Arado Ar 196A-3

[Mike]

Arado Ar 196A-3

1:32 Revell of Germany

The Ar 196 was designed as a shipboard reconnaissance aircraft, and was very successful in it career aboard the German Kreigsmarine fleet, and with coastal squadrons after the demise of Germany's capitol ships. The A-3 variant was a development of the original A-0, A-2 and A-4 variants, with additional strengthening and positions on the wings for two 50kg bombs. It was crewed by the pilot and observer/gunner, and was powered by the BMW 132K radial engine with a top speed of around 190mph.

Armament consisted of a rear-facing MG 15 (MG 17 and MG 81Z were also used in other marks), with two wing root mounted MG FFs controlled by the pilot. The aforementioned 50kg bombs under each wing outboard of the floats were carried for offensive sorties.

The kit comes in Revell's usual end opening box (insert wish they'd change that here), and on opening you're faced with a raft of sprues. 13 in light grey styrene, and one in clear styrene. The package is completed by the instruction booklet and decal sheet.

It's getting a little monotonous at the moment saying this over & over, but the kit is well moulded and superbly detailed, which is at least a good thing to be able to say ad nauseum.

There is a lot of work to do before the modeller can close up the fuselage, as the 196 had a ladder-like framework within the fuselage, which is visible through the cockpit aperture, a large hole in itself. Construction starts with the pilot's position, mated to the bulkhead between him and the observer, with radio equipment festooning the backside. The ladder sections have various parts added before they mate to the solid floor section, and detail throughout is good. The radio and instrument panel faces are suitably detailed for this larger scale, although there are doubtless wires and additional detail that could be added with the right references. It is worth noting that the rear cockpit seems to have been lined with sheet plywood or similar to stop the spent casings from the rear armament from finding their way into the workings of the aircraft. Check your references for confirmation if you can, and grab some thin styrene sheet cut to shape if you plan on replicating this.

Once the cockpit and "chassis" is complete and painted, the engine compartment bulkhead attaches to the front, and you can begin adding the fuselage around it. The BMW radial engine isn't added until later in the build, but the detail and part count here is high. With careful painting and weathering it should build up into an excellent focal point of the model. The cowling is made up from a number of parts, allowing the modeller to leave part or all of it open to expose as much of the engine as they wish. There is also a choice of prop with a spinner or without, so check your references.

The wings come in the traditional upper and lower halves, and have a rather sturdy looking spar arrangement sandwiched between the halves, plus a full set of posable flying surfaces. You can choose here to pose the wings folded for stowage, or unfolded ready for flight, or with one wing folded one extended to show off the model's features without taking up too much display space. Care is needed here, as the construction of the wings differs considerably depending on which version you choose. Ploughing on without looking at the little black explanatory pictures could limit your choice later in the build.

The tail, with one piece elevator is built as a single unit and slots into the rear of the fuselage later in the build along with the movable rudder.

The two floats build up from three parts with two additional bulkhead parts giving the structure some strength. You are advised to add 30g of weight to the front of each float to prevent it rocking back onto the tapered rear once completed, and you get to choose retracted or deployed steering vanes for manoeuvring on water. The support struts are two strong one-piece arrangements, so should stand up to handling well, and a rigging diagram is provided for the bracing wires in between the struts. Additional bracing struts are fitted between the floats and wings if you're building the wings open, giving the whole assembly even more strength. If you stow the wings, support struts are provided, and key into holes that you need to drill in the fuselage and wings during the build.

The transparencies are clear & crisp, but the various parts are assembled from flat parts separate from the cockpit aperture, and here you could run into trouble if you either get the angles wrong, or use traditional cement and cloud the parts. It would be advisable to use a non-solvent glue like GS-Hypo Cement and build the parts in-situ to ensure you get the angles right to give a good join with the cockpit sills. Masking before building the assemblies could also be a good idea, to avoid cracking the joints with excessive handling.

Decals are provided to depict two airframes, as follows:

III./KG 100 at Kalamaki, Crete Jan 1943

Bordfleigergruppe 196 onboard Tirpitz Summer 1943

Both machines are painted in a green splinter pattern with Hellblau undersides, the former having yellow wingtips on the underside only. Decals are crisply printed and in good register, although my copy seems to have suffered from a printing or packaging issue and has a stripe running down the left side, ruining a Balkencreuz on the upper wing, and one each of the underwing codes for both schemes. I will have to talk to Annette at Revell for a new sheet set via their excellent replacement service.

The build is completed by the addition of a simple but effective circular base with supports onto which you place the floats. A nice addition to the package, which unless you are intending to purchase the HPH catapult kit, sets off the model nicely. As a word of caution for those that are however, there appear to be a couple of eyelets that attach the aircraft to the catapult missing from the kit (click here for info). It shouldn't be too difficult for the average builder to scratch-build these even if they don't intend to mount the model on a catapult.

Conclusion

This is an excellent and well detailed kit in its own right, but when you factor in the price it becomes a bargain. It is well moulded, highly detailed, and builds into an impressive replica, and should tempt those like myself that don't usually build in this scale. It bodes well for the He 111 and BAe Hawk that are coming in this scale soon.

Thoroughly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

[worm]

Very nice review Mike, I think on mine the only things I'll be replacing are the machine gun barrels and adding seatbelts and some instrument dials, it really is a nice kit.

All the best

Steve

[Iain Ogilvie]

My only real gripe is that it appears the seam on the middle cockpit transparency goes straight through a clear pane - not frame - and this is going to be next to impossible to hide - even with careful assembly...

That apart - it's a stunning model and exceptional value!!!

Iain

[spitfire]

Looks great and fantastic value for money.

Cheers

Den

[ancient mariner]

Tried to buy one at two separate well known outlets.................only gone and sold out aint they.

Oh well back to the KUTA3 builds.

[Mike]

Tried to buy one at two separate well known outlets.................only gone and sold out aint they.

Oh well back to the KUTA3 builds.

Have a word with Graham @ Relish - He said he'd got some in stock

[Shar2]

It seems to be proving very popular, but then it is a fab kit and well worth the money.

[Paul A H]

Looks like a lovely kit and an unbelievable price. If only 1:32 was my scale...

[avro683]

Great review Mike, roll on Sunday week!!

Tony

[worm]

Picked up a second Arado today, cracking kit, I've got the brass machine gun barrels and I'll be getting some PE seat belts at the Huddersfield show.

[Carts]

Got this fantastic kit on the go at the moment,but tried in vain to find any pictures or information re the plywood sheets in the rear cockpit,anyone any ideas? Was it bolted to the frame or behind it?

[Chris Hewitt]

Got one from Santa,its magic