MPM/HML 1/48 Arado Ar 240

MPM 1:48 ARADO AR 240

Reviewer: James Garnett (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 7 February 2002

Aircraft:
Little reward from years of effort resulted from Arado's development of an advanced and formidable multi-role type aircraft which began as early as 1938. The Arado 240 featured many advanced components such as a pressurised cockpit, rear gun barbettes sighted by the gunner through a periscope system, a tailcone that incorporated a dive brake and high lift flaps on a highly loaded main wing. The prototype effectively ended the development of the aircraft due to many technical problems, the major being instability upon three axis. While some alterations were made to rectify this, such as lengthened wings and fuselage, and the addition of a rear tailfin, the shortcomings were not ironed out.

The multi-role specification included a major role as a dive bomber but insufficient performance ensured the type did not see service in this role. Later prototypes were given various roles to undertake and test, including night fighter, reconnaissance and heavy fighter, and some did see service. The Messerschmitt Me 210 was used in favor of the Ar 240.

The Kit:
Up until now the only Ar 240 you could get your hands on was a 1/72 example kitted by Revell a few years ago which from all reports is a decent kit. So when MPM announced an imminent release of the kit in quarter-scale I got quite excited, anticipating that it would indeed be resin tooling. The resin parts number around 50 and the detail is excellent with the parts well molded.

Construction Notes:
I started on the interior of the kit and preparation is the key here, take your time to carefully organise your resin pieces together and remove them from their casting blocks. There is plenty of detail available here for the modeller to go to work with and with the right techniques you can really spruce this up to an excellent effect. Some extra bits and pieces like small boxes, seat belts, rear gunner periscope etc will need to be scratchbuilt from stretched sprue. The instrument panel is excellent and I dry brushed the dials and gauges and they came out very well. The cockpit received an RLM 66 wash throughout.

The fuselage halves have no locating pins and the cockpit and interior needs to be attached to one fuselage half first. Running super glue right around the inside mating surfaces proved to be an interesting exercise, and then the halves have to be clamped together in precisely the right position. Only minor work on the seam lines was needed once dry.

Attention was then turned to the main wings which was a problematic assembly and when you are using super glue as the main bonding agent, well you only really get one opportunity. The upper and lower halves are not flush and the wings must be butt joined to the fuselage. The engine nacelles were next and have to be attached to the cavity afforded in the main wing. This is not altogether a great fit and the rear mating area needed a little bit of putty.

The propellers are well represented but the blades are molded separately. It took some time to carefully align them correctly, but once done they look good. Some modellers will find that a jig in this step is most useful in aiding propeller assembly and drying. Then the small finlets were added to the rear tailplanes before they themselves were affixed to the fuselage.

In the final construction stage I affixed the undercarriage and as with all resin kits, there is a fair amount of weight placed on the landing gear so it is worthwhile adding in a few extra bracing struts (not at the expense of accuracy) to strengthen it. This step was straightforward and extra piping and brake lines were added from stretched sprue and small bits of wire.

Before adding the final detailing bits, like gun barrels and antennae the aircraft was painted in RLM 70/71/65 using a mixture of Xtracolor and Humbrol enamels.

Decals:
The kit decals are good and produced I think by Propagteam and includes all the markings needed to make this delightful looking beast including wing walks and some stencils. They conformed well with setting solution, but are thin.

Overall:
This was one of the more straightforward resin kits I have had the pleasure of building but it needs some intermediate resin modelling experience to get you through. During construction because you only get one chance of using super glue for parts, dry fitting everything first is a must. Overall a decent kit and about the only one on offer of this unique aircraft. Recommended for resin buffs.

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