Revell 1:32 Arado Ar 196A-2

[bangle]

This model was started a while ago by my husband before we both went through a big model making dry spell. Now we're both back on track we thought we might as well start a build log.

The first and oddest thing you notice about this model is that they give you this lovely framed interior, then if you buy the Eduard photo etch like he did, you find you need to cover it up with a big blank panel. Much research says that yes this is the right thing to do. So despite my disappointment, accuracy won out.

He found that the cockpit actually goes together very well when carefully fitted, although i'd say plenty of test fitting was certainly key to his success.

He mixed up his own cockpit interior colour, he went for a fairly muted colour as he didn't want it too appear too over bright and toy like.

The next job was masking off the instrument panel, after much deliberation he decided it was best to mask the background off and spray the panels black rather than the other way around.

Here's the instrument panels mostly complete. David likes to use a palette of quite a range of colours to try and achieve the best effect.

Along with the eduard etch set he also bought the HGW resin seat set with textile seat belts. Neither of us had ever used these before but they were really good and actually surprisingly easy to use. Plus they were far better than the kit part. However when the HGW set arrived the rear resin seat was broken, as the plastic one wasn't all that bad he just used the kit part instead. At the most recent Cosford model show we also bought a load of weathering powder from Pinnacle modelling supplies so he tried these out on his interior.

The model needed a modest amount of filler but it wasn't all that bad.

[bangle]

The engine required several stages of airbrushing and plenty of masking. He also re-shaped the kit parts which the two mesh vents fit onto.

He also bought the Profi-modeller resin beaching trolley. As the resin I beams came warped he decided to buy a plastic replacement. Upon building up this frame to the same size as the resin parts we noticed that the frame is strangely large and rather roomy either side. We checked this with photos online and reference books and he found that this assumption is indeed correct. So on CAD he went.

This is what he produced. The tolerances are much tighter, there does seem to be some variation in dimensions of the actual trolleys so he went for a size that gives a little wiggle room but not much.

So, to bring thins up to date, the cockpit is done, the main fuselage is sanded and the engine is on its way to being completed. At the moment he's working on filling in the sink marks in the float struts and is currently thinning the engine panels. Interestingly a plastic weld bottle is proving to be an excellent sanding block, being the correct diameter for such work.

[Gremlin56]

Nice build so far Bangle, Mr. Bangle is doing a nice job and the beaching trolly is a great extra, (is it a beaching trolly or is it the transport frame used on board the Bismarck and Tirpitz?).

[Martian]

A most interesting build thus far!

Martin

[bangle]

Nice build so far Bangle, Mr. Bangle is doing a nice job and the beaching trolly is a great extra, (is it a beaching trolly or is it the transport frame used on board the Bismarck and Tirpitz?).

It's going to be a beaching trolley, this is the inspiration photo. He's got some German mechanic figures and a toolbox from the Verlinden Luftwaffe Repair Section set he wants to add to make it into a little diorama when he gets that far.

[Val]

Looking great so far

[bangle]

I think I better do a little update before I get overloaded with pictures to post up, things are coming along at quite a pace on David's model. The cowl panel thinning went well, below is a comparison photo with the thinned one on the left.

The eduard sets come with plenty of to go on the otherwise completely bare inside.

As it's going to be a bit of a pain to paint up the cowl sections he's decided to modify things a bit so that he can slide the engine on later, he did this by removing one of the two tabs that hold it in on each part.

The exhausts proved tricky as he has some resin parts to fit on the end, here he is in a moment of great tension checking the alignment as the araldite is drying!

Here they are off the engine, they're getting a coat of milliput on the join lines. I think they look a bit like some kind of deep sea creature. In the background are his resin body parts for his figures.

He also test fitted his Alleycat resin cockpit, it seems to fit very well and is a great improvement over the rather oddly constructed kit part.

The engine recieved a bit of attention this morning with a little weathering wash.

[Martian]

Nice work and some ideas for when I come to do the exhausts on my Tracker!

Martin

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Oooh! Hadn't spotted thus build before; nice job, you Bangles.

[HL-10]

Some impressive work there!

[F4u]

Nice work looking good.

Guy

[bangle]

Thanks guys! David's usually sitting in the background making his model, sipping a coffee and reading all the comments

After he bought the airframe album publication on the Arado he noticed that instead of the further forward protruding handle on the kit is only present on the prototype and very early production models. On the A2 the handle is recessed and further towards the rear so he made a cut out, made a shape with plastic card and used a rod for the handle. As a little side note, the Revell kit actually calls itself an A3 where actually it's somewhere between the two, and is actually most like an A2. The reason why he decided against making an A3 is that the A3 has a reasonably sized clear window on the top of the rear fuselage. It's scribed on the kit but you don't get any transparency for it.

Work continues on the beaching trolley. It has a rather interesting design flaw in that the small trundle wheels need a certain amount of ground clearance. The kit provides you with axle mounts for the wheels but the height accounts for non-bulged tyres but yet the kit provides you with a set of bulged. The net result being that the trolley bed sits 2mm too low to the ground. To get around this issue he decided not to use the kit mounts for the large tyres and instead made his own.

As we don't have any square plastic rod section at home he decided to use a piece of left over I beam and fill it with milliput to make it solid. This has the advantage of being strong and providing a plastic surface on which to glue.

Here's all the components together, the now unused kit part is sitting next to its counterpart which is a fair old bit taller. So far the actual kit parts that he's going to actually use are the wheels! So much for buying a kit...