BACKGROUND

It was designed by the Horten Brothers’ Reimar and Walter, pioneers in early flying wing aircraft concepts. From as far back as 1931 they began experimenting with powered and unpowered flying wing aircraft which led to the Ho229.

Power was provided by 2 Jumo 004B turbojets mounted inboard in the center section side by side with the jet exhaust pipes protruding above the wing rear surfaces, and test flights showed the design to have a remarkable speed (610 mph) and good handling characteristics.

Gotha immediately began a production program with the designation Go 229 A. Gotha found it necessary to redesign the cockpit, enlarge the turbojet housings, revise the air intake geometry and modify the undercarriage for the production version. A two man crew night fighter version was also planned for.
Much work was carried out but progress was halted when the factory was overrun and the prototype fell into American Forces hands at the closing stages of the war. The prototype was shipped to the States for assessment. Was this the inspiration for the stealth bomber?

THE KIT

PM Models are an Istanbul-based company founded in 1982, by Mehmet C. Sekercioglu. PM has a reasonable range of kits covering British, Russian, American and German Luft 46 aircraft from WW2 to Modern.

Type: Injection.
Parts:14

Kits don’t come much simpler than this, but the medium grey moulded parts are of good detail and quality.
The flying wing fuselage/ wings come in two big pieces...a top and a bottom. Clamping when cementing recommended. There are no unforeseen problems with fit. Flash is little so therefore parts require only a small amount of clean up. This example was “dirty” with lubricating moulding fluid , so a good wash of all parts in warm soapy water is required before any work is to be carried out.

CLEAR PARTS

One good injection canopy that is both thin and clear.

DECALS

Decals supplied by PM are not usually very good and these are no exception. It is the one drawback to PM models. These are particularly bad, being crude and having a very yellowed carrier film, but as they are so basic (total of 2 swastikas in four parts, 2 Black and 2 White wing crosses) it is no great loss. Alternatives will need to be found.

INSTRUCTIONS

Simple and straight forward enough. Decent camo diagram.

VALUE

This is a very basic kit but quality generally is quite good and it is also very cheap at GBP3.65.
For a small scale limited run kit it is very good value.

CONCLUSIONS

When one considers the price, this is a very good kit, making a very inexpensive base for extra detailing. And as its so cheap, it would make a perfect introduction to inexperienced modellers for learning and developing their modelling skills. And for experienced modellers, as it’s so simple, it offers great scope for improvement and detailing.

PM also offer the Ho 229 V7 Nachtjager night fighter version, ID 220. Basically a very similar kit but with elongated two man cockpit and canopy. Price is the same at GBP3.65.