The first time I recall encountering Maschinen Krieger was sometime around 2010 or so. I was in my favorite hobby shop in the world, Hayes Hobby House in Fayetteville, NC, when I saw the box on the shelf. It was called “Falke”. My first thought was something like “That is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen.” Yet… I kept looking at it.

Eventually I switched from aircraft to scifi, and early in that process “discovered” Lincoln Wright and Paint on Plastic. Once I’d gotten a more proper introduction to Ma. K through his eyes, I was hooked.

My first kits were a New Rally Pawn, and an SAFS. But very quickly I found myself holding a Falke box. It was a new variant from the one I’d initially encountered. The look of it was still odd, but the “ugliness” I’d seen before had morphed into the “weird but cool” category.

And then I built it.

The Proof Is In The Pudding

While people often focus on the seam line that runs around the split between the two hull halves, with a little patience and a few tricks, assembly is quite manageable. (Stay turned for Part 2 of this series..)

But the real fun, what makes this kit shine, is how much fun it is to paint and weather.

And it starts in the cockpit.

While the cockpit is simple to my aircraft builder’s eye, it is sufficient. Certainly if you like scratch building you could really make it shine. And given how little can be seen through the cockpit opening, sufficient is… sufficient.

This video covers the cockpit assembly and finishing for the “Bomber Cat” variant… but it won’t end up as a Bomber Cat. Changes will be made. I’m not going to claim the result will be unique, but I think it will be rare.