Blohm und Voss Bv 155 V1

by Andrea Mariottini

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This is my latest model - the Blohm und Voss Bv 155 V1 from Pegasus in 1/72 scale.

I have been fascinated by this aircraft ever since I saw her for the first time in William Green's booklet FIGHTERS Vol.1 in the War Planes of the Second World War series published by Macdonald in the 1960s.

The Bv 155 was a high-altitude fighter designed with a ceiling of 16 km in order to intercept high flying bombers, also having a secondary reconnaissance capability.

Based on the Messerschmitt project Me P 1091, Blohm und Voss continued development of this aircraft in 1943 due to the overcommittment of the Messerschmitt design bureau. The deteriorating situation of the war in Germany and, mainly, the friction between the two design teams delayed the availability of the first prototype that flew only few times and never reached the expected service ceiling.

I like high-altitude aircraft in general, but what I like most in the Bv 155, from a technical point of view, is the DB603U engine coupled with the TKL15 turbosupercharger. In some flight conditions, the DB603U engine could operate with the turbosupercharger not engaged. When the two units were connected, the exhaust gases of the engine moved inside two semi-recessed pipes (one for each side of the fuselage) until the turbine of the TKL15 unit. The turbine was connected to a supercharger that, after taking fresh air from outside by means of a ventrally installed intake, forced the compressed ait to the intercooler and then, via a semi-recessed duct on the left side of the fuselage, to the engine driven supercharger. Quite heavy and complicated but it would have been interesting to see if it was effective!

My first attempt to make a Bv 155 model was the Airmodel vacuformed kit.

I was able to assemble the wing with the two big radiators but the plastic of the two fuselage halves was too thin, moreover they did not fit well. I was not (and I still am not) a skilled scratchbuilder so I dropped the Airmodel kit.

As soon as the Pegasus kit became available on the Italian market, almost ten years ago, I started again with my project.

Please do not wonder that I took ten years to get the stage you see in the photos. Sometimes I had to stop my job simply because I did not know how to solve the problems that I have found during the assembly. The Pegasus kit was not much easier than the Airmodel kit. In case of the Pegasus kit the plastic was very thick; moreover every part of the kit needed to be cut, sanded, drilled, filled, sanded again, rescribed or simply scrapped and replaced with a hand-made one.

The list of modifications is endless.

Just for example, it was easier to scratchbuild the flaps instead of reducing the thickness of the wing trailing edge. The result is not at Tamigawa level.

The Pegasus kit had some shortcomings. I tried to remove them but I have introduced my own ones so do not look for the geometrical perfection or the aerodynamic symmetry. Please, be sympathetic in your judgement.

Even so, I have to thank Pegasus. Without this kit I could not satisfy my wish to have a Bv 155 model.

Usually I do not display the "interiors" of my models but, due to my interest on the power train DB603U + TKL15, I decided to complicate my task opening the fuselage and showing both the engine and the supercharger.

Engine, engine bearers and firewall come from the Dragon's Do 335; additional details have been hand-made as well as the engine cover.

The TKL15 unit, intercooler, bay, frame, accessories and cover have been completely scratchbuilt.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

The only after market assistance that I have found are an Airwaves photo-etched sheet for the cockpit and two True Details resin wheels, not specific for the Bv 155 but suitable after some sanding to reduce the external diameter.

Some panels, the wing spar and some minor details have been represented by using a thin metallic adhesive tape; this technique has been described by the French magazine Replic.

Please note the dimension of the wing spar; as usual in the Blohm und Voss aircraft, it had also the function of fuel tank divided in several cells.

The only documentation I have found is the Monogram Close-Up 20.

 

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2002 by Andrea Mariottini
Page Created 24 September, 2003
Last Updated 17 March, 2004

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