Kit: No. 5026
Scale: 1/72
Manufacturer: Dragon, from Dragon Models USA, 626-968-0322, www.dragonmodelsusa.com
Price: $19.95
Comments: Injection-molded, 66 parts (5 photoetched), decals
Pros: Good photoetched details and cockpit
Cons: Poor fit of the engine nacelles to the wings, no seat belts, inconsistent panel line depth
The Arado Ar 234P was a conceptual German night fighter on the drawing board at the end of WWII. Dragon has updated the mold of its original Ar 234 kit to include a new nose, fuselage bulge, cockpit parts, a belly-gun pack, and a photoetched- fret of antennas. Markings are provided for four different aircraft.
Building the pilot’s office was a challenge as the photoetched rudder pedals didn’t fit in the cramped interior. The seat came without a harness, so I found some belt decals in my spares. I installed the cockpit in the lower portion of the nose, then glued the rear fuselage halves together. Dry-fitting revealed the nose was too tall to fit the fuselage, so I sanded the mating surface on the canopy top to improve the fit.
The lower wing (part No. C24, C25) trailing edge drops below the level of the flaps from the upper wing. This will cause a gap between the nacelle sides and the bottom of the wing. Gluing a strip of .010″ plastic to the upper wing (part No. C5, C6) improved the fit. I had to trim the sides of the exhaust nozzles to get them to fit side by side. I also filled gaps between the leading edge of the wing and the nacelle assemblies with white glue. I painted the wings separate from the fuselage to make painting the side of the nacelles easier. After installing the wings to the fuselage, I filled thin gaps with white glue. The horizontal stabilizers went in without any problem.
I painted the model with Floquil weathered black and AeroMaster RLM 76. The camouflage spots were applied with a dark gray pastel using an artist’s paper stump. The decals went down over a clear gloss coat. No swastikas were provided, so I added some from my spares.
My friend Dan Gilbert provided my reference, Dossier No.16 Arado Jet Fighters, by J. Miranda and P. Mercado. It provides drawings of this design and other Arado projects.
This is one of those fun projects where you can let your imagination take over. For those fans of Luft’ 46, this model will fit right in.
– Tom Foti
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