Darren Baker takes a look at the latest offering from MiniArt of the Focke-Wulf Triebflugel in 1/35th scale. This time it is a Nachjager version that is provided.

Read the Review

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Armor?? Really??

The craziness continues.

Gino it is on both sites.

Not my point. Just because its 1/35 doesn't mean it belongs here. Also, just because MiniArt requested it doesn't mean anything either. Do sponsors now run the site?

You are entitled to your opinion and have had your say.

He's had his say, but we're still in want of the reasoning behind why this Luftwaffe '46 subject is relevant on an armour forum?

Scale alone cannot be the deciding factor, can it?

I can handle seeing reviews of any subject anywhere. Just curious.

I don't have any problems believing that armour modellers could be interested in flying things in 1/35th scale.

I don't remember any similar discussions about V-2 rockets, surface-to-air missiles, V-1 rockets, assault gliders or even the Piper Cub "Grasshopper" aircraft being presented here.
Sometimes questions about helicopters get asked here so I imagine that there is a real interest for this kind of news/reviews here.
Some helicopters are close to flying tanks, Mi-24 Hind for instance, some ground attack aircraft could also fit right in.
Some manufacturers seem to think that helicopters have a market niche in 1/35th scale as well.








I wouldn't mind one of these in 1/35th

Firstly, thank you for another review Darren.

Secondly, I don't go to the aircraft site because my interest is armour BUT I find it interesting what the predominantly armour model manufacturers make outside my usual area of interest in the same scale.

This is a perfect example of how our membership will post a complaint (Yes it is acceptable) about what I have done and yes I knew full well that it would not be popular with everyone. Look at the number of posts here compared with those on Aeroscale and then tell me I still got it wrong.

I wouldn't say the number of posts here is because it is in the "right" forum, quite the contrary.

Well, this one sure is both improbable and hilariously unlikely to have ever even FLOWN, much less be developed as a night fighter. Wow, what a bizarre subject matter to introduce, both in general AND on a site dedicated to armour. Here I sort of agree with the nay-sayers as this is one flipping silly piece of aircraft fantasy that you can't even incorporate into a dio without bursts of laughter and fits of ridicule. Wow indeed. Let the argument begin! PS: Darren, thanks anyways for presenting this unlikely beastie. I would never have realized that it even existed in model form without your review.

Well, there are kits of silly tanks from Wehrmacht 1946 so why not a silly aircraft? Kugelpanzers and stuff ...

People just don't know how to scroll past anymore do they?

And as for silly, get over it. I love the What-if? stuff. It requires a lot more artistry, and it's a hell of a lot more fun than another Tiger or Sherman.

In other news, I really kinda want one of these. Paint schemes would be a lot of fun to do, as well as all the weathering effects.

Actually the Kugelpanzer actually existed albeit in very limited numbers. Something like three trial versions were sent into the Ruhr pocket where they vanished from the pages of history; one of which was discovered a couple of years ago when it was excavated showing that they did exist and might have seen limited combat time. I agree about how dull another Sherman or Tiger would be but surely there must be interesting existing vehicles missed so far. I, for one, would really like more soft skin, workshop trucks and the like.

Maybe there could be a demarcation line – any flying object that worked closely with ground forces, such as reconnaissance, troop gliders etc., or required vehicles to assist launching is acceptable.

But a “paper” aircraft that would only have been seen on an airfield or in the air & never parked next to army vehicles? Well actually I recall an excellent dio in this forum back around 2016 (which if memory serves was never finished) of a plane (Me262?) in a hangar being inspected by some GIs in a jeep. Nobody objected then, and I guess this bonkers plane could feature in a similar “1946” setting.

BUT there’s a distinction between what could appear in a diorama, and reviews of newly released kits. If someone wants to do a dio featuring an aircraft they should go to the aviation forums to find what’s new. Does Aeroscale feature newly released tanks? I doubt it, so how can the reverse be justified? I don’t think the scale has any relevance other than it can be used in conjunction with what’s still the standard AFV scale. The objection is about copying new aircraft releases into this forum.

Anyhow thanks for the great review – no pilot presumably?

You are right. Sorry if I came across as a bit irked. Personally, I love doing what-if models and custom projects. I love the freedom, and it annoys me when people knock on that like it isn't modeling. Everyone gets into this for different reasons. And I think it's really important we have all kinds of subjects to draw people in. I know all the World of Tanks stuff draws in a lot of younger modelers, which is really great.

Each to his own.

Yeah, well, I find all these what-ifs pretty boring but there are people out there who are buying and building that stuff, otherwise the companies would have stopped making them. everyone is entitled to their opinion, mine is, these kits are silly and a waste of time. ;-)

Great review Darren!!
I find it refreshing to see the occasional oddity on this site. I'm an armor/air hybrid now, yet not so much a what-iffer. Another angle to look at it, is that the cockpit would be armored.

And don't take the criticism personally. We have a certain orange fellow over here that has folks frothed up.

Boring...??!! Good grief...Mk 59 Panzer, M4E3A8X4B2 Sherman, M1A2A3/SEP4V6...THAT'S boring...LOL...!!!
These are model kits guys, meant to be built whilst incurring a certain amount of "fun"...being "picky" about ANY genre takes that "fun" factor out of the equation and makes us all sound like we are experts and cannot be questioned...I say, let it go, if you like it...build it...if not, well, quit whining and go build sumthin...!

I love this stuff. If it's 1/35 it belongs here. I don't visit Aeroscale. This is my home...so I like seeing new and interesting 1/35 kits. Thanks Darren.

That's cool. Thank you for the review Darren.

Randy

Shaking my head in disbelief that you would go there. It's a fricken modelling forum!

Thanks for the reminder that the Aeroscale site exists! I'm going to check in over there when Armorama gets too quiet - or too crazy! (That's a joke, folks!)

But seriously, though I rarely build flying thingies I can always pick up some tips or techniques. Plus I am just generally interested in builds, models, model companies and their products. So yeah.

I could see one of these in a crumpled heap next to a M19 SP AA unit, in a "1946" dio! But the crazy physics of that rotating blade would scare the heck outta any sane pilot...

Frank, is there any actual reference for those three kugelpanzers you mention? Outside of SF mags the only solid evidence of one that I've found is the strange little machine at Kubinka. Given that the MA ball tank is physically impractical in any universe that Einstein could explain, I'd be interested in any info on real ones.

And respect to Darren for poking the hornet's nest - again!