Dornier Do 335 Pfeil Heavy Fighter - 1:72 Hobbyboss

[Paul A H]

Dornier Do 335 Pfeil Heavy Fighter

1:72 Hobbyboss

The Dornier Do 335 Pfeil (Arrow) was the culmination of years of experimentation with tandem engine layouts by Dornier Flugzeugwerke. The distinctive Do 335 had one Damiler-Benz DB 603A mounted conventionally in the nose, and another mounted in the fuselage behind the pilot, driving a pusher propeller via a long driveshaft. This configuration had many advantages over a traditional twin-engined design, including increased roll rate, reduced drag and none of the torque issues caused by asymmetric thrust. The design proved successful and the Do 335 became the fastest German aircraft to see service during the war, achieving 474mph in level flight.

As with many of the innovative designs pioneered by German engineers and scientist during the war, the Do 335 failed to have any impact on the outcome of the conflict. Although numerous versions were planned, including night fighter and reconnaissance variants, just 37 aircraft were completed by the end of the war. A single surviving example exists, preserved at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

This kit is part of Hobbybosss easy assembly range and will no doubt emerge as part of the related Easy Kit ready built collection at some point too. As with the rest of this range, the kit will disappoint those who demand the last word in detail. Enthusiast modellers are really not the market that Hobbyboss is targeting with this range of kits, and this must be borne in mind when casting a critical eye over the plastic.

The Dornier arrives packed into a top-opening box adorned with a photograph of the finished kit. The model photographed on the box top has been finished 'in-flight', which is curious as the kit's nose gear doors are moulded in the open position! Nevertheless, I am a fan of this kind of box artwork as it usually represents an honest indication of what is inside. In this case the contents is comprised of two sprues of grey plastic, one small clear sprue and a separately moulded lower fuselage/wing and upper fuselage. In common with other Hobbyboss kits, the parts are extremely well packed. All of the sprues are individually bagged and the more delicate components such as the canopy are wrapped in foam for extra protection. The plastic parts are nicely moulded and surface detail is comprised of fine, engraved panel lines.

As you might expect from a kit designed to be easy to assemble, the cockpit has been greatly simplified. It is comprised of a floor/rear bulkead, a seat and a control column. The instrument panel is moulded as part of the upper fuselage, with a decal included to represent flight instruments. Neither the seat nor the control column are accurate, but relatively little will be seen behind the one-piece canopy in any case. The finished cockpit structure clips into two sockets on the inside of the lower fuselage/wing section. This section is well-moulded, although because the wing is solid plastic, it is surprisingly heavy. This section, in turn, joins to the upper fuselage/tail and completes the substantial part of the model. The instructions don't mention it, but you'll need to add some weight to the forward fuselage to prevent the model from being a tail sitter.

The fit of the two main structural parts is excellent, and no filler whatsoever will be needed. The fit of the tail planes is equally good easily up there with the best fitting model that I have ever built (Dragon's De Havilland Sea Vixen, if you were wondering). The slide moulded supercharger intakes and the ventral air intake are nicely executed and also fit well, although they look quite fat when compared to photographs, so I suspect they are rather overscale. Both VDM airscrews are of conventional construction and have not been simplified for this easy build kit. The only problem is that they have both been reversed so would rotate the wrong way. This can be corrected if you snip off the attachment points though. The cowling and radiator for the forward engine is moulded as one piece but looks pretty good.

The undercarriage is a high point of this kit, as detail does not appear to have been compromised in order to make the model easier to assemble. The only exception is the nose gear leg, which has the wheel and tyre moulded in place. The retraction struts are all moulded separately and the finished article looks very nice. The main gear legs also have separate retraction struts and scissor links, as well as separate wheels. The main gear bay and doors are both nicely finished with convincing structural details. This is in contrast to the nose gear bay, which is completely devoid of detail. I think the contrast between the two looks rather odd, so I think I'll add some extra details to the nose gear bay on my kit. The canopy is moulded in one piece but is thin and clear, with nice canopy frame lines.

One marking option is provided, for Do-335A-1 102 (VG + PH). A tail number for 113 is included as well, but no fuselage letters. The decals look thin and glossy on the sheet and are fairly well printed, but both sets of tail numbers on my example are smudged and unusable.

Conclusion

This range of kits from Hobbyboss is designed with ease of assembly taking priority over detail. This approach has allowed Hobbyboss to carve out a niche in the market, but it isn't for everyone. Having said that, if you are prepared to set aside one or two accuracy issues, this is one of the best kits in the range. It is generally well detailed and is good value for what is quite a large aircraft. If you want to see the model being built, pop over to the Work in Progress forum and follow my build. Recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

[Viking]

This is the first time I have seen one of these 'easy assembly' kits. When I was starting out in this hobby I'd have been more than happy to be able to get something like this. That seamless fuselage is great, and the rest of the detail isn't bad. Hopefully kits like this will encourage people to have a go.

[rotorheadtx]

I have one of these on the bench right now. It's a good kit, one that could have been great, but for some laziness and inattention on the tool-makers part.

1) As mentioned the props are a train wreck. They both turn the wrong way. They are molded such that the curved face of the blade is away from the fuselage at both ends. The forward prop has 2 blades in correct pitch, and one reversed.

2) The nose cowling has the prop-shaft centered in the face. The real thing has the prop-shaft offset toward the top of the cowling.

3) The rear engine radiator outlet vents under the horizontal stabs are missing entirely.

4) The cockpit is a good try, but side consoles would have been easy for HB to add. The seat is too tall, and doesn't look anything like the sprung 'ejector' seat that was installed.

5) The inner main gear doors have huge mounting tabs, instead of pins at the corners, where the real hinges were.

6) Botched cockpit canopy hinge; too big and too far forward.

Those gripes aside, the kits molding is amazing. The fit is very good, and seam fall along natural breakdown lines, and despite the thickness of the wings, there is no shrinkage. The canopy is wonderfully clear, and the pane frames are frosted, making masking or hand-painting much easier. If you have a FROG or DML kit, bits from those can be scavenged to fix the oversights.

Edited July 23, 2013 by rotorheadtx

[Paul A H]

Thanks for the extra info How are the tail numbers on your decal sheet? Are they smudged too, or was I just unlucky?

[rotorheadtx]

Tail numbers in my copy are fine. You must have received a bum set.

If you want mine, you can have 'em; I'm doing a Japanese what-if 244th Sentai.