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By Adam Rehorn
Building the Fi-203 (a.k.a. Fi-103z)
(Note that technically all versions of the V1 are also Fi-103's.
However, for this article, I use V1 to mean the unmanned version, and Fi-103 to mean the Reichenberg IV.) For the one-year-build
(OYB) this year (2004), I decided to create a fictional WWII Luftwaffe attack fighter. The original idea and my first
sketch can be seen here. Once I had the idea of combining the Fi-103 from Heller with the V1 from FROG/Revell Germany, I thought that construction
would be easy. Oops. That was a bit of an optimistic outlook, as I can see now. This article is an outline
of what I did to take these two kits and bash them into what I originally named the Fi-103z, although I now call it the Fi-203,
in the great late-war German tradition of slightly altering the designation when there is a major change in the airframe. Initial
Horrors:
The first thing I did was to chop off the starboard wings of both the V1 and the Fi-103. Once
the wings were gone, I was able to get a better feel for what kind of separation I wanted between the two fuselages.
I cut a hole in the Fi-103 to accommodate the V1's wing and found out a few startling things on inspection. The first
was that the two kits have wings of drastically different aspect ratios. The V1's wing is far thicker (2x at least)
than the wing on the Fi-103. While this seems a problem at first, it really isn't all that bad. The center wing
would house fuel or beefy structure anyway, so it being thicker as actually a bit of a blessing in disguise. Not a
blessing was the discovery that the two buzz bombs have fuselages of different diameters! The V1 is fatter than the
-103!! To make this worse, I found out that the engine on the V1 is also fatter, and shorter, than that on the Fi-103.
It also turns out the fin is a different shape and there is no marked rudder on the V1. As you can see, even though
the two kits are supposed to be of the same airframe, they are quite different. As a final kick to the head, I found
out that the hole left in the V1 where I cut the wing out was far too big to hold the wing from the Fi-103. Obviously,
there was a lot of surgery in this thing's future.
Above: This view shows how bad it was. See the difference in engine height, fuselage diameter and wing thickness
between the FROG (green) and Heller (grey)?
Working With What I Had:
With these shortcomings discovered, I set about making the two separate,
and apparently somewhat disparate, kits fit together the best I could.
The first thing I wanted to do was mount the
spare machine gun cowl from the 1/72 Academy Bf-109G-14 in the nose of the V1. To this end I cut out a panel from the
V1, and tried to insert the cowl piece. It fit, but not well. I had misjudged the curvature of the cowling, and
the guns were pointing into the fuselage! Not good. Thus, I had to cut a bigger hole until I could get the cowl
piece to sit with the guns level. This only took a few tries, but it left behind a considerable hole in the top of the
V1's body. At some point, I knew that this was going to have to be filled with Milliput. However, I also know
that the V1 is hollow, so there's a really good chance that the Milliput would just fall into the thing! To prevent
this, I cut up some sprue and superglued it under the hole. Thus, in effect, I made a shallow hole out of a deep one.
Filling this smaller depression, I reasoned, would be much easier and cheaper than backfilling the entire V1. It turned
out this was one of the better predictions I made.
Above: This shows the gun deck from Academy's superb Bf-109 installed in the V1. You can see the mistake I made
in placement, and the sprue 'floor' I glued in to support the eventual Milliput correction.
The next major step was figuring out how to get the Fi-103's wing to fit into the large hole in the V1's body.
I determined that I needed to fill the bottom half of the hole, and found some balsa stringers lying around. (I used
to build the odd balsa plane - my Guillow's Ju-87B is still a quarter completed on a bookcase near my table.) It turns
out that a 1/16" stringer was the perfect height, so I cut a piece off and cyanoacrylated (CAed) it in place. I then
CAed a piece of sprue in behind it, to give it strength and to give the Fi-103 wing some plastic to 'bite' onto when I inserted
it.
Engine Trouble:
The next step was to modify the engine on the V1. The Heller kit
actually came with a nice little ribbed piece to simulate the shutters on the pulse jet engine. Now granted they're
not very accurate, but it gives a better effect than the blank face in the Revell model! Making things worse was the
fact that the V1's flat engine faceplate was very close to the front of the engine duct, while the Fi-103's ribbed piece was
further back. Thus, I had to chop out the V1's faceplate, and make a new one. I had some bigger balsa stock around,
so I made a circle out of it, and carved ridges in it using some needle files. This was then CAed into position, even
with the face in the Fi-103. I shortened the Fi-03's exhaust pipe as well, so that at least both engine ducts are the
same length now.
Above: Here's the engine from the Revell/FROG V1. You can see the balsa faceplate I had to put in to match the
Heller Fi-103 kit.
When I test fitted the model together, I found there was yet ANOTHER problem with proportions. The engine on the
Fi-103 was much lower than that on the V1. Part of the problem was due to the fact that the V1's engine has a bigger
diameter than that of the Fi-103 (of course, why wouldn't it...). To compensate, I had to shorten the support pylons
and the tail. I also moved the entire engine assembly forward approximately ¼", which, when you consider the scale, corresponds
to 1.5 feet forward if the thing was real! This wasn't as bad as it sounds, but took some jiggering to get things to
fit right.
The final insult to the tail was the rudder. There is no separate rudder on the V1. (The molding
of the Fi-103 is superior to the V1 in every way, especially in terms of surface detail and control surfaces). Thus,
I had to make one. This made use of the same balsa stock I used to make the engine vent face. The fixed part of
the rudder was also too long, although I left it that way. The way I see it, the extra fin area would be needed
for stability's sake, as it would help to account for the extra side area on the Fi-103 due to the rear of the cockpit fairing.
As a bonus, it gives the Fi-203 a bit more of a last minute lash-up kind of look, perfect for a late-war German desperation
weapon.
Assembly:
Once the small details were done, it was time to start sticking my Frankenstein
project together. Gluing the -103 to the V1 was quite simple, and thanks to my trusty CA, it was done in a flash.
The CA also served to fill in the gaps, and there was little sanding needed. The -103's wing also went into the balsa-shimmed
hole in the V1 very easily - I've never had a plane kit that required such little sanding, which is an interesting twist given
what pieces of trash the kits actually were.
The entire airframe was assembled, and the Milliput was added to the V1
behind the guns. There was nothing to do while I dried except try and figure out how the thing was going to land.
Since there's no room for wheels, I decided on the very Germanic sprung steel skid method. Hey, if it's good enough
for the Komet and early Ar-234's, it's good enough for this thing!
To make the skids, I needed some wide, flat metal
pieces. I found them in an old set of Walkman headphones. The spring steel that holds on the 'phones was perfect
- all I had to do was Dremel out a few short pieces, and bend an attachment point, and I was done. I'm glad I had the
Dremel: I ruined a pair of cutters trying (in vain) to cut the metal. I'd have been skidless without it.
Above: You can see from this front-on shot of the finished kit that while the wings are level, the skids are not
extended the same amount. Getting this right was fun, let me tell you...
As an interesting note, I had to mount the skids (done after painting) at different amounts of deflection. The
difference in the body diameters between the Fi-203's two halves was quite pronounced, and affected the sit of the craft considerably.
Thus, to keep the wings level on the ground, the skids were bent different amounts, and then labeled as to which went in what
side.
I then added the tailplane. If you look at the sketch I did early on, I had intended to keep the outer
tailplanes and have a middle one two. However, I didn't like the look of it when I tested it, so I decided just to make
a central one. This was made from the two Fi-103 tailplanes, glued to the inner body sides, and cut down to fit together.
The assembly was both glued on and filled with CA, and it worked fairly well. The only problem was that the Heller plastic
was thin and soft, and sanding the tailplane was tough. I almost went through it! As a result, the tailplane is
a bit uneven, but you can't always see that, depending on the light.
The final pieces (other than the cockpit) to be
added were the bomb shackles. I took them off of Dragon's 1/48 Jabo Me-262, and shaped them to fit one of the small bombs
from the old Airfix He-177 (bad, bad kit...). The only problem was that during painting and sanding, the little arms
got broken off. It didn't matter, though, because the central part of the cradles still were able to hold the bomb.
Painting:
Painting is always my favourite part of a kit. I love it because it allows
me to transform what is essentially a ruined mess into something that looks (hopefully) significantly better than what
I started with.
I decided to paint this kit using my airbrush, since it worked so well with the Ju-88G-6 I built around
Christmas. I started with the undersides, painting them with second generation Testors Acrylic Light Ghost Grey.
This went on quite well, and I tried painting the top with Tamiya XF-13 JA Green. I intended to do a two-tone green
splinter camouflage, similar to what is often seen on Blitzes, and, I believe, the same as the 1/48 Tamiya Ta-183 kit's box
photo. I didn't think it would be as dark as it was, but it didn't matter, since I figured I could always mask and spray
the lighter colour later.
It was a disaster. I wanted a soft cheat line, but there was too much overspray and
there was green all over the underside. I'm not that familiar with the airbrush, but I'm guessing I had it too far open,
with too wide a spray cone. No matter, I figured, I'd just mask it off. That didn't work either. Instead
of masking, it just pulled the Light Ghost Grey off the underside!
I decided to strip the kit with ammonia, and try
again in reverse. I painted the green first, and then masked for the grey. The masking didn't work all that well,
ripping the green off the kit. ARGHHH. I've since learned you need to primer Tamiyas BEFORE you apply them.
I didn't primer for this kit. Here's my advice: PRIMER FIRST!
After stripping it three times and getting ready
to pitch the Fi-203 into the trash, I decided just to go about it the old fashioned way. I sanded it down, and painted
the underside with the same Light Ghost Grey, but by hand. Four coats and I was done. I then did the top by hand
using the old (first generation) Testors Acrylics; the lighter colour is a lightened FS34102 Medium Green and a slightly darkened
FS34079 Dark Green.
Above: This is the finished product. The hard cheatline was done completely freehand, and the cammo was done with
masking tape. The paints are the first generation Testors acrylics.
If you've every used the old Testors paints, then you know they go on a bit thick and a bit wavy. However, they
are TOUGH, and I was able to sand the paint very nice and smooth. I masked the cammo with masking tape after doing the
basics freehand, and NO paint came off. I still think those old Testors paints rule... When I was done sanding
the paint smooth, I outlined the few details with a filed-down 0.5 pencil and applied several coats of Future. This
was done to prevent silvering of the decals, which themselves proved to be a bit of a challenge. Decals:
The
decals on this kit are a real mixed bag. The numbers on the side and the chevrons are from Academy's excellent Bf-109
G14, the same kit that contributed the gun deck on the V1. The iron crosses on the tops of the wings and the fuselage
sides are from Academy's Me-163 B/S Komet, and the crosses on the underside of the wings are from the old Heller Komet. The
Swastikas and nose shield are from the ancient FROG He-162. I bought the kit from Eric Green's estate, and it came with two sets of decals. However, they were very old, and while the Swastikas survived, the first
shield broke up from age. I thus hit the sheet with a light spray of Testors Decal Bonder spray (No.9200). It
is supposed to soften old decals, and it did. It actually worked REALLY well. The second shield survived, and
I was able to put it on the pilot's side. I didn't bother getting another for the gun side. One was good
enough.
Above: These three views of the finished product show the different decals to good effect. Once flat coated, they
all look uniform, but they're from a number of different kits.
Final Steps:
The final step was to flat coat the model. I used Mircroscale Microflat, and
airbrushed it using my Thayer and Chandler airbrush. Microflat is awesome, and is much easier to use than the Tamiya
Flat Base/Future mix. It says thin with water or alcohol. DON'T thin with alcohol. It turns to mud.
Distilled water works just fine. Just be sure to stir up all the sediment in the bottom of the jar. It's the 'flattening
agent.' The product is similar to Badger's flat coat, and I wouldn't be surprised to see that they worked equally as
well.
With the flat coat applied, I glued on the bomb and skids with CA and the cockpit with White Glue.
And
that's it. The final product is, I think, rather nice. It looks odd enough to just be something the Luftwaffe
would have tried, and it is logical, given the situation at the end of the war.
Above: This shows the underside of the Fi-203, revealing the skids, bomb and gross difference in the diameter and length
between the FROG and Heller kits. Note the lack of shield/crest on the gun side!
Fictional History of the Fi-203:
Please note that the following is FICTIONAL. There never
was an aircraft called the Fi-203, and to my knowledge no such design was ever put forward. I am a sci-fi fan, and thus
I enjoy fictional histories. This kit gives me a chance to both build a coolly fictional yet plausible model while also
allowing me to indulge in creating a bit of alternate history. Understand that this is NOT intended to be a revision
of any true, WWII history. It is not intended to re-write any of the facts or refute any of the known events that transpired
in the dark days from 1939-1945. If you believe this write-up instead of the many excellent texts on the Luftwaffe,
you do so at your peril. That having been said, I can't resist writing this little alternate history for the Fi-203.
My work wouldn't be complete if I didn't. Here we go: In the late stages of the war, the Luftwaffe was in desperate
need of aircraft to destroy the bomber formations that ravaged Germany day in and day out. The Me-262 and Me-163 were
only partial solutions. Expensive to build and dangerous to use in turn, these two planes were "too little, too late"
to turn the tide in the air. Because of this, the call went out for even more revolutionary weapons that could be made
quickly, cheaply and flown by Hitler Youth pilots with next to no training. One solution was the He-162 Salamander.
Another was the Fi-103 Reichenberg IV piloted V1 - a weapon designed to be flown either into ships or bombers as a suicide
weapon. Well, okay, the pilot was SUPPOSED to bail out, but the chances were slim. Along with these designs,
others were put forth. The Miniaturjager requirement called for a swarm of miniature fighters, smaller than the He-162 Volksjager
(People's fighter) which would literally blacken the sky, and roll the bombers and their escorts back by force of numbers
alone. Several proposals were made, including a pulsejet powered He-162 and several other planes that looked similar
to the Fi-103 Reichenberg IV. (Some of these designs can be seen at the awesome and inspiring Luft '46 site.) Thus, the RLM issued a request for a proposal from Fiesler to create a Miniaturjager based on a non-throwaway
Reichenberg. Originally, the design was simply to put two guns in place of the Fi-103's warhead. However, this
left little room for fuel, and the project was considered too limited. In addition, while the Fi-103 was fairly fast,
it didn't have the climb performance needed for interception. However, it was stable, making it a good platform to attack
the waves of tanks and troops closing on Germany from both East and West. Thus, the design was modified to a twin fuselage,
two-engined configuration. It was reasoned that this approach would give not only greater warload and endurance, but
also provide some measure of safety due to the twin engines. The Me-328 concept had used twin pulse jets in one of its
configurations, although it had been problematic. Rather than spend time and money on the Me-328's new design, it was
decided to simply fasten two existing airframes together. Parts commonality and simplicity ensured quick production
time, and reduced the lead time of the project overall. The center span was strengthened to carry a single 250 kg (550
lb) bomb. The pilot was situated to port, while the starboard fuselage carried fuel and two MG 131 13mm cannons.
While too light to attack tanks, the cannons were reasoned to be good enough for use against troops and light vehicles, as
well as spotter planes and any seaplanes encountered on coastal operations.
Pre-production began in January 1945, and test flights were generally trouble-free. Takeoff was with assistance
of a rocket propelled trolley, similar to that used on the early Ar-234 series reconnaissance planes, albeit smaller and cheaper.
The Fi-103z was not able to air-launch, however; its bulk and mass proved too much for the He-111 to handle. Landing
was on a sprung steel skid fastened by three bolts under each fuselage.
There was no throttling the Argus pulse-jet
engines, but production models did have a method to adjust the amount of fuel injected on every pulse, thus allowing for some
rudimentary throttle control. Landing could be made on one engine, if necessary, and gliding landings with no engines
running were common.
When the aircraft was approved for production in February 1945, the designation was changed to
Fi-203. Manufacture was by unskilled labour, and most components were light metal, with some wood in the wings.
Despite its rushed nature, the Fi-203 proved surprisingly robust, and in action was able to sustain a good load of damage
before being destroyed.
It was a small target for AA gunners, although it was not stealthy in the least. The
droning of the pulse jets could not be damped, and conditions in the cramped cockpit were poor. It was said that only
the deaf could fly the Fi-203 without going mad, and the constant droning of the jets lead to the unofficial nickname "Die
noerglerische Frau" - the "nagging wife." This was considerably less glamourous than its official nickname of "Adlerskralle"
- Eagle's Claw, although both namesakes are to be feared.
Only the barest essential instruments were provided, and
the barest minimum electrical equipment was fitted. There was no ejection seat, and escape was considered nearly impossible.
The aircraft were issued primarily to newly formed units, although the commandos who had been originally tasked with employing
the suicide Fi-103s were also given a complement.
While its climbing performance was poor, the Fi-203 could dive quickly,
reaching a speed of 488 mph. This proved to be of great value for making diving attacks on ground convoys or shipping.
Employed by very nervy pilots at treetop height, the Fi-203 was difficult to hit and spot from the air, and hard to
see from the ground, despite hearing it for some distance. It proved to be remarkably effective in providing close air
support to beleaguered troops on Germany's every-shrinking periphery, although many were lost when they were forced to land
and couldn't be recovered.
Some attempts were made to transform the Fi-203 into a bomber killer. Various armament
schemes were proposed, including the addition of R4M rockets on the center wing, 20mm cannon packs (one on each nose) and
the fitting of a battery of Foehn rockets, Natter-like, in each nose. There was even a proposal to fit 50 and 75mm cannons
in the unpiloted half, and a two-seat night attacker was proposed, but these proved to be little more than pipe dreams.
Overall,
the Fi-203 made a slight contribution to the war, although it did prove that Germany was capable of making the best of a bad
situation. The model presented here represents an aircraft of II/JG 553, stationed on the 'western front' in April 1945.
This unit was tasked with protecting Me-262 bases from ground attacks by American troops. The Fi-203s would launch as
the Me-262s returned and would orbit, attacking targets of opportunity. This proved to be a good use for the Fi-203,
as it could usually make it back to base, get refueled and be up again in the span of 25 minutes.
Only 105 were made,
and of these, only 38 saw service. However, they managed to destroy some 110 light vehicles and 12 tanks using their
bombs and cannons.
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