AEG G.IV

Hi-Tech

Hi-Tech's 1/48 scale AEG G.IV is available online from Squadron.com

Reviewed by Robert Baumgartner

When first announced, most WW1 modellers couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Now finally it is here, the long awaited AEG G.IV from Hi-Tech.

Contents

As pointed out in Hi-Tech's instructions, this is a “Short-Run” kit. The plastic parts are more reminiscent of Eduard’s first releases, but this is not such a bad thing. All pieces are fully moulded with the usual stray flash to be cleaned up. Gone are the frosty surfaces that marred the plastic of previous releases and this time the parts actually do fit in the supplied box.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

The instruction sheets give an exploded diagram showing where most of the pieces fit, but the rigging diagram is limited to what can be gleaned from the 3 view drawing and box top art. A welcome idea is the use of close up photos of the real aircraft appearing on these sheets but unfortunately their clarity has suffered in the reproduction process. Other sources of reference material would be a great help to the builder here and Hi-Tech give such a list. It is pleasing to see a manufacturer having the courage to list the documentation it has used in the making of the kit.

Although the resin and white metal items are contained in their own plastic bag, the delicate photo-etched fret had no such protection and was left to fight for space with the plastic sprues in the bottom of the box. This inevitably led to damage being done to the fret. The plastic parts are contained on four sprues, with two copies being supplied of the one containing the engine nacelles, struts, tailplane and elevators.

Accuracy

When compared against Ian Stair’s plans in Windsock Datafile 51, it is clear that Hi-Tech has used this publication as their primary reference. The outlines of the parts match almost perfectly.

Wings

The wings on my example were slightly bowed but it was easy enough to straighten these out by using hot water while gently bending the parts in the opposite direction to the bow. It only took twenty minutes to rectify all four affected parts. Be careful to leave in some washout at the aileron and lower wingtips though!

The only other issue with the flying surfaces is that the rib tapes, although complete, are a bit prominent so a light sanding would not go amiss here. Considering that this is a short-run kit, the wing trailing edges are commendably thin.

As per the original machine, the top wing is in three parts and each lower wing is spit in two, so some careful pinning is called for. When joining, note that contemporary photos show the top outer wing panels tend to be slightly higher at the trailing edge than the centre panel.

Other Material

Resin and white metal are used for the items that need more detail than Hi-Tech’s plastic injection techniques will allow. Things like engines, wheels, radiators (these are beautiful), exhausts, machine guns, instrument panel, seat, and both wing and fuselage tanks are made in resin. The white metal parts are restricted to the Wolff propellers, gunner’s seats, tailskid, magazines and engine add-ons.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

A kit like this needs photo etched parts and Hi-Tech provide these in the form of 28 different items totalling 67 parts. This fret is actually supplied by Eduard and includes the propeller guards, bomb racks, prop bosses, machine gun mounts, seat belts, and other various cockpit items.

Markings

Decals are for one aircraft, AEG G.IV 155/16. This machine has been photographed with both the pre-production and production rudders. Hi-Tech provide the latter. The colours given in the instructions are rather unclear, this being the result of confusion as to how the real aircraft was camouflaged.
Nearly all aircraft in the G.153-G192/16 series were sprayed in a mottle pattern and here is where the controversy starts. There are two views here:

1. The base colour is a light blue with a darker blue mottled over the top.

2. The base colour is a light blue with a possible mottle of dark green and red/brown (as photos appear to show a total of three tonal values).

The choice is yours.

The very nature of this aircraft means that a model of this subject will always be a challenge to build. Hi-Tech have helped us on the way with a package that provides the builder with a good foundation to start from.

The only real downside is that the packaging allows damage to the photo etched fret and the instructions can be a bit vague.

Hi-Tech should be applauded for their ambitious chose of subject and hopefully we can look forward to other multi-engine WW1 aircraft.

 

Thanks to Squadron.com for the review sample.

Review and Images Copyright © 2002 by Robert Baumgartner
Page Created 15 March, 2002
Last updated 22 July, 2003

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