Models & More | Focke Wulf Triebflügel
Reviewed by Mike Swinburne
Models & More has released a model of the Focke-Wulf Triebflügel in 32nd scale, a release that should have fans of large scale Luft'46 subjects rejoicing. The kit was mastered and produced for Models & More by Antares Models of Argentina, a company known for many Luft'46 conversions and kits in smaller scales.
The Triebflügel was designed as a vertical takeoff point-defense aircraft, with jet or ramjet engines on the ends of three large wings. The wings were to rotate around the center axis of the aircraft to act as a large rotor or propeller blade assembly. Parts are cast in cream resin, two vacuum-formed canopies are included, and also pre-cut steel rods are included to add strength to the 4 outrigger landing gear assemblies and to pin the wings to the central fuselage disc. Decals are included for a Luftwaffe bird and also for the aircraft seen in the first Captain America movie. The larger resin parts will need a light sanding to smooth out many areas of tiny fine roughness, other detail is nicely cast including the cockpit which resembles an Me 262 cockpit. The vacformed canopies have a slightly grainy look to them also but nothing that a light sanding and polishing shouldn't fix. Overall this kit looks pretty nice for a short run resin release until you get to the...
Resin Wings or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Mess
The three resin wings come taped tightly together which would appear to be no issue at all. That is what I thought until I removed the tape to find that the three wings are stuck together in a way which makes me question if the resin was not completely cured when these were packaged. You must carefully pry the wings apart and even with much care, chunks of the resin wings remained attached to the next wing over, resulting in several large chunks to be removed from the parts which will need to be filled, and then need to be sanded off the other wing.
Overall Recommendation
If you have some experience with resin, this kit should not be too challenging at all. It really is a shame that the wings obtained damage while unpacking, but at least it's nothing that can't be fixed with putty and sandpaper. The resin used by Antares is often quite strong, but does not like to flex at all so it can become brittle or break if a part experiences forces in the wrong direction. A build thread will be posted on the LSP In Progress forum once I finally am able to begin this build.
© Mike Swinburne 2014
This review was published on Thursday, May 01 2014; Last modified on Friday, May 02 2014