Special Hobby 1/72 Flettner FL 265

SPECIAL HOBBY 1:72 FLETTNER FL 265

Reviewer: Richard Stracey (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 14 December 2001 (#32)

Aircraft:
Anton Flettner had been experimenting with autogyros and helicopters since the early 1930’s. His 265 first flew in May 1939. It did away with having a tail rotor by having two two blade counter rotating intermeshing synchronized main rotors that cancelled out the torque. Six prototypes were built and the RLM ordered it into production however Flettner had already moved on by developing his improved two seater that was ordered instead.. Both the 265 and 282 were powered by a 160hp Bramo SH14 A 7cyl radial engine.

The Kit:
SPECIAL HOBBY SH 72020 1/72
The limited run Special Hobby kit consists of twenty four plastic, fourteen resin and one vacform part and comes in a very smart looking box with nice artwork. The instructions are detailed and give either Humbrol or RLM numbers for paint.

Construction Notes:
The one thing missing is a large warning sign “Only for experienced modellers”. It all looks harmless and simple enough to start with but…..

All the positions for the exhaust stubs are marked and so can be drilled out, as can the undercarriage mountings. The position for the rotors are not marked but with care can be drilled out in the correct place. The resin parts (1-4) all have large (what is the technical description?) molding blocks which need to be sanded away. It is best to do this “wet” and with care as you don’t really want to inhale the dust. Once done, you can see why they came as they did as the parts are now quite delicate and have beautiful detail. The next job is to cut out the “skylight” window above the pilot. No, I don’t know what it is for except to check if the rotors are still there! Use a razor saw and take it easy. With the window removed, even after the fuselage halves have been joined the “roof” is quite delicate.

The interior fits reasonably well and with a little trimming the fuselage halves fit with no problems. If you check the “box” on instruction 3 you can see a “flat” section forward of the rudder which needs to be filed away before the tailwheel is attached. I pinned the horizontal tail surfaces, as they were a simple butt joint. I assume that Special Hobby intended the undercarriage supports to be glued directly to the fuselage. That sounded to me like a recipe for disaster, so I drilled out the marks and inserted the supports.

The interior was RLM 66 (Testors 2079/Xtracolour X203) which is a paler shade of black which would have wasted all that resin detail. I used a bit of artistic license and painted it dark grey with a lighter dry brushing. Even so, much of the detail is lost. Now to the rotors. No doubt Mark will get e-mails saying that they used the kit rotor heads (3) but I couldn’t see how, over time, they were going to support the weight of the blades (13 & 14). Anyway, I scratch built two heads which look identical to the originals except that they are made from piano wire. I also didn’t fancy playing chicken four times using a candle to “sag”the blades as Special Hobby suggest. I know my modelling limitations and luck! The next challenge is the vac form canopy. I never thought I would say it but it’s too thin! I gave up trying to fit it in one piece and cut it up into door, side and windscreen. It worked but I have done better.

Versions:
Few photos of this machine are available but from two I feel that the safer of the two colour options is the striped one The picture of the unstriped machine shows a squarer ( in profile) cowling with quite a large gap between it and the fuselage whereas the striped example cowling is very close to the more streamlined and tighter fitting kit one. That is not to say that it flew without stripe but with the new cowling or visa versa.

Decals:
The decals, by Propagteam, are for one aircraft TK + AN in RLM 02 Grey (Testors 2071/Tamiya XF 22) (I don’t like Humbrol 92 Iron Grey which is often quoted as RLM 02). The undercarriage and interior is RLM 66 Black Grey (Testors 2079/Xtracolour X203) and the option for the same machine but with two vertical fuselage stripes each side of the + of RLM 23 Red which Special Hobby claim to be Humbrol 132 Satin Red (Testors 2073/ Xtracolour X 217). This brings up another problem. What colour is RLM 23 Red? From what I know it is a medium to dark red close to FS 31350 certainly not Humbrol 132 which is to “modern”and bright and not FS 31136 as one web site claims. Testors idea of RLM 23 (2073) and their pouch paint is a sort of Salmon Pink! That leaves Xtracolour X 217 which I haven’t got. I won’t say what colour I landed up using.

Need I say anything about Propagteam decals? OK. For those who haven’t had the pleasure of using them. The end result is fantastic. It’s getting there that’s ah…a challenge! The answer is to treat them with great respect, use plenty of water to first loosen them and then as a lubricant on the model’s surface. Slide the well loosened decal directly on to the surface as close to the final position as possible. Decal setting solution will not be required or recommended.

Reference:
An interesting history of Flettner can be found in Aeroplane Monthly of October and November of 1975 and information on the 265 in the Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Aircraft V8 p1820. Huma make a 1/72 kit of the Flettner 282.

Overall:
Not a bad kit, rather let down by the transparencies and the rotor head. This might have been a good kit to mold the entire fuselage in clear plastic so that the “windows”could then be masked before painting. Thank you anyway, Special Hobby, for making it.

Photo Credit: Richard Stracey 2002

Related Reviews:-

Huma 1/72 Flettner Fl 282

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