Revell 1/32 Arado AR196A-3 Seaplane- "FINAL REVEAL- Part 1b COMPLETED!"..

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 1:50 pm

Hello Guys,

I bought this model in August of last year for $30.00, which is around 20.00GBP for our UK patrons. For a kit this size, that was a steal, so I couldn't let it sit on the model shop shelf unnoticed. Anyway, when Jermaine announced this GB in December, I thought, perfect, I'll build this plane for that GB.

Well, I've made a start on her now, and so, I need to log my progress on here, before I get too far ahead of the game.

History:

The Arado Ar 196 was a shipboard reconnaissance low-wing monoplane aircraft built by the German firm of Arado starting in 1936. The next year it was selected as the winner of a design contest and became the standard aircraft of the Kriegsmarine (German navy) throughout World War II.

Design and development

In 1933, the Kriegsmarine looked for a standardized shipboard reconnaissance aircraft. After a brief selection period, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (German Air Ministry, RLM) decided on the Heinkel He 60 biplane. This was one of a line of developments of a basic biplane airframe that appeared as a number of floatplanes, trainers, and fighters. Deliveries started in a matter of months.

By 1935, it was found that the He 60's performance was lacking and the RLM asked Heinkel to design its replacement. The result was the He 114. The first prototype was powered by the Daimler-Benz DB 600 inline engine, but it was clear that supplies of this engine would be limited and the production versions turned to the BMW 132 radial engine instead.

The plane proved to have only slightly better performance than the He 60, and its sea-handling was poor. Rushed modifications resulted in a series of nine prototypes in an attempt to solve some of the problems, but they didn't help much. The Navy gave up, and the planes were eventually sold off to Romania, Spain and Sweden.

In October 1936, the RLM asked for a He 114 replacement. The only stipulations were that it would use the BMW 132, and they wanted prototypes in both twin-float and single-float configurations. Designs were received from Dornier, Gotha, Arado and Focke-Wulf. Heinkel declined to tender, contending that the He 114 could still be made to work.

With the exception of the Arado low-wing monoplane design, all were conventional biplanes. That gave the Arado better performance than any of the others and the RLM ordered four prototypes. The RLM was also rather conservative by nature, so they also ordered two of the Focke-Wulf Fw 62 design as a backup. It quickly became clear that the Arado would work effectively, and only four prototypes of the Fw 62 were built.

The Ar 196 prototypes were all delivered in summer 1937, V1 (which flew in May) and V2 with twin floats as A models, and V3 and V4 on a single float as B models. Both versions demonstrated excellent water handling and there seemed to be little to decide one over the other. Since there was a possibility of the smaller outrigger floats on the B models "digging in", the twin-float A model was ordered into production. A single additional prototype, V5, was produced in November 1938 to test final changes.

10 A-0s were delivered in November and December 1938, with a single 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 15 machine gun in the rear seat for defense. Five similarly equipped B-0s were also delivered to land-based squadrons. This was followed by 20 A-1 production models starting in June 1939, enough to equip the surface fleet.

Starting in November, production switched to the heavier land-based A-2 model. It added shackles for two 50 kg (110 lb) bombs, two 20 mm MG FF cannons in the wings, and a 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine gun in the cowling. The A-4 replaced it in December 1940, strengthening the airframe, adding another radio, and switching props to a VDM model. The apparently mis-numbered A-3, which had additional strengthening of the airframe, replaced the A-4. The final production version was the A-5 from 1943, which changed radios and cockpit instruments, and switched the rear gun to the much-improved MG 81Z. Overall, 541 Ar 196s (15 prototypes and 526 production models) were built before production ended in August 1944, about 100 of these from SNCA and Fokker plants.

The Ar 196C was a proposed aerodynamically-refined version. The Ar 196C project was cancelled in 1941.

Operational history

An Ar 196 on board the German cruiser Admiral Hipper

The plane was loved by its pilots, who found it handled well both in the air and on the water. With the loss of the German surface fleet, the A-1s were added to coastal squadrons and continued to fly reconnaissance missions and submarine hunts into late 1944. Two notable operations were the capture of HMS Seal, and the repeated interception of RAF Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley bombers. Although it was no match for a fighter, it was considerably better than its Allied counterparts, and generally considered the best of its class. Owing to its good handling on water, the Finnish Air Force utilized Ar 196s just for transporting and supplying special forces patrols behind enemy lines, landing on small lakes in remote areas. Several fully equipped soldiers were carried in the fuselage.

Arado in Allied hands

Arado AR196 naval reconnaissance floatplane in the collection of the Bulgarian Air Force Museum at the airport in Plovdiv. The aircraft is the pride of the director, who is seen in the foreground. Previously, this seaplane was at the Marinemuseum in Varna, but was returned to the Air Force Museum for lack of space

The first Arado Ar 196 to fall into allied hands was an example belonging to the German cruiser Admiral Hipper, which was captured in Lyngstad, Eide, by a Norwegian Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11 seaplane of the Trøndelag naval district on 8 April 1940, at the dawn of the Norwegian Campaign. After being towed to Kristiansund by the torpedo boat HNoMS Sild, it was used against its former owners, flying with Norwegian markings. At 03:30 on 18 April, the Arado was evacuated to the UK by a Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service pilot. The plane was shortly thereafter crashed by a British pilot while on transit to the Helensburgh naval air base for testing. At the end of the war, at least one Arado Ar 196 was left at a Norwegian airfield and kept in use as a liaison aircraft by the Royal Norwegian Air Force for a year on the West coast.

Former military operators

Bulgaria- Bulgarian Air Force
Finland- Finnish Air Force
Germany- Kriegsmarine Luftwaffe
Norway - (captured)Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service, Royal Norwegian Air Force
Soviet Union- Soviet Air Force, Soviet Naval Aviation

Aircraft on display

Ar 196 A-3An aircraft operated by the Bulgarian Air Force is displayed at the Museum of Aviation and the Air Force, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.Ar 196 A-5, Werknummer of 623 167An aircraft that formerly equipped the German cruiser Prinz Eugen is in storage at the Paul Garber Facility of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, and awaiting restoration. Ar 196 A-5, Werknummer of 623 183Another aircraft from the Prinz Eugen was displayed from 1949 to 1995 at the Naval Air Station Willow Grove, Pennsylvania and subsequently transferred to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. The upper fuselage and canopy were damaged during transit, and it remained in storage awaiting restoration. In December 2012, it was packed into containers and shipped to Nordholz, Germany. Restoration began in August 2013, in time for that city's celebration for 100 years of German naval aviation. The plane, on long term loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum, will eventually be displayed at the Naval Air Wing 3 (Marinefliegergeschwader 3) headquarters at Nordholz Naval Airbase.
The Aircraft Historical Museum, Sola, Norway, has on display an Ar 196 A-2 fuselage frame raised from the wreck of the German cruiser Blücher in Oslofjord.

Another aircraft is known to lie in the Jonsvatnet, a lake near Trondheim in Norway. A number of wartime German aircraft have been recovered from the lake, but the Ar 196 remains undisturbed as its crew were killed when it crashed there in 1940 and it has the status of a War Grave.

A wrecked Arado Ar 196 A-3, believed to be D1 + EH, was snagged by a fishing trawler off the island of Irakleia in 1982 at a depth of 91 meters. It was towed out of the fishing lanes to shallower waters (about 11 meters). The upside down plane, with fuselage and wings mostly intact, has become a popular spot for Scuba diving.

Specifications (Ar 196 A-2)

General characteristics

Crew: Two (pilot and observer)
Length: 11.0 m (36 ft 1 in)
Wingspan: 12.4 m (40 ft 0 in)
Height: 4.45 m (14 ft 7 in)
Wing area: 28.4 m² (306 ft²)
Empty weight: 2,990 kg (6,592 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 3,720 kg (8,200 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × BMW 132K 9-cylinder radial engine, 960 PS (706 kW, 947 hp)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 311 km/h (193 mph)
Range: 1,080 km (670 mi)
Service ceiling: 7,010 m (23,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 300 m/min (980 ft/min)
Wing loading: 98.2 kg/m² (20.1 lb/ft²)
Power/mass: 167 W/kg (0.101 hp/lb)

Armament:

Guns:

1 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 15 machine gun
1 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 17 machine gun
2 × 20 mm MG FF cannons
Bombs: 2 × 50 kg (110 lb) bombs

The Box and Artwork:

A side panel of the box showing some of the many details included in this kit:

Contained within the box are 13 grey sprues, one clear sprue, a 16 page black and white assembly, paint and decal instruction booklet and a sheet of cartograf decals. The grey sprues are divided into 5 clear polythene bags that are sealed with a strip of cellotape, and, the clear sprue is in a bag of its own. The decals are covered with a soft opaque paper sheet and inserted into the center pages of the instruction booklet. The box is one fabrication with access to the contents enabled by pulling open one of the end flaps. I much prefer the two piece box constructions with a base and a lid:

Pages 2 + 3:

Pages 4 + 5:

Pages 6 + 7:

Pages 8 + 9:

Pages 10 + 11:

Pages 12 + 13:

Pages 14 + 15:

Pages 1 + 16- the front and back pages:

The 13 grey Sprues:

A close up of some detail on one of the sprues:

The clear sprue:

And, finally, the Decal sheet:

Overall, at first sight, these parts look very well engineered with zero flash, and if any, it's hardly noticeable. The details are nice and crisp, the molded parts are clean, free of warp and ejector pin marks in visible surfaces. The clear parts are thin, free of blemishes, gate blushing and/or splaying, air traps, knit and weld lines and no optical aberrations to disturb visual transparency and clarity. There's a ton of styrene for the price, the decals are very nice (cartograf), but the instructions look a little confusing in places...we'll see when we get to the build.

That's my introduction done with, now onto the build!

If you'd like to see my "In-Box-Review" for this kit, then here is the link to my YouTube video:

[youtube]MxfUpfYJDyU[/youtube]

Thanks in advance for taking a look guys and commenting, and I hope you follow me through this build and leave comments of encouragement and criticism to help advance me further!

Have a great weekend!

Cheers,

Martin

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 3:21 am

Revell 1/32 Arado AR196A-3 Seaplane "Build Update #1":

Hello Guys,

So, I made a start on this baby and the following is a description, including images, of my progress so far.

As always, the first step I take, is to wash all the parts before I begin, to ensure any mold residues are cleaned off that might affect the adhesion of primer and paint:

I then began the build by assembling some of the larger parts to eliminate some of the 14 sprues spread over the dining table. I first assembled the mounting feet to the base, just incase I decide to mount the finished plane to the supplied base:

Next, I assembled the two floats. These were made up of two side parts, a top and two internal braces. Because the plane is a tail-sitter, 30g of weight is required in the front end of each float; I used white putty that I packed into the whole of the front sections;

I then taped them until the glue had set:

Next, I assembled the Starboard side wing assembly:

Followed by the Portside wing assembly. I have decided that I will have the starboard side wing in it's fixed flying position and the portside wing will be folded back:

After the wings were assembled, I moved onto the Horizontal Stabilizer assembly, the ailerons, flaps and the Pilots seat assembly:

It was now time to apply a black base-coat to the internal assembly parts and inside of the fuselage. I also airbrushed the base assembly black:

When the black base-coat had dried, I then airbrushed a RLM 02 grey/green color to all of the internal cockpit assembly parts and inner surfaces of the fuselage sides and flooring. I used Model Masters 4728 Olive Drab toned down with white, which I thought looked liked a close match:

When that paint had dried it was then time to start detailing the component of the cockpit assembly and building the individual sub-assemblies of the cockpit:

Starboard side inner frame work:

Portside inner framework:

Control boxes on the back of the Pilots seat, the front engine bulkhead, steering column, instrument panel, foot pedals and rear gunners seat cushion:

The Pilots seat:

The front engine bulkhead with the oil tank, filters and air intake/filter:

The instrument panel:

Progress so far:

Well that's it until my next update. Thanks in advance for taking a look and commenting and if you would like to watch my YouTube "Build Update #1" video, here is the link to that:

[youtube]nJ4rEbxFcv8[/youtube]

Thanks, and have a great weekend!

Cheers

Martin

Post by **Tangles** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 6:51 am

Great update! Nice looking kit, and I like the way you build! Have subscribed and will look forward to more.

Post by **chief5437** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 12:17 pm

Great start! I really enjoyed building this kit, I hope you do too

Good luck with the rest of it buddy

Post by **Thomas2542** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 2:14 pm

Looks nice. The black base-coat gives it a nice effect.

Post by **Joesdad** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 2:25 pm

Romping on Marty and looking great

Post by **eightfooticeman** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 5:27 pm

Jesus Martin! Fabulous start dude! You've left me in the dust!

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 10:20 pm

This is looking great!
And way faster than the Arado i'm building. ...
I'm still struggling trough this build for I find the Revell instructions pretty confusing

Also I keep looking trough all sprues just to find one part! No spue A or B.... a well.....
love your build so far, the details on the instrument panel are simply stunning! I'm building the wings just the other way around. Right wing folded.
Keep up your very good work!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 3:34 pm

Tangles wrote:Great update! Nice looking kit, and I like the way you build! Have subscribed and will look forward to more.

Thanks Simon, much appreciated!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 3:35 pm

chief5437 wrote:Great start! I really enjoyed building this kit, I hope you do too

Good luck with the rest of it buddy

Thanks Chief! I'm really enjoying building it so far, it's a nicely detailed kit for $30.00! I'm going to be entering my "Build Update Report #2" later today...she's moved along a little further.

Cheers

Martin

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 3:38 pm

eightfooticeman wrote:Jesus Martin! Fabulous start dude! You've left me in the dust!

Thanks Jermaine! LOL! Once I get stuck into a model, I'm working on it every day for 6 hours a day until I either get too tired to bother one day, or, I complete it. Today, I'm taking a break to enter my "Build Update 32" report....the video is already on YouTube!

Cheers,

Martin

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 3:46 pm

fly1ngdutchm4n wrote: This is looking great!
And way faster than the Arado i'm building. ...
I'm still struggling trough this build for I find the Revell instructions pretty confusing
Also I keep looking trough all sprues just to find one part! No spue A or B.... a well.....
love your build so far, the details on the instrument panel are simply stunning! I'm building the wings just the other way around. Right wing folded.
Keep up your very good work!

Thanks Frans, much appreciated!...It looks like I build fast, but I work 6 hours every day on my models once I begin them, but not at the weekend, because that is family time! So, I've basically spent 36 hours on this build so far since starting last Monday 16th March. I've just come on here to enter my "Build Update Report #2" and need to catch up with other peoples builds when I've finished it...going to take today off fro modeling and begin again tomorrow.
You're correct, the instructions are very poorly organized and when I started looking at the 14 sprues I was annoyed that they weren't individually labelled!
I'll take a look at your build so far when I've completed my update. I decided to have the Port-side wing folded because that is the side that will be most visible on my display. Because this build doesn't end until December 31st, I'm tempted to put it into my first attempt at a diorama...maybe tied up at a dock...but then I have to attempt water for the first time!

Your cockpit should look amazing, you got the PE kit! It was going to cost me $79.00 to have that delivered to me from Eduard, so, I didn't bother with it because that's almost 3 times the price I paid for the model. That money can help pay for a diorama to put this model in to!
Good luck with the rest of your build!

Cheers

Martin

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 4:29 pm

Revell 1/32 Arado AR196A-3 Seaplane "Build Update #2":

Hello guys,

I progressed further and so I'm back on here to present my latest progress with this "Build Update #2" report.

It was now time to assemble the cockpit, so I started off with gluing the instrument panel, the pilot seat and control boxes onto the cockpit floor:

I then fitted the two outer frames:

Next, I fitted the front bulkhead with the Oil tank and oil cooler assembly:

I then fitted the exterior underside fuselage section to the bottom of the flooring:

I then glued the 300 liter fuel tank covers onto the top of each Float:

Next, I assembled the rear machine gun magazine storage rack and the forward facing machine gun:

I then fitted the forward facing machine gun into location:

Followed by fitting the rear machine gun magazine storage rack into its location:

I then went to bed and waited until daylight so I could take better photos of the assembly instead of the poor light from the dining table chandelier:

The next step was to start detail painting the engine components and then assembling them:

With the engine assembly complete, I then gave everything a clear coat in readiness for a dark dirt wash:

When the clear coat was dry, I made my own wash from a mixture of Black oil paint and Mineral Spirits and brushed it over all the painted and clear coated parts:

After applying the wash, I then decided to move on with the propeller assembly starting with airbrushing the Spinner red:

I then airbrushed the propeller and the two underwing bombs silver, so that I can add chipping effects to them later in the build:

I then assembled the propeller and when the glue had set, I took a bottle cap, placed blu-tak inside of it, then stuck it to the end of the Spinner to act as a mask for airbrushing the Scwarzgrun onto the back end of the spinner and the propeller blades. I used Humbrol 91 for this color:

I then moved onto building and painting the rear gunners Machine Gun assembly:

Once it was set, I temporarily fitted it to take photos to see how the cockpit assembly now looked with the addition of the machine gun and after the wash had been applied:

I then temporarily located the engine and propeller assembly at the front of the cockpit assembly to get a feeling for what things were going to look like once built up:

Next will be to assemble the fuselage halves around the cockpit and assemble the engine and cowlings to the front of the fuselage:

Well, that's it for this build update guys! Thanks again for everyone that has followed this build along, for all of your kind and encouraging comments, too...much appreciated.

If you'd like to watch my YouTube "Build Update #2" video for this report, here is the link for that:

[youtube]Z_NoWew9Qus[/youtube]

Until my next update, thanks for watching!

Cheers

Martin

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 6:48 pm

I am going to steel that paint Bottle cap idea from you BIG TIME!
That's brilliant, Way easier then working with masking tape

Great progress so far, keep It up!

Post by **CJSomerset** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:25 pm

WOW! The detail on this is amazing. Right down to the BMW logo on the engine

Post by **Joesdad** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:13 pm

You really must put effort into it Marty....

Post by **rwsmith14** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 10:41 pm

Beautiful work !!

Post by **billlarisa** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 10:55 pm

Wow,,amazing work and very beautiful and sharp phots Martin,,
Your photos and your build can be used very easy as a guide for someone who wants to build this aircraft,( im one of them)
Well done again

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:19 pm

fly1ngdutchm4n wrote:I am going to steel that paint Bottle cap idea from you BIG TIME!
That's brilliant, Way easier then working with masking tape

Great progress so far, keep It up!

Help yourself mate, I stole it from Freddy (Fernando Duarte)!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:19 pm

CJSomerset wrote: WOW! The detail on this is amazing. Right down to the BMW logo on the engine

Thanks mate, greatly appreciated!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:20 pm

Joesdad wrote:
You really must put effort into it Marty....

I promise to try harder on my next build mate!

Cheers

Martin

Post by **patrickroos** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:34 pm

Cracking build so far Martin!!

Shes gonne be a stunner.

Post by **chief5437** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 2:07 pm

Nice update buddy, looking very nice! Keep it coming

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 3:29 am

rwsmith14 wrote:Beautiful work !!

Thanks mate, much appreciated!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 3:30 am

billlarisa wrote:Wow,,amazing work and very beautiful and sharp phots Martin,,
Your photos and your build can be used very easy as a guide for someone who wants to build this aircraft,( im one of them)
Well done again

Thanks for your kind compliment Bill, much appreciated!

Post by **DaveTheMinion** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 9:13 am

Very Impressive mate, good clean crisp detail and well painted, what more could you want.

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 12:44 am

patrickroos wrote:Cracking build so far Martin!!
Shes gonne be a stunner.

Thanks Patrick, much appreciated, mate!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 12:45 am

chief5437 wrote:Nice update buddy, looking very nice! Keep it coming

Thanks Chief!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 12:45 am

DaveTheMinion wrote:Very Impressive mate, good clean crisp detail and well painted, what more could you want.

Thanks Dave, much appreciated!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 5:39 am

Revell 1/32 Arado AR196A-3 Seaplane "Build Update #3":

I managed to get some more work done on this baby during the last few days, so, here is my latest update #3:

After completing the assembly of the cockpit and engine and applying a dirt wash to them and other pieces, it was time to seal the wash in with a Flat/Matte clear coat;

Except for the propeller assembly and the base which were given a Satin clear coat finish:

When the clear coats had dried, it was time to start assembly of the plane. I started by gluing the cockpit assembly into the Starboard fuselage half:

I then glued the Portside fuselage half onto the Starboard side and held them together with tape until the glue had set:

Next, I glued the Starboard wing assembly into location. This wing will be modelled in its fixed position and the Portside wing will be modelled folded back:

I then glued the Horizontal Stabilizer into location:

Followed by gluing the Rudder into place:

When all the glue joints were set, I removed the tape and checked the joints. I put some filler along the upper seam to ensure any small recesses were filled to provide a smooth surface:

While the filler was setting, I started with assembling the engine into the front and rear cowlings:

I then glued the front fuselage section into place and taped it until the glue had set:

When everything was set, I removed the tape and smoothed down the filler along the upper seam. I then put everything I had completed together on my table to see the progress so far:

I then glued the bomb carrier racks onto the underside of the wings:

I then put all the smaller pieces onto cocktail sticks in readiness for airbrushing Primer onto everything:

Next, I cleaned all the parts with Isopropyl Alcohol and masked areas that I wanted to remain unaffected by paint, prior to priming:

I then airbrushed Model Masters Grey Primer on all the parts:

When the Primer was dry, I checked all the parts to see if the primer coat was good:

Everything looked good except for the seam joint in front of the cockpit:

I reapplied some filler along the joint, sanded it smooth and re-primed that area then checked to see if it had improved. I was happy with the result it looked good and we were ready for painting:

I then prepared the parts to airbrush silver onto the metal areas of the plane, so that I could apply chipping later in the build to expose this silver paint beneath the upper camouflage colors:

When the silver paint was dry, I then pre-shaded everything:

Followed by sealing everything with a gloss clear coat:

When the clear coat was dry, I then put all the parts and sub-assemblies onto my table to check the progress that I had completed for this update:

So, that's as far as I have gotten with this update. From hereon, I will airbrush a coat of Hairspray onto all the areas that were painted silver so that I can do the "Hairspray Chipping" technique when the plane is completely painted.

Thanks for following this build thread and for your kind and encouraging comments, much appreciated as always!

If you'd like to see my "Build Update #3" YouTube video for this update, then here is the link to that:

[youtube]AUQsz__kKyE[/youtube]

Until my next update, take care and happy modeling!

Cheers

Martin

Post by **patrickroos** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 12:25 pm

Solid work!

I like how You really work through all the various stages with no short cuts.
This is what pays off at the end. Modelling to me is very much "the result is the sum of all the effort You put into the different parts of the build".
Patience really shows at the end.
Nice job and great progress!! Looks fantastic so far. And with this solid prep (cleaning, priming, metallic, pre-shade) I'm sure the paint work will come out equally nice.
Really enjoy watching this build mate!

This kit is considered by many to be one of Revells all time best.
What are Your thoughts now, about half way?
I have it to, and it looks impressive when You look at the plastic.

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 5:16 pm

Very good progress so far!

Post by **CJSomerset** » Mon Mar 30, 2015 3:00 pm

WOW! That's a lot of pre shading.

Post by **shortCummins** » Mon Mar 30, 2015 8:29 pm

looking really good Martin

rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 7:15 pm

patrickroos wrote:Solid work!
I like how You really work through all the various stages with no short cuts.
This is what pays off at the end. Modelling to me is very much "the result is the sum of all the effort You put into the different parts of the build".
Patience really shows at the end.
Nice job and great progress!! Looks fantastic so far. And with this solid prep (cleaning, priming, metallic, pre-shade) I'm sure the paint work will come out equally nice.
Really enjoy watching this build mate!

This kit is considered by many to be one of Revells all time best.
What are Your thoughts now, about half way?
I have it to, and it looks impressive when You look at the plastic.

Hey Patrick, thanks for your comment, much appreciated! What do I think of this kit so far; it's a gem of a kit...the German Engineering is really nice, as good as a Japanese Tamiya kit. Everything has gone together great which is a bonus when not having to use tons of filler, and, with all the great details that come with this kit, it looks great built "Out of the Box"! Highly recommended for the price I paid for it.

Cheers

Martin

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 7:15 pm

fly1ngdutchm4n wrote:Very good progress so far!

Thanks mate! How's yours coming along?

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 7:16 pm

CJSomerset wrote:WOW! That's a lot of pre shading.

It sure was....took me 2 hours to do it all!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 7:16 pm

shortCummins wrote:looking really good Martin

rgds
John(shortCummins)

Thanks John, much appreciated!

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 10:43 pm

UKguyInUSA wrote:
fly1ngdutchm4n wrote:Very good progress so far!

Thanks mate! How's yours coming along?

I've just done pre-shading her and masked it off to paint the blue for the wings.
Should be painting the other colours on this weekend

I almost masked the wing tips for the yellow, but that would be wrong for I'm painting her in the colour scheme as she was on the Tirpitz battleship. But i also read that only a former had the yellow wing tips. I just don't now what they mean by that. Guess a former is a squadron leader?
I will come up with a update this weekend!

Post by **Tangles** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 11:25 pm

Absolutely superb build! Kit looks fantastic but what you've down with it is inspiring.
A very interesting WIP, thanks for showing us in such detail.

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 2:31 am

Tangles wrote:Absolutely superb build! Kit looks fantastic but what you've down with it is inspiring.
A very interesting WIP, thanks for showing us in such detail.

Thanks for your praise Simon, much appreciated and happy that you're enjoying the build so far! I've just come one here to begin writing my "Build Update #4" report!

Cheers

Martin

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 3:05 am

Revell 1/32 Arado AR196A-3 Seaplane "Build Update #4":

Hello Guys,

I've managed to get some more done on my Arado AR196A-3 and so I'm here posting my latest update before the Easter weekend begins in which I won't have time to do anymore until Tuesday, because of family commitments.

So, following on from the last Build Update, it was time to give the plane a couple of thin coats of Hairspray to enable chipping later in the build. So, I borrowed the wife's hairspray from the bathroom while she was at work, decanted some into my airbrush cup and airbrushed it onto all the areas that I had previously painted silver;

When the hairspray had dried overnight, it was time to move forward with airbrushing the external colors on. I started by masking the wingtips and the engine cowling, on the undersides, to airbrush the yellow:

When the yellow was dry, I masked over it on the wingtips, and masked the rest of the plane in preparation for airbrushing the underside RLM 65 Hellblau:

I then removed the tape when the paint was dry and checked to see how everything was looking. I thought it was looking okay so far:

The next step was to make a start on the first of the upper-side camouflage colors, the RLM 72, so I masked the plane, the portside wing, the floats and engine cowlings and airbrushed Model masters RLM 72:

I then removed the masking when the paint was dry and checked to see how that looked:

I then masked over the RLM 72 and then airbrushed the RLM 73 paint. Again, I used Model Masters:

When that was dry, I painted the light olive square on top of the fuselage, then masked the tail end of the plane for airbrushing the white band. I used Tamiya XF-2 Flat White:

When the white band was dry, I removed the masking and then painted the red noses on the front of the floats and the two red lights, one on each of the leading edges of the wings. I then checked everything done so far and I thought that it was looking pretty good...well, I was happy with myself:

I then dry fitted/assembled some of the parts to get a feeling of what she's going to start looking like when built:

Well, that's it for this update, the next one will be my "Final Reveal" for this build. But before she's complete, I have chipping, decaling, weathering, final assembly and a final clear coat to put on her. When she's done, because this GB runs until the end of the year, I will be building a diorama to put her in to.

If you'd like to watch my YouTube "Build Update #4" video, here is the link for that:

[youtube]FpnxQFUASbU[/youtube]

Thanks again for everyone that has followed this build, and who have made kind and encouraging comments, much appreciated!

Cheers

Martin

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 9:05 am

Again, very good progress!

The masking, the paint job. ... awesome.
Really enjoyed this build, and picked up some tips too!
Looking forward to the reveal!

Website · Post by **TonyCnyc** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 5:39 pm

Been following your updates on YT. Excellent work - can't wait to see the finished aircraft!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 6:53 pm

fly1ngdutchm4n wrote:Again, very good progress!
The masking, the paint job. ... awesome.
Really enjoyed this build, and picked up some tips too!
Looking forward to the reveal!

Thanks Frans, much appreciated! I'm hoping to get a start on the decals tonight, if not, tomorrow

I see you got your canopies in place now....I hate doing canopies, the worst part of model building for me; the masking, the painting and the fitting, because if you screw up anywhere, it's noticeable, because the canopy is the most visible and noticed part of the plane.

Looking forward to seeing your assembly come together now

Cheers

Martin

Post by **Joesdad** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:00 pm

Sweeet Marty

Post by **billlarisa** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:07 pm

Awesome!!! Beautiful paint work and beautiful build..cant wait for more

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Tue Apr 07, 2015 2:14 pm

Joesdad wrote:Sweeet Marty

Thanks Joe, much appreciated mate!

Hope you're doing okay?

Cheers

Martin

Post by **patrickroos** » Tue Apr 07, 2015 3:40 pm

Excellent paintwork, great work with the airbrush mate!

Looks really really good.

RLM72, 73 are unique to "Seeflugzeuge" and beautiful shades of grey.
Interestingly both colors are named "Grün", green...

I'm sure now, this will be a real stunner!

Post by **Joesdad** » Tue Apr 07, 2015 6:08 pm

UKguyInUSA wrote:
Joesdad wrote:Sweeet Marty

Thanks Joe, much appreciated mate!

Hope you're doing okay?

Cheers

Martin

Yes thank you Martin I'm fine, just need to get stuck into my 109, I'm only snatching an hour here and 1/2hr there....