Eagles under a royal flag: the Arado Ar-65 in bulgarian service. Part. I

The Plane and its times:

Back in the 30s, many of the former W.W. I Axis Powers were banned from having an air arm. Some of them, like Bulgaria and Hungary, had taken steps to bypass the limitations from the Versailles and Neuilly Treaties by signing up the Warsaw Treaty wich regulated civil aviaton. While the hungarians started early on to solve their military dilemma by purchasing Cr.20 italian fighters, dutch Fokker reconnaiteurs or indigenous products and registering them under the civilian HA-### call sign, the bulgarians chose to focus on civilian aviation and the means it offered to train pilots, aiming to have a skilled cadre of airmen and ground personnel for the time a new air arm was created.

In June 27, 1937, Tsar Boris of Bulgaria donated 12 Arado Ar-65 to the newly created Vozduzhnyi Voyskyi or Air Arm, usually abbreviated to VV. These were the first fighters in service with Bulgaria since W.W. I and were to provide the foundation for the VV's fighter unit. At the same time, a dozen each of Heinkel He-45 army cooperation two seaters and He-51 fighter biplanes were also donated by the Tsar. As it was customary at the time with the VV, each aircraft received a military type code number and christened after a particular bird found in Bulgaria. The Ar-65 was therefore to bear the type number 7026 and the name Orel or Eagle.

While looking very much like everyother BMW VI powered aircraft, usually the Arado is distinguished by its deep fuselage and generous flying surfaces. Altogether, it doesn't show the purity of lines of the He-51 or the cocky agressivity of a Kawasaki Ki-10 but is a very balanced and clean design. All of them, powered by any of the derivatives from the BMW engine and sharing the biplane of unequal span configuration, were very useful if somewhat limited designs wich proved worthy enough for mass production at the time.

The Ar-65 seems to have been appreciated both by its german and bulgarian pilots for its nice handling and forgiving characteristics, wich amount to nothing when you have a careless pilot at the controls. Anyway, it was an excellent first time fighter for the VV and later it would become a reknowned trainer both with the Luftwaffe and the VV. None of them survived the war. As usual with interwar fighters, with only a couple of 7.92mm MG17 machine guns the armament was light and the speed was not great at 300 km/h, but as an all-round design it picked up all of the Arado creed and its forerunner, the Albatros company of W.W. I fame.

The Kit: Arado Ar-65, RS Models 1/72

I'm in love with the odd looking aircrafts from the early decades in aviation history. I think that is no mistery to no one. So when this model kit came out in its first boxing as a resin one, I was eager to get it, but very worried about the quality of the resin and price. In the end the kit was eventually passed onto a plastic encarnation. And what a nice encarnation indeed!

Here you can take a look at what comes in the box and a very nice model:

http://www.rsmodels.cz/?link=view&id=92018

What can I say, when I saw such a nice airplane in plastic kit form and with bulgarian markings, I just had to add it to the collection.

As usual, construction started with the cockpit and at that, just because people likes to follow instructions. Sometimes. Most of the cockpit is made out of PE and a blob of plastic which I presume was the oxygen regulator. The PE was kinda hard to bend, but with some care, it can be conformed without any major issues. Customary of the time, ModelMaster RLM 02 was brush painted on all surfaces and a few washes and highlights done, picking up the details in selected colors. While the cockpit looks a little bare, I left it as it is for a lack of reference pictures. Once the fuselage was closed, I stumbled upon a cockpit snapshot of a 65, with lots of pipes, wires, stuff and ... Oh, well, you get the idea.



Looks dark, I know. It's because of the lighting, the cam and my miserable photography skills...



Next, the fuselage halves were mated, with the plastic reacting very well to Revell's Contacta. Even in 1/72nd scale, the fuselage depth is quite apparent. Makes you wonder what it might look like with an A.S. Panther or Jaguar and Fleet Air Arm markings. The detail is soft and crisp and the fabric and stringer construction is very well represented. The exhaust holes were drilled to give them some depth.





Then the lower wings were glued to their stubs, followed by the fin/rudder. It's a clear butt joint, but thanks to the plastic used by RS and the melting properties of Contacta, they ended up glued more than fine and with the correct dyhedral. Also at this time, the elevators were attached and the remaining pieces cleaned up from some small flash. Once it was all dry, the landing gear minus its wheels was attached, as well as the cabane and wing struts. When everything was set, the upper wing came to rest nicely against the strut stubs. It doesn't take much time to have it leveled up and true, just some care.

Here's another two shots showing the little beast in all its unpainted, bare glory.





The propeller was sanded to shape and the woodgrain painted on. A base of humbrol H-63 Ochre Yellow and watercolour pencils, then a coat of H-41 ivory for the propeller center section and H-19 for the red propeller boss cover.

 

It is a short update, painfuly short for all I want to say and share thru TMU. But rest asured, my dear reader, that as I pick up speed and Spring comes to the fore with its mild and sometimes stormy weather, updates will improve both in regularity and contents.

On the next installment, we'll see how this rather large fighter got its military livery, some woodgrain painting attempts and a small and self inflicted building error that spoils the whole kit if not dealt with.

In the meantime, take care and good luck.

The Modeling Underdog.