v1 launch pad

7/25/2019 V1 Launch Pad

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HOW TO BUILD...

A V1 LAUNCH SITE

By Paul Davies

Obviously there have been a few

compromises with the model, most

notably regarding the scaled down length

of the launching ramp. The original

Walter Schlitzrohrschleuder WR 2.3

catapult launch ramp has been quoted

at anything from 36 - 58.4 metres

long depending upon which source

you consult. Assuming the longest

dimension, then at 1/100th scale the

model would be almost 24'' long, which

would clearly dominate most wargames

tables! The ramp sections supplied in

Open Fire, make a ramp that is just

under 6''. Unfortunately at the time of

writing this How to there were no

plans to separately release any of the

plastic components from Open Fire,

so if you want to create a longer ramp,

or for that matter, have more of the very

nice infantry gures youll need to get

together with someone else and pool

your resources.

Anyway, for this How to I decided

to create a selection of generic buildings

associated with the early V1 launch sites.I stress early because thanks to excellent

Allied air reconnaissance and information

from the resistance in Occupied Europe,

the Germans quickly realised that they

Some weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to get a sneak preview of theFlames Of War Open Fireboxed set when

I was invited to the Wargames Illustrated300th issue celebration, and was very impressed by the quality and

amount of models and gures in the box. I was particularly interested in the V1, complete with launching ramp,

and the possibilities for making it into something more than just a terrain piece or objective marker occurred to

me immediately.

needed to make the sites less obvious,

particularly regarding the distinctive

ski building.

GENERAL CONSTRUCTION

I used Styrofoam for the buildings in

this How to. Its cheap, light and easy

to cut with simple hand tools as long as

you ensure that you use a sharp blade.

Blunt blades will rip the foam, which will

mean youll need to use ller to make

good the damage. Be warned, that some

llers will attack the foam so always test

llers, glues and even paints, on a piece

of waste material before using them!

I experienced this problem during this

project even though I was using a ller

that Id used before so, when opening a

new tube or pack, my suggestion would

be to test the contents before applying

them to your precious model.

As always, the plans are intended as a

starting point and they should be scaled

to suit your gures

.netAs with most of Paul Davies terrain

building articles, you can nd his

plans ready for download at our

website. Once downloaded you may

need to rescale the plans to match

the scale of your own project.


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The launch ramp and catapult was usually protected by a

wall each side of it, either made from bricks or concrete. My

interpretation is based upon a wartime intelligence drawing

(Zaloga, S J, German V-Weapon Sites 1943-45. OspreyPublishing, 2008).

Cut out all the components. Consult the exploded view below

and you will see that the ends of certain components need to be

cut at a 45oangle.

Pin and glue the components together.

Where parts 4 and 5 join youll need to trim the Styrofoam

slightly, because a cut made across an angle will be longer than

one made at right angles to the edge.

Ideally I always leave the pins in place, simply pushing themright into the Styrofoam to make a really strong joint, but you

need to take care that your pins arent too long otherwise theyll

project through to the material.

I will cover painting in one section at the end of the article as

it is basically the same for all the different constructions and

theres no point duplicating information. Similarly, I

constructed some simple bases to go with each model, but

the basic principles are the same for each one, so once again,

Ive slotted these in at the end of the article to avoid duplication.

These buildings varied in design; some

looked like a basic pillbox; some, if time

allowed, were built into the ground with

the vision slot at ground level. Unless

Im building terrain for a particular game,

perhaps for a wargame show, I avoid

building terrain features or buildings into

the terrain because it limits the playing

options, so I chose the above-ground

pillbox style because, if nothing else,

I could use the building as a pillbox in

another scenario. Incidentally a similar

design of building was also used to store

various V-1 related items including the

warhead fuses which, understandably,

needed to be stored safely well away

from the warheads themselves!

Cut out the component parts. Pin and

glue parts 2, 3 and 4 to the underside part

1 (the roof).

Pin and glue part 5 to part 6.

And then pin and glue the two

assemblies together.

Finally trim back the sidewalls to match

the roof.

The building needs a door, but it makes

sense to add it after the building has been

painted, so constructing the various doors

for these models is covered at the end of

the article.

Pai

nting&

Mo

delling


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As a nal stage before launching, the V1 was taken to a specially

constructed non-metal building where it was suspended and the

magnetic compass aligned and adjusted.

Note that the roof is not shown in the plan because its precise

dimensions will depend upon the size of the model, and

the thickness of the material being used. Therefore taking

measurements from the actual model is the most accurate option.

CONSTRUCTION

Cut out all the parts. Pin and glue parts 1 and 2 together, and

parts 3 and 4.

Glue the two assemblies together.

As with all the buildings there seem to have been slight

variations from site to site. In the case of my version of the Non-

Magnetic Alignment building, I have decided to have the outer

walls in concrete, but the walls separating to the two side roomsfrom the main space, in bricks.

The way I created the effect of the concrete and brickwork was

by etching the surface of the foam with a suitable pattern using

a cocktail stick. You could create this effect before assembling

the building, but I decided that it would be easier to add it after

the building had been assembled to ensure that the lines of bricks

and concrete aligned properly. The outer walls were a mix of

bricks for a short distance up from ground level and then larger

concrete sections.

Youll notice I used ller to repair some slight damage.

After creating my concrete effect on the outside walls, I added

the two supporting buttresses, parts 7 and 8.

It makes your life easier if you paint the interior of the building

before adding the inner walls. I painted mine in a Mid Grey.

The inner walls, parts 5 and 6, that created the two side rooms

were brick and so a suitable pattern was lightly etched into the

foam. Obviously this HAD to be done before assembling the

building.

Paint the inner dividing walls. I used RailMatch concrete. To

lift the bricks from the mortar, instead of drybrushing I put a bit

of white paint onto a palette; dabbed at it with a piece of sponge

and then lightly dragged the sponge over the surface.

Glue the inner walls into position. Taking measurements from

the model, a roof in two sections was cut from foam, which was

bevelled along the edges that formed the apex of the roof.


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Prior to launching, the V1s were stored on trolleys, inside

specially designed buildings. The Allies nicknamed them ski

buildings because of their distinctive shape, which from the

air looked like a ski lying on its side. It was this easily spotted

design, which made it easy for the Allied reconnaissance ights

to identify the early V1 sites and was in turn, the reason why

the Germans decided to resort to a less obvious building and

site conguration, preferring instead to try to integrate their

sites amongst existing farm buildings where possible. However

theres no doubt that the inclusion of a ski building on your V1

site adds interest.

CONSTRUCTION

From various sources, including those credited at the end of

this article, it was evident that the curve of the ski could be in

either direction.

Cut out and glue part 1 to part 2.

The two side walls are a little complicated as they incorporate acurve and its difcult to determine their length. My procedure

was to rst lay a piece of string along the length of part two and,

allowing a couple of inches extra, cut out two strips of foam the

same height as part 1.

The rst step to bending the foam is to score a series of vertical

lines partially through the material around the curve. I scored

my lines 15mm apart. Start with the outer curve part 3, because

its easiest as the curve is less sharp than the inner one.

Very carefully bend part 3 until it matches the curve of part 2,

and then pin and glue it in place.

As a matter of interest, possibly for another project, if youre

really careful you can, following the above method, bend

Styrofoam virtually back on itself!

Curving part 4 follows the same procedure as for part 3 except

that, as the curve is tighter, the vertical score lines should be

closer together; about 10mm worked well and the score cuts

must be on the INSIDE of the curve. The other difference is

that this wall includes a door. Carefully carry out a dry-run

and once youre happy that the curve is good, cut out the door

aperture, and then pin and glue the inner wall in position.

Cut out the end wall to t between the sidewalls and pin and

glue it in position. Trim off the excess walls.

Fill the cracks where you made your scoring. Its not really

necessary to ll the cracks on the inside of part 4, but it does

add strength to the assembly which is always a good idea.

And thats it for the basic constructions. The next step is

painting the buildings.


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Ive grouped my painting procedure into

a single section rather than repeating it

after each building because the painting

of all the structures basically follows the

same steps.

The models were given an undercoat of

Citadel Astronomican Grey, which wasthen dry brushed with Concrete Matt

from the RailMatchrange of acrylic

paints, but you could use Citadel Desert

Yellowor whatever the latest name is

for that colour! For the next stage, you

need a kitchen scouring pad; the ones

that are like a sponge on one side and

slightly rougher on the other. Pour a little

matt white emulsion into a tray and dip

the rough side of the sponge into it. Wipe

off most of the paint and then drag it

across the model to create white streaks.

Immediately youve made your streaks,

turn your pad over and rub the spongeside over the building. This has the effect

of softening the white down.

The doors in the Anti Magnetic Alignment building would have

been wooden for obvious reasons. To create them, I scored a

series of lines onto balsa sheet and then cut out a door to t the

aperture. As for painting, wood that has aged tends to look

grey, but the wood in these doors would have been fairly new,

so I decided to use Citadel Kharlock Green, followed by a

very light drybrush of grey to pick out the grain in the balsa.

Dont be tempted to drybrush until the previous colour has

dried completely. To nish off the door I created a door handle

by pushing a pin through the door, and snipping off the excess.

Be careful when you do this as the sharp pointy end has a

nasty habit of shooting across the room at something

approaching escape velocity! Paint the head of the pin black

and thats it, one simple door complete with door handle. Just

glue it into position.

The doors for the Fire Control bunker and the Ski building were

more likely to have been made from metal, so I used plastic card

for them. The main doors were created by making a backing

piece slightly larger than the door aperture. Onto this was glued

a slightly smaller piece to represent the doors. A thin vertical

strip was added to suggest where the doors joined and nallyhinges were added, made from thin paper.

The doors were sprayed matt black and then drybrushed with

Games Workshop Boltgun Metal.

To date, Ive yet to nd a glue that will work with both Styrofoam

and plastic card, so to hold the doors in position I added a piece of

foam behind the door, pinning and gluing it into position.

The same basic procedure was followed for the other door for this

building and also for the door for the Fire Control Launch bunker.


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Its up to you whether or not you create bases for your

buildings. It depends on what terrain you already have and

also just how permanent you want to make your V1 site.

Assuming you want to make bases the following steps are

how I made mine.

Cut out a piece of thick card for the base and from thinner

card cut out some rectangular shapes to represent paving

type slabs and concrete.

Position the respective building onto its base, draw

around it to create a guide and then glue the card tiles

into position

I followed the same painting process for each base; paint the tiled area

matt black, and the surrounding ground dark brown. After this had dried

thoroughly I dry brushed the earth and drag-sponged the tiles.

Dont worry too much if youre a bit heavy handed with drybrushing over

the brown as youll be covering most of it with static grass or ock, but try

to be careful when working on the stonework.

All that remains is to bring together your buildings and bases

v1 launch pad

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