Hobby Boss BV 141

[ju52junk]

The hobby boss is going to be an easy build.  I got a resin replacement propeller and all the Eduard PE and canopy mask.  To me the kit seat looks awful.  I would like to replace the kit seat with a resin replacement.  Would a resin seat for the FW 190 work?  And what about the cowling?  I have read reviews about the kits cowling.  Would a Ju88 cowling be a good replacement for the kit cowling?

[Nortley]

That's good news about the Hobby Boss kit.  The Roman Candle started out as the Airfix 1/72 kit, but the parts fit and surface details were so bad that I was about to give up, when I remembered that I had an unused Hasegawa naval catapult and a Panzer I hulk and just started playing around.  The rest is scratch and junk box.

[ju52junk]

Nice scratch build.  Excuse me for asking.  Is the "Roman candle" a what if?

[Nortley]

The Roman Candle is my own design.  I believe that the real purpose of some of the outlandish late war weapons designs was to send nice pictures to the boss, who in turn would keep these engineers off the front so they could draw more nice pictures for him...  The Roman Candle would be loaded onto the launcher, fueled, armed, fresh batteries, and all sitting on a loaded booster, ready for instant flight.  The launcher would hide somewhere along a likely bomber track until a bomber stream approached, when it would roll out into position, then move and elevate the missile and launch rail, and activate the missile.  Simultaneously, a two seat fighter equipped with control radio would approach from behind the missile, establish radio control, and launch the Roman Candle.  The booster fires, the pulse jet starts, and the fighter chases the missile up and away, guiding it toward the bombers by radio.  At a moderate range from the bombers, the missile's radar locks onto the bombers and takes over guidance.  When the missile approaches to a predetermined closeness to the bomber stream, the name Roman Candle is explained.  Each of the ten holes in the nose is a launch tube holding an end to end stack of unguided time fused anti air missiles.  These are launched in rapid salvo at a distance calculated to match the timed burst to the aircraft.  After their short flight, the swarm of AA missiles would tear into the bombers.  The launch fighter crew must track and observe the missile, particularly noting where the spent remains come to earth, for recovery.  I suppose I should have more of those drawings in the pocket of Grandpa's Ike jacket translated.