Manufacturer: Aoshima / Revell / 3D prints
Scale: 1/700
Additional parts: 3D printed parts, spare part box
Model build:
Kriegsmarine Flugzeugträger Manfred von Richthofen
Aoshima / Revell / 3D print
1/700
1/700
Shadow of the Red Baron: The Ironclad Flight Deck
The icy wind whipped across the North Sea, biting through the woolen uniforms of the German sailors as they watched the colossal form of the "Manfred von Richthofen" emerge from the mist. Launched just two years prior, the ship was a testament to Germany's desperate scramble for naval dominance. Built upon the hull of a Bismarck-class battleship, the Richthofen was a monstrous hybrid - a fusion of steel leviathan and soaring airfield. Its flight deck, a newly added superstructure, teemed with activity as mechanics readied a motley crew of Messerschmitt Me 109Ts, Junkers Ju 87s, and the sleek prototype Heinkel He 280 jet fighters.
The Richthofen wasn't just a technological marvel; it was a symbol of hope. Christened after the legendary Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, Germany's ace pilot of the First World War, the ship carried the weight of a nation desperate to rewrite history. Captain Hans Hoffmann, a grizzled veteran with steely blue eyes, surveyed his vessel with a mixture of pride and apprehension. He knew the Richthofen was a gamble, a Frankenstein's monster cobbled together in the throes of war. Yet, it was their best chance to challenge Allied control of the seas.
Their first test arrived unexpectedly. During a routine training exercise, Richthofen's recon planes spotted a blip on the radar – a British submarine formation attempting a surprise attack on the nearby battleship Tirpitz. The alarm blared, and the hangar deck erupted into a flurry of activity. Pilots scrambled into their cockpits, engines roared to life, and within minutes, a wave of German warbirds launched from the deck, their silhouettes stark against the leaden sky. The ensuing battle was a baptism by fire. The Ju 87 Stukas, with their trademark sirens wailing, rained down bombs, scattering the British subs and forcing them to retreat. Operation Source, as the British mission was named, was a resounding failure, and the Richthofen had earned its stripes.
The following months saw the carrier joining the German battleship fleet in a series of operations against Allied convoys and outposts. The He 280s proved particularly adept, their jet engines granting them an edge in speed and maneuverability against lumbering British bombers. In Operation Ostfront, the Richthofen's planes delivered a critical blow to the battleship Duke of York, allowing the German surface fleet to inflict heavy damage on the JW 55B convoy. Yet, success came at a cost. Fuel shortages became a constant specter, crippling German naval operations. The mighty ships, once a symbol of terror, became sitting ducks for Allied bombers.
By 1944, the situation was dire. Grounded by fuel scarcity and hounded by relentless attacks, the Richthofen spent its days as a ghost of its former self. Despite the hardships, the crew maintained a stoic resolve. They knew the war was lost, but their pride in their unique vessel remained.
As the war finally ground to a halt, the Richthofen, along with the surviving battleships, was surrendered to the Allied forces. The British, fascinated by the jet fighter technology showcased on the carrier, took possession of the ship. Briefly stationed at Scapa Flow, the Richthofen underwent a few test runs before being deemed obsolete. In 1949, the once-proud carrier met its final fate, dismantled at Faslane scrapyard. Though its operational life was short-lived, the "Manfred von Richthofen" remained a testament to German ambition and a chilling reminder of the lengths nations go to in the pursuit of victory. The ironclad flight deck, a monument to wartime innovation, became a footnote in history, a shadow of the Red Baron lurking in the icy depths of the North Sea.
Before the outbreak of WW2, Germany started with its fleet-building program, the so called "Z-Plan". With this, the Germany navy should have been massively increased by the end of the 1940s. However, the start of WW2 changed everything, only a few ships had been started to build and those constructions were stopped a short time later.
The war made the plan obsolete, however new ideas were needed to increase the German surface fleet - and this was called "Plan X".
One component of "Plan X" was the construction of aircraft carriers. While the Graf Zeppelin and its sister ship Peter Strasser" were still under construction, the need for additional ships was seen. As a German delegation went to Japan before the war to study Japanese aircraft carrier on the example of the Akagi - a reconstructed battlecruiser - the plan was developed to build an aircraft carrier based on an existing battleship design.
At that point, Germany had the Scharnhorst class, Bismarck class and H-class in an early stage of construction. It was decided to use the Bismarck class as the base of a carrier and scraping the H-class ships that have just begin to build before the war.
In a quite similar way as the Japanese battleship/-cruiser - carrier conversions, the still unnamed carrier would use the hull of the battleship with hangar and flight deck added as the superstructure and not integrated part of the hull. To do so, a group of five Japanese naval engineers were invited to Germany to assist in the initial planning and construction phase.
The ship was laid down at Hamburgs Blohm&Voss shipyard in September 1939 and construction proceeded quite fast and it was launched only two years later in October 1941.
Despite the increasing air thread, the ship was completed by July 1943 and immediately moved into the Baltic Sea for training and trials.
Equipped with Me109T, Ju87 and Fi167 aircraft, the ship was also used to test the He280T, the carrier version of the He280 jet fighter. Although this aircraft was not chosen as the primary jet fighter fro the Luftwaffe, its slower landing speed made it better for carrier operations than its Messerschmitt counterpart.
Training was drastically reduced and the ship was send to Norway in August 1943 to join the Tirpitz in the Kafjord. During the continuous training operations there, recon planes of the Richthofen were able to detect the approaching British submarines during "Operation Source" which caused the attack of the British midget submarines to fail.
In the following months, the Richthofen assisted the German battleships in Norway during its operations, like "Operation Sizilien" against Spitzbergen and various smaller Operation against allied convoys to Russia which did not result in much success.
However, during "Operation Ostfront" against the convoy JW 55B, planes launched form the Richthofen could score multiple hits on the British battleship Duke of York when it attempted to attack the German ships closing to the convoy. This operation, consisting of Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and 5 destroyers, could successfully engage the convoy, sinking the cruiser HMS Sheffield and damaging the HMS Norfolk. 8 of the transport ships could be sunk directly, while 7 others there lost due to U-boat attacks.
When the German ships in Norway were more and more targeted by RAF bombers, the planes of the Richthofen could assist in providing CAP. Especially, the newly introduced He280 jet fighters were very successful against British bombers.
Because of fuel shortages got worse in early 1944, the German ships were almost impossible to operate. Almost immobilized by this, the ships were no real thread to allied shipping and British attacks were reduced - although they still took place.
Richthofen, like Tirpitz and Scharnhorst - survived the end of the war in Norway and were taken over by allied forces. The Richthofen was assigned to Britain which was interested to see the implementation of jet fighters on aircraft carriers. Located at Scapa Flow until 1949, a few operational tests were made in the North Sea, after this the ship was scrapped in Faslane.
The model ships the "Manfred von Richthofen" in august 1943 just after being commissioned.
This is a mix of parts form various model kits and 3D prints. The hull is taken form an Aoshima 1/700 scale Bismarck, parts of this kit were also used for the island structure. The flight deck is from an Revell USS Intrepid kit (don't know the scale), parts of this kit were also used on the island.
The AA guns are from two Tirpitz/Bismarck Revell 1/700 kits, the Me109, Ju87 and Fi 167 are Trumpeter models. The hangar is designed with Tinkercad and 3D printed on an Anycubic Mega FDM printer, same is for some smaller parts used on the island and flight deck.
The He280 are also 3D printed, this time with an Anycubic Photon Resin printer, i don't remember where the 3D model came form, I had it in my collection.
The model was airbrushed with Revell Aqua Colour, and the crew are PE parts from Eduard. Sadnly, the final finish layer produced sone kind of "dust" or "little worms" all over the ship.
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