengun made another "real" What If kit – the wooden trailer/launch rail that was supposed to be used for launching the Natter! This is a really weird kit, and is, very unusually for me, a resin model. However, since I do like Natters, I thought it would be cool to build it.

Check it out at the link below, and you'll see how you can probably imagine a couple of other uses for it too!

https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/brengun-1-72-natter-trailer-launcher/

[Old Wombat]

I can see it being fitted with a REALLY BIG rubber band & being used to sling heavy calibre howitzer projectiles when Nazi Germany ran out of brass/propellant to make cases/charges.

[scooter]

I can see it being fitted with a REALLY BIG rubber band & being used to sling heavy calibre howitzer projectiles when Nazi Germany ran out of brass/propellant to make cases/charges.

[Tophe]

is a "real" What If

It is also possible, theoretically, to what-if further a "real" what-if

[Devilfish]

I have literally just finished this....

20190410_061935 by Paul Carter, on Flickr

20190410_061928 by Paul Carter, on Flickr

[Rheged]

Given that the trailer has to stand the blast of four Schmidding solid  rocket   boosters and the Walter T and C stoff liquid fuelled rocket; what proportion of the trailers would probably have caught fire?

It's a cracking little diorama!!

[NARSES2]

Given that the trailer has to stand the blast of four Schmidding solid  rocket   boosters and the Walter T and C stoff liquid fuelled rocket; what proportion of the trailers would probably have caught fire?

It's a cracking little diorama!!

Totally agree with both sentiments 

It looks medieval , almost as though someone has put to much weight in the cart. All it needs is the horse/mule/donkey/camel in the shafts but way up in the air !

Brengun do some cracking stuff.

One example of this is the Bachem Natter; the Ba-349 was produced in small numbers, and was deployed in Operation Krokus. However, Natters never saw action (much to their pilots' relief, I'm sure) and while a few were captured, nothing ever became of them.

I wasn't aware of that. Never realised they'd actually been deployed. Thought after the initial manned test flight everyone, bar the test pilot, had walked away and parked the whole idea.

Interestingly the test flights where the Natter was towed aloft showed it was quite a maneuverable aircraft. It was the proposed launch system which was the problem

[Faust]

I still think that, because they had an autopilot for the first section of the flight (there was fear no human could react as the little thing blasted off and continued to accelerate, and it seemed to work well), they should have just mass produced them as SAMs. Fill the nose with explosive and shrapnel, put more Schmiddings in the tail (no sense wasting the liquid fuel engine) and lit them off in the direction of the bombers. A proximity fuse, or noise fuse, or anything would have worked thereafter.

I think a wave of SAMs would have been more effective than a wave of Natters. Ask the folks who had to fly "downtown" to Hanoi.

[NARSES2]

I still think that, because they had an autopilot for the first section of the flight (there was fear no human could react as the little thing blasted off and continued to accelerate, and it seemed to work well), they should have just mass produced them as SAMs. Fill the nose with explosive and shrapnel, put more Schmiddings in the tail (no sense wasting the liquid fuel engine) and lit them off in the direction of the bombers. A proximity fuse, or noise fuse, or anything would have worked thereafter.

Seems quite plausable to me and would make a good Wiff. Only downside I can see is that would they be able to manufacture enough if they were single use ?

[loupgarou]

Germans had many experimental SAM missiles in the last months of the war. More efficient than this design. No need of a big frontal areas when there is no pilot to fit in. This would have been ridicously ineffient for a missile.

[NARSES2]

But it was available and tested. Last desperate days ?

[Captain Canada]

Very nice.

[Devilfish]

I still think that, because they had an autopilot for the first section of the flight (there was fear no human could react as the little thing blasted off and continued to accelerate, and it seemed to work well), they should have just mass produced them as SAMs. Fill the nose with explosive and shrapnel, put more Schmiddings in the tail (no sense wasting the liquid fuel engine) and lit them off in the direction of the bombers. A proximity fuse, or noise fuse, or anything would have worked thereafter.

Seems quite plausable to me and would make a good Wiff. Only downside I can see is that would they be able to manufacture enough if they were single use ?

Fit a large shrapnel bomb with a proximity fuse, and it wouldn't have to actually hit an aircraft. The shrapnel could potentially take out, or seriously damage several aircraft at once.

[Faust]

That's what I'm talking about.  You put a couple of hundred pounds of shrapnel (instead of pilot) and replace the rocket fuel with explosive, you've got a hell of a mess on your hands when it goes off!

As for frontal area - it's not that big. Seriously. Look at a 1/72 Natter vs. a 1/72... well... anything! At rocket speeds, it would be nearly impossible to see, track or hit. and if you did blow it up, well, you might have wished you hadn't!

I know the Germans had other missiles in development, but think of it this way: the Natter was already known to fly well, it was basically ballistic and autopilot controlled for the ascent phase anyway, launchers were in the making... it is far and away ahead of other missile projects. They wanted to make the darned things out of CARDBOARD for heck's sake. Doesn't get much more thowaway than that. More material in a V2, and they weren't really effective at anything.

(Hmm... V2 SAM... nasty...)

My two cents, at least.

[Devilfish]

(Hmm... V2 SAM... nasty...)