Sapmail March 2001 Kit Reviews

• AMT Amtronic
• Revell-Germany Blohm & Voss BV P-194

AMT Amtronic
Scale: 1/25
Reviewed by Mark Powley

AMT first released its vision of 21st century transport back in 1969 and it still looks impressive today. As the blurb on the box says, it is designed to be two cars in one; ultra high speed inter-city transport and in town runabout. To achieve this the self-contained front driver section can be detached from the rear passenger pod to act as the runabout. Propulsion is either by normal wheel drive or via ducted fans with the wheels retracted and power is supplied by a pair of turbine engines. Add to this a sleek aerodynamic design and the overall result is a striking looking vehicle.

As far as I knowthis kit has not been released since it was produced in 1969 and the quality of the mouldings certainly show this. Virtually no flash is present and only a few moulding flaws. There are a few sink marks but nothing to worry about and easy to deal with. AMT have wisely packed the clear and chromed parts into separate bags so no scratching - good. The age of the mouldings is only really evident when you look closely at them - the detail is somewhat soft and heavy, the working hinges and opening panels overscale and assembly is rather awkward. Personally I would strip off the chrome plating on the plated parts and respray them in a metallic paint to bring out some of that lost detail. The only other gripe I have is the instruction sheet. It is just a single sheet (a very large single sheet) and the layout I find somewhat aggravating, a booklet format would be a marked improvement. All the doors and the engine hatches open up to display the interior and the two turbine engines plus the rear passenger pod can be left separate from the front driver pod if wished.

Overall though I like this kit and it certainly has a lot to offer the builder.

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Revell-Germany Blohm & Voss BV P-194
Scale: 1/72
Reviewed by Mark Powley

Over the last few years Revell-Germany entered into the Luftwaffe 46 with an interesting range of kits, among them this one, the BV P-194. Blohm & Voss had a liking for asymmetrical layout for their aircraft designs and one of them, the BV 141 which actually entered Luftwaffe service. The BV P-194 was intended as a single seat aircraft for use in the ground attack, light bomber, destroyer and recon roles and would have been armed with 2 machine guns, 2 cannon and an internal bomb bay. Power was to be provided by BMW radial engine and a BMW 003 or Jumo 004B jet engine. It should be noted that there were several different design variants and the kit depicts only one of them.

The kit itself is very nice indeed. The mouldings are very crisp and clean and the panel lines are sharply engraved. The bomb bay can be depicted open or closed and both it and the wheel wells have plenty of interior detail. The cockpit is equally well done with the pilots seat being the only part I was less happy with - it looks a bit heavy for its scal and could do with replacing. Construction is fairly straight forward as long as you take your time with the only awkward part being the tail area.

Currently I am up to the painting stage and am debating whether the go for the late war finish or the winter white scheme. the other problem is the decals. To be honest they look like crap! They are very matte, are somewhat fuzzy looking and have areas of carrier film surrounding them. Not good. Some aftermarket Henschel Hs 129 decals will be a suitable replacement here I reckon.

Overall though, not a bad kit and one I would recommend to those looking for something a bit different.

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