I need some help. Has anybody built the Tamiya 1/48 Pfeil (the stupid-looking one with two props) and what do you think of it. I love German planes, I like Tamiya kits, and this unique plane intrigues me. So any opinions, however biased, would be extremely helpful. Thanks for the help!
I have the heavily armed version… they also have a more standard version that comes with a tow vehicle if I’m not mistaken. I would have to disagree that it looks stupid… I think that it was an ingenious concept and kind of cool looking.
The kit looks to be very good as most Tamiyas are… though I must say it was a tad pricey. Thank goodness for 50% off sales!!!
Just one thing, I’m a teenager, so when i use the term “stupid,” I usually don’t mean stupid. Sorry if I offend anyone’s taste, but it looks silly. Stupid isn’t the right word. It’s this look, however, that intrigues me though.
As far as I know the Do 335 concept was quite valid and the plane was faster than most contemporary prop driven aircraft.
One of teh things that proves that it was out-of-the-ordenary plane, I memory serves me correctly, was the fatc that the tail propeller would come off if the pilot needed to eject, so that he wouldn’t be hit by it on his way to safety.
It’s a typical Tamiya kit. Well engineered, excellent fit, good detail, but simplified here & there for ease of assembly. Buy it, build it. You’ll love it.
Regards, Rick
I am in the process of building one now. Good fit and all that you would expect from Tamiya. No grumbles here.
Kurt
No worries Blakjak… no offense taken… we’re allowed to see things differently. There are other aircraft that people love that I think are silly, or stupid looking. To each his own… right?
Yes the Pfeil was very modern in many respects. It even had an ejector seat…only thing was if the pilot ejected he lost his kneecaps on the way! OUCH
Dai
Its a really nice kit !!!
This is one beautiful looking plane, and I have been looking for a kit of it myself for some time know. Unfortunately the shop where I ordered it ran out of them, and I had to seach for another shop. Luckily I found that, although I haven’t ordered it yet. It’s app. €45 euro’s there.
I have a question though. Although it would be nice to just built it straight out of the box, and paint it in Luftwaffe colours, I think it might be cooler to have it resemble a stunt plane. Something like this (although it’s a Lego model)
I’m also looking for a good reference book on this plane. There is a depiction in “Luftwaffe Secret Projects: Ground attack and special purpose aircraft”, but that’s a different variant. I think it was a jet powered model of this plane.
Does anybody here know a good title? Preferably in English…
Also, how solid is this plane? I remember having a Me262 model that tipped over on it’s tail when displayed with gear down… And since a lot of the weight of this plane is situated behind the main landing gear too…
Although this could probably be remedied by adding some weight in the nose. Fishing leads or something like that.
BTW, any pictures of already built models?[:)][:)]
Remko
That has got to be one of my favorite planes of the Luftwaffe. On some of the trials of the ejection seat the pilot lost both arms. But still one of my favorites no the less. Tiger33
The kit comes with a molded nose weight to keep it from sitting on it’s tail. It has been said that the Do-335 and a couple Mustangs (escorts) left Germany and flew to Paris so that it could be studied by the Americans. The DO-335 and Mustangs left at the same time but the DO-335 arrived about 30 minutes BEFORE the Mustangs.
Kurt
That’s a sharp looking LEGO model! [:D]
Blakjak and Remko, if you need more information on the Pfeil, just e-mail me so that I can send you something on it.
Thanks for the help, and unfortunately, I am unable to get my pictures up. I only have my dad’s old Minolta, which still runs on film. Sucks to be stuck in the twentieth century. Besides, my budget is small and I try to avoid access. I did in the past two weeks finish the Tamiya FW-190 A-3 and F-4 Hellcat. Both great models, and I think I’m really getting pretty good at it. About time too, I’ve been at it since i was 6.
Not only the aft prop could come off, the lower vertical stabilazer was attached to the fuselage with explosive bolts to eject it in case of belly-landing.
It was also the fastest piston engine driven plane at its time and indead the very first operational plane with ejection-seat.
One of my favorites planes of WWII. I just picked up the Tamiya kit about a month ago at the LHS for 25 dollars. Just couldn’t pass that up. Bryan
Here is a kit review - maybe it will be useful to you.
http://www.swannysmodels.com/Do335b.html
I’m building the Tamiya kit right now, and gotta say it’s pretty decent. If I wasn’t experimenting on it (I’m actually motorising the propellers), I’d say it would go together fairly nicely!!
Sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. I built the Tamiya 1/48 Grumman Wildcat. I messed up the numbers up above. Maybe I wasn’t thinking… it happens