1/72 scale Soviet Ar555 Flying Wing Bomber

[seadude]

This is the 1/72 scale Revell German Arado Ar 555 "Amerika Bomber" model kit that has been made into a what if Soviet flying wing bomber instead. The Arado Ar 555 actually existed in World War 2, but only as a "paper design" that never went into production. My model whiff showcases what would have happened if the Soviets had captured the blueprints and design specifications at the end of the war and had created their own flying wing bomber for testing and/or production purposes in the late 1940's to early 1950's.
Model is painted overall Testor Acryl Aluminum.
Landing gear bays painted Testors Light Ghost Grey.
Cockpit main color painted with Lifecolor RLM25 Bright Green.
Bombs in bomb bay painted Testors Euro 1 Grey.
Soviet red star decals from spare parts box.
Guns painted Tamiya XF-56 Metallic Grey.

 The Arado E.555 was a strategic bomber proposed by the German Arado company in response to the Amerika Bomber project. The Amerika-Bomber project was an initiative of the German Reichsluftfahrtministerium to obtain a long-range strategic bomber for the Luftwaffe that would be capable of striking the United States from Germany, a round-trip distance of about 11,600 km (7,200 mi). The concept was raised as early as 1938, but advanced, cogent plans for such a long-range strategic bomber design did not begin to appear in Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring's offices until early 1942. Various proposals were put forward, including using it to deliver an atomic bomb (which Germany ultimately never developed), but they were all eventually abandoned as too expensive, and potentially consuming far too much of Germany's rapidly diminishing aviation production capacity after 1942. There were several different configurations of the design considered, the most striking being the E.555-1. This was a six-jet, angular flying wing design, with remotely-operated turrets, capable of carrying a large payload. All of these projects were abandoned, following an order by the Reich Air Ministry, on 22 December 1944.
SPECIFICATIONS: 
Wingspan – Approx. 70' feet,
Speed – Approx. 550 mph,
Max. Ceiling – 49,200+ feet,
Range – Approx. 3,000 miles,
Crew – 3, 
Bomb Load - 9,000 lbs.,
Powerplant – Six BMW 003A turbojet engines,
Defensive Armament – 2x Mk103 30mm cannons in wing roots, 2x MG 151/20 20mm cannons in remote turret behind cockpit, and 2x MG 151/20 20mm cannons in remote controlled tail turret.

[seadude]

More pics:

[Old Wombat]

Nice job!


I have one but it's going to find itself mated with a 1/48 single-seater.

[frank2056]

Looks great! This kit is in my top 10 all time favorites; it was fun to build. I wish RoG would re-release it.

[Wardukw]

Yup very believable..the russians copied the B29 so why not these too 
Lovely build and i love the different and this is that 

[NARSES2]

Does look good in Red Stars 

[comrade harps]

That's a funky aluminium overcast.

[Pellson]

Cool. I have one too, in the Stash^TM, but I still have to decide what to do with it. For now, it is in the German box, possibly as an early project for the restarting German air industry in the fifties.
We'll see. This Russian example is thought provoking. It looks really good and very very plausible. So maybe I should go from that end instead..

[zenrat]

Nice.
 

The engines on these always look like after thoughts to me.  They could be buried in the wings with leading edge intakes but that would; 1) require moving the UC bays, and b) a shedload of PSR.

[PR19_Kit]

They also look too small as well, replaced with a couple of RB-211s, CF60s or PW2000s and they'd be right on the money.

[su27rules]

Nice!!

[Wardukw]

They also look too small as well, replaced with a couple of RB-211s, CF60s or PW2000s and they'd be right on the money.

And longer wings .

[Tophe]

I like the front view, thanks. Maybe I will play with it in photo editing.  

[zenrat]

They also look too small as well, replaced with a couple of RB-211s, CF60s or PW2000s and they'd be right on the money.

And longer wings .

Goes without saying.  Maybe increase the span by adding sections inboard of the landing gear bays containing engines?

[Dizzyfugu]

I wonder if the nose from an Il-28 could be transplanted...?    The engine cluster might be replaced with the Beagle's engines, too?