Carrera Revell Arado Ar.E.555 P-Series (03790) 1:72

[Mike]

Arado Ar.E.555 P-Series (03790)

1:72 Carrera Revell

 

 

Whilst riding high on their seemingly unstoppable campaign to take over the world, Adolf Hitler instigated an Amerika Bomber project, to produce a bomber that was capable of taking the fight across the Atlantic Ocean to bomb major cities on the Eastern Seaboard of America.  They requested proposals from all the main German aircraft corporations, although at this stage they were to be paper projects only, extensions of previous discussions and developments that began even before America came into the war.  Arado was working on its own jet-powered flying-wing project by 1943, while other candidates were still using propeller-driven designs for their proposals, and by 1944 their Ar.234 jet bomber had given them the kudos to be taken seriously when they produced the drawings for the E.555 in early 1944.  They envisioned a series of bombers that would differ in performance and bombload, to be used for various tasks including as their proposal for the Amerika Bomber.

 

The aircraft was initially to be powered by an advanced BMW engine that were in development, and had been since 1940, which was the BMW 018.  It was an axial-flow engine with twelve-stage compressor, and three-stage turbine that was intended to produce 7,700lbft of thrust, compared to the BMW 03 that produced less than 2,000lbft.  Delays in the 018 meant reverting to the 03, utilising six engines in a pack sat on top of the flying-wing would give it sufficient speed and endurance, carrying fuel for just under 3,000 miles in the expansive wing, which had a low drag coefficient to optimise fuel-economy.  There were no fighters that could accompany the bombers that far away from home, so the design was given a pair of 30mm Mk.103 cannons in fixed installations in the leading edges of the wings, and two twin 20mm Mk.151 cannons in paired installations above and at the rear of the fuselage, operated by a third crew member by periscope in the pressurised cockpit.  Additional fuel would have been required to reach America from Germany, a distance that had extended with the loss of France as a staging post for missions, carrying extra fuel either internally at the expense of some of the 4,000kg bomb load, or externally on pylons that would introduce extra drag to the equation.  Providing they could extend the bomber’s range to reach the US, it would be a one-way trip under all circumstances, the crews bailing out after offloading their bombs, with the hope that they would be picked up from the ocean at a pre-determined point by U-boat for return to Germany.  The other option would be to bail-out or land on enemy soil, risking an angry reception from the locals that had just been the victims of their attack.  Considerations would also have been made for the technology falling into the hands of the Americans, which would mean a hasty scuttling of the aircraft if it landed, to deny it to the enemy.  The design process continued until the end of December 1944, when a moratorium ended projects that were deemed to be fanciful considering the deteriorating war situation for the Nazis, in an unusually realistic outlook from the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM).

 

 

The Kit

The origin of this tooling stems from 1998, when it was well-received as a mainstream Luft’46 style project, and it has been reboxed once in the interim some twelve years ago, reaching high values on well-known auction sites once manufacturer stocks are depleted.  The kit arrives in an end-opening box with an optimistic painting of a trio of E.555s over a US city, chased gamely by a pair of P-80 Shooting Stars that were starting to reach service in the closing days of WWII, but in small numbers.  Inside the box are three large sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue, decal sheet and instruction booklet that is printed in black and white in the older style.  Detail is good, and would have impressed modellers in 1998 with detailed gear and bomb bays, a nicely appointed cockpit with ribbing moulded into the upper surface, and a bomb load for the central bay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the cockpit, which has the nose gear bay moulded into the underside, and has plenty of detail above and below.  The seat bases are moulded into the cockpit floor, adding quilted backs with headrests to the rear, an instrument panel, control yoke and console in front of the crew, and another seat for the gunner facing aft.  Detailed painting guides are included on this step and throughout the instructions, with letters in small flags that correspond with a chart that gives names and codes for Revell’s range of paints. Flipping the cockpit over, the nose gear leg is inserted into a hole near the front of the bay, dropping the completed assembly into the lower fuselage along with a pair of rudder pedals that are glued to the fuselage, and two equipment stacks behind the gunner’s position.  The lower fuselage is then put to one side while the stabiliser fins and rudders are made from two parts each, and the engine pack is built.  The tubular portion of the pack is made from upper and lower halves, fitting intakes and exhaust inserts to the open ends, taking care to align them neatly to reduce the amount of clean-up of the seams later.

 

The upper fuselage ends abruptly in front of the gun turret, which is a three-part assembly that is glued either side of the turret ring carefully to allow it to rotate and elevate later.  A clear periscope is fitted to a carrier that can be posed retracted or open according to a scrap diagram nearby, making the rear gun position by trapping the gun part between two trunnions that themselves pivot from left to right.  The upper fuselage is glued to the lower, trapping the rear gun assembly in place, and adding a minimum of 16g of nose-weight in the leading-edge root of each wing, as there is no space to speak of in the nose itself.  The fins and engine pack are fitted once the glue has cured and the seams are dealt with, the former sliding into slots in the trailing edges of the wings, and the latter on a short pedestal and two holes in the upper surface of the wing.  The canopy has an instrument panel glued on a strip above the crew, with an optional opening crew hatch to one side, and a separate dome for the nose, gluing it onto the fuselage, and covering the remaining gap behind the gun turret with another clear part.

 

 

To pose the model in-flight, the nose gear bay is a single part with a clear landing light in the forward door, but if using the landing gear, the part should be cut into three sections and fitted to the two sides and forward edge of the bay, along with a fairing off to the starboard side of the nose.  The nose gear leg is completed by adding a scissor-link and pair of wheels to the strut, plus a retraction jack to the rear, then moving to the main gear bays.  The bays themselves are well-detailed, especially for the age of the moulds, and they are fitted with a T-shaped strut, separate oleo-link, retraction jack, and two pairs of wheels mounted in-line one-behind-the-other.  For in-flight, the bay door can be used as it arrives, but to pose the doors open on the ground, it should be cut into three parts, one fitting along the inner edge, the other two on the outer edge, glued at an angle to each other, as per the scrap diagram above that step.

 

 

The bomb bay can also be posed open or closed, the closed option requiring the two bay door parts to be glued over the opening without further work, while the open option involves fitting retraction-jacks to the inner ends, then slotting them into the bay on each side, checking the diagram for correct orientation.  A pitot probe is inserted under the nose, and two landing lights are added under the leading edges near the main gear bays, with an undocumented option to flip them down for a landing/taxying look.  If the bomb bay is being posed open, there is a full bomb load supplied, including three SC1000 bombs that are made from two halves plus a square tail, and two larger SC2000 bombs that have circular tails, fitting the smaller bombs in the front mounts, and the larger bombs to the rear.  The final task is to insert the gun barrels in the wing root leading edges, and fit an antenna on the spine behind the cockpit.

 

 

Markings

There are two fictional decal options to choose from, but as this was likely to be a 1948 project if it hadn’t been cancelled (and the war ending of course), so essentially you can paint it in whatever colours you like.  The profiles are in black and white plus several patterns that don't scan well, so you'll have to use your imagination.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• I/KG100 Luftwaffe 1948 Project – RLM76 with RLM75 mottle overspray
• Luftwaffe 1948 Project, Wing/KG200 – RLM76 with RLM75 cloud camo, and mottle on the tails

 

 

Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin satin carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

Anyone without deep pockets will be glad to have this kit back on the shelves at a reasonable price, and the detail has survived the intervening years well.  Some folks are quite violently against Luft’46 for whatever reasons, but if you’re a bit more reasonable in your outlook, it will make an impressive addition to your cabinet, with a wide variety of off-piste schemes to try out your painting skills on.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

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[georgeusa]

Great review as always Mike.  Glad to see this one come back.  I have the 1st reissue boxing of this that I picked up after seeing Nigel Heath's extensive build of this kit on this fine site.  (God bless his eccentric soul and twisted humor.)  I don't think you can go wrong getting this kit and following his build recommendations for an excellent finished kit.

[Mike]

14 minutes ago, georgeusa said:

Great review as always Mike.  Glad to see this one come back.  I have the 1st reissue boxing of this that I picked up after seeing Nigel Heath's extensive build of this kit on this fine site.  (God bless his eccentric soul and twisted humor.)  I don't think you can go wrong getting this kit and following his build recommendations for an excellent finished kit.

I think I have the same boxing myself.  It's always been a tempting prospect, and maybe this time around we'll get some after market for it.  The level of detail is impressive, but you know me. I always want more

 

I think I remember Nigel's build.  Still can't believe he's no longer with us.

[Pete in Lincs]

2 hours ago, Mike said:

I think I remember Nigel's build

A link would be popular, I should think. I'll second what George said of Nigel. Sadly missed.

So, Extend the fuselage/cockpit to a sensible size. Maybe small Canards and huge underslung engines between the gear bays. Dan Dare flies again! 

Bring on the Wifs!

 

 

 

[georgeusa]

The link to Nigel's build.  Just reread it again and am amazed at his detail work and home cooking skills all over again.  

 

[AlexB]

I'm fascinated by the whole Luft 46 thing, and love prototypes and "what-ifs" from where ever they come.
The range of stuff that's available to satisfy Luft 46 modellers does feel like it strays dangerously close to Wehraboo territory, these things never left the drawing board after all, and even the design as it stood had no chance of being the America bomber the designers wanted.
That said, I'm tempted! What a fabulous looking model and talking point it would make.