Reviewed by Felix Bustelo |
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| During World War II, most Kriegsmarine capital ships were
equipped with Arado Ar-196 seaplanes for reconnaissance, patrol missions,
and artillery spotting. When Allied shipping crews saw one of these
airplanes flying by it usually meant that trouble in the form of a battleship,
cruiser or merchant raider was not too far away.
L’Arsenal has added this German airplane to it’s squadron of 1/350 and 1/400 scale squadron and like the others, it is a beauty. Each airplane is comprised of 3 resin parts – the aircraft and two pontoon floats – and 5 photoetch parts – the struts for the floats and the propeller. |
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| The resin is cast very well and with an excellent level
of detail. The photoetch is crisp and there is a crease in the struts
to aid in folding them into “V” shapes. Both airplane sets are identical
with the obvious exception of the scale difference. The images included
in this review are of the 1/350 scale version since it had already been
released. The 1/400 scale version is forthcoming but I have seen
photos of it.
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Click images
to enlarge |
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| The instructions are printed on both sides of the paper insert with
the front displaying a map of the photoetch fret and the assembly diagram
and written instructions on the back. Assembly is straight forward
and the only possible tricky step is removing the propeller cone from the
resin aircraft and then gluing it back on after attaching the propeller.
The tricky part here is not sacrificing the cone to the voracious carpet
monster.
The latest accessory from L’Arsenal is a welcome addition and will look great on a 1/350 scale Tamiya Bismarck or Tirpitz or on any of the 1/400 scale Heller Kriegsmarine kits. |
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