JU88A-6 Cable cutter 1/48 Dragon

[dubster72]

Very good Trey & well worth persevering with!


I wonder how scary it was to fly at cables & hope the cutter worked as advertised!

 

[stona]

Yes, a model to be proud of. I wonder what types of cable it was designed to cut. Obviously steel ones but I guess that anything over 1/4 " in diameter might not be cut, but perhaps would slide outwards and escape along both sides of the plane (although allowing the plane to continue without having done its job).

It was to cut the cables on barrage balloons. Not all barrage balloons suspended a simple cable, some sophisticated systems were developed to bring down any aircraft striking the cable. Some involved explosive mines that would be dragged onto the aircraft, but more commonly a cheap and effective system of parachutes was used to increase the drag on the aircraft to the point where it stalled and fell out of the sky. The balloon was intentionally ripped so that it would descend for retrieval and repair.


View attachment 106528



Obviously defecting the cable into a cutting jaw near the wing tip could prevent this, as on the system on Trey's model. The system was heavy and draggy and did nothing for the handling of the He 111 which wasn't exactly over powered to begin with.


It was a purely defensive system. As far as I know nobody ever intentionally flew at balloon cables.

 

[flyjoe180]

Top shelf work there Trey, all that work has paid off. Also glad your tail burn was repaired in the end!

 

[David 317]

That's a great finish and build.


An interesting subject that I had not heard of.


D.

 

[treyzx10r]

Leo thank you


Polux thanks ,glad you like the gear . I struggle getting them to look correct,but I'm getting better


Alan thanks looking forward to seeing your Ju88 build out.


Ian, Monica , Ian , John , Paul , Si , John , Derek , Peter , Dave thank you all for the kind words


Tony thanks for noticing the extra work that went into the surgery appreciate that!


Dougie thank you kindly


Steve thanks and as usual thanks so much for taking the time to post up the extra info about the subject ! You continue to be such a valuble source of info on these and so many other subjects, wish you would publish a book I would so buy it!!!


Stevekir , Patrick , Joe , David thank you all as well

 

[stona]

There were about 1,500 barrage balloons deployed in 1940. They could fly up to about 5,000ft, though many were deployed lower. There is some debate about their effectiveness as only 30 aircraft are reckoned to have been brought down by balloons during the war, however they certainly did discourage low level attacks on the targets they protected. By 1944 the number of balloons had doubled and they were credited with bringing down more than 200 V-1s, but this may be a bit optimistic, given the small size of a V-1.


Cheers


Steve

 

[Wong Ryan]

nice looking build. great finish

 

[Doug Hughes]

That's fantastic, Trey, and a really interesting subject. All your hard work really paid off.

 

[BigZimmo]

Great build, Trey!! Another strike from your workbench!


On this tabletop the model looks, as if a Monster-Ju 88 has landed on the moon.

 

[colin m]

Brilliant job. An unusual aircraft which will look great in any collection.

 

[Robert1968]

Hey trey a fantastic looking build you got there ( probably before I joined or I never got to see it) thanks Peter for letting me see this.


An unusual subject but that's what I like about here we build such a vast selection of subjects.


I did like the weathering and the dull finish.


Robert.

 

[Deleted member 3568]

Great build trey truly superb, and Steve you are a font of very interesting knowledge.

 

[spanner570]

I've just spotted this Trey...nearly missed it mind!


What a superb job. Very impressive finish on an unusual aircraft.


Nice one.

 

[Steve Brodie]

What a fantastic build of a very extraordinary looking aeroplane.

 

[selrach]

Beautifully done. Very nice canopy as well.