History

So much has already been written about the Focke Wulf Fw-190 that I needn’t add much to the history of the type. The BMW-powered Fw-190A series was produced in numbers approaching 20,000, and served as the backbone of the Luftwaffe’s fighter and ground attack forces during World War II. Easier to fly than the Bf-109, the wide track undercarriage of the Fw-190 resulted in fewer accidents, and the heavier armament variations were used for special purposes, such as anti-bomber operations and close support.

The Fw-190A-8 was the final large scale production variant, and it was a development of the A-7, the first variant to have the 12.7 mm MG-131 machine guns in the cowl decking, resulting in the characteristic bulges ahead of the windshield. The A-8 differed in having a relocated pitot tube and some additional access doors for various systems. These variations are shown in numerous references, and an A-8 kit can be easily backdated to an A-7 without undue effort. The A-8 had numerous variants, both factory and field modifications, and nearly all of these came be modeled from the basic A-8 kit.

References

There are many references available on the Fw-190A, and some of the best include the Osprey series, which has excellent 1/72 scale drawings; the AJ Press Fw-190 A/F/G/S softcover by Adam Skupiewski, which also has very useful drawings and photos; the Squadron-Signal softcover In-Action and Walk Around issues; The French Planes and Pilots Fw-190 book; and a number of other books written about the aircraft. Those mentioned above probably are more useful to modelers than any others, but there is also a lot of material available on line, so there is no lack of good reference material on the type. In addition, some of the aftermarket decal sheets, such as the ones by Microscale, Eagle-Strike, and Aeromaster, provide a lot of good reference information. Some information is conflicting, however, and should be compared to photographs whenever possible.

Instructions

The instruction sheet consists of seven pages, including a brief history, assembly instructions in 12 languages, 15 exploded assembly drawings, and one page of stencil decal instructions. The basic color scheme, an A-8 from JG 10 based at Pachim, Germany, in late 1944, is presented on the back of the box art, along with color guides and basic decal locations. Only one set of markings is provided, but a complete set of maintenance markings is included.

The Kit and Assembly

Many kits of the FW-190 have been issued over the years, beginning with the Frog Penguin kit at the end of World War II. Other kits have appeared from Airfix, Frog, Heller, Revell, Lindberg, Hasegawa, Matchbox, Italeri, Hobbycraft, Academy, Revell-Monogram, Tamiya, Sword, Admiral, Zvezda, and Hobby Boss. Reviews of most of these have been posted on various websites, and the advantages and disadvantages of each kit are graphically described. Some reviews are full build while others are in-the-box reviews. Google “1/72 Fw-190 reviews” and see what comes up.

In 1977, Airfix issued a kit of the radial engined Fw-190F-8, which at the time was pretty much state-of-the-art. Shortly after, the Fw-190A-8 appeared, using the same molds. The American MPC issue FW-190A-8 is dated 1982. Over the years, other kits have surpassed these, notably the Hasegawa offerings, but the new Airfix kit is an attempt to bring the Airfix line up to date, as they have reissued a number of their older kits with new and improve tooling. Costs are kept low by producing it in India. The new Airfix kit represents a standard production Fw-190A-8, and has some potential for modification into several variants, although this kit only includes a belly rack and fuel tank. The wings, however, provide holes to be drilled out in case you want to add rockets or bomb racks under the wings. Molded in soft grey styrene, its panel detail is slightly heavier that Hasegawa’s but still well within acceptable standards. Some filling is required, especially around the fuselage and wing areas. The wheel wells are accurate, and also deeper than Hasegawa’s, and the landing gear, although structurally a bit on the weak side, looks very convincing when completed. One in-box review stated that the gear was too long, but it is almost the exact same length of the Hasegawa kit’s gear legs, and when completed, the model sits in the correct attitude. The wheels are a little weak, with no distinct line between the metal wheels and the rubber tires, making painting tedious, but they have flattened sides to represent the weight of the aircraft. Extra landing gear doors for the wheels-up version are provided, and these are very useful if you paint the wheel wells and then pop the doors in place. Then you can paint the airframe without having to mask the wheel wells, a good engineering feature.

The cockpit interior consists of a tub, seat, control stick, rudder pedals, an instrument panel, and a clear plastic gun sight. Exhaust stacks are provided separately, and these need to be painted and glued in place before the fuselage halves are joined. The armored headrest and bracings are provided separately. Ahead of the windshield, the machine gun covers and front cowling pieces are provided separately, indicating that they are probably planning to issue an Fw-190A-5 and/or A-6 in the near future. The wings are fairly intricate and consist of two major assemblies, with the wheel wells contained in the upper unit. The upper unit, however, is very weak in the center section, so be careful handling it until the wing components are joined. The guns fit inside the wings, and although this works out well for the inboard cannons (which run through the wheel wells and need to be painted separately), the outboard cannons should probably not be installed until after the wings and fuselage parts are completed. I ended up trimming all of mine off at the wing leading edges, drilling out the holes, and reinstalling the guns later. All kit guns appear to be 20 mm, whereas some Fw-190A-8’s had 30 mm guns in the outboard position., while others had no outboard guns at all. Do your research on this one.

In final assembly, the cockpit fits securely into place, but be sure to use enough glue to get a strong fit. The right side of the vertical stabilizer has a panel for the tailwheel access mechanism, which was only on the left side, so fill this in with putty. One thing this kit has that few other Fw-190 kits provide is the retractable step for the pilot. This should be painted white with red in the center. However, none of the radio antennas are included, such as the small DF loop in the ventral position (which was included in the original Airfix issue), or the IFF mast underneath the left wing inside of the cannon shell ejector chute. This can be easily scratchbuilt, however, so it is not a problem. The landing gear is very petite and will take some doing to get it in the proper position. There is nothing in the instructions to give you the exact gear position, and since the Fw-190 gear slanted forward and to the center, use a good reference to get the angles right. The inside bracing can then be assembled, and after drying, the gear doors can be glued onto the outside of the gear struts. Then add the wheels, making sure that the flat sides of the wheels are on the bottom. Just be careful here, because the structure is not very robust. The cowling and prop assemblies are well done, and there is a lot of engine detail behind the fan that won’t be visible once the fan is in place. The fan is very fragile, however, so be careful removing it from the sprue, and one or more blades will probably break off it you are not careful. The kit instructions say to paint the fan blade RLM 74, whereas most references say they were black. The prop is very well done and fits into the spinner nicely. The whole unit then fits into the cowling, but it needs to be trimmed somewhat in back to get it to fit into the cowling.

Painting and Finishing

When I build any model, I like to have some kind of reference, and the kit decals for this model, the Fw-190A-8 from JG 10 at Parchin, Germany, was an odd one. Although it is colorful, I could not find any corresponding reference or photos for this aircraft. There was a similar aircraft illustrated in the French Planes and Pilots book on the Fw-190 on page 34, but although the unit and markings were the same, it was a rocket-equipped Fw-190A-7. JG 10 was apparently not a famous unit, and there is not much information available on it. I would have liked to have seen a photograph of the aircraft, but since I could not find one, I saved the decals for a future model and instead used a set from the Aero Master 72-138 decal sheet on the Rammsjagers, Pt. 1. I did, however, use the maintenance markings from the kit decal sheet, and they were of the highest quality and required no trimming. These were Fw-190A’s from IV/JG 3(Sturm), which had been operating in Germany against American 8th Air Force bombers in June, 1944. Although JG3 was a specialized anti-bomber unit, it was incredibly transferred to Dreux airfield, 46 miles west of Paris, to provide close support against the D-Day invasion forces. The decal sheet says “Red 8” while Osprey’s photos and drawings indicate that the number was probably black. References do not always agree. The model was painted in the familiar 74/75/76 colors, with a black cowling and spinner. It would be nice if kit manufacturers could give the sources of their documentation, and perhaps also provide a photograph of the aircraft being modeled.

The overall result is a very nice-looking model, and I am looking forward to building more of them since they are much less expensive than the Hasegawa competition.

Note: In the review kit I received, the canopy sprue was only partially complete, with the sliding hatches being short-shot. I emailed Airfix in the UK, and they have mailed a replacement. This happens occasionally with any kit, and Airfix has always been more than cooperative with me in fixing the problem. To avoid delay, however, I substituted the hatch from a Hasegawa kit, and it worked perfectly. I shall replace it with the Airfix part when it arrives. Not a problem.

Recommendation

This is a very good kit, and a bargain for the price. It’s not for beginners, but any competent modeler should have no problems with it. Get several, and go for it. Very highly recommended.

Thanks to Hornby America and IPMS’s Dick Montgomery for the opportunity to be one of the first to build this kit. It now occupies a place of honor on my display shelves.