The Arado was a German reconnaissance seaplane, which served aboard many of the famous German Navy ships of the day, including Graf Spee and Bismarck. Designed by Walter Blume, over 500 were built by the Arado company between 1939 and 1944. The Arado AR 196 was a great success and loved by its pilots for its easy handling both on land and water. The German Air Ministry had put out a request for a successor to the He 114 with a specification that included a capability of operating on both land and sea. Arado was the only designer/manufacturer to come up with a low wing monoplane as opposed to their competitors’ bi-planes. A resultant four prototypes were ordered initially.

Our 1:72 model is as deployed on board the Bismarck in 1941, wearing a two-tone green drab camouflage to the upper body and the duck egg blue underside. The floats are decorated similarly.  Black and white Luftwaffe markings appear on both sides of the fuselage between the T3 LK lettering, while the German Swastika is printed on the tailfin.  A tiny little detail sees a seahorse printed on a blue shield-shaped background just behind the engine cowling.  Another fine detail sees the engine interior behind the nose cone and propeller blades finished in black.