Revell Germany 1/72 scale Blohm and Voss Bv 222V-2

Kit: No. 04383-0389
Scale: 1/72
Manufacturer: Revell Germany, available from Revell-Monogram, 8601 Waukegan Road, Morton Grove, IL 60053-2295, 847-966-3500, www.revell-monogram.com
Price: $30.50
Comments: Injection-molded, approximately 280 parts, decals
Pros: Big model! Good detail inside and out, good fit
Cons: No stand, no swastikas, painting instructions difficult to make out

Prior to World War II, the flying boat was king of the airways, providing luxurious long-range accommodations. In the late 1930s, Germany's Lufthansa asked Blohm and Voss to design a large flying boat able to cross the North Atlantic.

The military applications of this aircraft were obvious, and soon the Bv 222 Wiking was developed. Only 13 Bv 222s were built, and most were destroyed during the war. However, two survived to be tested in England and the United States.

Revell of Germany has just released a model of the Bv 222. Clean off your workbench, 'cause this will need plenty of room. Even in 1/72 scale, the Wiking spans nearly three feet. The parts are cleanly molded with good surface detail. Options include having the split wing floats down or stowed, and installing radar. The radar masts and antenna are individually molded, and many of them were broken in my sample - I left them off.

No beaching gear or a stand is provided, so displaying the model will require modelers to be inventive. The decal sheet provides markings for one aircraft, but you can paint the model two ways: in standard camouflage or with a white overspray. No swastikas are provided.

The first 26 steps of the instruction booklet cover the cavernous interior. Not counting the windows or separate doors, the interior has 65 parts. All the detail is well done, but I had to open up holes for the radio operator's table. The pilots' seats have to go all the way back in their mounts. I put mine near the middle of the grooves, and they conflict with the control yokes.

All of the windows and separate doors fit well, but I used Krystal Kleer on most of my windows to avoid masking. Closing the fuselage showed that everything fit fine, with just a touch of filler required to blend the nose with the planing bottom. The upper hatch that contains the dorsal turret and navigator's dome was the only part that didn't fit well, but it was easy to correct with trimming and filler. You can leave it unattached to view the interior.

The flying surfaces fit well, but you have to plan around them during assembly and painting. All control surfaces have molded-in gaps to make them appear more realistic. The slotted horizontal stabilizer fits like a glove on the fuselage and actually is capable of holding the rear fuselage together while gluing.

Wing assembly includes adding walls to the wing-float bays and assembling the mid-wing turrets. Test fit the gun in each turret before placing the armor plate. I didn't and had to drastically enlarge the slot for the gun, destroying the armor plate in the process.

The placement of the wing-float retraction struts is vague. Revell molded the engines, covers, and exhaust manifolds as separate assemblies, but you'll have to trim the engine covers to show them open. The engine cowls fit so well that I was able to snap them in place for painting, then remove them and install the engines and propellers after finishing.

Final assembly of the main components was straightforward. The wings-to-fuselage joints are excellent; just make sure the wings sit with the correct dihedral. Numerous small parts are left to install after the main components are assembled. I spent many minutes looking for the wind deflectors for the waist-gun windows - they're on the clear sprue. The cockpit's side windows have descending tabs that are impossible to insert after the main canopy is in place.

Finishing a kit this large presents its own set of problems. The painting diagrams are small, and the details make it difficult to discern the camouflage pattern. A magnifying glass and drawing bold color-demarcation lines helped me figure what color went where.

The decals included in the kit are opaque, but they required a lot of setting solution to settle down. The decals need only a few seconds in the water before they are ready to slide off. You may want to apply the wing-walk decals before spraying on the field-applied soft-edged white if you want the scheme I chose.

Revell's Bv 222 measures out right on scale, and the shape seems accurate as well. With the exception of the upper fuselage panel and the annoying painting instructions, this kit was a pleasure to build. Be prepared to spend some time because of the large number of parts. I put in 25 hours. I recommend this kit to anyone who has room for it!

- Chuck Davis