Arado Ar 96

[cph64]

I started this inbetween waiting for things to set on the Do 215. It's the 1977 Heller release and as such has raised panel lines. The decals are for two Jagdschulen and have yellowed over the years so probably will get replaced. It's a kit of few parts, 30 in total including the clear one piece canopy but you have a choice of engine cowling with or without machine gun and the count could be reduced further as the undercarriage doors were sometimes left off. Extra Tech have produced an etched brass set for the KP kit so I'll see what parts fit or can be adjusted. I'm going through online and my references as I still haven't decided which cowing I'm going to use.

[chriswil42]

We'll see if this is going to be a simple build?

[cph64]

This is a lot simpler than the last one Chris. The cockpit interior has the front and rear consoles, the upper part of the rear not included, two basic seats so belts were made from Tamiya tape, none in the etch set (?), two different joysticks and a frame seperating the front and rear of the interior. This lacked the support struts which were made from Evergreen strip. Initially painted RLM 66 like the rest of the cockpit I found pictures online which showed them to be natural metal so repainted them silver. The etch brass set was used for the rear console and the cockpit side levers.
There is a slight gap when the cockpit floor is fitted and the fuselage sides joined, but it's not noticeable from above. The join cleaned up with little fuss or loss of detail as did the two upper wings to the one piece lower. A slight amount of filler was used at the front where the bottom wing joins the fuselage. The main undercarriage legs were fitted next and here's where it got interesting. There is no build sequence in the instructions just an exploded view so after joining the wings and fuselage it became apparent that the rear locating hole for the undercarriage was hidden by the top wing. Thankfully this could still be fitted by getting glue into the hole then feeding the u/c into the wheelwell sideways on and then standing it up. This will be allowed to set overnight to ensure a strong bond.

[chriswil42]

Good fun!

[MSea]

The things we do for FUN

[cph64]

Back from the paintshop. Vallejo Nato Black used for the walkway and under the chin plus the markings along the sides which are meant to be irregular. The overall colour is RLM 02 and to try to show the difference between the fabric fuselage and the metal skinning. I used ModelAir for the metal and Humbrol for the fabric. A coat of Klear was applied before decalling was started. As to be expected with a the kit of this age the first one I tried to apply shattered so it was back to the spares box. Treated with Microset and Sol these will be left overnight to settle fully.

[chriswil42]

Looks good Chris.

[councilman]

It looks an ungainly airplane but all the better for it.
Nice one Chris.

[cph64]

Next up came the badges for the Pilot Training School based at Zerbst, Saxony-Anholt. As these had been treated with Klear, so as not to shatter, they refused to conform to the fuselage shape despite lashings of Micro Set and Sol so I tried something drastic and applied a thin coat of Gorilla Glue Gel, with a needle, to the areas sticking up and pressed them down. This worked to a certain degree but is not perfect. The fuel octane and First Aid markers came from spares and the swastikas from the Xtradecal sheet. With the decals shattering I could use a degree of artistic license on the numbers. There is an an online discussion saying that it is believed the first number relates to the Staffel and the other two to the individual a/c number and as the  original decal was 2 for the 2nd Staffel I went with this and added 07 to give 2nd of July (Tracy's birthday, I do have my tender moments, lol!!). When decalling was completed it was on with a some Dark Dirt by Flory Washes. (On the plane Martin, not Tracy).
The kit gives two options a B-1 for advanced Pilot Training and a B-5 for Pilot Gunnery training. I went with the former and one thing to watch out for, which caught me out and meant removing parts and repainting an area, is that the B-1 doesn't have the DF loop or radio aerial which are in the instructions but not labelled as per which version. The instructions also show them in the wrong place and order along the spine. If you want a Luftwaffe trainer in your collection I would recommend this kit, despite it's age, like most old things it just needs a little TLC.

[cph64]

Further research has revealed that it was an all metal a/c, with the body covered in thin metal, which is why the formers showed through and made me think it was fabric covered. So I'll hold my hand up for that mistake and remind myself to check references more thoroughly. Doh!!!!

[MSea]

My research stopped at - "its a plane" - YoHoHo - sorry for that Chris I could not resist.

[zak]

Jst trying to catch up good work.

[Bigkev]

Further research has revealed that it was an all metal a/c, with the body covered in thin metal, which is why the formers showed through and made me think it was fabric covered. So I'll hold my hand up for that mistake and remind myself to check references more thoroughly. Doh!!!!

Hi Chris,
Have a house point....!
For doing further research, and have the honesty to admit that you interpreted the fuselage as fabric but now realise your mistake.
Your model is very nice nonetheless, and your comment just goes to show how we all learn in our modelling time and identify errors and learn from them.
Power to you Bruv!
Cheers,
Bigkev

[cph64]

Thanks Kev. I've been MIA for a few days as we're moving to the next village shortly so have been sorting, throwing, packing, cleaning the new place etc. So modelling has been for a very limited period. All will be revealled.