Kit: No. 450
Scale: 1/48

Manufacturer: Classic Airframes, P.O. Box 577580, Chicago, IL 60657-7580
Price: $34.95
Comments: Injection-molded, 77 parts (29 resin, 2 vacuum-formed plastic), decals
Pros: Excellent scribed panel lines, smooth surfaces, in-box engine conversion, good resin parts, landing gear options, excellent decals
Cons: No wheel axles, propeller shaft, gunsight, radio antenna mast, or rigging-vibration dampers

Until the advent of the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Luftwaffe stuck to proven biplane fighters such as the Heinkel He 51 and the Arado Ar 68. The Arado was powered by either a BMW or Jumo engine, and was armed with two 7.9mm MG17 machine guns. It handled well and was, by all accounts, superior to the He 51.

Never before offered as a 1/48 scale plastic kit, Classic Airframes’ new Ar 68E/F comes in prewar (kit No. 450) and World War II (No. 453) markings. I built the prewar version, which has markings for Spanish and German “E” variations and an “F” of 3./JG131 that served in East Prussia in 1937 (the subject of this review).

The plastic and resin parts were bagged separately, and my sample’s Micro Scale decals were well printed. The six-page instructions include seven assembly steps, a brief history, a parts map, and a rigging diagram. A separate sheet of three-view painting and marking guides is provided.

Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of improvements in Classic Airframes models, which are limited-run injection kits produced in the Czech Republic. The plastic parts are smooth. The scribing is delicate and consistent, and the wing-strut ends are beveled. The cast-resin cockpit parts are sharply detailed. There is minimal flash on part edges.

The kit features an optional engine cowl for the Jumo engine, and I used it on my model. Following the instructions in step 3, I used a razor saw to remove the molded-on “E” cowl from the fuselage halves, and substituted the “F” model Jumo engine cowl.

Using the box art for reference, I installed the engine exhaust pipes in the modified fuselage halves. Then I discovered an excellent photo of the nose of an Ar 68 with a Jumo engine clearly showing the first three pipes (from front to rear) angled toward the ground, and the last three coming straight out of the cowl, parallel to the ground. They were not flush with the cowl as the box art suggests. Nuts! To fix them, I drilled out the flush resin pipes, then inserted stainless steel tubing at the proper attitudes.

Dry-fitting the assembled cockpit revealed that I needed to lightly sand both sides to get it to fit perfectly in the fuselage. I didn’t have to use filler on the fuselage. The resin radiator grille dropped in cleanly after the fuselage halves were joined. I dressed the top edges of the cowl sides with a file to achieve a good fit for the cowl top.

The kit furnishes two propellers, one for each engine type. The real propellers appear to have been varnished wood. I used Super Scale TF-29 wood-grain trim film on my propeller.

The kit has no propeller shaft, just a bump on the spinner backplate. There was no corresponding depression in the fuselage for the bump. I drilled a hole in the nose, made a shaft from stretched sprue, and held it in place with a spare nylon grommet.

Even though there were no locating pins to align the upper and lower wing panels, the fit was perfect. You may want to lightly sand the interior panel surfaces for thinner trailing edges.

I glued the landing gear struts 3/16″ forward of the wing leading edge, following the instructions in step 4, but they should be 3/16″ forward of the wing fillet. Classic Airframes provides spatted and nonspatted main and rear wheels.

There were no parts for the antenna mast or vibration dampers for the rigging. I made them from stretched sprue.

I painted my Arado using Floquil Military Colors with a coat of Aero Master Clear Gloss under the decals. They were applied using the Micro Scale System. Testor Dullcote was used to seal the decals.

My references indicated these aircraft were painted in RLM 63 Grüngrau (green gray), not the RLM 63 Lichtblau (light blue) available in most paint lines. But since the proper color was identical to RLM 02 (an interior color), I used it on my model. The decals went on fine.

My finished Arado measures close to scale and looks like the ones in Eric Mombeek’s Jagdwaffe Vol. 1 Section 1.

Because biplanes are more difficult to assemble than monoplanes, I spent a little more time on this model than usual – about 28 hours. But it inspired me to tackle Classic Airframes’ He 51 kit; the pair will look fine together.

Allan F. Jones