V2 Missile Project

Back in olden times there was a company that went by several names, Grip, Arii, Eadai, and they made plastic models.

This anhydrous ammonia trailer is from some die cast company and unrelated to the V2 kit but I use it for a fuel transport anyway.

And that company Grip, made a series of 1/76th scale WWII German models.  They were simple and durable and great for wargames.  They included a V2 missile with the transporter/ erector trailer, launch pad, missile, radar, and control halftrack.

This is the control halftrack.  The trailer with all the wheels is some unknown plastic kit I got and I use it as another fuel vehicle.  The Grip kit did not come with fuel vehicles.

A close up of the bottom of the missile.  I am working on a project that has languished for decades.  It is an American V2 missile.  In all the space science fiction movies of the early 1950s there are V2 missile launches being shown, often they are German test footage, but frequently they are stock footage of the US Army experimenting with V2 missiles and equipment captured at the end of the war.  So these are getting a repaint.  I have others that will continue to serve their original owners.
 

Rocketship X-M

Rocketship X-M is an exciting movie that I watched over and over as a kid.  A rocket to the moon goes off course and lands on Mars instead.   I think this movie is one reason I like the MPC ring hand figures so much, the remind me of the crew in this rocketship.

This is another in the long series of rockets by Pegasus Hobbies.

On my way out of California I stopped at Pegasus and hoovered up a big order of items, including most of their rocketship models.  Larry gave me a good deal on them since I got so many all at once.

While the scale is supposed to be 1/144 scale, I intend to use them with my 1/72nd scale figures, sound familiar by now?  The ship is about the same size as a 1/72nd scale V-2 missile.

The "glass" portholes are made in a unique way that allows the builder to install several at one time and avoid getting glue on the windows.  I really like this model and being simple it really cries out for an armada of them!

Cosmostrator

The movie, First Spaceship on Venus, has appeared in several versions, but always includes the star of the movie, the spaceship, Cosmostrator.

Pegasus Hobbies makes this neat model of the interesting space ship.

The box says it's 1/350 scale, but the central rocket is about the size of a 1/72nd scale V2 missile.

Parts are flash free gray plastic.

I plan to use mine with some 1/72nd scale spacemen I am working on making.

Ark

Pegasus Hobbies is working on the ark ship from the movie When Worlds Collide.

Pegasus also licenses models from War of the Worlds, and Galaxy Quest.

The When Worlds Collide ship is about 1/350th scale, but it works well with 1/72nd scale figures too.

These two WWII Germans are 1/72nd scale. This model is about the size of a 1/72nd scale V-2 missile.

The rocket is designed to be launched from a ramp, like the V-1 missile system. I may get a few of them and link the ramps together to make a longer ramp.

WWC

COL Jim and I paid a visit to my good friend Larry at Pegasus Hobbies, in Montclair, CA.

Pegasus is one of the few buildings that was actually built specifically as a hobby shop.

Their newest product is the space ship from the movie When Worlds Collide.

While the model scales out to about 1/350th scale, the kit is about the size of a V-2 missile in 1/72nd scale. It even looks a little like a winged V-2.

Like the V-1 rocket, this model rocket was designed to be launched from a ramp. It used a rocket booster sled to help get the speed up.

The model is an easy build kit, with no flash. This is a pre-production sample, Larry had about a half a dozen of them, in two versions. He is been working on it for over a year and has made many detail changes in the kit in that time. I suspect there will be a few of these on my wargame table.

V2 US Army

At the end of World War Two the V2 ballistic system was so advanced that it was copied by the United States Army and the Soviet Red Army too.

Well into the 1950's these rockets can be deployed with those military forces. Perfect for those Cold War goes hot war wargame scenarios.

Many of the same vehicles were used by the US Army as were used by the German army.

I have been collecting surplus V2 rocket components for use with my US Army. About the only thing you have to do is change the tires on the trailers and support equipment. Then paint everything olive drab and add some white stars. New uses for old equipment.

V2 Launch

Over three thousand V-2 missiles were launched by the German Army in WWII. They were a mobile ballistic missile system that was used both strategically to attack cities and major depots and tactically to attack bridges.

At times they were launched in groups from the same general area. They did not want to keep them around very long because the fuel was very toxic, and corrosive and the threat of destruction by Allied airpower was very great.

The missile would be towed on it's transporter / erector and be set in place on the mobile launch pad. Then the missile would be fueled and after a few final checks be launched.

Here four missiles are being prepared for launch at one location. Missile technicians and visitors are on site as the final preparations are being made. The entire caravan could be moved rapidly by road, pull over fire a missile and be on their way for a reload very quickly.

The man with the camera from the propaganda ministry is here to record the firing of the four missiles. In my rule set troops get a bonus to their morale when they get their picture taken, everyone likes to look good in front of the folks back home.

The missile systems are the old 1/76th scale from Eadai / Grip and also some newer reloads from another company. Various vehicles from Roco and Wiking. Figures from HaT, Odemars and Prieser.