The largest flying boat to achieve operational status during World War II, the Blohm & Voss BV 222 was originally designed to meet a 1937 Lufthansa requirement for a long-range passenger transport capable of carrying 16 passengers from Berlin to New York in 16 hours or up yo 24 passengers on shorter routes. The first example, the BV 222 V-1, was completed in late August 1940 and flown for the first time on 7 September. It's first mission on behalf of the Luftwaffe was flown on 10 July 1940, flying from Hamburg to Kirkenes, on the Barents Sea. By 19 August seven such flights had been made, some 18,600 miles being flown in the process and 143,300 lbs. of freight delivered to Kirkenes with 221 casualties being ferried back to Hamburg. After an overhaul, the BV 222 V-1 made 17 roundtrips between Athens and Derna, Libya between 16 October and 6 November 1941, carrying 66,140 lbs. of supplies for the Afrika Corps and evacuating 515 casualties. It was determined during these flights that up to 72 casualty stretchers or 92 fully equipped troops could be accommodated. Two of the type continued to operate in the resupply of Rommel's troops through 26 October 1942. As Axis resistance in North Africa was collapsing, it was decided to transfer four BV 222s to co-operate with the U-Boat fleet in the Atlantic.

The BV 222 was a HUGE airplane and the size of the model (with a wingspan of over 5-1/8") is impressive even in 1/350scale. Check out the well proportioned waterline model including the massive fuselage complete with cockpit, windows and doors, the nose and dorsal gun turrets, the huge tail assembly; the wings with twin gun turrets, six detailed engine nacelles and those distinctive retractable pontoon floats.

Although the surfaces are not perfectly smooth (3D printing is done in layers), the plastic used can be sanded and painted much the same way you would handle resin or styrene. The models may still have some powder and oil-like agent on them that needs to be removed by washing in warm water with a drop of detergent in it.

NOTE: While we currently maintain limited inventories of most items, some items may be "printed on demand", which usually requires 10-15 business days from order to shipment.