Part 1: First Look

MSRP: $55.95 Web Site: www.dragonmodelsusa.com I would like to thank Dragon Models USA for graciously submitting this kit to IPMS for review and IPMS for allowing me to review it. In response to a German Air Ministry requirement for a fast reconnaissance aircraft, Professor Walter Blume, director of the Arado aircraft company, submitted his design code named E370 in 1941. This design became the Arado Ar 234, the very first purpose-built operational jet powered bomber. It was an extremely clean and straightforward aircraft of all-metal stressed-skin construction with a smooth flush-riveted exterior. With two Junkers Jumo 004B axial-flow turbojets of 1,984 lb thrust each, it was capable of crusing at 435 mph at 32,800 feet. This aircraft had many interesting and advanced design features. The Ar-234B was mainly used either as a bomber or reconnaissance aircraft. As a bomber, its maximum bomb load was 3,300 pounds carried externally. As a reconnaissance aircraft, the Ar-234B carried a 79 gallon drop tank under each engine that extended the maximum range from approximately 700 miles to a little over 1,000 miles. A handful of Ar234s were fitted with two 20 millimeter MG-151/20 cannon in a ventral tray and the FuG218 Neptune long wave radar, featuring nose-mounted aerials for night fighting. That is the aircraft Hasegawa has presented us with in this kit. The kit's box end is labeled "Special Version". This kit is the basic Hasegawa 09083 Ar234B-2 kit with additional pieces included to make the -2N version. These are the 20mm gun tray, the radar aerials, and a small blister part that fits atop the fuselage housing the radar system. All but the blister are attached to the "G" sprue.

The kit comes in a cellophane wrapped slip-top box. Inside the box there are two sealed plastic bags - one containing approximately 12 fairly thin clear parts and the other approximately 150 grey parts. A few of these parts are not used in the construction of the -2/N. The building instructions are on eight folded pages, of which only three are used to detail the construction. Two pages provide painting and decaling instructions for three different aircraft. The decal sheet contains black and white markings for the exterior and decals for the instrument panels and radio equipment.

Now that I have done a preliminary review of the kit I look forward to getting started. I have selected the black-green aircraft with white markings of Oblt Kurt Bonow, Oranienburg, Germany, 1945 to build. Look for the completed build and review in the near future.

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