Matchbox (Frog/Revell) 1/72 Dornier Do 335A-6 Pfeil

MATCHBOX (FROG/REVELL) 1:72 DORNIER DO 335A-6 PFEIL

Reviewer: Mark B (SMAKR Webmaster) (smakr1@optusnet.com.au)
Kit Built + Review Submitted: May 2009

Kit Details:

Matchbox (Revell [Frog]) 1/72 Dornier Do 335A-6 - #40135

Aircraft History:

The Do 335 Pfiel (Arrow) was possibly the most unique development for the Lufwaffe to see some sort of service during the last few months of the war. It featured the push / pull engine arrangement with both inline engines in the fuselage, on in the nose and one in the mid-section driving a propeller in the tail through a drive shaft. The tail was cruciform and detachable in the case of emergency. This was especially beneficial if the pilot had to bale out, as the aircraft was one of the firsts to feature an ejector seat.

(further history taken from M Johnson's review) -

As the Second World War in Europe drew to a close, a powerful new twin-engined fighter was preparing to enter service with the Luftwaffe. The unique configuration of this aircraft conferred on it a phenomenal performance, which completely eclipsed all of its contemporaries; whilst its potential for devastating the massive Allied bomber streams that almost daily pounded the Reich was rivalled only by the Me262 jet. This amazing machine was the piston-engined Dornier Do335.

Aircraft designers are constantly seeking to maximize engine power and minimize drag. The increased power resulting from the adoption of a twin-engined layout, is normally partially offset by the increased drag and reduced manoeuvrability of an orthodox wing-mounted arrangement. An alternative arrangement, with the two engines mounted fore-and-aft in tandem is known as centre-line thrust. With the power from both engines being delivered along the aircraft centre-line, the obvious benefits of this layout include reduced frontal area, an aerodynamically clean wing and the elimination of the asymmetry problems associated with engine failure.

The Dornier Do335 was a bold attempt to embody the centre-line thrust concept in a practical and efficient airframe. Its unique layout featured a conventional nose mounted engine and tractor airscrew, together with a second engine located in the rear fuselage, driving a pusher propeller situated aft of the tail unit.

In May 1942 Dornier submitted a refined version of his P.231 design in response to a Technische Amt requirement for a single seat high speed bomber. The Dornier proposal was selected as the winner after beating rival designs from Arado and Junkers. Despite official resistance to the unconventional layout, a development contract was awarded under the RLM designation Do335.

Aside from its unusual engine layout, the design incorporated several other unusual features. These included a reversible-pitch tractor airscrew, to shorten the rather long landing run; a wing leading edge de-icing system; hydraulically operated flaps; a tunnel radiator for the rear engine and a compressed air powered ejection seat. The latter being essential for a safe bale-out clear of the rear propeller, although the vertical tail and propeller could be jettisoned by explosive bolts when required.

In late 1944, the Do335A-1 superseded the A-0 on the production line. This was the initial production model, similar to the A-0 but with the up-rated DB603E-1 engines and two underwing hard points for additional bombs or drop tanks. Delivery commenced in January 1945.

Capable of a maximum speed of 474 mph at 21,325 ft with MW 50 boost, or 426 mph without boost, and able to climb to 26,250 ft in only 14.5 minutes, the Do335A-1 could easily outpace any Allied fighters it encountered. It could also carry a bomb load of 1100 lb for 900 miles.

Although given the nickname 'Pfeil' (arrow) by Dornier test pilots, on account of its speed, service pilots quickly dubbed it 'Ameisenbaer' (ant- eater) because of its long nose.

Plagued by mechanical unreliability and lack of aviation fuel, the operational career of the Do335 is rather obscure. Do335A-0 and A-1 aircraft are thought to have flown a number of operational missions with EK335. Some were also used by III/KG2 in the Spring of 1945. There is no evidence of the type being met in combat, so it seems likely that all the operations were high speed interdiction missions - many taking place at night.

Technically innovative, heavily armed, and possessing a performance which no other piston-engined aircraft has ever achieved or surpassed, the Do335 possessed great potential as a combat aircraft, but never got the chance to prove itself. Delayed by high ranking indecision and Allied bombing raids, it simply ran out of time.

The Kit:

This appears to be a reissue of a Revell kit that was itself originally an original Frog mold, given away by the rounded sprues and the fact that Frog had an identical made kit that I had the experience of seeing many years ago. The kit is stamped Revell inside circa 1991 and I understood their takeover of Matchbox molds occurred mid to late 1990's. Revell had a habit of reissuing Frog molds in the 80's and early 90's just to keep you on your toes! No doubt this Frog - Revell - Matchbox kit will appear in a Revell box again sometime.

Inside the box there are four sprues containing approximately 45 thick injection molded parts in a dark green colour with only the most minor amount of flash in a couple of areas, needing nothing more than a quick run over with a sharp #11. Surface detail is a combination of some raised panel line and engraved control surface and typical of the older Frog and Matchbox type of molds, a bit on the simplistic side but with the basic shapes all there. Two fairly distorted clear parts make up the canopies for the two cockpit areas.

Instructions:

In spite of claiming to be printed by Revell the instructions follow the usual Matchbox format that I am used to, folding out with 29 assembly steps each dealing with only one or two areas to add and quite easy to follow - and a couple of steps obviously not used (ie: one dedicated to wheels down and another dedicated to wheels up). The only real concern is the usual slight vagueness in some specific areas on assembly but shouldn't really cause any concerns for most. There is no historical overview of the aircraft as such (although a small spiel is found on the side of the box) and the instructions only have modelling safety information, symbol explanation, alphabetic labels for painting keyed to what it says is Matchbox paints (even though the box says to use Revell paints and clearly the numbers and titles are Revell's range). A three-view diagram for the only version the kit produces is on one of the back pages to complete the instructions.

Construction:

You will need some good scratchbuilding skills for this kit, because the cockpit doesn't get much more pathetic than this. Building wheels up gives me a slight advantage in always having closed cockpits and generally also a pilot figure, so I can scrimp a little on the rest of the detail. This kit provides only two angled pieces of plastic to be used as the seats and a couple of pilot figures. The instructions are not very clear on the placement of the seats, nor is there any indication inside the fuselage, so I attached them to the back of the headrest behind the pilot, which looks correct based on an inset diagram provided. Apart from a little bit of scratchbuilding to add a couple of things, including my own instrument panel, I did not do a lot more other than paint the interior RLM 66.

To have a moveable propeller you don't have much choice than to sub assemble it now, in readiness to be trapped between the fuselage halves. One ring component of course is not cemented, so this sub assembly was taken care of and at the same time I also assembled the main wings which come in upper and lower halves and test fitting revealed it needed a quick going over the edges with a sharp blade and removal of a couple of small ejector pin stubs. Being a wheels up modeller, I closed the gear doors which fitted nigh on perfectly (just a slight scrape with the knife) and test fitted that the overlapping door into the fuselage wouldn't cause any problems when affixing the wings later, and they didn't. Otherwise for wheels down modellers, the sub assembly is very straight forward, with the wheels broken into halves to be added to struts glued into the underside of the top wing, which means no boxed in wheel well, and no internal detail. The undercarriage is thus quite simplistic and the nose wheel is molded all integrally with oleo and panel.

The fuselage halves go together nicely, needing just the usual pegs, tape and rubber bands to restrict it from prizing apart while drying. The wings also go on very well with only a dabble of glue to plug up the small gaps. The canopies were an odd fit, they went on very well but did not quite match the countours of the cockpit (particularly the front) when compared to photos. My model came out like the front of each canopy dipping almost below the top of the dashboard - and no I didn't mix up the canopies either, they clearly are different sizes. I left the blemish as is, although now it is built, I wish I plugged it up a little underneath to raise the front of each canopy so it was in line with the top of the fuselage.

This was pretty much the airframe done. The sub assembled cowling and front prop were added to the nose, as were the scoops and (highly inaccurately replicated) exhaust stubs which all went on without any problems at all. In fact construction was a breeze really. The only challenging part of the kit were the wing mounted antennae array. They need careful removal from the sprue to avoid being snapped and while they affix into small locating holes without any dramas, they needed a jig so they would dry in the correct position/angle. Otherwise they had a tendency to lean no matter what you did.

Colour Schemes:

The kit provides for a single scheme in shades and Revell paint concoctions that I couldn't really determine what RLM numbers it was supposed to be. I chose to do RLM 81/82/65 and on looking at the instructions, it appears to me that this was what the kit is also suggesting and RLM 70 for the spinners and props. The dark green plastic meant that RLM 65 undersides had to be applied in two coats. There's a fair bit of conjecture on the actual colours with RLM 81/82/76 a safe bet as well given this model would be a very late war example, when RLM 76 undersides more or less replaced RLM 65.

Decals:

It is a small sheet with just the German wings and fuselage crosses, a small yellow 'w' shaped decal and unit "10" - that's it on the sheet. There are no swastikas or stencilling. Lots of carrier film is evident and initially I thought they had yellowed with age, but it was probably more the backing sheet. I sourced a little bit of stencilling from spares as well as swastikas but the Matchbox decals themselves were surprisingly in reasonably good nick. One of the white crosses started to tear apart and another decal ripped in half (but as it was also a white cross, it didn't matter as it tore in the "blank" area) so had to put them on very delicately. You may therefore want to ensure a couple of spares are handy. The resulting carrier film has silvered and is noticeable so probably best to source another set in hindsight anyway.

Accuracy:

From a basic profile and "it looks like a Pfeil" point of view, there is not a great deal to fault with this kit, it looks basically right. But once you get into the nitty gritty you can find lots of things not quite accurate. The canopy is pretty poorly represented and the exhaust stacks on the side of the aircraft are very inaccurately reproduced. There are some minor shape errors at the front of the fuselage particularly around the cowling and upper gun panel, but the overall shape is there. Of course the wing mounted radar antennae is a fair bit overscaled, but it looks okay nonetheless.

Overall Recommendation:

From a modelling and fun point of view this kit was a cinch, it went together without any hitches at all and looks pretty impressive at the end, particularly with the antennae array on the wing, which attached easily if only needing a bit of patience and strong glue to help the bond. From an accuracy point of view, you will probably find the option from Dragon is much better. Otherwise if you are looking for a bit of a nostalgic build, are new to modelling or just want something different in your modelling cabinet without the fuss of building a hard subject, I can warmly recommend this kit.

web hosting • domain names
web design • online games