1/100 bv 141b

[rockpaperscissor]

This is my first airplane build in quite a while.

I've always been intrigued by Blohm und Voss's BV 141, the weirdly asymmetrical reconnaissance aircraft used by the Luftwaffe in WWII. This model is the B version, of which 20 were manufactured. It was the longer, wider, and more powerful younger brother of the version A prototype. In addition, the horizontal stabilizer on the crew gondola side was clipped short to give the rear gunner a better field of fire, adding to its already bizarre appearance. The BV 141B was powered with the same BMW 801 engine that was used in the FW190 fighter, which probably helped push the recon role in the direction of the FW 189.

I poked around a bit to find a likely candidate, and lo and behold, our own Gary Pilsworth had designed one in 1/72 scale back in 2009, which can still be retrieved from the Forum's download section.

The gondola glazing in Gary's model was rendered in black, and it kind of got lost in the dark green of the splinter camouflage pattern, so I reworked it in several hues of light blue. I also thought the model needed a little color, so I made the engine cowl yellow, and the propeller spinner red. It's probably not historically accurate, but it's not like I'm ever going to have some IPMS judge tearing it apart. Besides, I like the way it looks, so there.

The model was built straight out of the box with its overlapping glue tabs. I did cut these away when assembling the smaller components such as the cowl rings, and the front couple of pieces of the gondola. It was just easier that way. Everything fit together very well. It's a little sparse in detail - rudimentary landing gear, no panel lines, rear wheel, or propellers, so I decided to shrink it a bit to 1/100 scale, and display it "in flight" with gear up, and a plastic disc for the prop. The basic design is really solid though, so if Gary ever decided to gussy it up a bit (hint, hint), it would make a very nice model.

On to the pics. I used a Fiddler's Green stand, and added a bit of wire for the rear firing machine gun. I should probably have added the two forward firing, wing mount machine guns and the pitot tube, but I think I'll wait for Gary's V0.2 for that

[Texman]

Awesome!!!

[MacSongLi]

Beautiful build Don. Very impressive.

Gary

[Don Boose]

Great work, as always, Don!

When I was a teenager in the 1950s, I took golf lessons from a golf pro who had immigrated from the Netherlands. He was a youngster during the war and claims to seen the gunner in one of these aircraft shoot the tail off his own aircraft. I don't know if that was possible, and doubt that the BV 141 was ever used operationally over Holland, but some stories are too good to check.

Don

[elliott]

A well-done model Don. Enjoyed the commentary too.

[YOAVHOZMI]

simple and very good building

YOAV

[rockpaperscissor]

Thank you all for your comments. I don't know about that story either, Don. I suppose it's possible, but the gunner would really have to work at it. Sounds more likely to happen with the A version which had the full tail plane. Of the 8 of those that were produced, 2 were "damaged", so you never know.

It was a simple, fun, and trouble free build. Gary, or one of the talented repainters we have here, could easily bring it up to date with just a bit of window dressing.

[rockpaperscissor]

I've contacted Gary Pilsworth and he has graciously allowed me to share my recolor of his BV-141b here in the forum. It should be available in the download section shortly - currently under moderator review.

[gomidefilho]

Very fine work Don! I like a lot!

[Texman]

Approved!!