In Box Review of DML 1/48th Scale
Ba-349A Natter w/HWK-109/509 Engine & Crew
Kit no. 5525
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 1996
Available from one individual on the web in the U.S. for $35.00.
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 1996
Available from one individual on the web in the U.S. for $35.00.
HISTORY:
The Bachem Ba 349 Natter (English: Colubrid, grass-snake) was a World War II German point-defence rocket-powered interceptor, which was to be used in a very similar way to a manned surface-to-air missile. After a vertical take-off, which eliminated the need for airfields, most of the flight to the Allied bombers was to be controlled by an autopilot.
The primary role of the relatively untrained pilot was to aim the aircraft at its target bomber and fire its armament of rockets. The pilot and the fuselage containing the rocket engine would then land using separate parachutes, while the nose section was disposable. The first and only manned vertical take-off flight, on 1 March 1945, ended in the death of the test pilot, Lothar Sieber.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Crew: 1
Length: 6 m (19 ft 8 in)
Wingspan: 4 m (13 ft 1 in)
Height: 2.25 m (7 ft 5 in) (without fins)
Wing area: 4.7 m2 (51 sq ft)
Empty weight: 880 kg (1,940 lb) fuel expended
Gross weight: 2,232 kg (4,921 lb)
Gross weight boosters jettisoned: 1,769 kg (3,900 lb)
Fuel capacity: 650 kg
Powerplant: 1 × Walter HWK 109-509 C-1 bi-fuel rocket engine, 11.2 kN (2,500 lbf) thrust Hauptofen main chamber, 2.9 kN (652 lbf) Marschofen auxiliary chamber
Powerplant: 4 × Schmidding SG 34 solid fuel booster rockets, 4.9 kN (1,100 lbf) thrust each or 2 x 9.8 kN (2,203 lbf) solid fuel booster rocket motors
Maximum speed: 1,000 km/h (620 mph, 540 kn) at 5,000 m (16,404 ft)
Cruise speed: 800 km/h (500 mph, 430 kn)
Range: 60 km (37 mi, 32 nmi) after climb at 3,000 m (9,843 ft), 55 km (34 mi)after climb at 6,000 m (19,685 ft), 42 km (26 mi)after climb at 9,000 m (29,528 ft), 40 km (25 mi)after climb at 10,000 m (32,808 ft)
Endurance: 4.36 minutes at 6,000 m (19,685 ft), 3.15 minutes at 9,000 m (29,528 ft)
Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 190 m/s (37,000 ft/min)
Time to altitude: 62 seconds to 12 km (7.5 mi)
Armament: 24 × 73 mm (2.874 in) Henschel Hs 297 Föhn rocket shells or 33 × 55 mm (2.165 in) R4M rocket shells or 2 × 30 mm (1.181 in) MK 108 cannon with 30 rpg (proposed)
The Bachem Ba 349 Natter (English: Colubrid, grass-snake) was a World War II German point-defence rocket-powered interceptor, which was to be used in a very similar way to a manned surface-to-air missile. After a vertical take-off, which eliminated the need for airfields, most of the flight to the Allied bombers was to be controlled by an autopilot.
The primary role of the relatively untrained pilot was to aim the aircraft at its target bomber and fire its armament of rockets. The pilot and the fuselage containing the rocket engine would then land using separate parachutes, while the nose section was disposable. The first and only manned vertical take-off flight, on 1 March 1945, ended in the death of the test pilot, Lothar Sieber.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Crew: 1
Length: 6 m (19 ft 8 in)
Wingspan: 4 m (13 ft 1 in)
Height: 2.25 m (7 ft 5 in) (without fins)
Wing area: 4.7 m2 (51 sq ft)
Empty weight: 880 kg (1,940 lb) fuel expended
Gross weight: 2,232 kg (4,921 lb)
Gross weight boosters jettisoned: 1,769 kg (3,900 lb)
Fuel capacity: 650 kg
Powerplant: 1 × Walter HWK 109-509 C-1 bi-fuel rocket engine, 11.2 kN (2,500 lbf) thrust Hauptofen main chamber, 2.9 kN (652 lbf) Marschofen auxiliary chamber
Powerplant: 4 × Schmidding SG 34 solid fuel booster rockets, 4.9 kN (1,100 lbf) thrust each or 2 x 9.8 kN (2,203 lbf) solid fuel booster rocket motors
Maximum speed: 1,000 km/h (620 mph, 540 kn) at 5,000 m (16,404 ft)
Cruise speed: 800 km/h (500 mph, 430 kn)
Range: 60 km (37 mi, 32 nmi) after climb at 3,000 m (9,843 ft), 55 km (34 mi)after climb at 6,000 m (19,685 ft), 42 km (26 mi)after climb at 9,000 m (29,528 ft), 40 km (25 mi)after climb at 10,000 m (32,808 ft)
Endurance: 4.36 minutes at 6,000 m (19,685 ft), 3.15 minutes at 9,000 m (29,528 ft)
Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 190 m/s (37,000 ft/min)
Time to altitude: 62 seconds to 12 km (7.5 mi)
Armament: 24 × 73 mm (2.874 in) Henschel Hs 297 Föhn rocket shells or 33 × 55 mm (2.165 in) R4M rocket shells or 2 × 30 mm (1.181 in) MK 108 cannon with 30 rpg (proposed)
THE KIT:
DML (sometimes called Dragon) is an old prolific plastic model kit manufacturer based in Hong Kong, China. They make all manner of plastic model kit subjects in the popular scales.
This kit comes in a blousy shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box. The box is 3” too long.
The cover art shows a color illustration of a Ba-349A and a two-man crew in a clearing in a forest. The Natter is in a camouflage of a base of tan with dark-green blotches.
Its canopy and nose ring are laying on a canvas tarp. Its 4 steel rockets are laying on another tarp.
One man is working on the nose. He is bare-headed and wears a dark-gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up and tan trousers over low black shoes.
The second man is at the rear of the Natter and working on the engine. He too is bare-headed and he wears a tan uniform. His pants are bloused into high black boots.
One side-panel of the box has one-paragraph histories of the Natter in 6 languages, including English. Each language is labeled with a color illustration of the flag of the country that speaks the language. Over: This kit contains plastic parts and photo-etched stainless-steel parts to construct one model of a Ba-349A aircraft and its crew.
Copyright of the kit is 1995, over DML’s street and FAX addresses in Hong Kong, China and kit was made there.
DML (sometimes called Dragon) is an old prolific plastic model kit manufacturer based in Hong Kong, China. They make all manner of plastic model kit subjects in the popular scales.
This kit comes in a blousy shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box. The box is 3” too long.
The cover art shows a color illustration of a Ba-349A and a two-man crew in a clearing in a forest. The Natter is in a camouflage of a base of tan with dark-green blotches.
Its canopy and nose ring are laying on a canvas tarp. Its 4 steel rockets are laying on another tarp.
One man is working on the nose. He is bare-headed and wears a dark-gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up and tan trousers over low black shoes.
The second man is at the rear of the Natter and working on the engine. He too is bare-headed and he wears a tan uniform. His pants are bloused into high black boots.
One side-panel of the box has one-paragraph histories of the Natter in 6 languages, including English. Each language is labeled with a color illustration of the flag of the country that speaks the language. Over: This kit contains plastic parts and photo-etched stainless-steel parts to construct one model of a Ba-349A aircraft and its crew.
Copyright of the kit is 1995, over DML’s street and FAX addresses in Hong Kong, China and kit was made there.
The other side-panel of the box has 3 walk-around type color photos of the model made up, followed by the copyright and addresses again.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX:
The kit holds 2 medium-gray trees, a clear tree, a jet black base part, a steel PE fret and the decal sheet in 5 sealed clear cello bags.
The instructions consist of a single-sheet that accordion-folds out into 8 pages in 7” x 10 ¼” page format.
Page 1 begins with a black and white repeat of the cover art, over the history of the Natter in 6 languages, including English.
Page 2 begins with ATTENTIONS about the kit, over international assembly symbol explanations and a listing of Gunze Sangyo and Italeri brands of hobby paints in the 6 languages.
The bottom of page 2 on through to page 6 give a grand total of 9 assembly steps.
The 9th step is a painting and assembly guide for the 2 crewmen and shows a line-drawing of the model made up in the box art scene.
Page 7 is the marking and painting guide for the Natter.It is a 4-view, that further shows a red 2 on the top of the left wing and a red 3 atop the right.
Two illustrations of the engine are also shown. They are called out as being burnt-iron in color.
Page 8 is the pars trees illustrations, down the left side of the page and decal application instructions down right side, in the 6 languages, including English.
Trees are alphabetized, but not illustrated in the instructions.
Medium-gray letter A tree holds: the body, tail, nose, 4 rockets etc. (35 parts)
The kit holds 2 medium-gray trees, a clear tree, a jet black base part, a steel PE fret and the decal sheet in 5 sealed clear cello bags.
The instructions consist of a single-sheet that accordion-folds out into 8 pages in 7” x 10 ¼” page format.
Page 1 begins with a black and white repeat of the cover art, over the history of the Natter in 6 languages, including English.
Page 2 begins with ATTENTIONS about the kit, over international assembly symbol explanations and a listing of Gunze Sangyo and Italeri brands of hobby paints in the 6 languages.
The bottom of page 2 on through to page 6 give a grand total of 9 assembly steps.
The 9th step is a painting and assembly guide for the 2 crewmen and shows a line-drawing of the model made up in the box art scene.
Page 7 is the marking and painting guide for the Natter.It is a 4-view, that further shows a red 2 on the top of the left wing and a red 3 atop the right.
Two illustrations of the engine are also shown. They are called out as being burnt-iron in color.
Page 8 is the pars trees illustrations, down the left side of the page and decal application instructions down right side, in the 6 languages, including English.
Trees are alphabetized, but not illustrated in the instructions.
Medium-gray letter A tree holds: the body, tail, nose, 4 rockets etc. (35 parts)
Medium-gray letter B tree holds: the two figures (divided into full bodies, heads and arms), the engine and parts of a wood bench etc. (33 parts)
The clear tree is letter E. It holds the canopy parts and nose cone (3 parts)
The large black circular base plate is next (1 part)
The steel PE fret is letter MA. It holds 16 parts, that include the cockpit floor, mirrors, straps, etc.
The small decal sheet with tissue to protect its face completes the kits contents. It has a red 3 and two red 2’s on it and two small yellow squares with black letter C on them and a small white circle with black letter T on it.
The detail is excellent.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.