Introduction

When I purchased the Revell of Germany 1/32nd scale Arado Ar 196A-3 a little over a year ago, I was exceptionally impressed with how much model I got for my money. Revell of Germany has released the earlier version of the Arado Ar 196 in the form of the B version. So in this review we get to take a look at the latest rendition of the Arado Ar 196 and see if it lives up to the high bench mark set by the original release.

The following is the introduction provided by Revell of Germany;
The Ar 196 is the German Navy's most famous on-board catapult aircraft of the Second World War. Used initially and in the main as an on-board reconnaissance aircraft, it was also used for submarine hunting and for attacking smaller ships in all European theatres until the end of the War. In February 1938 an Ar 196 V4 carrying the registration D-OVMB and serial number 2592 was trialled as a test aircraft. The aircraft was fitted with a ventral float in which the fuel tank, two smoke dischargers as well as emergency provisions and additional ammunition was carried. The further in-service testing of the Ar 196 B was carried out during 1940-1941. The first Ar 196 A's entered service with the Navy late in 1938. This very robust aircraft proved to be quite outstanding. By 1944 some 530 aircraft had been delivered. The last airworthy Ar 196 A's were still to be seen in service with the Naval Forces of Romania, Bulgaria and the USSR in 1950.

Contents

This model is supplied in the usual end opening card box that Revell of Germany use and that despite the reasonably large size of the kit. Inside the box you will find:

- 13 light grey sprues
- 1 clear sprue
- A decal sheet
- An instruction booklet

The sprues are packed in 6 clear plastic bags sealed with tape.

Review

First Impressions
A look over the sprues made me quickly realise that 10 of the sprues are from the previous model. A look over these older mouldings shows that they are holding up very well with no obvious degradation present. A further examination of the sprues left me reasonably happy as I found nothing untoward other than a part that had broken free of the sprue and one damaged part. There is no flash present to worry about, but there are some very light seams that will need attention; nothing that you wouldn’t expect with an injection moulded plastic kit. Part No154 was distorted and a part of it broken, this part is one of the support frames for the model wings if displayed with the left wing folded. I believe that this damage has been caused during the packaging or transport and so should not be a universal issue. The gates between the moulded parts and the sprues are of a reasonable size and so should not create any major issues during the removal of parts. The parts from the original kit are dated as 2010.

New Mouldings
The new parts of the model consist of the floatation system, propeller and decals. These new parts do mean that there is some drilling required on the model; specifically at the end of the wings for the outrigger floats, these locations are clearly identified both in the instruction booklet and on the moulded part. The recessed panel lines look good and are of a realistic size and depth on the model. The centreline float has a very good level of detail in terms of the fuel filler areas and rudder. It is worth mentioning that the main float does require weight added to it to the tune of 50g; I strongly recommend the use of Deluxe Material’s ‘Liquid Gravity’ for this purpose. The 2 bladed propeller is nicely moulded and looks to be a good much for my limited reference. One concern I have is that the instructions highlight an option of using the new 2 bladed propeller or the original kit offered 3 bladed propeller, my checks indicate that the 2 bladed propeller is the correct one. The decals provided by Revell of Germany also relate to an aircraft with a 2 bladed propeller and that was a prototype aircraft from 1938/39 W.Nr 2592.

Original Mouldings
At the end of this review I have provided a link to a review of the original kit as this removes the need to repeat previous observations. The use of the original parts has of course saved Revell of Germany money as regards mould making costs, but I feel that this is not really a short cut; the original kit is very good and the only area of concern I have is the flight instrument panel. The instrument panel supplied with the A3 version of the model is very accurate, but the B version is different and that change is not present in the box. That said all of the dials and switches for the B version are present and in the correct position and so it just requires the careful removal of some of the replicated detail. I have provided images of the two different instrument panels to help you out and see what I mean. The only other change I would consider is the replacement of the machine gun barrels with brass offerings and I recommend the use of the Master offering.

Instructions
The loose leafed instruction booklet does a very good job of guiding the modeller through construction of this model. None of the stages are overly complicated and so should not trip up most modellers. This is a fairly complicated model and so a reasonable skill level would be beneficial before tackling this model and at the very least a good grounding in the basics of model building. The one area where I feel Revell of Germany could have done a better job is the rigging for the centreline float, but otherwise you should be fine. The decal sheet is minimal but has well defined decals. The decals are very thin to the point that I cannot feel the edges of the decals on the carrier sheet and with the exception of the decals for the aircraft registration on the fuselage of the aircraft there is not a lot of excess film. This kit being a Revell of Germany model there are no swastika’s provided for the tail, but that can easily be overcome vis the use of after-market decals or masks.

Conclusion

I believe that this model is an excellent addition to the Revell of Germany large scale aircraft models and highly recommend this model to you all. Built straight from the box you will have the ability to build a very good and interesting looking model, the use of some after market parts and scratch building skills will enable those with the skills to build an award winner with the minimum of extra work being required.

Related Reviews

Arado Ar 196A-3 Reviewed by Darren Baker
Arado Ar 196A-3 seaplane Reviewed by Andy Brazier
Turned Metal barrels for the 1/32nd Scale Revell of Germany Arado Ar 196

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For
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