Rick K Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 (edited) The Fa330 Bachsteize (Wagtail) always interested me as a unique aircraft with an equally unique mission. This was towed aloft to about 400ft (120m) by the U-Boat so the pilot could see beyond the horizon view (25 nautical miles) and report any enemy activity. Stored in 2 water tight compartments by the conning tower a team of 3 can assemble and disassemble the Fa330 in about 20 minutes. U-boat commanders disliked the Fa330 as the prolonged time on surface make their boat venerable to an air strike or detection by enemy ships. The Fa330 was abandoned in the North Atlantic due to allied air superiority but continued use in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean. The only recorded successful use of the Fa330 was 5 August 1943 by U-177 on the Indian Ocean off the coast east of Madagascar. Greek merchant ship Efthalia Mari was observed by U-177's Fa330. U-177 proceeded to intercept the Efthalia Mari and sink her with 2 torpedoes. Efthalia Mari lost 1 crew of 43. U-177 did not survive the war and was sunk 6 February 1944 in Atlantic west of Ascension Island by an American P4BY-1 Liberator. U-177 lost 50 crew of 65. Not a easy build as there was plenty of angst and head scratching moments. This build also gave me an opportunity to practice rigging as a WNW bird will be landing on my bench soon. WIP link here. Build Details Replaced over a dozen tubes with styrene rod .5mm .4mm .3mm Scratch All Grab Handles on frame and underside rotors Cleats on skids Parachute Pack and all straps Turnbuckles on Outriggers on top of rotor hub Pitot Tube and mount Instrument Panel mounts Foot Pedal and Straps Rigging & Cables INFINI Medium 110 (.121mm) Black Lycra thread EZ Line Medium ANYZ Black .5mm Braided thread Brown .4mm Braided thread RB Productions P32023 Turnbuckles GasPatch Rigging eyelets Albion Aluminum Slide Fit Tubes .3mm .5mm .7mm Gunze RLM 66 RLM 76 RLM 81 Vallejo 306 Dark Rubber Tamiya XF86 Flat Clear MiG Washes Dark Wash Decals MDC Luftwaffe Instrument Dial HGW Luftwaffe Textile Belts Thank you all for your encouragement and support during this build. I don't get many opportunities to follow and respond to many of the awesome builds on this site. I wish I had the time to as there and many exceptional projects going on here at any given moment. Edited January 9, 2020 by Rick K Tolga ULGUR, LSP_Kevin, Kagemusha and 16 others 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick K Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 (edited) A few detail shots. Edited January 9, 2020 by Rick K sandokan, Loach Driver, Tolga ULGUR and 16 others 17 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 Looks terrific, Rick! Any chance you could post larger images? Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick K Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 (edited) On 1/8/2020 at 6:42 PM, LSP_Kevin said: Looks terrific, Rick! Any chance you could post larger images? Kev PM inbound. ------------------------------------------------------------- Here's the article! https://www.largescaleplanes.com/articles/article.php?aid=3401 Cheers, Kev ----------------------------------------------------------- Thanks Kev! Edited January 22, 2020 by Rick K LSP_Kevin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 That looks amazing, Rick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 (edited) Well done for persevering and finishing it, and even more well done for such a fine model. I know what you went through up to a point: I started building one one and it ended up in the depths of my bin. Edited January 9, 2020 by MikeC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendzior Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 That's just superb, and great photos too, thanks for sharing with us Hubert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ray Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Great job! I could see how this would be a nightmare of seams with all the tubes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aircare84 Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Great build of an unusual subject. Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr scale32 Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 Amazing build! 10 out of 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick K Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 On 1/9/2020 at 1:41 AM, Gazzas said: That looks amazing, Rick! Thanks Gazzas! On 1/9/2020 at 3:42 AM, MikeC said: Well done for persevering and finishing it, and even more well done for such a fine model. I know what you went through up to a point: I started building one one and it ended up in the depths of my bin. Thanks Mike. Yes, this build almost got 86'd multiple times. On 1/9/2020 at 4:46 PM, Kendzior said: That's just superb, and great photos too, thanks for sharing with us Hubert Thanks Hubert On 1/9/2020 at 11:07 PM, LSP_Ray said: Great job! I could see how this would be a nightmare of seams with all the tubes! Thanks Ray. That which didn't kill me just made me stronger. On 1/10/2020 at 5:11 PM, aircare84 said: Great build of an unusual subject. Thanks for posting. Thanks! On 1/11/2020 at 1:28 PM, Mr scale32 said: Amazing build! 10 out of 10 Thanks Scale32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 Wonderful model - don't know how I missed it! - will have to read the WIP, and thanks for the history lesson, absolutely fascinating. Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 1 hour ago, Kagemusha said: Wonderful model - don't know how I missed it! - Me either! Watched the WIP with fascination, and totally missed the RFI. Man, that turned out sooooo cool! Well done! Id be scared silly to try to take that delicate model to any shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Driver Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 From what I see in the pictures, I honestly trust you can try and make a replica 1:1, even try to fly it. Fantastic job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZPetrP Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Cute and very nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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