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REVELL
1:72 BLOHM & VOSS B+V 222 V2 'WIKING'
'INBOX Review'
This boxart was scanned from the side of the box, not the front! Note how the starboard stabilisers are fully deployed, while the port units are just deploying - or maybe it's the other way around. I don't know if this is just artistic license to illustrate a feature of the aircraft, or if that's the way it the gear actually operated. The bumps behind the rear engine indicate the position of the wing turrets, which is a possible bone of contention for the aircraft in question.
Reviewer: Kevin Ronayne (kevin.ronayne@nuigalway.ie)
Date: 31st January 2003
In 1937, Lufthansa issued a requirement for a long-range passenger transport capable of operating between Berlin and New York. Although Dornier was an experienced builder of long-range flying boats, it was Blohm und Voss who received an order for three aircraft in September 1937. The maximum passenger capacity required was just 24, but the B+V 222 was to be a huge aircraft. When the first prototype flew in 1940, it was quickly realised that the design had considerable potential as a military transport. With enlarged doors for cargo handling, the first aircraft entered service as a transport in the Summer of 1941. After initial flights to Norway, the aircraft was transferred to the Mediterranean theatre.
Two other prototypes soon followed - V-2 and V-3, each being equipped with defensive armament. The first prototype (V-1) was also retrofitted with defensive weapons. Five more aircraft were produced as the 'A' series, with an improved planing hull and an interior layout more suited for freight or troop carriage. The 'B' designation was assigned to a proposed civilian version to be built by Junkers - not surprisingly, this was never built. One of the 'A' aircraft served as a prototype for the 'C' series, which consisted of five further aircraft. This series had Junkers Jumo 207 C inline diesel engines in place of the earlier Fafnir Bramo 323R's, although the power output was nominally the same, at about 1,000 bhp/746-kW per engine. Defensive armament was also increased from earlier versions. Other variants of the B+V 222 were planned, but never built.
In early 1943, the B+V 222 force was moved Bicarosse in France to operate in the maritime patrol role. New communications and sensor equipment were fitted to the aircraft, including the FuG 200 Hohentwiel radar. Slow attrition of the type continued, with aircraft being lost both at their moorings and also in aerial combat. However, one 'Wiking' managed to shoot down a Lancaster. As the B+V 222 was armed partially with 20 mm cannon against the Lancasters' rifle-calibre machine guns, the outcome hardly seems surprising! In July 1944, the reconaissance unit was disbanded and the remaining aircraft returned to transport duties. Somewhat surprisingly, seven examples survived the war - some of these were captured and evaluated by the Allies.
A fine shot which illustrates the simple plan of the B+V 222, and the comparatively small wingspan (in relative terms) for a WW II aircraft. This example has been stripped of its armament; even though there are Luftwaffe markings on the fuselage, it appears to have RAF roundels on the wings. Very probably, it is a captured aircraft being evaluated after the war. Note that this is a radial-engined version. The unusual shape of the tailplane/elevator units means this is probably a prototype - on production ('A'/'C' series) aircraft, these units were enlarged and their shape simplified to a near-triangular planform. This aircraft may very well be the subject of this kit (V-2), as V-2 was evaluated by the allies after the war. Now there's a conversion job for somebody!
The 'Wiking' was the largest flying boat to see service in World War II. The B+V 238, which was powered by six Daimler-Benz 603's, would have been larger still. However, the sole flying prototype was destroyed before war's end. In design terms, the B+V 222 was an aerodynamically quite 'clean' aircraft. Among the interesting features were the retractable split stabiliser floats under each wing, which operated in a manner similar to the main undercarriage of the Heinkel 177. Early armament configurations included underwing gondolas. These were later replaced by low-drag overwing turrets, a feature also found on later examples of the Luftwaffe's other six-engined aircraft, the Me 323 'Gigant'.
The fact that this kit has been released at all is important in itself. This is the latest in a series of ambitious 1/72 scale 'flagship' kits to be released by Revell Germany. The series is characterised by very high quality, very competitive pricing, and what might be viewed as some quite daring subject matter (even though most of the subjects are German). After the success of the Heinkel 177, Revell was doubtless encouraged to press ahead with other kits such as this one, the soon-to-be-released Breguet Atlantic (used by Germany), and the newly announced Junkers 290 A-5. Even though they aren't aircraft, other 1/72 kits such as the late-model 'S-Boote' (E-Boat) and the planned Type VII U-Boat seem also to fall into this category.
In themselves, most of these kits are very welcome news to modellers in general. After a long period of conservatism amongst mainstream kit manufacturers for much of the 1980's and 1990's, the 'heroic' kit is back in fashion in 1/72 scale. There can be no doubt of the merits of the B+V 222 as a kit subject - it's big, it's German (always a factor, never mind the reason), and it saw considerable service, albeit in small numbers. It's also a real aircraft, not some Luft' 46 fantasy. One of the advantages of 1/72 scale is that just about any conceivable aircraft subject is capable of being reproduced. A lot of 1/72 scale modellers such as myself would contemplate buying almost any kit, no matter the size, as long as the subject matter is interesting. But we can be a very price-sensitive lot, even at the top of the scale. Revell seem to have realised this. At 23 STG / 40 Euro from Hannants, this kit is objectively just as good value as say, a 6 Euro P-47 Thunderbolt kit. The fact that it is perceived as being good value will probably encourage more people to buy it.
A shot of a diesel-powered B+V 222 C. As most of the engine parts in this kit are included on a single sprue, it would be feasible for Revell to produce a B+V 222 C. The main work would be a new engine sprue, although there would be some other new changes required, such as a new tailplane unit. There may also be differences in armament fit and possibly even the position of the wing turrets. As ambitious as Revell are, I think that a kit of the 'C' version would be a long shot.
However, for all the good points, there may be a problem. I've just seen the planned Revell releases for 2003/2004. Apart from the large kits releases, both imminent and planned, there is very little else new in 1/72 scale apart from a new Fokker Dr.I - I doubt if Roden are really shaking in their boots about that one! Most of the other planned releases are ex-Matchbox, Hasegawa and ESCI toolings, plus a couple of revised Revell or Revell/Italeri toolings. Maybe it's a slack year in terms of 'normal-size' new kits. However, I get the feeling that these large kits are crowding out other potential kits. A company such as Revell can only take so much risk at a time, and producing a kit like this is a large risk and a large investment - hence the choice of re-boxes for most other kits, which require relatively little capital investment and are less risky (they were sold before, and their market potential is known). Conversely, a kit such as this can be very profitable - it has no direct competition. That's my two cents anyway - Euro cents, not US Dollar cents ...
I have a confession to make - I didn't buy this kit myself. I fully intended to, but was pre-empted by a very good (fellow modeller) friend who bought it for me as a present in return for some computer-related work. Thanks, Dave - you may yet get your Airfix Banshee kit back if my conscience nags me loudly enough! As we sat down to examine the package, I got my first surprise - a two-piece box! About time Revell. The second surprise came after we opened the box and rummaged through the contents - all very tidily packaged in a number of sealed bags, with all bags sealed in single large bag. At the bottom of the box was a German Aviation Industry magazine, obviously included as a 'freebie'. There were some interesting photographs, but a lot of ads. I don't sprechen sie Deutsch, so I left it with my friend - some of his kids can practice their translation skills on it.
There are several sets of sprue shots available on the Web, but I'm not just going to steal someone else's work (OK, the black and white photos are a bit iffy). Besides, these instruction scans are much smaller files. Note how most of the engine parts are on the top-left sprue.
The kit is molded in standard light grey plastic on a series of sprues, plus a single well-packaged transparency sprue. The kit has some 282 parts in total (slightly more if you open up the engines), of which about 50 are transparent. In comparison, the old Italeri Me 323 'Gigant' kit has about 350 parts, but that just reflects the inherent structural complexity of the latter subject. This kit is every bit as detailed as one would expect, and the overall quality and level of detail is pretty much identical to that of the Heinkel 177 tooling. Apart from the exceptionally crisp general panel detailing, the control surface boundaries are worth a mention. As with the Heinkel 177, the boundaries of (say) the aileron and wing are represented by a very deep but crisp incision that slopes - the means that although all control surfaces are fixed and not molded as separate parts, they look very realistic. There is also a small gap between the aileron and flap units, which also looks very realistic. Over the entire mold, there are hardly any ejection or sink marks that are likely to be a problem.
The second part of the sprue diagram scan.
The instruction booklet is standard Revell. It is A4 in size, contains 20 pages in total, and is printed on what looks to be very good quality recycled paper. As with the Heinkel 177, the front page credits the model designer. It happens to be the same person, one A. Deitz - whoever they are, they certainly know how to produce a great kit. The instructions are thoroughly comprehensive, and the construction process is broken down into 71 steps. Personally, I find this approach annoying, as I prefer to exercise a bit more freedom when building a model. It's still possible to work out what liberties I can take, but it's just going to take a bit of time.
Before the construction guide proper, there are the paint listings and sprue diagrams. The paint listing follows the standard practice of listing each Revell Paint colour (or mix of colours) along with a letter used to refer to this colour in the construction guide. Only with the overall painting guide at the end of the process are some of these colours finally decoded to RLM equivalents. The lack of RLM equivalents for many colours is not a good idea, and some of the stated colours are clearly wrong. For example, colour B is Revell Matt 45 Helloliv (light olive). The usual Humbrol equivalent for this would be Hu 86 (called light olive, naturally enough). As colour B is used for all sorts of interior surfaces, the actual RLM colour would be RLM 02. The correct Humbrol shade would be Hu 31. Judging from the photos of the completed model on the box, it appears that whoever built the model used just this colour, or something very close to it. So the completed model looks correct, but the instructions look misleading, which is a bit odd.
Some of the completed model photographs on the box. In the first photo, the search radar aerials aren't fitted. According to the instructions, they are not an option - they are mandatory. However the background information in the instructions correctly note that they weren't always fitted. The second photo shows the engines with the access hatches open. The inside panel colour is most definitely RLM 02, so choose your paints carefully.
Due to the obvious high-class kit design and engineering, the kit should be straightforward despite the number of parts. However, as usual, size brings its' own problems. The interior includes a double-decker construction with a number of supporting bulkheads. This will be a tricky assembly, especially as some of the bulkheads appear to slope. One of the steps (# 26) accidentally omits to show one of the bulkheads - however, the step is very clear in showing how the unit is to be fixed against some alignment points on the fuselage. The main cockpit and rear flight deck are very detailed. There is a central roof section containing the upper turret. This entire unit need not be fixed in place, so that you can remove it and look inside. The turret is slightly offset to port, which I believe is correct. The rear door of the flight deck is closed, so you can't look at the main wing spar.
A shot from the rear flight deck looking forward. You can just make out a ladder on the port side, which is used to move between upper and lower levels. The kit has the access hole and the ladder. The rear flight deck equipment is located further back in the kit than is apparent here, but it is probable that there were different layouts depending on both the individual aircraft and it's function at a given time.
The lower deck is obviously much less detailed, although the floor and bulkheads do have panel detail. There are two large cargo doors on the starboard side. In theory, one could omit either or both of these as part of some sort of diorama, although the lack of sidewall and roof detail on the lower level means that Revell certainly didn't intend this. There are fore and aft heavy machine-gun stations on either side, complete with ammunition feeds and boxes. The instructions are slightly confusing in that they seem to suggest that the guns could be left off until the model was nearly complete, and then attached at a very late stage. The tailplane/elevator units are split into a single upper and lower part: once cemented together, they should just slide into place from the front. Leaving aside other minor areas such as the radar aerials and cockpit glazing, this leads nicely on to the main wings.
More completed model photographs. Note that the underside colour doesn't really look like RLM 65 (even after weathering), even though that's what the overall painting guide calls for. In fact, the matching Revell colour isn't the normal RLM 65 colour (# 55), but another colour (# 49). As # 49 is not mentioned in cross-reference charts, I don't know anything about it. There has been some muttering on newsgroups as to whether the low-drag wing turrets are correct for the V-2 aircraft.
Before the upper and lower wing halves are cemented together, you will need to build and insert the wing turrets, and put the stabiliser bays in place. The assembled wings are designed to fix onto very precisely molded wing roots, and then meet in the middle of the fuselage - each wing has half of the huge central tubular spar that was used in the real aircraft. I would have used a different approach using a spar unit that would be trapped between the fuselage halves and then left protruding on either side. The wings would then 'plug' into the protrusions. But what do I know about model design?
The internationally recognized modelling symbol for 'leave the model resting on a few large matchboxes to set'! Note the slight wing dihedral and the way in which the stabiliser units point outward. The latter is certainly not apparent from the instructions, although the precision of the parts fit will probably leave no doubt. One more thing: those engines don't look like radials. Even in this basic drawing, they look a lot like the Jumo inline diesel engines of the 'C' version! Also, the underwing 'bumps' just inboard of the outer engines are curious. These represent the location of the wing turrets. However, in the kit, the turrets are located right behind the outer engines. Both locations were used, but it is not clear (to me at least) which aircraft had the turrets in which position.
The engines are exceptionally detailed units, especially if they are built with the access hatches open. An unusual touch is the way in which the engines attach to large leading edge units, which in turn attach to the main wings. This may be yet another indication that Revell are at the very least contemplating a kit of the diesel-engined version. The stabiliser floats can be assembled in the open or closed position - some modification of the struts will be needed for a 'half-way' position.
Before painting this beast, there are some puzzling issues to be resolved about colour schemes. The kit is of a single aircraft (V-2) with the option to model it as a transport aircraft in 1943, or as a maritime patrol aircraft based at Bicarosse in 1944. Presumably, only the latter subject could carry the search radar. The paint scheme is the same for both options. The top camouflage is supposed to be RLM 72/RLM 73, which is the standard camouflage for German WW II sea aircraft. The Revell colour mixes seem to agree with this - it would be a very dark scheme. However, it looks from the box artwork and completed model photos as if one colour - probably the darker one - has been overpainted with white. The background information does mention a temporary white paint applied on top of the normal scheme for a July 1944 rescue mission to a remote Artic outpost. What is not clear is if this was an all-over application or if it was done in the manner illustrated. Moreover, there is no indication that it might have been used by the V-2 in its 1943 transport role. A frequently seen plate of a B+V 222 'A' appears to show a 'splinter' scheme of dark green and light grey. I'm not sure how accurate that is - also, the same plate shows the wing turrets as being similar or identical to the dorsal turret, instead of the low-drag design included in this kit.
Last but not least are the decals. They are, as usual, Italian-produced and look superb. There are only very minor differences that I can see between the decals for the two options. The paint/decal guides for each version are almost identical, and there is also a 'common decals' page. This is really just to show the common decals that couldn't be illustrated on the other diagrams, as practically everything is common anyway. Some blown views would have help to make clear the exact position and orientation of some of the smaller items - there are about 150 items in total. Once nice touch: the fuselage Hakenkreuz markings are partially cut away on either side to allow them to fit between the windows, which is correct. On the downside, there is not even a mention of how big the swastikas would have been - any mention at all is clearly verboten in a German kit. The swastikas would actually be very large - larger than anything on my 'stock' sheets. Maybe if I buy a sheet in 1/48th scale ...
There's not much to say except that this looks like another winner from Revell AG. It plugs a big gap in my collection that, until a year ago, I assumed would never be filled. Which leads me to my final thought: after the Breguet Atlantic and Junkers 290 are released, what should the next 1/72 'flagship' aircraft kit from Revell be? A lot of modellers might be looking at this maritime aircraft theme and wondering if Revell would ever produce a new tool Focke-Wulf Condor, or maybe even a Sunderland. However, my choice would be the most elegant of all maritime patrol aircraft - the Hawker-Siddeley/BAe Nimrod.
I scratched around for information on the Web, but just found scraps. The main resource I found on the Web was pictures from a variety of sources. My printed references were restricted to just two standard reference works:
I would have a lot more printed material except for the simple problem of space - that's why electronic references are so useful, when you can find them.
Note: A few people have built pre-release samples of the B+V 222. One example of the completed kit can be found at this address at Ted's Corner Modelling site. I still can't make up my mind about the camouflage colours used on this example, which is only adding to my confusion about the paint schemes!
SMAKR
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