Roden 1/72 Gotha G.Va/G.Vb

RODEN 1:72 GOTHA G.VA/G.VB
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Carlos Giani (carlos_giani2002@yahoo.de)

Kit: Roden 1/72^nd scale Gotha G.Va/Vb (Kit N° 020). Produced in Ukraine

Aircraft: By the end of 1917 the Gotha G.IV and G.V were Germany's main strategic bombers. During raids over the enemy's territory, engine failures were quite a common. As a result, these heavy twin-engined machines often returned to their home bases with only one working engine. This caused control problems and led to frequent accidents.

In February 1918 the Gothaer Waggonfabrik A.G. tested a new version of the latest G.V bombers with a new box tail („Kastensteuerung“); Gotha reported that aircraft with the new tail assembly could fly in a straight course with just one working engine. Apart from the new tail, the Gotha G.Va had a slightly smaller nose section with a two-wheeled auxiliary shock landing gear mounted underneath. The engine nacelles were also revised, now being smaller thus reducing drag. The Gotha G.Vb were equipped with a four-wheeled undercarriage beneath each engine nacelle for increased efficiency.

Parts: Well, here you really get lots of parts! Inside a very beautiful, top opening box there are 7 (numbered) sprues of light grey parts plus one little sprue with transparent parts, all in one plastic bag. A separate bag contains the decal sheets and the instructions. Total parts are approx. 255, but some 86 won't be used for this versions. Having visited Roden's Homepage, it's clear that there are common sprues to the other „Gothas“ from Roden, whilst some parts (i.e. the fuselage) are specific for this kit. The sprues „E“ (engine, landing gear struts) and „F“ (wheels, bombs, wing struts and others) are doubled.

There is very little flash evident, and there are only few ejector pin marks to tackle with. Surface quality is what you expect from Roden (that means very acceptable), and the detail level is very high; you get many little, fragile parts. The parts will benefit from some clean up, and the sprues attachment points are a bit heavy, but using „short run skills“ there will be no major trouble.

The fuselage is split vertically, and contains enough framing, bulks an controls to build a well-represented interior (according to the unused parts, this area shows the major differences to the other „Gothas“). The lower central wing section needs a little surgery and is then attached to the fuselage; the instructions also recommend to assembly the 13-part tail unit at this stage.

The lower and upper wings need a little surgery (sketches provided) and consist of 3 parts each, the instructions recommend gluing the lower outer wing halves to the central section first with a dihedral of 3°30´. Next the well-detailed, pre-assembled engine units are mounted with 4 struts each to the lower wing. The right positioning of the upper wing sure will be a hard test to our patience, since there are 22 separate struts (!). If you've got this right (Richard Stracey did; see his Kit Review of the G.II/III) the you go on to fix the pre-assembled wheels and bombs units. Propellers, guns and another couple of little parts completes the whole thing.

Instructions: These are in form of a 12-paged, well-printed booklet, a bit smaller than A4. Page one brings an extensive history / technical data review in Russian, English and German. Pages two and three comprise of the general recommendations, symbols explanation and sprues layout, with the non-used parts clearly stated. Pages four to nine cover the construction in 29 steps (including rigging diagram), which are clear but will nevertheless profit from a trough-out study. Page ten shows the templates for cutting-out the lozenge-decals (see below), and finally pages eleven and twelve shows the colouring / decaling for two versions. Detail painting and overall colours are given letters coding numbers and names for Humbrol paints.

Versions: Two versions: G.Va w/n 723/17 spring-summer 1918 (shot down over France) and G.Vb w/n 917/18 summer 1918.

Decals: You get two identical (big) sheets containing generic lozenge-rectangles, which have to be cut out to the right form according to the templates in the instructions. A third sheet contains the crosses and the unit numbers. They all seem to be a bit thick, and the colours of the lozenge pattern are a bit translucid.

Detail: Detail level is excellent, and it will benefit from careful attention.

Options: According to the version built, you can choose between a standard main undercarriage (two wheels each side) plus nose auxiliary gears (G.Va), or the extended four-wheel pro side undercarriage (G.Vb).

Impressions: First impression is O.K., and overall quality looks very good for a non-Tamigawademy kit. Assembling the wings and rigging them will sure be hard, but the kit is the effort worth. It is also sure a good basis for super-detailing (not my favourite way!)

Recommendations: This is definitely not a subject to tackle over a weekend! Also not recommended for beginners, due to the complexity of the wing assembly and the need of carefully removing the parts from the sprues. I also recommend to read Richard Stracey´s Kit Review (Gotha G.II/III).

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