A what?
First look at Wingnut Wings 1/32 Gotha UWD
W
ingnut Wings have
in just 10 years
secured their place
as one of the most innovative
model kit producers in the
world. What makes this even
more unusual is that they
currently limit themselves to
just one period and one scale.
They also have a knack for
total secrecy in their release
programme and the continued
announcements of subjects
that are so obscure all but the
true enthusiast will probably
be scratching their heads and
that is certainly true of their
latest subject the Gotha UWD
loatplane, only one of these
aircraft was produced and its
main claim to fame is that it
bombed England in 1916.
Why produce such an obscure
aircraft when so many more
signiicant aircraft from this
time remain to be covered is
one of Wingnut’s mysteries!
Of course the main reason we
have this loat plane is that they
have also produced a Gotha
G.1 Bomber, a type that was
hardly numerous with only
20 being produced and only
5-6 in service at any one time
but least it has a few colour
schemes to choose from.
So on to the plastic, on
opening the very large box youwill ind it crammed to the top
with over 270 exquisite parts
which have a level of detail that
has to be seen to be believed.
Also, of course there is the
engineering, I am not going
to say that this is going to be a
simple kit to construct as early
World War One biplanes were
fragile looking contraptions
and the Gotha is no diferent
especially with the complicate
strut work needed for the loat
system which manages to look
fragile but is able to support the
weight of the model. This leads
to probably my only complaint
about this kit. Unlike all other
Wingnut Wing loat planes no
beaching trolley is supplied.
This could be down to lack
of information as in all the
photographs in the instruction
book and the additional ones that
can be viewed on their website
there is only one head on view of
what could be a beaching trolley!
In fact, there are several
photographs of the aircraft
mounted sideways on what
appears to be an old latbed rail
wagon though it is not on rails?
This would be a great way to
display your model (maybe by
converting one of the many 1/35
wagons available) as the only
other alternative I can think
of is to cut the lower section
away from the
loats to produce a
waterline model.
Markings
are limited to
the one example
operating with See
Flieger Abteilung
at the time of the
bombing mission
over England. This
aircraft has theearly Maltese cross and large
areas of dark wood to reproduce
which will certainly look
impressive on completion.CONCLUSION
I have no doubt this kit will sell
in relatively small numbers
compared to its sister kit of the
Gotha G.1 but I am also sure
many modellers will welcome itwith open arms and the diorama
opportunities that it allows for.
Our sample is already
on its way to one of the
build team where it will
eventually sit next to the
Shorts Felixstowe featured
elsewhere in this issue.
Our thanks to Richard
Alexander for supplying us
with the review sample.46 SEPTEMBER 2019 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
FIRST LOOK