Hi all,

the topic (the Arado Ar 68) might be a little to close to the end of the early aviation era for many of you in this section, but it is sort of early for WWII as well, so...

my question is about the top wing of the Arado Ar 68. The Classic Airframes 1/48 scale kit puts fabric detail (a bit overstated) on the entire upper wing of the model.

I have seen a couple build-ups claiming that the central section of the wing, above the fuselage and out to the inner edge of the ailerons, should actually be skinned in metal, "as per photographs".

The trouble is, I can't find a single photo of an Arado 68 that shows enough detail in this area to convince me either way. The fabric skinning is quite tight across the wing already, and only barely visible as such in the outer portions of the wing in only some photos, even tough I know it is there, so it makes it very difficult to determine how the central section is constructed.

I can see a "panel line" of sorts on the leading edge of the wing in some photos that would most likely line up with the aileron on the rear of the wing, but this does not necessarily mean a metal to fabric transition, does it? I suspect two pre-skinned fabric covered sections could be joined together or something like that, but don't know for sure.

Anyway, the primary question is, does anyone know for sure if the Arado 68 have fabric or metal covering in the center section of the upper wing?. The secondary question is, can anyone point me to better pictures than I have seen of the Arado 68 that might show this kind of detail.

Thanks in advance!

The images I have seen of the Arado Ar 68 say fabric covered as well. But I don't have the resource detail s to cover the whole run and its variations.

Ar 68V-1 - Prototype Model; fitted with BMW V1 engine.
Ar 68B
Ar 68E - Fitted with Jumo 210Da two-stage supercharged engine of 610hp.
Ar 68G - Fitted with BMW VI 750hp engine.
Ar 68H - Experimental Variant; single example constructed; enclosed cockpit; fitted with BMW 132 air-cooled engine.