I've perused this site many times and found that you guys are amazing. Normally an armor modeler, a friend talked me into building a flying machine. Here is the old Heller Arado 196A in 1/72. Pretty rough to begin with, hope I did it justice. Critique welcome!!

Hai Joe,

welcome in the world of plastic flying machines.

The Arado ain't bad at all, I must admit.

Only one word of caution. Planes are usually made of aluminium, not steel, because weight is extremely important.

So be careful when adding "rust" to the underside of those pontoons;. I did not look it up but if those pontoons are made from aluminium then they can't rust.

Looks nice, Joe. Welcome aboard!

Aluminum?
DOH!

nice work on the rigging wires, and antenna, those aint easy.

Looks great, and welcome aboard. Glad to have you here.

A tip of the cap to you on this build. I have found the people here more than accommodating to all my questions and give criticism with the best of intentions!

Great looking build!

Not bad at all for a mud slinger! Don't let this be the last one.

It won't and my wife hates now!!

Hates ME now!!!

Hi Joe,
Welcome to the other side! Your first effort turned out quite nicely.

On a historical note, Germany developed paints in the 1930's for aircraft that didn't require primer. So, when it comes to weathering, less is better than more.

On German floatplanes you will find. in pictures, large amounts of wear on the areas that contact water regularly, with little wear on the upper surfaces.

Many fighters from 43-45 had very short service lives, so weathering those is more about raising details and less about actual weathering.

Great job!

Gaz

Thanks for the info and advice GAZ. I didn't really put a lot of "research" into it, as it was a crummy kit, but will do diligence in the future

I know I'm late to the thread but I wanted to say welcome to the world of aviation.

You did a decent job on your first flying machine. I find the old crummy kits to be the most fun to build. All you need is patience. The kits that fall together like butter are not much of a challenge build wise.