How Big Is This Thing?!

Transcript*

Intro

Bloom and onion.

Blohm and Voss.

Hello all. This is David from Sunward Hobbies. For today’s video, sadly, we’re not reviewing the delicious Outback dish. Today, we are unboxing Revell’s Hulk of a Kit. It’s 1/72nd scale Blohm and Voss BV222.The BV222 was a heavy German transport in World War II. And this kit was part of Revell’s glory years in the early 2000s. I myself own this kit and I am very eager to show you its contents, excluding myself.

What’s in the box?

I must say that was a cozy box. All right, so you’ve heard me talk with rose tinted glasses a lot about Revell in the early 2000s. They made lots of very nice, particularly German subjects in this era, and this is indeed one of them. Uh Blohm and Voss. Uh they were a German aircraft manufacturer focusing mainly on marine-based aircraft such as flying boats.

And this one was particularly huge. Uh in fact, one of the largest aircraft of World War II.Uh, it was nicknamed the Wiking or Viking in German, seeing as though it operated mostly uh in the North Sea around the Scandinavian countries. So, I’m going to uh first take a quick look at the sprues and then I’ll show you the instructions as well as the decals. So, uh can’t wait to get into this one.

Fuselage Sprue

First sprue we got is the huge fuselage halves. And I’d like to remind you this is 1/72 scale. Now I’m just going off the top of my head but from what I remember I believe this plane in real life was about 150 ft long. That is not small.

And the surface detail, it’s got good panel lines. Uh not too many rivets, but uh you can always make your own. Uh they’ve got uh options to have two large cargo doors open or closed. And uh these holes in the wing, we’ll get to that later. Net sprues are the wings and the clear parts.

Clear Sprue

We’ll start with these first. So, you’ve got your main canopy. Uh, lots and lots of windows as well as turrets. Uh, some of them got a little flash on them, so the kit is starting to show its age, but uh, I still love it.

Wing Sprue

And then here we’ve got our equally massive wings. These are the bottom halves and uh these big openings here are for the uh wing floats which were retractable. So you again have the option to have them up or down. Now, on the top half, you’ll notice these particular holes on the top of each wing.
I kid you not, this plane was so huge that it had defensive gun turrets in the wings.

So, referring to that hole in the wing spar earlier, uh, two unfortunate crewmen would have to crawl in there all the way along the way to get inside these turrets. And, um, they probably did have a little escape hatch in the turret in case the plane was shot down and they had to get out in a hurry. But uh if they didn’t, they were basically dead.

Engine Sprue – For All 6!

Now this sprue looks to mainly be uh everything for the sits engines on this aircraft. So all the uh nayl walls which uh you can also position open or closed sits propellers sits radial engines.

Upper Deck, Cargo Hold and Bulk Head Sprue

Now we’ve got our last bag here which has three very big sprews on it. There are some loose pieces here. Uh, so whoever buys this kit, I did not do this. It the kit just came like this. There’s your evidence. On this sprue here, we’ve got the the very very long one piece floor for the uh upper deck which had the cockpit and the uh navigator station uh flight engineers uh desk. And this one here is the bottom half, which was the cargo hold.

And on top of that, you’ve also got several bulkheads, uh some with uh navigation instruments, uh doors, seats, uh access ladders. I I find these uh rudder pedals particularly nice. I mean, I tell you, Revell had it right in the early 2000s. And uh if you are a stickler for detail, have fun adding spark plugs and wires into all six of those engines.

Nose of the Fuselage

And then our last sprue here is uh essentially the the nose of the fuselage split in two halves. Uh some more bulkheads, the wells for the wing floats, uh the wind floats themselves, the elevator, and the floor for the nose section.

Decal Sheet

Now, here is the decal sheet uh folded in this pamphlet of useless information. The sheet is kind of small considering the size of the aircraft, but uh that’s all they needed. Uh this kit comes with two marking options. Uh one for a Mediterranean variant as well as a captured variant. I’m not a fan of captured variants, but uh I mean I would have preferred a maybe a North Sea version as well, but it was Revell’s call.

Uh, one uh fact I’d like to share before I move on is that uh there was a planned successor to this aircraft called the BV238 which was an even bigger version of this if you can fathom that. And uh it actually was built uh one lone uh template, but uh before it can even make its maiden flight, it was strafed by Mustangs. And that was the end of that.

Des instructions

So, let’s just quickly go over the instructions here. I’m sure by now you get the gist of how Revell likes to lay things out with their paint call outs and stuff and the parts maps. So, you’re going to start in the nose section. Uh just build that all up quickly. And then you uh actually put the uh instrument panels for the cockpit in the nose section. Uh then you start uh inserting all those windows and port holes. Add some uh defensive guns in the fuselage.

Uh same thing on the other end. And then you start working on the uh the cargo hold with uh several bulkheads to give it some stability. And then the flight deck goes on top. And then you start in the cockpit. Uh seats, uh navigation tables and equipment, neat little crew ladder that goes from each hold. Then that all fits into the fuselage. Some more gun turrets. Nose goes onto the fuselage. Here you have your option of the open or close cargo doors. Uh elevator slips into the rudder. Uh the gun turrets for the wings. Very strange.

And then your uh wing floats fit into the bottom halves of each wing. And then you start working on those six engines. If you’re not too concerned with detail or scratch building, then it’s not too bad. And of course, you can display the engines if you want to. And then the uh wings slip into the fuselage and then you’re basically adding on uh radar antenna loops uh control surfaces. The uh canopy then slips on and then here are your marking options.

As I alluded to, this one flew in the Mediterranean Sea. Uh, it has the usual maritime camouflage of RLM 70 and 71 on top and um, I think it’s 65 on the bottom as well as yellow tips on the wings and uh, rings around the engines. And then you’ve got the captured version. Again, not really a fan. Okay. I need to know. Light blue, matte, or hell blow. Uh, yeah, I believe that’s 65. It could be 76. I don’t know. Look it up.

David’s Conclusion

In conclusion, love that Revell brought this kit back. It is a great hidden gem for aircraft enthusiasts. It’s not filled to the brim with detail, but it’s got just enough to satisfy most scale modelers. And considering how huge it is, the price is quite reasonable.

So, if you’ve got the space, you can pick one up for yourself at Loisirs vers le soleil in store or online. Thank you very much for watching this video. Remember to like, comment, subscribe, follow us on our socials, and until the next one, adios.

About the Author:

David Peckam has built scale models since he was 12, specializing largely on military aircraft. He is a makeup artist and background actor for films and TV. He enjoys watching hockey and of course, movies. He has an excellent knowledge of hobby products and if you have questions concerning scale model airplanes.

*Video by David Peckham
Video Edited by Daniela Castellano
Transcript generated by youtube
Edited by Angelo Castellano