Dragon/DML 1/48th Scale Ho229A-1 Flying Wing

This model started its life in my good friend Franks capable hands and then just sort of died and was relegated to the pile of “doom” in his model cave. Well, I spied it and asked him about what was up with it. His response was “I hate that thing” (add in your favorite expletive before “thing”!). I took the bait and said “Really? It can’t be that bad” and besides I’ve always wanted to build one. Long story short, I finished it after it fought me every step of the way as far as fit went. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t make the engine covers fit properly (The old joke that DML stands for Don’t Match Lines was appropriate for this kit). So I had fun building up both of the engines and building a simple base showing the subject with the engine cover off for inspection. The Luftwaffe officer was from the spares box. The build was OOB with the addition of fine lead wires added to the two Jumo 004B-2 motors, some scratch built details for the cockpit area for added detail and some patience. The markings were either painted or were miscellaneous Luftwaffe decals from Eagle Strike/AeroMaster. Since this subject never actually flew operationally, its marking are purely speculative. The paint scheme, as per instructions, is based on a late war combination of RLM 81 and 82 over RLM 76. Following a coat of Future over the final marking application, the model was sprayed with Floquil flat to help blend everything in. Finally, I sprayed on the jet exhaust stains and highlighted the panel lines using a 0.5 mm drafting pencil with sharpened soft lead followed by lightly brushing the model with a large blush brush in the direction of airflow over the wing and body from front to back. I like the subtle effect this technique gives opposed to post shading with an airbrush. The completed model was returned to my friend and we celebrated its completion with a healthy two fingers of nice 18 yr old Scotch, which made it worth all the challenges in the end!

5 additional images. Click to enlarge.