for the armoured glass itting.
The tailwheel and main
undercarriage legs, struts, and
doors were itted next, and you
have a choice of main wheels,
which are provided with or without
treads. I also attached the inner
MG17 machine guns, the resin
bodies of which are visible in
the inner undercarriage bays.
Fuselage MG17 barrels were slid
into slightly enlarged apertures,
and the outer wing MG FF barrels,
plus the pitot tube, were also itted.
I had opted to model an Fw 190
A-1, which made the gun it fairly
easy. Later models require two sets
of MG FF cannon barrels, but only
one set is provided in the kit (which
may by an oversight). Aftermarket
barrels in brass are available from
Master Models and these also
provide sharper detail than is
possible with plastic moulding.
The cockpit area next had the
headrest itted and two pieces of
stretched sprue added to represent
the headrest supports. I drilled
a small hole in the canopy hood
to it an aerial wire, inside and
outside the canopy. The aerial wire
stretching to the in should remain
taut wherever the canopy hood is
positioned, the bulge in the canopy
hood concealing a pulley wheel
as part of a tensioning system.
And now for my non-deliberate
error. Only after completion of the
entire model and photography did I
realise that the headrest is actually
attached to the sliding canopy. It
clearly moves with the canopy,
remaining just in front of the aerial
bulge in every photograph I can ind
with opened canopies. So that is a
change I shall have to make – drat!PAINT AND DECALS
Fw 190 paint schemes seem
to be a matter of some debate,
especially for later machines,
probably because of the lack of good
standardisation in the Luftwafe
system. I used an early scheme
of RLM 02/71/65, which allowed
me to depict the yellow nose and
rudder used by the well known
JG26 ”Abbeville Boys” (amongst
others). The fuselage, with random
spray patterns of RLM02 over
its upper areas, came up well
with some light airbrushing.
Decals are provided for eight
diferent machines. My kit arrived
with the colour pamphlet from a
future A-4 series kit, which was
frustrating since this showed
a desert scheme and a winter
white scheme, both of which
really appealed. Perhaps a second
kit will have to ind its way into
my cache. The decals worked
well and settled down nicely
onto Future-coated surfaces.
No Fw 190 can be completed
without depicting the exhaust
staining which runs in a curve down
each side of the fuselage (unless a
JG2 aircraft is modelled, with its
stylised black Wurger painted along
the fuselage, hiding the stains). Iused some soot on a cotton bud, and
at my partner’s suggestion added
some genuine aircraft exhaust
soot courtesy of my German-built
Sperber aircraft just for fun!CONCLUSION
Overall this is a very finely detailed
kit, and with enough care and
attention, it can produce a superb
result. Towards the end I felt
increasingly inclined to add “just one
more extra detail”, a feeling many
of us know, and which to my mindis an indication of a really good kit.
It is definitely not a kit to rush,
nor is it a kit for an inexperienced
modeller. At times I struggled
with the challenges, despite
plenty of years of practice!
For the A-0 version a bit
more work is needed, but the kit
provides most of what is needed.
If you want to have a model of an
early-series variant of Kurt Tank’s
masterpiece, this is the kit for you.
Strongly recommended, and
much thanks to Pacific Coast
models for the review example.WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • DECEMBER 2018 • 33
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