Arado AR196 A-3
- 28 May 2012 07:58175122Its the Revell 1:32 scale kit.
The first Revell I have built since the 70's back when they were alongside Airfix for poor fit and inaccuracy. Like Airfix its all change now, this kit is up there with the best for fit and accuracy. A very enjoyable build.
Depicted is an aircraft based on Crete in 1943. These were used for sea reconnaissance and were often based on the German battleships. They carried a pair of machine guns, one for defence and one for strafing targets of opportunity along with a pair of small bombs.
- Ross Miller
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,706
28 May 2012 08:02175123Nice Barry"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi - 28 May 2012 08:47175134Very nice. You're getting quite good at these. Out of interest I bought one of the Verlinden books "On Plastic Wings". Got it used from Amazon, came all the way from the US.
- 28 May 2012 09:00175135I read they were also put to 'good' use on the Bismarck...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_196Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing. - 28 May 2012 11:26175160Great to see another of your brilliant kits Barry - well-done again.
Roger - 28 May 2012 12:39175172Colin - I had the Verlinden books back in the late 70's. They are excellent and I am using an updated version of the Verlinden method but with modern materials.
Thanks for your comments.
Yes indeed Tom, they were used on the Bismark. Some say that these were the best seaplanes used in WW2. - 28 May 2012 15:32175230Another very nice model, Barry. The Arado 196 seaplanes on the Bismarck were not used during her one and only operational sortie, ending in a watery grave. This was characterised by very poor visibility and relatively high seas. The only time they debated launching an Arado was after the Catalina of Coastal Command reestablished contact after Bismarck had shaken off the shadowing cruisers. They toyed with the idea of launching the Arado to shoot down the Catalina but decided against it due to the near impossibility of recovering the float plane in the prevailing sea conditions. Here is a video of one landing in a very moderate sea and then making the mistake of trying to take off again:
http://www.patricksaviation.com/videos/Me262/3041/ - 28 May 2012 15:41175232I have decided on my next project and it is this:
The actual aircraft I will model is the USAAF version the A-24B, the lower one below:
- 28 May 2012 16:01175238Impressive stuff there Barry, even to me! Its great to see the passion you have for building these models
Think I mentioned to you before that my first job in marketing here was with Airfix, they were based in Wandsworth at that time
- 28 May 2012 16:10175248Well well Colette.... and now Airfix are over at Ramsgate owned by Hornby who have been working wonders with the quality of the brand after a spot of neglect with Heller.
- 28 May 2012 16:20175258They followed me Barry
- 28 May 2012 16:26175263Indeed they did Colette!!!
I wish they made 1:32 scale kits instead of their 1:24 that are just too big, 1:72 that are too small and 1:48 that are better but still not big enough for me, if they did I would start to build them. Their new kits really are good. - 28 May 2012 19:30175316Gosh Barry looking at the above pictures, you have been very busy most impressive and nice to see the finished model, good luck on your next project.
- Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
28 May 2012 20:57175349barry,nice plane,but do try and get out more.build them outside in the fresh air.
- 29 May 2012 08:55175408Excellent BarryW Another beautiful build, I liked the video of the Arado Ed, how not to take off in slighty choppy conditions
- 29 May 2012 09:40175425Ed - sorry I missed your post and that fascinating video for some reason. Thanks Barry for drawing my attention to it.
That first AR196 must have been a prototype with that single large float and two smaller outriders with the second aircraft demonstrating the superiority of the two-float design.
