Lockdown does strange things to people. During periods off work I messed around with some old model kits I have lying around and came up with this. There's even a back story for the what-iffers to mull over:
So the story is that after the Allied operations in North Africa and the defeat of the Afrika Corps in 1943, units of the Luftwaffe in Libya scrambling to come to terms with the evolving situation draw up a last ditch attempt at striking a blow against the British by attempting to sink an aircraft carrier. The aircraft to be used are an old Regia Aeronautica Ju 87R that was left behind by the retreating Italians and attach it to a Bf 109E that's a little long in the tooth. The Mistel concept was a quick and easy solution using resources that are expendable, although they do want the poor Bf 109 pilot to get back. Radios, armament and other unnecessary items were removed from the Stuka to save weight and Luftwaffe markings were applied so as not to confuse any observers as to whom is responsible, but unit markings for both aircraft were removed. A standard SC250 HE bomb was carried on the sling under the Stuka, to which the ground crews wrote messages, such as "Fur Illustrious" and "Picciatello!", which translates as 'Crazy Diver' in Italian, and its tanks were filled to the brim.
Stuka Mistel iiiii
Stuka Mistel iiiiii
Stuka Mistel iiiiiii
Determining what length to make the bracing struts.
Stuka Mistel i
Stuka Mistel ii
The Bf 109 canopy became an offering to the carpet monster, unfortunately. This is the first model I've built in many years and I have noticed that my basic skills have not advanced much since I was a teenager!
Stuka Mistel
Re: Stuka Mistel
It makes perfect sense given the ideas that were going around at the time. As for modelling skills - I think mine are reverting to a similar level to when I was 10!
(Mark Twain: There are lies, there are damn lies and then there are statistics)
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Re: Stuka Mistel
Desperation breeds strange solutions (the DC-2 1/2 of the Far East when escaping from the Japanese springs to mind) and Mistel being an odd thing to start with, why not combine these two aircraft? In the world of what-if, maybe that was how the Mistel project started...
Nice one.
Nice one.