Undoubtedly one of the neatest looking aircraft to be developed during the late war, the Do-335 'Pfiel' (Arrow) certainly looks like its name. With two engines, one mounted fore and another aft, and a cruciform tail, the 335 also flew as swift as one. Though not credited with any victories, those Allied aircraft who encountered any one of the myriad of prototypes was never able to catch it!

Though it looks big for a fighter (and it was), the Do-335 was developed as a multi-purpose aircraft. It had an internal bomb bay in the Do-335A-0 and A-1 versions capable of carrying 1,000 kg (2,200 lbs) of bombs or other weapons. Other variants had 30mm cannon in the wings for the destroyer version. A twin seat trainer had a second seat to the rear and above the pilot's cockpit and a night fighter version with the radar operator's seat buried in the center section was also under development.

Despite the advantages of the aircraft, it had a protracted development time mostly due to the skepticism of Luftwaffe officials and the deteriorating war condition that put a higher priority on more easily built aircraft. One aircraft, a Do-335 A-0 (the designation A-0 indicates preproduction aircraft), was completely overhauled by Dornier in Germany in the mid-1980s and is currently part of the collection of the Smithsonian Institute.

When previewing any Tamiya kit, superlatives are bound to to be used to describe it, and this one is no exception. There are four bags of sprues with no more than two sprues per bag. The clear bits are separately bagged to prevent scratching. There are three large and three small sprues. The kit is provided with a full bomb bay and bombs. The cockpit is superbly detailed and can be seen through an open canopy. It is obvious that other versions can be done by the design of the upper fuselage section. 

Unlike the now obsolescent Monogram Do-335, there is no engine detail. This area in the front will be full of weight, which Tamiya also supplies. Without it, the model will be a dedicated tailsitter!

As you can see, you do not get pre-weighted wheels with this kit so will have to do that yourself. You do get a wing spar to help hold up the large and heavy wings. There is full detail in the wheel wells as one would expect.

Instructions are very complete as we have come to expect. There is an additional sheet showing only the camouflage scheme. It is the standard splinter scheme as applied to late war colors. I only wish that Tamiya would be nice enough to give RLM colors instead of the usual mixtures of Tamiya paint. They must realize by now that they are selling mostly to an enthusiast's market and that few builders will be dutifully mixing paint. Especially when there are so many ready-to-use paints out there!

The decal sheet that is provided will allow you to do any one of three aircraft. Two of them are Do-335A-0 and one is a Do-335A-1. One A-0 has the radio call letters while the other two are devoid of them. This makes for a rather bland aircraft. Frankly, one had no real choice of colors with this kit other than the standard RLM colors. Part of the sheet is a seat harness, instrument panel (even thought the kit part is well detailed), and swastikas.

It looks like another winner from Tamiya. I'd be surprised to not see a bunch of these at contests and club meetings later on this year!

Review kit courtesy of me and my wallet!

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