Takom 1/350 scale Haunebu I, II, and III plastic model kit review

The idea of German-made UFOs flying around during World War II both entices the imagination and approaches the ludicrous. But hey, there’s even been a movie about the Third Reich hiding out on a base on the dark side of the moon. Takom becomes the latest kit maker to lean into this subject with its 1/350 scale Haunebu I, II, and III kit. That’s right; the kit includes three variants.

You can build the aircraft (spacecraft?) with landing gear stowed or deployed or with the gangplank up or down. The turrets rotate, and there are also ladders included. The larger two models have interior details. Decals provide two marking options for each of the three sizes.

Unsurprisingly, all three models build similarly. I painted the bottoms on all three RLM76 light blue, then added the turrets and landing gear. The cannons were painted Tamiya Gunmetal (No. X-10).

The instructions offered no guidance for painting the interiors of the Haunebu I and II ships. I went with RLM02 gray for the floor, Tamiya Flat Red (No. XF-7) for the seats, Flat White (No. XF-2) for the walls, and colored the control panels with Clear Red (No. X-27), Clear Yellow (No. X-24), Clear Green (No. X-25) and Smoke (No. X-19). I painted the inductor (Part A18) with Copper (No. XF-6) and gunmetal.

The Haunebu II’s sliding gun mounts (Part C9) can slip out of their mounts, so be careful while installing and gluing the cannons in place. The landing gear was painted RLM 02 gray, and the wheels received flat black.

The upper turret has three tabs that must be glued on the bottom side to allow the turret to lock in place.

The color names on the painting instructions do not match the callouts in the illustrations. I thought Luftwaffe colors would be appropriate. For Haunebu II, I painted the top RLM 76 weissblau and RLM 66 schwarzgrau for a night fighter look. For Haunebu III, the camouflage was a splinter pattern consisting of RLM 74 graugrün, RLM 75 grauviolet, and RLM 77 hellgrau. All paints were Mr. Color or Tamiya. Decals laid down without decal solvent. At this point, I had lost the tiny gun turrets for the underside of the Haunebu I — the whole model is barely 1½ inches across — so I didn't finish it.

I took 12 hours to build and paint all three models. Being 1/350 scale, I can imagine using them in a scene with German or Allied ships in the same scale. Fun, if nothing else!