Huma 1/72 DFS 230A

HUMA 1:72 DFS 230A LASTENSEGLER
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Carlos Giani (carlos_giani2002@yahoo.de)

Aircraft: The development of the DFS 230 began in 1936 at the German Research for Gliding (Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug) in Darmstadt under the direction of Dipl.-Ing. Hans Jacobs.

The first mock-up was inspected as early as October 1936, and in 1937 the prototype was test-flown by Hanna Reistch and other important persons from the German Air Ministry. During the testing the heads of department were quick to recognize the military potential of the glider and ordered the type into series production.

The glider was a composite construction and fulfilled the requirements of an assault and transport glider for airborne troops, maximal trooping load being 10. More than 1500 were produced.

Parts: Inside a typical sturdy Huma box with beautiful artwork on the cover, you get one light grey sprue containing 34 parts, one small acetate sprue with 13 transparencies and one decals sheet bagged together. This must be, according to the year of the instruction's copyright (1985) and the overall quality, one of Huma's first kits. Surface detail is mostly recessed, the wing ribs „protruding“ raised through the fabric covers. There are heavy sprue attachment gates, and the parts are rather crude, requiring consequential cleaning up.

Trapped between the two-pieced fuselage there is a cockpit floor, a crude seat and a control stick. Twelve of the thirteen transparencies are little rectangular windows (4 on the starboard, 8 on the port side), which are just stuck into the passing holes in the fuselage, each one needing some trimming to get in there.

Each wing is massive one-piece, being relatively heavy. Fortunately, there is one thick locating pin on each wing to assist positioning and gluing. Nevertheless, I recommend the use of some kind of rig and a drying time of at least 24 hours, to avoid the wings bending down; the sole reinforcing strut on each side is short and tiny compared with the wing's length. The tail consists of a one-piece stabilizer and a separate vertical fin.

For the undercarriage you can choose between a landing skid with jettisonable, narrow two-wheels dolly and oil-damped rotatable tail skid, or fixed, strutted landing gear with tail wheel. Finally, the glider becomes a machine gun placed outside the starboard of the cockpit. The rest of the parts are alternative ones that you will need if you will build a Mistel-version (see below).

Instructions: This consists of a six-paged fold-out, which also reveals the pioneer times of Huma, some of the drawings being very simple compared with later and more advanced Huma offerings. As usual with Huma, page one brings extensive and detailed information about history and technical data in German. Pages two and three shows a four-view real scale painting / decaling drawing, the color references itself being, unfortunately, a bit unclear. Page four shows the real highlight of the kit: the 3 different Mistel-versions which can be made, each one accompanied by a B&W photo of the real thing. Page five comprises the construction steps and a sprue layout, the sketches not yet having the quality which will delight us on later Huma releases. At last, page six brings the same info as page one in English and French.

Versions:

Towed versions:

Subject ND+WP overall Grau RLM63
Subject LH+18 classic RLM 70/71 over RLM65

The Mistel versions are:

DFS 230A subject CB+ZB (RLM 70/71 over RLM65) + silver Klemm Kl 35 D-EXCM (also released by Huma [*]);
DFS 230A subject CB+ZB (RLM 70/71 over RLM65) + silver Focke Wulf Fw 56 CA+GN (released by Heller);
DFS 230A subject D-14-664 + Me 109E subject GK+AN (almost everybody going eastwards from Japan to Russia have released at last one Emil!). Both planes RLM 70/71 over RLM65.

For those who want to make a „short before take-off“ towing diorama, the instructions lists the planes used for towing, this being: Arado Ar65 (?), Avia B-534 (Kovozavody), Dornier Do 17E (Airfix-Bilek), Heinkel He-46C (A.M.L.), Heinkel He-111, Henschel Hs-126, Junkers Ju-52, Junkers Ju-87 (!).

Decals: Apparently made by Huma, they are a bit thick and have a lot of carrier film on them. You get codes for all versions, including the ones you will need for the carrier plane in the Mistel composites (nice touch!).

Detail: Not overwhelming, but acceptable.

Options: : On the glider itself you have the option between two kinds of undercarriage. Furthermore, you get parts to build three different Mistel-versions (which, of course, will require an extra kit for the „carrier“)

Impressions: Every beginning is hard, and Huma was no exception. Quality is not impressive, but, hey, this was a one-man firm. After grounded clean-up it will work out O.K. There's obviously deep research done behind each Huma-kit, so that I have no doubt about accuracy.

Recommendations: Buy it. Just think how eye-catching it will be „Misteled“. Not for beginners.

[*] This kit has (DFS 228) been reviewed in SMAKR by Richard Stracey and Johan De Wolf

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