He-162 "Spatz"

[Goodwood]

Looks excellent so far.

I can definitely see from santy and Grubby's work the merits of doing the fiddly tech pieces (gear and such) separately instead of doing it all at once.

[santynus]

thank you Goodwood

I need help for the He162 stencil... I don't have anything about this arcraft....

[gamary]

Why is it that every time you create a new Luftwaffe a/c plan, I have this urge to do a profile out of it? Now I have to recite my credo out loud again:

Don't draw Luftwaffe aircraft.
Never draw Luftwaffe aircraft.
Luftwaffe aircraft are bad.
Luftwaffe aircraft are too complicated.
Luftwaffe aircraft have been drawn a million times.
Luftwaffe aircraft will get you into trouble.
You could draw Luftwaffe aircraft but the cat wants to go out, so you have to leave the computer and take care of it. Too bad. Next time, perhaps.
Dont draw Luftwaffe aircraft.

It worked with the 262 but you have to stop nagging people like that!

Fantastic job!

[Otterkins2]

Gaetan, give in to the craving. Let the addicton sweep you away into a myriad of different colour schemes and designs. There is no resistance. Luftwaffe aircraft are good. No one has drawn it right before. Only YOU are up to the challenge! There will only be trouble if the police come to the door, and you have them outgunned with the MK 108 Kannone you keep near the front door. Kick your qat out the door and tell it that it doesn't need you to go to the bathroom. Use the Force Gaetan! YOU WILL NOT RESIST!!!

Fine. I'll switch to an F-104. Does that make it better?

[santynus]

I begun to work on the aircraft...

GM why suffer... follow your instinct and make some fantastic WWII Luft's aircraft

[GrubbyFingers]

i'm with you, Gaetan, WW2 Luftwaffe stuff really doesn't hold much appeal for me. With the exception of the early 190s perhaps. Very pretty shape. Maybe something like an Arado floatplane, or a Dornier 24. Nothing else German really tickles me. It's the same with scale modelling. I have built maybe two bits of German armour in all my years of modelling. A King Tiger and a Panzer IV.

The same goes for US and Brit WW2 stuff too, actually. I'll end up doing some Aussie Spits and 'Stangs, possibly some B-25s and I certainly want to do some B-24s.

Ah, but Whirlybirds! Don't get me started! I'm looking forward to trying the exposed engine on a Westland Scout. But then, maybe I'll just paste in a photo. Bell 47G is high on my list too. Not much detail to add o that on either. Is this what being on the Mad List is all about?

[Otterkins2]

Okay, a few points here before you go too far Santo. Let's start with the nose gear. You are soooo close! First of all there is a collar directly above the swivel for the wheel. This is where the bottom of the oleo strut attaches to. There's a "U" shaped tongue that it fits onto about the same size as the bottom part of the oleo. Sorry. I made a mistake in this area. Youv'e got the boxy shape on the front almost right. This is a towing pintle. There are a few details here that you haven't got quite right yet.

The rest looks good so far being under development, but you are making the same mistake as many others have in squaring off the tail skid. It was actually rounded as I have depicted it, and many artists base their work on surviving examples without taking into account damage. Many pictures show it as squared off because the pilots damaged it either on takeoff or landing. There are undamaged examples of the tail section in various museums in Europe, and I assure you in all sincerity that it is round as you see in my drawing.

I really do hope you carry this project through to completion and really look forward to further developments.

[gamary]

Only YOU are up to the challenge!

Very kind of you to say so. Completely untrue, but kind. I am so Luftwaffe-illiterate you'd barely believe it. I am a bit interested in BoF/BoB and up to 1942/1943 Luftwaffe but after that I find it a bit boring (Yes, I know. That's blaspheme). They just spent their time getting killed by the Allies after that date.

Mostly, my problem is that I like to keep my drawings detailed (admittedly not as much as some) and the Luftwaffe aircraft had sooo many variants/sub-variants/field mods that I find it mind-numbing. (I like it American style: let's build 10,000 of the d**n things and then ask questions. )

However, I've been asked to draw for a new French aviation magazine, due for launch in a few months. So I suppose I'll have to draw some Luftwaffe birds. They're even asking for one right now actually. (Would you believe that? Draw a Luftwaffe bird on the first date?! Who do they think I am???!!! )

Funny you'd mention the B-25, Grubby:



It's still a very early stage and the lighting is already annoying me but I'll probably fine some way around that problem.

[Otterkins2]

OK Santo, I want to point out some areas that need attention before you get so far into things that they be come difficult to correct. The circled areas in red are the ones you need to really look at again. And do everyone a favour and tell them how you flatten the tires before we all go crazy! Gaetan, they probably think you are loose and immoral so that's why they asked you to do "Luftwaffe" on the first date. As far as variations go, just on the B-25 alone there are hundreds. Let's not get into stuff like the Spit, Mossie, Lanc, P-51, P-38.....yadda yadda yadda. The list is endless. The Germans weren't alone in trying to "tune up" existing designs rather than retooling a whole new A/C.

[mclaring]

Ga?tan, mon vieux,

Alors, be careful with the B-25, for she has many variants, and field modifications. Just as one example, the B-25D-25 was the only D variant which had a 'J' model rear gun blister. In the Pacific, lower turrets were often removed, not to mention nose gun packs, installed in the field. I have no knowledge of ETO Mitchells, but walk carefully; you will need a good map to the path of accuracy.

I admire anyone brave enough to venture into the Luftwaffe, a field completely unfamiliar to me,

MClaring