Arado Ar-196 – the German reconnaissance seaplane

Arado Ar-196 - German World War II single-engine reconnaissance seaplane. In the middle of the thirties of the 20th century, the need to replace the outdated Heinkel He-60 brand seaplanes was ripe in the German naval aviation, but the Heinkel company's He-114, offered in 1936, proved to be unsuitable for the tasks, assigned to it. Therefore, the Imperial Aviation Ministry announced a competition for the design of a seaplane, suitable for serial production with a BMW-132K engine and a single or twin float design. In the fall of 1936 the companies “Arado Flugzeugwerke”, GmbH and “Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau”, AG received orders for production a test samples. After testing the Arado Ar-196 monoplane and the Focke-Wulf FW-62 biplane, preference was given to the more innovative Arado aircraft in the summer of 1937. The first warship, to have the Ar-196 in its arsenal, was the battleship “Admiral Graf Spee”. Later, armed with these seaplanes “Scharnhorst”, “Gneisenau”, “Deutschland” (renamed “Lutzow” in February 1940), “Admiral Scheer”, “Bismarck”, “Tirpitz” and “Prinz Eugen”. Although built for the German Kriegsmarine, World War II during the war these seaplanes were used by the Royal Norwegian Air Force and the Royal Navy Bulgaria, Finland and Romania AF.

Quite complex, not badly designed and well detailed model more for more experienced modelers. But, with the help of a more experienced colleague, without making the transparent cabin cover and its interior detailing, by simplifying the engine layout, this model can be assembled by an advanced beginner and a modeler with little experience. Antiquarian publication.