Scale aviation modeller international

decision. Accordingly, for the

tubular structure of the fuselage,

since it was painted steel, I went for

XF-76 Grey Green, as used in most

other German aircraft of the period

and for many years afterwards.

The detail is, as usual in a

Wingnuts kit, superb. The few

controls and dials present are

beautifully reproduced, even

down to a decal for the observer’s

documentation in the front cockpit.

The only addition I found necessary

was a piece of plastic rod to join the

throttle in the rear cockpit to the

linkage in the front. The seatbelts

are WNW’s excellent photo-etch

brass, and once annealed, bent, and

painted, look absolutely perfect.

The cockpits would be relatively

straightforward if it weren’t for all

the internal rigging. This, along

with some complex control runs,

will take time and dedication to put

together. In common with all WNW

cockpits, care must be taken to

keep paint and glue to a minimum

or the parts will not fit, such is

the precision of the engineering.

Once the fuselage is closed,

one is left with two tricky seams

on both top and bottom to fill (if

necessary, as you may be luckier

than I) and sand. Given the square

section, I am surprised they did not

use the same method as used on

their Albatros B.II, which included

a top and bottom panel and thus

did away with any risk of seams.

SUPPORT FROM BELOW

The undercarriage is marvellously

robust, with very deep locations

for the struts within the

fuselage. It is more than up

to the job of supporting this

substantial model, while still

being beautifully detailed. For

the heavier-handed modeller,

Scale Aircraft Conversions have

also reproduced these parts in

white metal (32127) for $21.95.

WNW offer two ways of

portraying the wire wheels, which

seem to be universal on Jeannin

Taubes. One is a representation

of the spokes moulded in plastic.

The limitations of the material

mean that these are rather chunky,

but painted and weathered

appropriately they should look fine.

The alternative is supplied in

the shape of separate tyres and

two sets of photo-etch spokes

for each wheel, to be carefully

bent to the correct dish shape

of the originals. This method is

not for the faint-hearted, since

until they are assembled they are

immensely fragile, and will go out

of shape if you look at them too

hard. However, this is definitely

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