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Old 04-23-2020, 04:30 PM
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rockpaperscissor rockpaperscissor is offline
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1/33 Arado E.381 II

Years ago der Kampflieger (Roman Vasilyev) offered a free model of the Arado E.381 II parasite interceptor in 1/72 scale. This was a really tiny airplane, and in 1/72 scale it was too small for me to attempt. But...for it's size the model was quite detailed, and the texturing was really great, so I downloaded it to my stash. Finally, with a bad case of quarantine fever, I decided to build it in a more manageable 1/33 scale.

This was a desperation weapon that thankfully for German test pilots, never made it off the drawing board. It was intended to be carried aloft, slung under an Arado 234 jet bomber. Approaching, and well above the Allied bomber stream, it would be dropped and the prone pilot would ignite the C-stof/T-stof Walter 509B rocket engine. propelling the aircraft to over 500 MPH. Its first attack would be made with its single 30mm cannon. When all 45 rounds were depleted, the pilot would maneuver back for a ramming attack with its reinforced wing. When the volatile fuel was depleted, the pilot would glide the aircraft back to earth, deploying a small braking parachute to slow it down. It would gently land on its ventral skid. Nothing to it.



I decided to build the scary looking petaled nose/canopy first (photo 1), because if I couldn't get that right, there was no point in continuing. It came out ok. Not great, but ok (photo 2). I cut out its bulkhead and when I inserted it into the back, it fell right in. Something wasn't right here (photo 3). Either the bulkhead was too small, or the nose was too big. I put the nose aside, and started on the first fuselage segment. The front bulkhead fit perfectly. (photo 4). Crap, the nose was too big. I glued the rear bulkhead in place to finish the fuselage segment (photo 5), and then went back to the nose. To make the diameter smaller, I cut tiny inconspicuous slivers out of 5 of the sharks teeth at the underside of the nose. How much to remove was pure guesswork on my part, but miracle of miracles, after surgery the nose bulkhead fit perfectly (photos 6 and 7).
I mated up the nose/canopy with fuselage segment 1 (photos 8 and 9). That's it for today.
Attached Thumbnails
1/33 Arado E.381 II-e-381-flat-nose.jpg   1/33 Arado E.381 II-e-381-nose-formed.jpg   1/33 Arado E.381 II-e-381-nose-back.jpg   1/33 Arado E.381 II-e-318-segment-1-front.jpg   1/33 Arado E.381 II-e-381-segment-1-back.jpg  

1/33 Arado E.381 II-e-381-nose-trimmed.jpg   1/33 Arado E.381 II-e-381-nose-finished.jpg   1/33 Arado E.381 II-e-318-assy-1-rt.jpg   1/33 Arado E.381 II-e-381-assy-1-lt.jpg  
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Old 04-23-2020, 06:47 PM
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Luft '46... Outstanding designs...
I especially like seeing the videos of the RC clubs building them and then finding out that they really could fly!
(It's a good thing for the world the war ended when it did.)

P lite
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Old 04-24-2020, 03:45 AM
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Excellent start Don!
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Old 04-24-2020, 04:23 AM
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Great work on that nose. You lined up everything perfectly.


Gary
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Old 04-24-2020, 10:25 AM
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Photo 8 shows that the round spherical windshield is still not aligned on the bottom. Sort of bulging instead of smooth transition. Can you try again? I think the original petal part has an error.

How about a clear vacuformed piece instead?


Isaac
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Old 04-24-2020, 10:54 AM
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That's the way Roman designed it, Isaac. I don't really like the way it looks either. Actually, it's perfectly aligned with the underside of the first fuselage section which reduces in diameter rather abruptly in the front. I'm hoping that when the skid is glued on, it'll be less apparent. You can see the apparent misalignment on the instruction diagram.
Attached Files
File Type: pdf 1;33 Arado E.381 instr.pdf (540.4 KB, 24 views)
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Old 04-24-2020, 10:57 AM
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Then we agree that the nose design is wrong!
I built this model in original scale and got the same bad result for the nose


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Old 04-27-2020, 11:51 AM
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I agree that the nose looks different from the commonly found line drawings and illustrations of the E.381. Whether its a mistake or an intentional design feature, only Roman knows for sure. There may be some obscure reference drawing that he worked from.

Anyway, except for the landing skid, the fuselage is finished. In addition to the nose, there are 4 fuselage segments which are joined with butted bulkheads at each end. A rocket engine exhaust tube, and compound curved shroud over the 30mm cannon completes this portion of the build. I'm impressed with the fit of the parts, and as I stated earlier, the texturing is first rate.

Next up are the wings and tail assembly which feature separate "hinged" control surfaces. Nice detail for a free model.
Attached Thumbnails
1/33 Arado E.381 II-e-381-fusealgea.jpg   1/33 Arado E.381 II-e-381-fuselageb.jpg   1/33 Arado E.381 II-e-381-fuselage-c.jpg  
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