Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Revell's Arado AR-196 Floatplane

Revell's Ar-196 - Wings Folded
The new Revell's 1/32 Scale Arado AR-196 Floatplane can be assembled either with the wings extended for flight or folded for storage aboard a ship.  I opted to make my model with the wings folded as she would be when stored on any of several German Warships such as the Graf Spee or Bismarck.  Instructions for each style are clearly marked on the instruction sheet.  The Arado was the main-stay aircraft used in almost every front during World War 2.
I used the prop blade to cover the machine gun opening.
The Arado kit comes from Revell Germany and like the S-100 (reviewed on an earlier Blog) is a suburb model with many fine detailed parts.  A good example is the gunners seat which slides on the tracks as it should; and the back rest can be positioned for seating forward or facing back to the machine gun.  Molded in light gray, I found no flash and the parts fit right on.  I would suggest one studies the instruction closely when it comes to assembling the engine.  I thought I had it perfect, but when it came time to assemble the cowl the opening for the machine gun would not line up correctly.  Somewhere during assembly I screwed up. 

If I were to mentioned a negative side, I would say the canopy was the down fall.  It comes in separate pieces and has to be glued together.  It became for me at least a little difficult to hold the correct angle to fit the cockpit opening. When trying to  position the center and aft section they did not seem to fit like the rest of the model did.  I am hoping to build Revell's 1/32 scale Ju-88 next, but If the price proves to be to high for now, I may build another Arado, this time with the wings extended for flight.

Close up of the cockpit, this kit has a lot of details and could be enhanced more.  There is plenty of room for a super detailing.



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