Hello again,
I can't for the life of me get my pics up on the forum all i can say is they are on none of the galleries on this site...but enough of this...A while ago i had the crazy idea of building the Natter launch tower..i had one of the old 1/72scale Heller Natters lying about and i thought it would look good..as you well know there are no 1/72 scale Natter launch towers available..so i had to build one from scratch...this was a real brain beater until i had a really far fetched notion...i had to buy the Dragon 1/48th scale kit though to do what i planned..and i needed someone who was real good at scale calculations..luckily i found someone in the local model shop...anyway i went to see this guy and he helped me no end..what he did was scale the actual instruction sheet diagrams to 1/72 scale by setting a photocopier to reduce or enlarge the original instruction sheet..after he'd finished i had perfect 1/72 scale plans to follow..in this way i built up the tower bit by bit in sections..it really came out a lot better than i could have ever expected to be honest and the natter sits on it perfectly..there are a few details i have yet to sort out but it really looks the part..great fun to build as well..but very tedious believe me! I also went about building the Exratech radar setups..Freya is murder to build! I also built the Fries mobile field crane from the Extra tech kit and the FCM kit..the FCM kit is a nightmare as it's made from resin and the quality is really rough..i mixed the two kits and re-built what was missing from sprue and plasticard...i made the FCM searchlights as well with generators and Extratech rocket launchers i'd really like to write a review of those kits at some stage as i know them inside out now!..Sooner or later i will start work on the Luftwaffe airbase i intend to build...only got another 200 aircraft models to build though!!
If anyone has any interest in these things i'd love to hear from them...

Steve in the UK

Steve,

Sounds like you are a man after my own heart. I've had that Natter and Tower as a project for several years now (Natter partly build, Tower components cut) . When I lived in Colorado I had planned to build a Luftwaffe base in my backyard (having been stationed at a couple myself in the 1960's Rothwesten and Herzo), I think I've still got most of the planes Unbuilt in my stash.

I know more than just myself would be excited to see you review some of your kits and builds.

hiya,
Thanks for the reply..i know the scale i build in is a bit different i guess,but the thing is you'd never have enough room for the collection i have in 1/35 scale!! The Natter tower i built from plastistruct and plasticard...i want to build the V2 test tower that was on Peenemunde one day..a real complex structure..and the supports they used to jack up the planes to test the machine guns..silly things but they would be so different on a model airfield..have you ever seen the crane and tractor they used to tow the He 177..it was built just for that plane..i see a model of it in a book..damned if anyone makes one though!!...i'm halfway through creating a V2 launch site...the more i read about the equipment they used to launch those things the more it seems incredible they actually got away with launching any withoout being caught!! I read somewhere over 50 vehicles were in the convoy...not to mention the railway trucks carrying the rockets across Europe...i also have the start of a V1 launch site underway..i would like to try and incorperate all the lot into one huge base..along the lines of a cross between Rechlin and Peenemunde...i have so much stuff to build..and hundreds of troops and personel to paint!! I need to get plans of how a Luftwaffe airfield would be set up...i mean where would they have flak guns and radar etc..i want it to look right..power stations..fuel dump..ammo dumps..even barbed wire fencing if possible with watchtowers...trouble is it's ok with Me 262a's and such,but when you start having Me 232's and Ju290's on the airfield it gets somewhat crowded..even two He 177's soon take up the room...i got all the ExtraTech radar systems..two of the gigant wurzburg reise..the mobile wurzburgs and a freya...i went after the FCM searchlights seeing as they were the only ones available in 1/72 with their generators..the kits for them look hopeless in their boxes,but when you put them together they look really good..i read somewhere FCM are doing the whole flak setup in 1/72 scale including the optical range finder on it's stand and the rest of it...I also got 3 of the flak zwilling guns by Attack models..they are really something to put together with the instructions you get believe me! i'm tempted to get a couple of Hasagawa 88mm falk guns seeing as they are about the only decent 1/72 88mm flak guns available i know of...i have heaps of Luft '46 models built and unbuilt as well...i built the Special Hobby Me 343 years ago as well..it needed half a ton of lead in it to sit on it's front wheel though..i ended up carving a chunk out of the cockpit floor to get the lead in! I also have as many of the 1/72 scale helecopters as i can get hold of from the german secret weapons programme...i guess i could be called a fanatic!

Stev in the UK