Model of the month September 2025
Civilian in uniform ...
The Siebel Si 204
From original to model
The more than 1,000 scale models, primarily of the international standards 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32, are an independent part of the collections of the Hanover-Laatzen Aviation Museum.
Such true-to-original miniatures allow viewers of museum technology history to gain an ‘overview’, not only of the individual exhibit (sometimes even as the only possibility of a real three-dimensional display if there is no surviving original), but also of the lines of development of aircraft construction through possible sequencing and juxtaposition. Sometimes they even close gaps in the presentation of the originals. The quality of their craftsmanship alone is a pleasure to behold.
Today, in our “Model of the Month” series, we present the Siebel Si 204 of 1940. The twin-engine multi-purpose aircraft was planned as a feeder aircraft for Luft Hansa, then became a standard Luftwaffe training model and was used for liaison and transport tasks at the front. The type continued to be built in France and Czechoslovakia long after 1945.
The models
The Aviation Museum displays models of the Siebel Si 204 in both its civilian and military use. The 1/72 kits from the companies Smer, KP and Kopro were turned into museum exhibits by Siegfried Fricke, Hannover and Joachim Feige, Ottrau.
The original
The reestablishment and expansion of civil and military aviation in Germany after 1933 - air sports, commercial aviation and rearmament - simultaneously fulfilled the function of technical development, national reputation, war capability and a state-controlled macroeconomic stimulus programme according to the political leadership. As a result, the German aircraft industry (initially banned for years by the victorious powers of the First World War and then severely restricted) produced a wide range of types in rapid succession. These included various medium-sized multi-purpose designs that were suitable for both civilian and military use, including for export. A good example of this is the Siebel Si 204.
The twin-engine all-metal low-wing airplane was initially developed in 1939/'40 from the type 104 by Siebelwerke in Halle-Germany as a commercial aircraft for up to 8 passengers and a crew of two for short-haul and secondary routes as well as feeder services for Deutsche Luft Hansa. However, just as suitable for cargo and multi-purpose tasks, the design also fulfilled the requirements of the German Air Force in the Orlog, which had just begun, for a follow-up model for the Focke-Wulf Fw 58 “Weihe” as a training carrier for multi-engine aircraft and the operational training of crews as well as transport tasks close to the front.
Camouflage colours instead of export
Like the He 111, the Si 204 also swapped its constructive elegance, including its ‘stepped nose’, for a full-view nose and civilian quality for robustness for military use: the price for the mass production that followed. This was immediately transferred to aircraft factories in occupied Czech Republic and France in order to keep the domestic industry free for high technology and sensitive armaments. In fact, only 15 prototypes were produced in the Siebel factories, with around 1,200 production machines coming from the conscripted European ‘branch factories’.
After the German defeat in 1945, production and export of the Siebel 204 (like other types) continued at SNCAN in France (as NC 701 and NC 702) and at Aero in Czechoslovakia (as C-3A, B and C-103) - virtually as a non-contractual reparation service. The aircraft built there remained in civilian, government and military service around the world until the 1960s.
Data sheet of the Si 204 D
Length 11.95 m, wingspan 21.22 m, take-off mass 5,400 kg, top speed 340 km/h, range 1,800 km, service ceiling 7,500 m, propulsion: 2 x 12 cyl. inline Argus As 411 engines with 440 hp each, crew up to 7 men (mil. use). Total number built: 1,215.
Curious?
Have we managed to arouse your curiosity about our collections with over 40 originals and faithful replicas of gliders, light aircraft, commercial and military aircraft, just as many engines and hundreds of items of equipment as well as our model collection? Then we look forward to your visit to Ulmer Straße at the Hanover exhibition centre!
sb
You can contact the author of the Model of the Month series here: Autor-MdM