Flashback 1/48 Hansa Brandenburg W.29 By Tom Cleaver

History

During the First World War, the efforts of Allied flying boats to sink German U-boats operating in the North Sea led to efforts by German Navy flyers to counter that. One-on-one combat over a cold ocean offered no comfort to the airman who lost a battle or whose equipment failed him.

The German Naval Air Service operated three main seaplane fighters, the short-range Albatros W.4, and the longer-ranged Hansa Brandenburg W.12 biplane and the W.29 monoplane. The W.12 was eventually outperformed by the Felixstowe and Curtiss flying boats operated by the Allies; the monoplane W.29 became a feared opponent. Flown by Leutnant zur See Friedrich Christenson, the German Navy's ace of aces, the W.29 was responsible for the fact that the North Sea region was dangerous to Allied aircraft right up to the end of the war.

The Kit

"Flashback" is loosely associated with Eduard (who handles distribution) and is known primarily for re-releasing earlier Eduard kits that have gone out of production. The W.29 is an entirely new kit, whose only close comparison is the recently-released 1/72 scale W.29 by MPM.

The model is entirely what one expects from better limited-run injection molded kit manufacturers. The interior is cast resin, as are the engine details and machine guns. The injection-molded plastic has good surface detail and is relatively flash-free.

The decals are Propagteam, which means the modeler must exercise care, particularly when applying the one-piece upper wing naval lozenge decal. The German crosses look a bit too wide, but I could be mistaken, and will make no judgement on that until I have researched the topic further.

Conclusion

Overall, this is an interesting First World War aircraft subject that I, for one, never expected to see in 1/48, other than the now-elderly Sierra Scale Models vacuform from the mid-80s. I look forward to building it. At a MSRP of US$44.95, this is not cheap, but looks to provide good value for the money.