This complete resin and photo-etch kit from Hauler represents the F-55 Feuerlilie (Fire Lily). As mentioned above, the kit also includes the modified 88mm anti-aircraft gun launch platform. If your thinking that this release looks kinda familiar then you'd be right. This kit has previously been available under the Extra TECH banner.

The AA missile is comprised of seven light gray resin bits which are easily removed from the pour stubs. The missile body has some lovely engraved panel lines as well as the detail of the thrust nozzles on the aft end of the F-55.

The guidance wings, which exhibit their own engraved detail, are all of two pieces to which are added two winglets per wing. After assembling the F-55 missile all that's left to do is decide what color to paint it. This was a prototype weapon, so just about any shade of gray would be accurate, as would natural metal. Let your imagination run wild.

The next step is to remove the resin bits for the launch platform from the pour stubs, clean up the edges and glue them together. The base of the launch platform is a single piece to which is added a couple of outriggers and a one-piece launch rail carriage. All of these items have appropriate detail and really look nice assembled.

There are a couple of omissions in the kit that might be worth mentioning. One is the lack of an elevating mechanism for the launch rail and the want of a mount for the missile upon said launch rail. Neither of these minor omissions is insurmountable as most everyone probably has the odd fiddly bits in their spare parts box to fix them both. I used some leftover HO scale Roco Minitanks parts for both.

The photo-etch parts in the kit are mostly just the launch rail. This launch rail is a two piece affair so some care will need to be taken when folding to get the mating edges to line up properly. Not to fret, it isn't a grave task. I did it! The other photo-etch parts are for platform details such as outrigger pads, elevation wheels, and crew seats. You even get a shovel and tow bar.

This F-55 Fuerlilie kit from Hauler is excellent and, in particular, a great kit for anyone wishing to get their feet wet with either resin, photo-etch, or both. It is a simple kit to assemble and the photo-etch parts require a minimal amount of folding. Which can done without the aid of a bending tool. However, I would recommend using a a straight edge for that task...at the very least. It's great to see this 1/72nd scale F-55 Feuerlilie available once again.

From our pals at Wikipedia: "Feuerlilie (English: fire lily) was the code name of a German anti-aircraft missile, which was developed in 1940 and was shelved because of problems with the controller and the drive section at the end of January 1945 in favor of other projects. The Feuerlilie was built and tested at Rheinmetall-Borsig in two versions: the F-25 with a diameter of 25cm, and the F-55 55cm in diameter. The engines were Rheinmetall 109-505/515 solid rockets.

With the completion of the development of the F-25, the main interest in the LFA focused on the F-55. This was a remote-controlled 2-stage supersonic missile (first stage: solid and level flight: liquid). Launching the device was made from an oblique ramp, later also on a modified 88-mm anti-aircraft gun launch pad. The first production of the F-55 was completed in April 1942.

On 25 January 1943 a contract was sent to the Ardelt company in Breslau for the construction of five test samples. The construction of the units was completed in February 1943. On 9 March there was a delay to the delivery of the batch, now 30 units, due to technical problems, including with the controller and the drive section.

The first launch of an F-55A1 was on 12 May 1944. It flew for 69 seconds and a distance of 7500 m. From 19 October 1944 at Greifswalder Oie three further launches of the F-55A2, which demonstrated their unstable flight behavior. The launch of the improved F-55A3 was aborted on 21 October 1944 because of technical problems.

On 22 November 1944 the Technical Department of the Air Ministry cut the number of F-55s from 25 to 11 devices. There was a further cut in December 1944 to 20 sample units of the A2 and A3 models. The last documented attempt to fly an F-55A2 took place on 11 December 1944 at Greifswalder Oie.
To accelerate the development and to obtain reliable results, on 14 January 1945 it was decided to use the unmodified drive from the Henschel Hs 293 in the F-55 A2 and A3. The F-55 would have a larger tail for greater flight stability. As the development was discontinued in late January 1945 these changes were scrapped".

My thanks to Hauler and IPMS/USA for the review copy.