Arado 381 1/48 scale X Crafts

[Isaac]

This is my continuation of my " on the road builds" while on TDY in Montreal Canada.

My first was the Me P. 1106 R which I finished last week:
Me P.1106R Eric Son 1/48- my travel build


Now, this tiny little thing. Again, I never build in 1/48 scale , but it is suitable when traveling and keeps me in touch. I wish they were in 1/33 scale so I can place next to my other Luft 46 collection.


The kit is X Crafts in 1/48 scale and consists of a couple of pages.



The Arado 381 was a micro parasite fighter. It really only housed the bare minimum. A pilot, engine, fuel and a gun. The pilot was in a prone position which was very uncomfortable to say the least.

The design was one of many zany ideas at the end of a desperate attempt by the Luftwaffe in 1945 and beyond. This is a point defense fighter of very short time on station. The fact that it had to be assembled , loaded onto a plane and then flown to altitude made it extremely vulnerable and a wasteful effort. However, it was one of many aviation projects that were explored and built.


pics from the web






More to come.


Isaac

[willygoat]

Ooo goody! I have had this one burning up hard drive space for a long time. Maybe seeing your build will get me to actually build the thing.

[Isaac]

Here are the parts:










Not much to work with. Even the full size plane was simple!



Isaac

[Isaac]

Here we go:











The main complaint I have is the nose shape which is a petal design. I personally do not like it, but is is impossible to make a bubble out of paper. In larger scale, this would have been a clear vacuformed nose with an interior visible from the nose as well.




Isaac

[Isaac]

I discarded all of the kits wing structure ( ribs and spars ) because at this small size they are not effective. Instead I used wood pieces and added card to achieve both support and shape.





Note: this model has separate ailerons / flaps and elevators. A nice plus.



Isaac

[Isaac]

Since the design is simple, there is not much more to say or show:








Isaac

[Isaac]

It took me 3 evenings or about 1 hour each to put this model together.



Not much to it, but great for keeping up.



Here is a first set of pictures






Isaac

[Isaac]

A second set of pictures









Isaac

[Isaac]

Here are my two tiny 1/48 scale fighters I built while in Canada.










That's all for now. I am out of these kits ( at least printed ones ). I did bring with me a large 1/33 scale kit of an Me-262 by GPM, but will hold off a bit until I know how long I will be here.



Thanks


Isaac

[willygoat]

It turned out pretty nice. THe small bits are why I've not tried my hand on this yet. I like your idea of scrapping the formers and just using wood. I will have to remember this for later.