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Inside the box there is one tree containing 44 medium grey parts. The plastic is soft and very easy
to work with. The instruction sheet contains the build sequence with a historical description.
There is a separate sheet for the painting guide. Two options are shown:
- Rocket of the 485th Artillery Regiment, Hachenburg, Germany 1945 in a three colour splinter camouflage pattern
- Rocket of an unknown artillery regiment, Duidicht, Holland 1944 in a three colour
variegated/splotched camouflage pattern (as illustrated on the box top)
If none of these camouflage options appeal to you, then the rocket can always be painted an
anonymous overall dark green.
The colours for the splinter camouflage specified in
the instruction sheet is suspect. The instructions list
the three colours as green, grey and black. Web sites,
such as reference [1] below, list the colours as
off-white (RAL 9003), dark yellow/sand (RAL
7028) and dark green (RLM 71).
The parts are for the most part well cast, though the
body and fin pieces have a definite pebbly/orange
peel texture to them. The molds are a bit off, so
many of the pieces have seams to scrape and sand. This is most noticeable on the small parts and
along the edges of the fins.
There are no locating pins on the parts
so some care is needed to align the
pieces. The kit comes with no decals.
Building is straightforward though a
bit time consuming. The two body
halves go together well. One body half
has a pair of molded on fins. The
remaining fins just butt join to the
fuselage. There are substantial seams
to deal with for six of the eight seams
along the joins where the fins meet the
rocket body.
The launcher (parts 6, 9 & 12) has sink marks and depressions that need filling.
Instructions are a bit vague regarding
the placement of the launcher parts.
Some care will be needed here and it is
a good idea to refer to some pictures of
the real thing to help with part
locations.
I replaced the four small antennae located at the trailing edge of the fins with pieces of wire cut
from guitar strings. The stock plastic pieces were much too thick and didn't allow the rocket to seat
properly on the base. I also replaced the arms and handles (parts 11) for the leveling cranks with
plastic rod as the kit pieces were quite blobish.
The rocket was painted with Aeromaster and Testors enamel paints. The splinter patter was
painted in layers, starting with the off-white layer, which was masked after it was dry and then
the dark yellow/sand colour was sprayed. This too was masked after it dried and the final coat of
dark green was applied. The masking was carefully removed and the rocket given a final coat of
Testors Glosscoat to even the layers of paint. Once dry, a final coat of Aeromaster Acrylic flat
was sprayed on. The launcher was sprayed dark grey and it too was flat coated after it had dried.
The rocket cone was sprayed Testors gloss red, and super glued to the rear of the body, followed
by the steering vanes. Then the finished rocket was mounted on the launcher.
References
[1] A4/V2 Resource Site
[2] wikipedia
[3] post-war V2
[4] The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Rockets & Missiles, Bill Gunston, Leisure Books 1979
[5] German Military Trailers and Towed Equipment 1935-1945, Horst Beiersdorf, Schiffer Military History, Atglen 1995 ISBN: 0-88740-757-9
Conclusion
As its price is usually much lower than that of the competition from Special Armour and Takom, the Condor version is definitely worth the money,
even though the parts are a bit crude in places, and some major filling is required around the fins.
In the end this kit builds into a nice replica, if somewhat simplified version of the infamous A-4/V-2.
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