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Dornier Do.335A-1/A-12 ‘Pfeil’ (03795) 1:48 Carrera Revell The Dornier Pfeil (Arrow) lived up to its name, as it was one of the fastest prop-driven aircraft of WWII, however it came too late to the fray to see service in significant numbers, so failed to make a difference to the outcome. Herr Dornier had used the idea of the pusher-pull props on his earlier flying boats, and when asked to design a fast bomber, he experimented with a scale Do.17 fuselage without engine nacelles, but with a prop at the front and rear, which reduced parasitic drag from the nacelles, increased roll-rate and removing the troublesome asymmetric thrust experienced when a traditional two-engined aircraft suffered engine failure. After a successful trial he began working on a bomber, but following cancellation of that project by Reichsmarshall Goering, it morphed into a heavy multi-role fighter. Capable of utilising the newest engines under development that promised increased power above the 2,000hp level, the leading engine was cowled in a similar fashion to the Ta.152, while the rear engine was buried deep inside the aft fuselage, driving the aft prop via a hollow tubular shaft to reduce weight. The aircraft is substantial due to the additional engine, but it also sits high off the ground on long tricycle gear legs to allow sufficient clearance for the large prop at the rear, which is protected by an additional downward facing fin and rudder, giving the tail a cruciform appearance. Sadly for those testing the Pfeil, this long undercarriage was a source of problems, as it was inadequate and prone to failure. Powered by two DB603 engines (the variants differed between airframes), it was capable of around 470mph with boost enabled, and had an excellent rate of climb. There are stories of it outrunning Allied fighters on the few occasions they were encountered, including the Hawker Tempest, which was no slouch itself. Recognising the capability of the 335, the Heinkel He.219 was ordered to be cancelled to concentrate effort on building this promising fighter, but as Mr Heinkel studiously ignored these instructions, only a few Pfeils had been manufactured by the time their factory was overrun by the Allies. The A series were designated for reconnaissance or fighters, both day and night, while the B series was the Zerstörer (destroyer) variant, with two MK103 cannons in the wing leading edges, and two additional fuel tanks to extend its range. Other B variants included the 2-seat night fighter with the radar operator buried in the fuselage behind the pilot, with just an astrodome to look out from, and antennae bristling from the leading edges of the wing. There were plans to uprate the engine, extend the wings, and even place jet engines at the rear, or in pods at the side of the fuselage, and there was even a mock-up done of a Zwilling (twin) that would be used for ultra-long-range reconnaissance, but due to capitulation by the Nazis, none of these esoteric variants ever saw the light of day. Despite numerous examples being taken as war prizes by the Allies, only one Arrow still exists due to their captors’ lack of long-term thinking, and this was one of the early A series that were spirited away by the Americans at the end of the war as part of Operation Paperclip. The other airframe they took had disappeared somewhere along the line, but 240102 survived and was later restored in Germany, then returned to America where it still resides, parked next to the only surviving Arado Ar.234. The Kit This tooling was made by Monogram in 1974, but don’t stop reading here, as it must have been a well-received kit at the time. It does have raised panel lines, but if those bother you it’s an easy fix with a bit of patience, some Dymo label-tape, and your favourite scribing tool, using the raised lines as a guide to help you. The kit arrives in an end-opening box with a painting of a Pfeil being harassed by a brace of Thunderbolts, and inside are four sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, a comprehensive decal sheet, and an instruction booklet that’s printed in black & white on matt paper. Detail is good for the age of the tooling, and includes both engines moulded into one of the fuselage halves, which also has cockpit sidewall and rear engine bay detail moulded into both halves. There are also three reasonably detailed figures, and you have the choice of depicting your model as a single- or two-seat variant by using the appropriate insert and sundry parts, all from the one box. Strangely however, it occurred to someone in the 70s that it was a good idea to put raised copyright details and USA inside one of the main gear bays, but it’s thankfully small and could be removed quite easily if you have the right tools, or can make your own custom sanding stick. The detail moulded into the bays is acceptably well done, although the bay walls would benefit from some styrene strip to simulate ribbing. Construction begins with deciding how many seats you want to build the model with, representing either an A-1 single-seater, or an A-12 two-seater with a radar installation on the leading edges of both wings. The first physical work involves detail painting of the moulded-in engines in the port fuselage side if you plan on displaying one or both, then building the pilot’s cockpit from a tub, headrest, rear bulkhead, control column and trim-wheel, adding the instrument panel to the front with a good quantity of detail painting pointed out along the way. The completed cockpit is glued to the top of the nose gear bay, drilling out a 3.5mm hole for the gear leg later in the build, painting the detail on the interior of the bay, and adding a minimum of 20g of nose weight before closing the fuselage halves. The upper cowling on the nose has a pair of gun troughs moulded-in, and it is joined by the circular intake cowling for the annular radiator with cooling gills at the rear, and an axle in the centre for the prop. If you have elected to build the two-seat Pfeil, you need to build the second cockpit, which is ostensibly the same as the pilot’s, but minus the control column, and with a different instrument panel, which is glued into the two-seat insert, painting the cockpit, coaming and sills. Your choice of insert is applied to the fuselage along with the lower wing, which is full span, opening holes under the leading edges if you are portraying the two-seater for the radar gear. The flaps are each two parts and are held in position without glue (if you wish) by the upper wing halves, adding a landing light lens in the port leading edge, ensuring that you set the dihedral correctly while the glue cures. The elevators are each two parts, and plug into slots in the tail fin, completing the cruciform tail, save for the prop that’s added later. Two supercharger intakes are made from two halves each, one applied to the port forward cowling in the nose, which can be posed open or closed, the other on the starboard side of the centre fuselage to feed air into the rear-facing engine, which also has a trapezoid cowling on the port side that can be left open to show the moulded-in detail of the other engine if you wish. The two-seater has flame-damping exhausts fitted over the moulded-in exhaust stubs, cutting a small part away from the forward engine cowling to improve fit. You have the option of building your model in-flight or ground-side, the in-flight option being the easiest choice, as the main bays and nose gear bay are all covered by two doors, ensuring you take time to set them level with surrounding surfaces. While the model is inverted, the intake under the belly is tipped by installing the lip, taking care to align it accurately to minimise clean-up, the same process applying to the wheels-down option. Speaking of which, the nose gear leg is made with a separate oleo scissor-link and mudguard, adding a trapezoid frame to the rear, and a two-part wheel with engineered sag to the tyre, which is flex-fitted into position between the arms of the yoke. It is fitted into the nose bay and bracketed by its twin doors that run along the line of flight, both of which have detail moulded into their inner face. The main gear legs also have separate scissor-links, and a twin-leg retraction jack, adding the two-part wheel to the stub axle, which also has sag moulded-in. Both legs have a captive bay door attached to the outer face, the other smaller door mounted on the inner end of the bay, with an H-shaped retraction jack holding it at the correct angle. The two three-bladed props are each moulded as single parts, which are trapped between their spinners and back-plates, the rear spinner having a longer side profile than the other. The instructions show the props secured in place by melting the ends of the axles with a hot screwdriver tip before installing the spinners, but you may want to either glue it in place, or leave it loose for transport. The single seat cockpit is covered by a two-part canopy that can be posed open if you wish, hinging sideways to the right, with a D/F loop added to a hole in the spine behind it. The two-seater has two canopies that are both in two parts, and these too can be glued open or closed, again hinging to the right. It also carries radar antennae that are fitted into the holes opened under the wing leading edges earlier, with an extra step showing detail painting instructions for them. The last step shows the three figures and their painting instructions, which includes two mechanics and a pilot figure, the latter carrying a parachute pack slung over his left shoulder. Markings Each variant has one decal option on the sheet, which includes plenty of stencils to add detail to your model, although sadly the profiles are in black and white. From the box you can build one of the following: Dornier Do.335A-1 W.Nr. 240162 at Dornier Plant Oberpfaffenhofen, Bavaria, May 1945 Dornier Do.335A-12 W.Nr. 240114 at Dornier Plant Oberpfaffenhofen, Bavaria, May 1945 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion This may be an old kit, and that’s evident from the raised panel lines and the whisps of flash here and there, but it’s still a good shape, an easy build (ignoring the possible re-scribe if you feel the urge), and will make an impressive entry in your cabinet if you build it with a little care and skill. Highly recommended. Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Zsolt Arlath from Hungary has a 1/48th Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow 3D printed kit project. A 1/72nd scale kit is also considered. Sources: https://www.facebook.com/zsolt.arlath/photos_by https://www.facebook.com/story.php/?id=100002588322371&story_fbid=6593989037363975 3D renders V.P.

After building a 1/72 scale Hobbycraft CF 105 Arrow and discovering at the end that the decals were not too good I posted a question on Britmodeller asking if anybody made a decent set. This opened a ‘can of worms’ as the discussion shifted to the kit itself and the lack of accuracy thereof. I had corrected what I believed to be the only major error , the actuators being on the topside of the wing instead of the underside, but it turned out that almost nothing about the kit was correct. What should I do about it? One of my fellow club members suggested that ‘it looks like an Arrow so leave it’ but somehow I couldn’t. As a kind soul in Canada donated an aftermarket set of decals and whilst wondering whether or not to rip apart the Arrow I had just built Chris Tyler said I could have one that he had started but given up on. ‘Navy Bird’ sent a copy of what were alleged to be Avro drawings. Having been given these it seemed impolite not to get started but I told the donors not to hold their breath…I toyed with the idea of doing a WIP thread but was afraid the lack of ‘P’ might invalidate it. Anyway after a year of stop/start it has reached the stage where it looks as if it might be finished. Using the Boston Mills book, ’Arrow’, and the ‘Avro’ drawings I produced a thread on correcting the errors which has so far collected over 3500 hits so there is a lot of interest out there. It is http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234918500-correcting-the-hobbycraft-172-cf-105-arrow/ So we start with a pan of ‘Arrow soup’. The parts were warped and the only way I found to cure this was to soak the parts in a pan of hot water to get them thoroughly warm before attempting to straighten them. Wing. The wing planform is incorrect Bits were added to give the correct sweep of the inner panel and the outer panel sweep wass increased. Reshaping of the leading edge was needed to give the drooped LE. Aerofoil section was too thin at mid-chord but it was decided to live with it. The wing, when attached to the widened fuselage, gave the correct span so no correction was needed. Fuselage. The fuselage is too narrow and too short. There are strange ‘area rule?’ bulges aft of the intakes which need to be removed. ( How did Hobbycraft get that wrong?) The fuselage was widened by inserting spacers. The lower gap was filled with a strip of sheet. The upper gap was covered by the wings and spine so was left open. The intakes were widened by inserting spacers. They were also reshaped to make them less rectangular. They were then glued to the front fuselage after fitting new boundary layer bleed panels. (no picture - sorry). The front fuselage width was about right so it was unmodified but the nose shape required some correction (more of this later) The section between the nose and the rear fuselage was built from scratch. The back end was built from scratch. This was not easy and should have been done at the same time as the fuselage widening. The engine nozzles were made by using a Dremel tool as a lathe. A blank was turned out of balsawood. This was planked with plastic strips and roughly turned to shape with sandpaper. It was then coated with Milliput and turned to a final shape. The nozzles were then fitted to the fuselage. It is important to note that the engine thrustline is canted two degrees up. It doesn’t sound much but if you don’t get it right the back end looks completely wrong. Guess how I found this out! The kit spine was used except for removing the bulges alongside the cockpit and correcting the exhaust outlet The fin was modified by inserting a section at mid chord and adding a section at the base The next step was to make a new canopy. I thought that I might get away with reshaping the original but transpired this was not possible as the front windscreen was wrong, not being a straight ‘V’ shape. This caused much grief and I am still not really happy with it. One detail that caused much difficulty was the shape of the fairings over the transport joints that run chordwise aft of the notches on the wings as I could find no definitive information, only general indications of size and shape. I had sanded down the ones on the kit then realised that I had gone too far and had to make new ones. One area on contention is the shape of the nose in plan view. The received wisdom was that it is narrower at the cockpit than at the radome. The drawing from the Boston Mills book do not show this but the 'Avro' drawings do although they look as if they have come from the same source. I decided to go with the slight taper as it seems to fit the shape of the radome rather better. This is where it is at the moment. I hope this is of interest. Someone commented that it would be like scratchbuilding using the Hobbycraft bits as rough blanks and I would be mad to try… John PS. The 'Avro' drawings have a note that they were traced from Avro drawings by a Mr Stroomenbergh so it would be interesting to know their exact provenance

Dornier Do.335B-6 Nightfighter (01E021) 1:32 HK Models The Dornier Pfeil (Arrow) lived up to its name, as it was one of the fastest prop-driven aircraft of WWII, however it came too late to the fray to see service in significant numbers, or make a difference to the outcome. Dornier had used the idea of the pusher-pull props on his earlier flying boats, and when asked to design a fast bomber, he experimented with a scale Do.17 fuselage without engine nacelles, but with a prop at the front and rear, which reduced parasitic drag of the nacelles, increased roll rate and removed the dreaded asymmetric thrust experienced when a traditional two-engined aircraft suffered engine failure. After the successful trial he began working on a bomber, but following cancellation of that project by Goering, it morphed into a heavy multi-role fighter. Capable of bearing the newest engines that promised increased power above the 2,000hp level, the lead engine was cowled in a similar fashion to the Ta.152, while the rear engine was buried in a deep fuselage bay, driving the prop by a hollow tubular shaft to reduce weight. The aircraft is a big one due to the additional engine, but it also sits high off the ground on long tricycle gear legs to allow sufficient clearance for the large prop at the rear, which is protected by an additional downward facing fin and rudder, giving the tail a cruciform appearance. Sadly for those testing the Pfeil, this long undercarriage was a source of problems, as it was too weak and prone to failure. Powered by two DB603 engines (the variants differed between airframes), it was capable of around 470mph with boost enabled, and had a good rate of climb. There are stories of it outrunning Allied fighters on the few occasions when they were encountered, including the Hawker Tempest, which was no slouch. Recognising the capability of the 335, the Heinkel He.219 was ordered to be cancelled to concentrate effort on building this promising fighter, but as Mr Heinkel politely ignored these instructions, only a few Pfiels had been built by the time their factory was overrun. The A series were designated for reconnaissance or fighters, both day and night, while the B series were the Zerstörer (destroyer) variant, with two MK103 cannons in the wing leading edges, and two additional fuel tanks to extend its range. Other B variants included the 2-seat night fighter with the radar operator buried in the fuselage behind the pilot, with just an astrodome to look out of, and antennae bristling from the leading edges of the wing. There were plans to uprate the engine, extend the wings, and even place jet engines at the rear, or in pods at the side of the fuselage. There was even a mock-up done of a Zwilling (twin) that would be used for ultra-long range reconnaissance, but due to capitulation by the Nazis, none of these esoteric variants ever saw the light of day. Despite numerous examples being taken as war prizes by the Allies, only one Arrow still exists, which was one of the early A series that were spirited away by the Americans at the end of the war as part of Operation Paperclip. The other airframe they had disappeared somewhere along the line, but 240102 survived and was later restored in Germany, then returned to America where it still resides, next to the only surviving Arado Ar.234. The Kit I can't believe it has been four years now since the release of the initial Zerstorer boxing of this kit, which you can see here if you wanted to have a squint. A lot has gone on in the meantime that has delayed all of HK's projects, most notably their 1:32 Lancaster, but a lot of people will be very glad to see them back producing new kits, and wish them well with these projects, myself included. I'm normally a 1:48 kind of guy, but I make an exception for interesting subjects and this is just one of those that appeals and will look awesome on the shelves when completed. It is a fairly minor re-tool of the original that includes new leading edge inserts that don't have the cannon cowlings moulded in, a new spine to the fuselage to accommodate the 2nd crew member along with a bunch of extras on the same sprue, plus another small sprue of clear parts for the rear seater, and PE belts to keep him in touch with his seat during manoeuvres. The final parts are a set of short wingtips, decals and of course a new sheet of decals for the occasion. The box is long and narrow, and has an atmospheric painting of the subject flying toward us at an angle. Inside are fourteen sprues in mid grey styrene, two clear sprues, two sheets of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, two chunks of white metal nose weight, a large sheet of decals and a rather large instruction booklet that is about the size of a tabloid newspaper (probably a little smaller). Detail is lovely, and has been crammed in everywhere possible, offering various thickness of panel lines, overlapping panels and using sliding moulds to achieve more detail where sensible. The instruction booklet is nicely laid out too, with clean isometric-style drawings showing how to put your Arrow together, with interior detail included on both engines, which have the opportunity of being displayed open due to some separate panels. Construction begins with the spindly-looking early ejector seat that was fitted to the Pfeil (a first in aviation), which has a high part count and some nice PE belts. This is fitted to the rear bulkhead of the cockpit, which then plugs into the front section after you have added rudder pedals, control column and such. The nose gear bay is fabricated from various panels and bulkheads, as is the bomb bay, which in this case houses an extra fuel tank that has been relocated from the spine due to the second crewman. His cockpit is slightly less well-appointed with what appears to be a standard seat with the same belts as the pilot. No doubt he'd be left to make his own way out in the event of an emergency, and would have to hope that the explosive bolts in the tail had done the trick and separated the pilot-dicing prop and cruciform tail fins before he gets out. This and the shortened original fuel tank then fit to the roof of the bomb bay, while the pilot's cockpit glues to the roof of the nose gear bay. Because the model has substantial internal structure, you're going to need to build up the two DB603A engines that push/pull the Pfeil before you even begin to think about closing up the fuselage. It also has a Mustang-like intake under the fuselage that cools the rear engine, so that will need fabricating too. The engines are identical in terms of function, but they aren't interchangeable due to their mounting within the airframe. The forward engine has a fairly standard mount much like you'd see in a fighter, while the aft engine has cranked arm and trestle holding it steady. The blocks are the same, but to fit the mounts, you need to drill out different holes for each engine before you join the two halves together. The aft engine sits on the roof of the bomb bay behind the radar operator, and it is connected to the bulkhead by a couple of hoses, but if you're going to detail them, there are bound to be some additional wires you can add. The forward engine is mounted on the bulkhead of the gun bay, which hides one of the nose weights, the other being hidden inside the forward engine – you did remember to put that in, didn't you? Now is the time to put the assembled interior into the port fuselage half, at which point you may realise that you probably didn't paint enough of the fuselage interior – one of my favourite tricks! The aforementioned ducting slots in behind the main assembly, and this is pierced by drive shaft for the rear prop, with the intake lip added later in the build. A small PE part is lodged deep inside to portray the grille and it's all painted aluminium according to the call-out codes that are scattered throughout the instructions. Now you can close up the fuselage, and soon after the new spine part can be fitted after you have drilled a few version specific holes and fitted the black boxes into the front of the rear cabin. At this stage the top cowling on the nose and front inner cowling can be added too, which then allows you to put the windscreen and instrument panel in place, as well as the gun barrels for the two cowling mounted 20mm cannons and coaxially mounted Mk103 30mm cannon, all of which have slide-moulded hollow tips, although I'd probably be tempted by some lovely Master barrels that will doubtless be available for this variant soon (you can already get AM-32-108 for the Zerstörer, but will have some bits left over). The fuselage has the vertical fins moulded in with separate rudders, and these are fitted along with the elevators, all of which use the same interesting construction method. The main part of these surfaces are slide-moulded as a single hollow part to which you add either a convex leading edge for the flying surfaces, or a concave insert along the trailing edges, so that they can be posed realistically. The elevators also have separate tips to ease moulding of the parts. The radiator flaps that nestle around the empennage can be posed open or closed by adding a small actuator strut, or cutting off the mounting lugs respectively. The tail is finished off with the prop, which is a single part trapped between the fore and aft section of the spinner. Pfeil wings are large, but also thick at the root, as evidenced by the depth of the wheel bays moulded into the upper surface. A short spar was added to the underside of the fuselage interior earlier, and this will enable a good strong mount for the wings later on. First each bay is fitted out with additional detail parts, plus the sockets for the spar that will come in handy later. The lower wing is glued into large pegs in the upper, and both sections have additional strengthening bracing framework moulded into the outer section to prevent the wings from flexing once built. The newly tooled leading-edge insert is installed, and the same technique is used for the flying surfaces, with the addition of a hinge-tab within the flap sections, and separate new short wingtips. Repeat in the mirror for the other wing, and then you'll need to resist the urge to put the wings on whilst you decide whether to follow the instructions and fit the landing gear at this stage. Whether or not you do, the build process is the same, as they can be fitted now or later, although if you're posing your Arrow in flight, you can glue the bay doors in place by just cutting off the hinges on the inner doors. Curiously, the instructions for building the gear is portrayed right-to-left in the instructions, beginning with a small actuator, which is then added to the main leg along with scissor-links and a large ladder-shaped retractor. The two outer doors are captive to the gear leg, and the inner is connected to another H-frame and attached to the bay. The wheels are in four parts, and have a weighted look but no surface details, leaving the door open for Eduard. The hubs are separate, and there is one for each side, repeated again for the other leg. The nose gear is built later in the instructions, but uses essentially the same steps and can be left off until later if you require. Moving back to the fuselage, you can choose to have your Pfeil closed up, or have it all hanging out with canopies and cowlings propped open as if it is being inspected by the guys with the oily rags. The same parts are used for both scenarios, and props are provided all round so that you get them all at the correct angle. The canopy has two separate blister panels on its sides, and opens sideways for exit, leaving the windscreen in place. The observation dome isn't shown open for some reason, so if you wanted that open too, you'll need to research how it hinges. There is also a flush-fitting canopy that can be used instead, and this too isn't shown open. The front cowlings open up like an Fw.190 in gull-wing fashion, as do the smaller doors on the gun pack. The exhausts are each separate parts with hollow tips, and you need to put them in the correct order for accuracy front and rear. The rear engine is exposed by a large angular D-shaped door on each side, with the slot for the exhaust stubs a separate part that fits into the aperture, and on the starboard side has an intake for the supercharger, while the engine in the nose has its intake on the port side. The bomb bay doors can be left open to expose the fuel cell, and has similar slab-like doors to the nose bay, with one each side. The inner doors on the main gear wells also fit to the slot in the fuselage, and on the port side is a fold-away crew access ladder in a small bay of its own, all of which is provided in the kit. These can all be posed closed by removing the hinge tabs. The nose cowling has been made as a three-part assembly, which allows the modeller to change out the cooling flaps part to pose them open or closed, and both have the impression of the annular radiator baths that can be seen through the rear. This subassembly then slides over the cowling fitted to the engine earlier, and the prop is pushed into place after it has been outfitted with a two-part spinner, which is noticeably more rounded than the aft spinner. Two of the decal options are theoretical in-service schemes, so HK have included a pair of drop-tanks, flame-dampers for each of the exhausts, and the four radar antennae that fit to the leading edges of the wings. The antennae are each made from an L-shaped base, with two dipoles each. Those with the longest bases are fitted above and below the starboard wing, while the shorter ones are both fitted to the top of the port wing, spaced apart. The drop tanks are split horizontally, and have sway-braces and a short pylon between them and the wings, attaching by two pins outboard of the landing gear. The flame dampers are each made up from four parts, and one is fitted to each exhaust port on the cowling, with the three-pointed star facing forward. At this stage HK have you bringing the wings together with the fuselage for the first time, but we all know you'll have done this ages ago! A couple of extra pages are devoted to the optional open/closed pose of each section of the airframe which initially confused me a little, but then that's easy to do. Markings There are three markings options from the box, two of which are marked as "what-if", the last one being a real-world captured example that was in France's possession at the time. If you don't like squiggle or mottle, you'd best either make up your own equally valid camo, or do the French one, which was all-over khaki. From the box you can build one of the following: Do.335B-6 W.Nr. 240312, 1./NjGr.10, Germany, Summer 1945 – RLM76 Light Blue with RLM75 Grey Violet mottle. Do.335B-6 W.Nr. 240371, 2.NJG 11, Eastern Front, Autumn 1945 – RLM81 Brown Violet and RLM82 Light Green splinter over RLM65 Light Blue with RLM76 Light Blue squigle on the top surfaces. Do.335 M17, W.Nr. 230017, CEV, Brétigny-Sur-Orge, France, 1947 – all-over Khaki. Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. There are a number of stencils provided, plus an instrument decal for the pilot's cockpit, which can either be used intact, or you can punch out the dials and use them individually. You could also use them as a base for applying the more detailed decals that are produced by our friends at Airscale, who do a Luftwaffe instrument panel sheet in 1:32. Conclusion It has taken a while, but the wait has been worth it, and we're one step closer to the Anteater 2-seat trainer, which is my personal favourite variant. It's a big aircraft, and in this scale it makes an impressive model when completed, with superb detail throughout and a simple build process that shouldn't faze anyone that has built a few models already. Extremely highly recommended. Review samples courtesy of

This was an all-weather fighter produced first flown in 1958 and was turning out to be a very fine a/c when it was cancelled in 1959 for budgetary reasons. However the cold war never did turn hot so maybe Mr Diefenbaker ( the Canadian PM) was right! After building a 1/72 scale Hobbycraft CF 105 Arrow and discovering at the end that the decals were not too good I posted a question on Britmodeller asking if anybody made a decent set. This opened a ‘can of worms’ as the discussion shifted to the kit itself and the lack of accuracy thereof. I had corrected what I believed to be the only major error, the actuators being on the topside of the wing instead of the underside, but it turned out that almost nothing about the kit was correct. This is my attempt at producing a reasonably accurate version. The decals are by Arrow Graphics. whilst these were far superior to the kit version they did have a few problems of their own, being rather thin and the less said about my efforts to get the walkway lines straight and stuck down the better! At the moment it still requires a few tweaks, especially the nose u/c leg, but as Telford is in a few days time and I have to ‘get a life’ after it is over I don’t know when it will be complete so here it is. The WIP thread tells the story and this has links back to the original thread. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234940353-avro-arrow-a-correct-version-of-the-hobbycraft-172-kit-i-hope/ Below are some pictures of it alongside the original version. They don't, to my mind, look much different so if you have the original and are not stickler for accuracy then use it. My advice would be to swap the ailerons to get the jacks underneath and to very carefully sand the top of the canopy to round it off to stop it looking like an F106. The exhaust behind the canopy should also be modified. Those were the only modifications I made to my original version. Many thanks to Chris Tyler, who donated the kit, Scott Hemsley, who donated the decals and Navy Bird for a set of drawings Arrow left side rear by johnrieley, on Flickr Arrow left side by johnrieley, on Flickr Arrow lfront by johnrieley, on Flickr Some comparisons with the original version. Two Arrows rear right by johnrieley, on Flickr Two Arrows side by johnrieley, on Flickr What the Canadians wanted and what they ended up with Arrow and Voodoo by johnrieley, on Flickr Three of a kind La 250 - mid fifties Arrow late fifties Tu 128 'Fiddler' early sixties Three of a kind by johnrieley, on Flickr John

Not much of a WIP as I've not taken many pics of it's build! But this is actually my 2nd attempt at this kit, the first one I attempted 4/5 years ago is locked up in a draw where I'm too ashamed to look at it ha, it's bad, real bad. So as I've been improving the skills lately I decided to snap this kit up again, it's still cheap and you get so much plastic for your money. And in truth, it's a great build too which has gone together easily for me! One of the reasons I wanted to get it though was to improve on my finishing and spraying of models, and although I'm still using cans to do it, I'm so happy about how it's turning out! I've used Eduard's PE for the cockpit but not all of it (just not skilled enough, and made a slight cock up with it too, bonus points to anyone who spots it) but the rest is out of the box. Some pics to show where it's at right now... Still a long way to go, and I'm gonna double-decal it to get them to stand out more. Cockpit canopy is going to be repainted too as it's not glued in yet thankfully, but this is a great kit and a recommend it big time for anyone who wants something to stand out

HMS Arrow Atlantic Models 1:350 The Type 21 Frigate was the Royal Navy’s first privately designed ship taken into service for a long time. The RN had a requirement for a general purpose vessel to replace the Leopard and Salisbury class Frigates that were not very well suited to escort duties due to their diesel power plants. Vosper Thornycroft came up with a modern designed frigate that they claimed was comparatively cheaper than the Leander class frigates already in service. The new ship was all gas turbine powered and was not restricted by having to allow time for boilers to bring up steam for propulsion. The Admiralty ordered eight ships of the new class beginning with the name ship HMS Amazon with all of the remainder of the classes names beginning with A and these were all accepted into service between July 1974 and April 1978. The type was well liked by all those that served in them, but because of their small size and lack of long range radar, there was no prospect of being able to modernise them as they were already close to their top weight limits. All of the class served during the Falklands campaign of 1982 with Amazon being the only one to arrive late in the second group of ships, after the Argentine surrender. Two of the class were lost to enemy fire. Ardent was strafed and bombed repeatedly by flights of aircraft on the 21st May and sunk. Antelope received bomb hits om the 23rd May which failed to explode, but one was set off by the disposal team attempting to defuse it. The resulting fire set off the ships magazines which broke her back and sinking her. HMS Arrow was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd, Glasgow and launched on 5th February 1974 by Lady Raper, wife of Vice Admiral Sir George Raper, Arrow was the fifth Type 21 Frigate to be built and the first to carry Exocet missiles. She was commissioned on 29th July 1976 in Sunderland, the town to which she was affiliated. HMS Arrow served along with all her sister ships that made up the 4th Frigate squadron, during the Falklands campaign in 1982, and was in the first wave of ships deployed. She claimed the distinction of being the first ship to fire on the Argentine shore positions as well as the first ship to be hit by enemy fire after being strafed by a fighter jet. She went alongside HMS Sheffield after the missile attack which disabled her, and helped to take off the survivors. She operated in and around Falkland sound with HMS Alacrity, keeping the seaway open and providing gunfire support to the troops ashore. After Arrow returned from home she went into refit until September 83 after which she headed back to the Falklands as guardship. She also spent time in the West Indies as guardship and carrying out anti piracy patrols. HMS Arrow served in the fleet until 1994 after which she was decommissioned and sold to the Pakistan Navy and re named PNS Khaibar. She remains in service to this day in the Pakistan Navy where she serves alongside the other five remaining Type 21 Frigates that were purchased from the United Kingdom. Model The kit comes in the standard sturdy Atlantic Models box filled with poly chips to protect the contents. The metal, (39 parts), and smaller resin, (20 pieces) parts are contained in to zip lock bags stapled to a piece of card, whilst another, slightly larger zip-lock bag contains the larger resin parts, (4 pieces). The upper and lower hull sections are further protected from damage, by being wrapped in bubble wrap. There is a long envelope found at the bottom of the box containing the large sheet of etched brass, whilst a separate disc holder contains the instruction disc and a sheet of decals. When the hull is unwrapped the first thing that strikes you is the cleanliness of the resin. It is silky smooth, with no sign of deformation, bubbles or other imperfections, Peter must also have the shrinkage weighed off, as when the two sections are joined, (at the waterline) they are a near perfect match, with only the slightest difference at the rear which can easily be sorted with a couple of swipes of a sanding stick. The rest of the resin parts are just as well moulded, although the large sections of the superstructure do appear to have more pour stubs on their undersides than normal. These are needed to ensure that all the superb detail on these quite large sections are moulded correctly. They just need some careful removal with a scalpel blade and a sanding stick. The foremast and most of the smaller parts have some flash, but it’s very soft and easily removed. The white metal parts are the only pieces that have any flash, but again, this will be easily removed and cleaned up. The large etch sheet is what we have come to expect from Atlantic Models, beautiful clean relief etching, great design and lots of parts, and is probably the area that makes these models more for the experienced modeller than even the resin. Before any construction can take place, make sure you clean all the parts in warm soapy water to get rid of any mould release agent that may be attached. Once the parts have been cleaned it’s on with the build, beginning with several sub assemblies, namely the 4.5” gun turret which is made up form a resin turret, white metal gun and four etched parts. The two 20mm Oerlikons are each made up from four etched parts, whilst the single Seacat missile launcher is made from a single resin launcher, four PE guide rails and each of the four missiles from three PE parts. The two Corvus chaff launchers are also of resin and have an etched flare launcher fitted to the two tubes. They are then fitted to the bases, each of which has an etched railing to their rear. The 913 fire control radar can be used as is, a single piece resin part, or, for the more adventurous, the radar dish can be removed and replaced with and etched piece. The two double Exocet launchers are also moulded in resin, and are fitted with the four Exocet canisters and handed etched platforms with railings to the front. If you wish, you can leave the canisters off; as they weren’t always fitted, just check your references. The main radar platform is fitted with PE under panels. The foremast has been moulded with several sensors attached, but since these can be quite brittle, PE alternatives have been provided. The Type 1006 radar platform is fitted with the white metal radar and PE railings, whilst at the top of the mast the Abbey Hill array is attached, followed by the Type 992 platform, with its metal 992 and IFF Interrogator arrays, PE railings and front mounted antenna. The PE yardarms and aerials are then attached to the mast sides, front quarter and forward faces. The compelted mast can then be put aside to dry properly. There is more PE work next with the assembly of the wire antenna collector, small boat stowage, into which the small resin boats are fitted, small boat davit. The main mast can be assembled either as an early or late version. If you’re modelling the late version, you will need to cut the PE DF antenna off eh PE part and glue to the resin section of the later version. Both version are then fitted with the yardarms and their supports. The small boat stowage, Corvus chaff assemblies and small boat davit are fitted to the mid section of the superstructure, whilst he funnel section is fitted with the two resin SCOT platforms, with PE railings, SCOT transmitter house, funnel intake grilles, exhaust grilles, auxiliary conning station and several small PE railings. The main boat davits are next, these are made up from two PE parts each and there are four davits to be assembled, each pair joined by another PE part. The PE life raft racks are then folded to shape and fitted with the metal liferafts, before being located around the ship. The metal anchor are glued into position and the forward railings attached to the foredeck. In B position the missile launchers are attached, along with the RAS post and missile telemetry aerial. The bridge section and 01 deck railings are then attached, followed by the 20mm Oerlikon assemblies. Around the funnel section the intake box supports are fitted to each side, along with the respective railings, two further intake grilles on the aft section of the funnel, the ships boats and their davits, and the two triple torpedo tubes. The hanger section is fitted out with the Seacat launcher and associated radar on the roof, a choice of either early or late shield railings, to each side, flight deck netting, either raised or lowered, flightdeck lighting rig, and hanger door. Since there is quite a bit of detail, which can be further improved by the modeller, inside the hanger, you may wish to cut down the hanger door and depict it in the open position. On the quarter deck there is a rack fitted with a pair of acoustic decoys, another for fuel tanks, a small davit and obligatory railings. If you are building the model full hull, then you would have already fitted the upper and lower hulls together and cleaned up any joins. Whilst the instructions show them fitted last, it may be an idea to fit the two white metal stabiliser fins, rudders, metal propeller shafts, white metal propellers and white metal A frames before beginning any of the topside work. The kit also comes with two helicopters, a Westland Wasp, with resin fuselage and etched flotation gear, undercarriage main and tail rotors. The other is the Westland Lynx, again with resin fuselage and PE rotors, but this time with a separate tail which can be posed in the folded position. The main rotors of both helicopters can be shown folded, the lynx having blade fold poles fitted to the tail sides. Decals The single decal sheet contains the main pennant numbers for F169, F170 and F184, with F185 included int he transom mounted numbers. There individual numbers included to enable the modeller to produce pennant numbers for any ship of the class. To aid with this the ships names for the whole class are also included along with the appropriate flight deck code letters. The flight deck also receives the correct white markings, whilst the hull has the depth marks provided and the helicopters the correct codes for the nose of each helicopter for each ships flight along with roundels and Royal Navy lettering. The decals are very nicely printed, with very little carrier film and are quite thin, although I understand they aren’t as thin as Atlantics own HMS Leopard and HMS Puma kits, which were a little too unforgiving. Conclusion Well, once again Atlantic Models have done it again, producing a kit that has been on the wish-lists of many a maritime modeller for a long time. Not only that, but Peter has produce, in my opinion another winner. The mouldings are superb, the etch amazing and even if you don’t like the use of white metal, there is still a place for it if it helps produce amazing models, which with a bit of care this kit can be done. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of Peter Hall of

Dornier Do.335B Upgrades (for HK Model) 1:32 Eduard Brassin Dornier's pinnacle of WWII piston-engined fighters was kitted last year by HK Models in 1:32 for the first time in injection moulded styrene, and now Eduard have released a number of sets for those looking for even more detail than is already present in the kit, in Photo-Etch (PE) and resin. Interior (32825) This set comprises of two frets, measuring 7cm x 4.7cm and 7cm x 3.8cm. The larger fret is pre-painted and self-adhesive, while the smaller is bare brass and contains the more constructional elements. A tiny square of acetate is also included with the shape of the gun-sight's HUD printed to ease cutting out. The seat is given a new set of arms from folded PE, and the gun-sight is upgraded with additional details, including the aforementioned clear film. The footwell in front of the pilot's feet is overhauled with new parts, including the rudder pedals and their linkages, with a small foot-control on the starboard side. The majority of the pre-painted fret is devoted to the instrument panel and side consoles, which are a delight to behold, painted very finely with instrument faces and all the little knobs and dials a pilot could wish for. The main instrument panel is made up from two layers with an additional bezel added to the centre portion, while the side consoles are cleared of their moulded on detail before the new panels are installed along with a number of additional wheels, levers and other controls to give is a 3D look. The same approach is taken with the sidewall instruments, which are glued to the existing detail to augment them. You will need a short length of 0.8mm diameter rod to complete the job however. Interior Zoom! (33143) If you don't feel the need to add the extra brass parts to your cockpit, but would like to sparkly new instrument panels, or if you're just on a budget, this is the set for you, as it includes only the pre-painted, self-adhesive fret, as seen above. Seatbelts (32826) Supplied on a diminutive 3.5cm x 4.2cm fret with the various parts pre-painted, this set has enough parts to construct a highly detailed set of four-point safety belts for the kit seat, with realistic metallic fittings, as per the real items. Exterior (32364) This brass fret measures a healthy 14cm x 9.5cm, and contains plenty of upgrades to detail, some of which isn't strictly exterior, but still pretty useful to have. Both the kit supplied engines are trimmed with some small additional parts, along with lifting lugs for the block, with the front engine's rocker covers also fitted with a bracket. The supercharger intakes are covered with a fine circular mesh, and the gun bay gets more realistic curved feed-chutes for the cannons. The belly-mounted radiator bath has mesh inserts added to depict the radiator cores, and the outlets at the rear under the elevators are replaced with more detailed (and in-scale) doors, as is the one in the belly. The side-mounted doors need a small slit cut either side of the recess to enable correct fitting, which will require careful use of your razor saw. The engine cowlings front and rear are fitted with detailed fasteners, each of which requires four folds to create, and should look superb once installed. The annular radiator in the nose is then skinned with three radiator sections that fit over the kit sections. The gear bays are augmented with additional parts, most importantly on the inner edge of the main bays, which receive a skin depicting the framework, plus a layer of wiring, and a line of strengthening plates nearby. The nose gear receives a simple raised part, folded along pre-etched lines, but the bay doors are given new hinges, retraction mechanism and latches are provided for the bomb bay. The hatch for the crew ladder is given a new more detailed door, the inner doors on the main bays have a piece cut out and an edging strip added around the edge, and the main gear legs are spruced up with extra parts. Exhaust Stacks (632050) This Brassin set includes twenty eight replacement exhaust stubs for the 335's two engines, which if you know your DB603 is four too many. The front engine has a straight line-up of six stubs, which you can see on the pictures. The rear engine gives you the option of using six stubs identical to the forward engine, or replacing the front and rear stubs with alternatives fitted with small fins, the function of which is unclear. You'll have to check your references to see which type were fitted, but whichever ones you use, the detail is superb, with hollow exits and weld-bead lines. You will have to keep them on their casting blocks until you're ready to use them, as the stubs are handed and intended for specific engine. Wheels (632042) Arriving in Eduard's usual Brassin clamshell box, these resin wheels are a direct replacement for the kit parts, along with a full set of masks for them to assist in painting the hubs after the tyres. The hubs are separate parts, and are installed into recesses in the tyres, so could conceivably be painted separately from the tyres anyway. Detail is superb, and each tyre is subtly weighted without looking like it needs reinflating. A scrap diagram shows the correct orientation for each of the two types of hub. Muzzle Brakes (632058) Tagging along almost as an afterthought (this set arrived in June 2015) comes this small and inexpensive set from Eduard to improve the detail of your HK Do.335 in the offensive armament department. Arriving in the usual clamshell box, you will find the two parts on one casting block, pinned against the front by a protective foam insert. The parts are small, but beautifully detailed with the tiny rows of blast deflector tubes all perfectly represented with thin walls and hollow muzzles that reduce recoil on the real thing. The casting block is attached to the underside of each muzzle by a fine web of resin, which should be simple to remove with a sharp knife and a fine sanding stick, allowing the modeller to just fit them in place instead of the kit parts. For the price, you'd be churlish not to get a set, as their finesse is a big improvement over the kit parts, and even better than the sintered replacements available with one of the brass sets I've seen. I'd still use these resin ones. Masks (JX175) The Pfiel has a complex greenhouse canopy that is blessed with a large number of panes that are unusual shapes, so a masking set will be a boon if you're a bit wary of such things. The set covers every panel apart from the observation blisters, which are quite severe compound curves, and best covered with scrap tape or liquid mask. The time you spend masking up will be much reduced with this handy sheet of pre-cut kabuki style tape. Conclusion Another well-rounded "set of sets" to add more detail to your big Pfiel, from which you can pick and choose. You can of course purchase all the PE sets in the Big Ed set that you can find here, to which you'll just need to add the wheels and exhausts. Review sample courtesy of

Greetings. I'd like to announce, that by popular demand, 1:48 scale Avro CF-105 Arrow markings are now available from Canuck Model Products. For those that have one of the old Hobbycraft kits sitting in their stash, now you can finish it up properly. Package comes with two sheets, all stencil and warning markings, numbers for all 5 MK1 prototypes, intake bleed ramp markings, and complete wing walkway lines. enjoy David