1:144 V-1 REICHENBERG IV

The last link of one desperate idea

The combat form of the Reichenberg was single-seat, powered by a pulsejet above the tail, and carried a charge in the nose. It had neither a skid nor an undercarriage, because no return was reckoned with. The carrier was to be a modified Heinkel He 111, which took the machine up and released it over the area of the target. The pilot was to guide the fuselage onto a ship or a bridge and jump out at the last moment, except that the intake of the engine was exactly in the path of his body.

The chance of survival was estimated in single percent, and that was precisely one of the reasons why the command finally backed away from using it. The examples built remained standing in the halls and after the war became museum exhibits. History thus preserved a weapon that never fired a shot, yet causes embarrassment to this day.

Building and painting

This object is built quickly, but it is worth handling it slowly. The surface of the real machines was coarse, hastily finished and with inconsistent shades, because production ran at the end of the war without regard for quality. The model therefore takes a bolder approach than a carefully polished fighter.

• Try an uneven spray with a hint of streaks; it matches the real subject.
• Clean the engine intake out with a drill so that it does not look blind.
• Thin the sharp edges of the wing with a file; the plastic tends to be thicker than reality.
• Display the model tilted on a base; the shape comes to life that way.

The finished piece takes up barely five centimeters in a display case and yet people stop at it and ask what it actually is.