Daimler-Benz Project "B" Luft'46 Bomber Concept (1944/45)

Scale: 1/200
Initial Release: 1993
Kit Rarity: 4

About the Design

Nazi Germany's early focus on short-range tactical bombers left the country with a dearth of strategic aircraft capable of hitting distant targets. To fill this void, numerous projects were proposed -- including a few that were, well, exotic.  The German automaker Daimler Benz's proposal was to build a giant prop-powered "bomber carrier" that could carry a "parasite" bomber halfway or more to its target, then release the jet-powered aircraft to complete the remainder of its mission.

The Project "B" design was the second of what would be three "carrier" proposals Daimler Benz developed. The design, while decidedly exotic, never got off the drawing board.

Note: This design isn't quite as "whacked" as one might think. The cracked-wing "carrier" and underbelly "parasite" layout is near identical that found on Burt Rutan's White Knight/Space Ship One and Spaceship Two suborbital spacecraft systems.

About the Kit

This 1:200-scale resin kit is from HBM Models, which specialized in 1:200 models of aircraft and other vehicles.  The main body and parasite bomber are both single castings. Only the legs and "guided missiles" needed to be assembled. The kit did not come with propellers, hence I "borrowed" four propeller sets from Entex's Hughes "Spruce Goose" model kit, the only injection-molded model currently available in 1:200 scale!

This model was built from an original mid-1990s casting.