Arado Ar-234 P5 Swept Winged Turbo-Prop Nightfighter - Completed

[Gondor]

That is looking so good. Tempted to do the same in 1/72.

Gondor

At least in 1/72 Dragon does a kit of the Arado with that funny nose, without need for a conversion. 

Parts are available for the turbo props, wing and radar set in 1/72 as well so it's doable.

Gondor

[trickyrich]

Again have been a bit distracted by other things but have made steady progress on the beast!

The nose work is pretty much all done, new gun ports have been added, these needed to be move back a wee bit. May add new bulges to the gun bay doors to account for this…will see. Just need to final spot filling and sanding down with fine grade paper…it’s amazing how all the blemishes show up in closeup photos! The internals will start once all the exterior work is completed, not sure how the instrument panel and cowling will look yet.





The engine mounts are pretty well done now. Have tried to do them in such away that the joint to the wing will need next to no filling. The engines had to be moved further out on the wing else the prop blades would have fouled! They will be close but in a workable position, I may move them a fraction further out, but won’t worry about that until the wings are fitted.




Sorry about the crap photo but you get the idea.

The prop cowling/intake has had an internal duct fitted and filled, so hopefully it’ll be nice and smooth when finished.


 
A little bit of work has started on the RO’s position with detailing of the side walls, but I won’t do too much of the “normal” kit build until I have finished the nose and engines.

I just could help myself, here she is along side her sister…..

[NARSES2]

That wing gives her the look of a A-7 Corsair II's big cousin 

[dumaniac]

looking lots better - lovely craftmanship - love the pair of 234's

[trickyrich]

Again distractions aside I have been quite busy on this even though I do not have a lot to show.

Again most of the work has been on the engines. I have fitted a new tail pipe and exhaust cone, I was going to use the spare form a Ar-234 B2 I have but didn’t want to ruin a couple of good engines! Have a plan to jet boost a Ta-154!!! So I made up a new cone, not much will be seen when finished, as this section will be burnt metal and quite dark.



Next the inlet and props, first the props. As can be seen the props are pretty well useless, just too much work to get right and they’re just too fragile. I was planning to make new ones from card but got too lazy, so found some donors in the spares box, they were originally from a 1/72nd Mosquito (a pair normal ones and some paddle ones), these were to be the basis of the new ones, plus I added a small lip on the intakes entry from small plastic strip. Unfortunately I could go the triangular shade I have seen in the drawings, due to the donor blades being to narrow at the base, so I created a more modern high-speed set. So after way too many hours of crafting I have these, not what I originally had planned but very nice!



Next the inlet hub, again I had to make a new cone to replace the mode kit one. Then after measuring everything multiple times, the final holes were drilled for the prop shafts. I don’t know whether these were to be round or have a blade profile, I just can’t find any info one them, so for my sanities sake they are round. They will eventually have a small hole drilled in the centres, with a tiny pin fitted so the props will have extra strength.



The engines look fantastic now, just a tiny bit of clean up to go and some panel lines and they are completed.



I started work on detailing the cockpit, I have made a new instrument panel as well as a new joy-stick, this has moved from the side to now in the centre. Am making this up as I go as there are now drawings of what it would have looked like. Plus just some tiding up around the nose and changing the profile slightly.




Plus I have started adding some detail to the rear RO’s station (even though most of it will not been seen once it’s closed up) plus some PE bits to the main wheel wells. Should have this finished and the body closed up very shortly.




Well this project will now start to slow down as the Tropic Moon one for WhatIf III starts to eat up all my time….along with other projects as well!

Oh and I have finally decided on a colour scheme for this one……it will not be what is expected…..as the air crafts role has slightly changed! There will be a hint when I paint the props and intake cones………….

[Dizzyfugu]

The intakes look very nice! 

[PR19_Kit]

Not the prettiest aircraft in the planet, but a very interesting build, superbly done as well. 

[NARSES2]

superbly done as well. 

Absolutely

[trickyrich]

Thanks for the nice comments, I am just loving this build which is probably why I am spending so much time on it over other projects!!!!

It just seems to be coming together all so easily and the nice thing is all the major surgery is over. Just the wings to fit and sort out which won't be too hard and then the mounting of the engines.

I have hinted on another site (which the build is on as well) that this will not be a nightfighter scheme as originally planned. Have finally thought out a scheme for her and all I will say is it will be a late 45 one, she will not just be a nightfighter!

[Rick Lowe]

What others have said; very nice work!

One question; have you noticed the top of the nose, in profile, has a slight 'hump'? Or was that intentional?

Cheers

[trickyrich]

What others have said; very nice work!

One question; have you noticed the top of the nose, in profile, has a slight 'hump'? Or was that intentional?

Cheers

thanks, it is meant to be there though i reduced it a little bit. For some reason all the drawings I have seen for the P5  version seem to have this slightly odd shape. The earlier P1 - P4 and the later 2 seater P5 have the straight dustbin looking nose while this one was different, I don't know why, unless it was a variation of the radar??

[Rick Lowe]

What others have said; very nice work!

One question; have you noticed the top of the nose, in profile, has a slight 'hump'? Or was that intentional?

Cheers

thanks, it is meant to be there though i reduced it a little bit. For some reason all the drawings I have seen for the P5  version seem to have this slightly odd shape. The earlier P1 - P4 and the later 2 seater P5 have the straight dustbin looking nose while this one was different, I don't know why, unless it was a variation of the radar??

Cool, wasn't sure.  Maybe they taxied too close to the hangar wall and couldn't stop quickly enough? 

Cheers

[KiwiZac]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Igor's moulding quality often leaves something to be desired but you can't deny he does some great subjects others daren't touch...

This is fantastic work, that nose looks amazing and practically OOB! Great job!

Looking at the very first line drawing I think I fell in love...although my first thought was "I wonder how it sounds"...

[trickyrich]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Igor's moulding quality often leaves something to be desired but you can't deny he does some great subjects others daren't touch...

This is fantastic work, that nose looks amazing and practically OOB! Great job!

Looking at the very first line drawing I think I fell in love...although my first thought was "I wonder how it sounds"...

You're right, his mouldings may leave a lot to be desired, but he still is the only one who produces stuff like this! Plus having gotten this far I can easily say they do provide a good base to get you going, as in it would have been so much harder if I had started with nothing. The moulding may have been rubbish (he warned me they weren't that good) they are a good base to work from.

As for sound, definitely something to make your ears bleed no doubt, it would have been amazing!

[trickyrich]

Well progress has been made even though time has been spent on other projects….

Quite a bit of painting had been done and the fuselage finally closed up plus all sorts of other stuff that just eats up time…

Painting has started on the engines but things have stopped as I may attempt to cast them to capture the mods and work done. On the inlet cone you can now see the lip I had to add. Not sure how to cast these as I do not want to cut them in half! I may  do them (well attempt) as solid lumps and grind out the internals, will see how the casting goes first!



The same goes for the nose, started detailing the cockpit, but have stopped so I can, attempt, to cast the nose. In this case I will blank off the windscreen and cast the out side, then grind out the inside. All going well then I’ll do a second two part cast of the final nose….maybe!!!



Just the start of the detailing of the rear RO’s station, more to do.



Unfortunately the main gear has to be fitted before the fuselage is closed up….not the best situation! As can be seen I have already knocked off the scissor arm off the far leg!



The section just forward of the RO’s station has been removed to allow the wing to fit.



The new tail required some grinding off of material to allow it to fit, as I have found with the wings too, they are designed for the Hobby Boss model and not the Hasegawa one. Hence the new tail has a rounded section instead of the stepped one the Hasegawa model has!



Ok now to the wings, after about 2-3 hours work I have the wings to a stage where they are in the correct position (to each other) with respect to the fuselage! These wings like everything else with these conversion kits are designed for the smaller (and incorrect) Hobby Boss model. They were first drilled then pinned, this allowed me to sit them on the fuselage and position them into the correct position. Sounds easy but ended up being very frustrating, especially seeing as they don’t fit the width of the fuselage. Eventually with super glue and lots of cursing they are set in the correct position. The gap will be filled with sprue, which should give it additional strength.




 The plan is to complete all the work on the wings and their fit to the fuselage but not fit them. This will then allow me to fit the engine pods and finish all their join work before finally fitting the wings, as I will have a reference point to align everything up to. If I have done my job correctly there should be little to no filling required for the final fitting of the wings to the fuselage. Plus leaving the wings off will allow me to correctly set the engine pods alignments in distance from the fuselage and AoA.

Finally how she looks altogether, this will be the last time I do this until it’s altogether. I did this to check a few things;

A, will drop tanks fit? Yes
B, will props foul the fuselage/ground? No
C, is it a tail sitter? No, it’s actually almost neutral, just slightly tail heavy!!!
D, to look at it’s awesomeness!!!






And no the wings/model isn’t warped it’s just the way the camera was.

Well progress will now start to slow right down as the Tropic Moon beasty build starts and I go back to work. There is still quite a lot of work to go on this build, but I am just truly loving this build! For all its difficulties it is such a joy to build, I haven’t had so much fun since the He-177Z!!!