CMK 1/72 Arado AR 68E and AR 68F

CMK 1:72 ARADO AR 68E & AR 68F

Reviewer: Richard Stracey (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 20 April 2002 #41

ARADO Ar68 E Ar68F
CMK 001 / 002 1/72

THE AIRCRAFT:
The Arado Ar68 first flew in 1934 and replaced the Heinkel He51 in Luftwaffe service. It was itself replaced by the monoplane Me109 which puts it in the same position as the Avia 534 and Gloster Gladiator as their nations last biplane fighters infact, like these two, the last version of the 68 even had an enclosed cockpit. It was designed with a 750hp BMW VI engine but this proved to be underpowered so a 610hp Junkers Jumo 210 engine was successfully trialed. Due to a shortage of Jumo engines the Ar68 F was fitted with the BMW engine and when, in 1937, more Jumo engines became available the Ar68 E was so powered. The E saw service in Spain by the second world war the 68 was relegated to training squadrons although a few were used as night fighters. Both versions were armed with two 7.9mm MG17 machine guns mounted in the upper engine cowling and both had a span of 11.00m and a length of 9.500m.

THE KITS:
CMK was the predecessor of MPM and these two kits are shown in the MPM catalogue as 72001 and 72002. The E consists of 29 and the F 30 parts in dark brown, slightly soft plastic as well as a vac form windshield. The main sprues are identical with the only difference being the fuselages or rather the cowlings. After the kit was made someone must have realised that the propeller was wrong so a replacement prop is supplied. The instruction sheet is good, with a three view, exploded view, sprue map and colouring instructions.

CONSTRUCTION NOTES:
As usual, with limited run kits, a fair bit of cleaning up is required and care must be taken removing parts from the sprue. An annoying feature that I have found with this and other limited run kits is that the fuselage mating edges seem to have shrunk after moulding which results in a “trench” along the joint line which needs filling. A seat, joy stick and dashboard is supplied as well as a “negative” type instrument panel. As not much can be seen only seatbelts are all that needs adding here.

The undercarriage and lower wings need pinning for safety and I drilled out the exhaust ports, backing them with a bit of scrap plastic. As usual with biplanes it's easier to paint them before adding the top wing , which in this case , needed a bit of work. I drilled and pinned the upper and lower front legs of the main struts just to make sure. They also need trimming to ensure that the top and bottom wings are parallel. Later the carbine struts need quite drastic pruning to fit.

The only major problem came with the E. With the one piece prop/spinner (10) the spinner diameter is far too small compared to the cowling. As can be seen from the box art and three view it should be neatly streamlined but, as supplied, will result in a nasty step. I am sure that Aeroclub make something suitable but, luckily, I found a suitable spinner in my scrap box. After whittling away the kit spinner I glued the replacement over the stub and filled and tidied it up.

FINISHING:
The result is not the easiest biplane kit to make but by far not the hardest either. I was surprised, I thought that it would look a nimble, streamlined, lightweight machine like the Hawker Fury family but it is much larger and heavier looking. The rigging was done with fine wire and white glue. It’s a bit confusing as the box art shows only one landing wire but the instructions, two. Flying and landing wires are usually hard to spot in photos and I couldn’t confirm which was correct and opted for two.

VERSIONS & DECALS:
The 68F comes with two Luftwaffe decal options. One, White10 from Jg135 1936 in light grey RLM 63 (Humbrol 154/Testors 2077/ WP8062/ Agama N8M/ Xtracolour X221 with RLM 24 blue trim ( Testors 2074/ WP4922/ Xtracolour X218 and the other, a trainer S5+E6 in RLM04 yellow (Humbrol 154/ Testors 2072/WP0541/ Agama N20M/ Xtracolour X213.

The 68 E has four options. Legion Condor 1938 9.1 in RLM02 grey, Luftwaffe 1936 White11 in RLM63 light grey and two 1938 machines in the usual RLM70/71/65 scheme. Swastikas are not supplied. The decals are by Propagteam and ,my word, haven’t they improved since this kit was made! These, being “early” Propagteam are a bit “ordinary” but easier to apply. As they were a bit elderly I did use Microscale Liquid Decal Film on them.

OVERALL:
Not a kit for the beginner but easier than most limited run biplanes and very 1930ish. Flying Review International has a good article with colour drawings in the Feb ’66 issue and the Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Aircraft V2 p.272 deals with the 68 too.

Related INBOX Reviews:-

CMK 1/72 Arado AR 68F

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