History

On 26^th of August 1940 during the Battle of Britain, the two aircraft represented in this kit met over the English coast, during which the Do-17z would fall victim to the guns of the Defiant, and the Defiant itself would fall victim to escorting Me 109s moments later. Two of the four German crew were lost in the encounter. The Defiant’s crew survived a crash landing. Fast forward to 2013 when an underwater survey revealed this very Do-17 in shallow sand off the English coast. In an extraordinary effort the RAF museum sponsored an expedition to raise the wreckage from its watery grave. (Click here for the Recovery article). It will eventually be placed in the RAF museums “Battle of Britain” hall to complete a collection of aircraft that took part in that battle. You can follow this continuing effort on the RAF museums website.

Model Art Issue 932 is typical of other Model Art magazines in that it is written entirely in Japanese, with occasional English words, usually in article titles or in captions.

This issue covers:

This resin and PE set provides the rear part of the radial engine, firewall, MG-131 machine guns, gun breech cover with detail inside and out, 2 ammunition containers, one engine mount, one engine mounting bracket, one cylindrical engine part of unknown function, and one PE sheet containing numerous detail parts for this unit. The instructions are very detailed and clear on how the whole thing is supposed to go together.

This resin and PE set includes the major cockpit interior, side panels, rear cockpit deck, 2 forward instrument panel covers for mounting the gunsight, rear headrest, two piece instrument panels, and a control stick. The PE sheet provides painted instrument panels, seat belts, rudder pedals, and misc. parts. Clear film for the gunsight is also included. Instructions are complete and highly detailed, providing location and color information. This has more detail than the one provided in the kit, and makes a useful addition to this kit. Some trimming inside the fuselage is required, but this is clearly explained in the instructions. Recommended.

My thanks go to Eduard for the chance to review this wonderful set.

History

The Focke Wulf FW-190 series of fighters served as one of the two major single engine fighters used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. Introduced after the Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighter, the FW-190A powered by a radial engine was in many ways a better fighter, although it was inferior in performance to the Messerschmitt at high altitudes, a disadvantage solved by the introduction of the Jumo powered FW-190D later in the war. The radial engine FW-190 became standard not only in fighter units, but also in close support units, especially on the Eastern Front. It was more heavily armed and armored, and its wide track undercarriage made it easier to fly, cutting the accident rate dramatically, compared to the Bf-109.