Casemate Arado Ar-196. Monograph No 45

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Arado Ar-196

Kagero Monograph No 45

Having recently reviewed the new Revell 1:32 Ar-106B kit, it was a pleasant surprise when this book arrived in the post form Casemate UK, although it might have been better had it arrived before I reviewed the kit. That said, the single float Ar-196B prototypes only get a slight mention at the beginning of the book and in a couple of the drawings whereas the rest is taken up with the Ar-196A. The full history of this popular aircraft is told through the text and the masses of period photographs in the seventy seven pages, from the prototypes, assembly lines, construction, uses, both from shore bases and capitol ships in all theatres. The most interesting photographs for me are the ones from the Scharnhorst and the pocket battleships of the Deutschland class. The next twelve pages contain line drawings and diagrams of the aircrafts structure, equipment and the rigging of the floats, including those with single main floats. Following the line drawings there are eight pages of profile plans covering the A and B models with annotations describing the differences, followed by six pages of colour plates along with two on the back cover, including an interesting one in Japanese markings.

Conclusion
Not only was the Arado Ar-196 one of the most popular floatplanes during the war, but this popularity has endured with like minded modellers and historians alike. The aircraft just look right and apparently it flew as well as it looked. The information contained in this book is superb, being very well researched and with the use of those wonderful period photographs makes for a fascinating read as well as a source of inspiration. It will certainly come in handy when you get one of Revells 1:32 kits on the workbench, particularly if you’re going to add all those details you didn’t know about, but now you do, you will want to add. Very highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of