Ramp/Trailer
for Bachem Natter

Brengun, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mark Davies

Sword's 1/72 scale Ki 44 Shoki is available online from Squadron.com

The Ba 349 Natter was a last ditch attempt by the Germans to challenge the daylight bomber raids that were pulverising their home territory. Two of the harder tasks that a pilot must master are landing and take-off, but Germany lacked time and resources to train pilots as the war neared its end.  The attraction of the Natter was that it did away with the need for the pilot to control take-off or indeed land the plane. Armed with a battery of air-to-air rockets, it could take off vertically to attack a bomber formation. An autopilot controlled the Natter’s launch and approach to target, whilst a hastily trained SS pilot controlled the attack phase of the flight, after which he would bail out to descend by parachute.

Only Natter prototypes flew, with only one brief and lethal manned powered flight. All powered launches involved from a metal gantry. However, Eric Bachem envisioned Natters being launched from a Jerrybuilt (couldn’t resist the pun!) gantry based around a spine of a 70 foot felled pine tree, stripped of its branches, and inserted into the ground; the theory being that pine trees were numerous and widespread in Germany.

Some thought was given to Natter portability using a trailer capable of carrying two aircraft nose to nose that would then serve as a launch ramp. This was a rather basic cart-like design with wagon wheels, no doubt due to shortages of strategic materials like steel. Unlike the steel and tree-trunk gantries, this one was a much shorter ramp inclined at 80 degrees rather than being virtually vertical. There are no records of it being built or tested, and it is likely it never developed beyond the drawing board, although both steel and wooden versions were contemplated. Suffice to say, the concept looked almost as crude as launching a firework rocket from a milk bottle! It is this concept that the kit reviewed here is based upon.

The kit comes in a sturdy hinged-opening box with pasted-on artwork featuring a photo of the finished model. The simple instructions have a parts map and use a diagrammatic format that is easy enough to follow. The few written instructions and a brief history of the ramp/trailer are in English.

The resin parts come enclosed in a zip-lock bag, with the PE fret further enclosed in a bag of its own. The resin components are cleanly cast and easily removed from their blocks. The kit reflects the wooden version as a distinct grain is apparent in most surfaces (the Natter appears to sit on two smooth metal rails). The PE fret is of good quality also, and provides various structural brackets and reinforcing straps for the ‘wooden’ components. Careful attention is required to understand how some of these brackets fit. There are eight PE tiny parts, smaller than most would wish to handle, that are not mentioned in the instructions. I have no idea what they are for, but being so small they will not be missed if they are in fact required.

No painting guide is provided, but none is necessary. Assembly appears to be quite straightforward, but care will obviously be needed with major parts alignment and bending the small PE brackets.

I have included three images from Brengun’s website of the completed ramp/trailer.

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Displaying models of aircraft designs that lacked an undercarriage is never easy, so it is nice to have alternative. Brengun’s ramp/trailer enables more interesting way to display model Natters than the simple trestle provided with their kits.

Strictly speaking, this ramp/trailer kit should be partnered with ‘what if’ or ‘Luftwaffe ‘46’ Natters, as it was never used. Nonetheless, it is a good quality production that I hope will succeed for Brengun - Then they may release a kit of the much more imposing steel gantry used for the prototype testing!

I am happy to recommend this kit.

Thanks to Brengun for the review sample.

Review Text & Blue Background Images Copyright © 2015 by Mark Davies
Page Created 23 October, 2015
Last updated 23 October, 2015

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