Blohm und Voss BV 40

[JayBee]

In another thread I spoke of cloning prone pilot figures, and a number of people asked why I needed them.
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=47757.0

Well this new thread gives the answer.




The BV 40 Glider Fighter has always fascinated me and the first model I made of it was from the old Airmodel Vac-form kit some 40+ years ago!
These kits were certainly not as crisp as Rareplanes for moulding quality and small parts had to be scratch built or scrounged from other kits. The canopy (vac-form) was a disaster and had to be scratched from plasticard both opaque and CLEAR. I do not know where I got the latter from.
Overall though not too bad a little kit.
It was only fairly recently that I realised that the colour scheme, as given with the kit, with it's two different greys in a splinter pattern for the upper surfaces was completely fictitious, and that makes this a What-If.








Yes there is even a Prone Pilot in it!




The next kit is the Warlord Limited Series from WK Models in Germany, from the late 1990's, and I have two of them.
It has vac-form canopies and I just hope they fit OK.
The last kit is the very modern, and current, fully injected one from BrenGun.

The plans are to build them OOB but with different markings.
One will be as test flown in the UK by none other than the late Cpt. Eric "Winkle" Brown.
One will be as tested in the USA.
..And one will be either Russian or Japanese, I just have not made my mind up yet.

[Tophe]

The next kit is the Warlord Limited Series from WK Models in Germany, from the late 1990's, and I have two of them.

Do you mean 2 kits of Bv-40? That would be great as Bv-40Z zwilling/twin-plane (and the straight wing makes it rather possible)

[chrisonord]

Very nice build Jim, but the words fighter glider  have left me scratching my  head. Did the guns have silencers on them too?
Chris

[NARSES2]

I knew it was small, but not that small. It's tiny.

That Warlord box is a tad odd ? 1/72 kit with a 48... serial number. Confusing ? Would me at a show for sure, especially at Telford mid afternoon on the Saturday 

[Tophe]

That would be great as Bv-40Z zwilling

Like this for instance:

[PR19_Kit]

With two fuselages and only one set of wings that would have a glide ratio that went from 'pretty bad' to 'DIABOLICAL'!

What it needs is 'LONGER WINGS'. 

[Tophe]

corrected:

[PR19_Kit]

MUCH better. 

[Scotaidh]

MUCH better. 

Plus, longer wings = more space for fuel tanks.

[JayBee]

No, No, No, The first drawing was better. There would be a couple of little hatches so that if things got realy bad the two pilots could reach out and hold hands for security.
With the greater wingspan this would not be possible, and the two pilots would have to live with their own insecurities. Not a good idea for a fighting unit.
Anyway it is not happening.

[PR19_Kit]

They could have moved the fuselages together while keeping the same overall span,

And then they could STILL hold hands across the gap. RESULT! 

[JayBee]

Now the obligatory sprue shot. Or in this case the double sprue shots, they are so small they can be shown together.
On the left, my Lords Ladies and Gentlemen, in the dark plastic, we have the Warlord offering.
On the right, in the lighter colour, we have the Brengun contender.
At this stage they both look good, and certainly very similar in shape.
However, for me anyway, this is a real contest. I prefer the Warlord kit because it has all the fidley little bits moulded in, while the Brengun kit has them as PE (TINY PE) bits.
But the Warlord kit has a Vac-form canopy while Brengun has an injected one.
Only the ensuing build will tell who wins.




Oh, and as a PS I have decided that the third one will be Russian. I do not think the Japanese would have worried about having a fighter with a reduced frontal area, or a short time in the combat area. That would be too much like being a Ronin.

[stevehed]

I'm at a loss too. What is a glider fighter, please?

[sandiego89]

Looking good.  Surely rates pretty high on the box to model size ratio.  I recall a He-162 coming with a large box and a plastic tray insert to keep the pieces sorted. Much more packaging than styrene.  Could have fit a dozen kits in the box....

[PR19_Kit]

The first issue Airfix Banshee was the same, a massive, Lancaster size box, with a tiny jet huddled in one corner. 

In their case I think it was an effort to bump up the price so it was packed in the next series up box.