Aircraft and History

The Focke-Wulf Fw-200 Condor was originally developed as a long range airliner in the late 1930’s . With it’s success as an airliner, the military noticed its capabilities. The Luftwaffe made good use of the new airframe. The Fw-200 was used as a VIP transport, a maritime torpedo bomber and with the addition of internal fuel tanks, a long range maritime patrol aircraft.

Kit

This kit is basically a scaled down version of their 1/48 scale kit which has all the remarkable detail reproduced in a smaller scale. The bulk of the detail is inside the fuselage, however most of that detail is hidden once the fuselage halves are assembled. The main landing gear is highly detailed and almost a small kit in itself. All of the flight control surfaces are separate and can be displayed in neutral or deflected positions. Markings provided in the kit include one that was captured by Russia as well as one in Luftwaffe service.

Build

Assembly was basic, fit is great with easy to understand instructions. My only complaint with the instructions are the limited color references for painting the individual parts. The main instrument panel is highly detailed however there is an option to add a decal (printed in white) for the instruments with no real way to attach the decal. That may be a remnant from the 48 scale kit that changed in 72 scale. One area I had an issue with is the ejector pin marks inside the flaps and flap bays.

Painting and Decals

After doing research on the Luftwaffe marking in the kit, I found out the markings (KE-IX) were for a VIP transport. This wasn't just any other VIP transport, it was a personal transport for Adolf Hitler during his trip to Helsinki in 1942. Since the kit instructions have you built it as a maritime patrol/torpedo aircraft, I wanted to remain true on that. The nose art or KG 40 crest was on Hitler’s aircraft as well as other maritime aircraft. I found painting instructions for a KG 40 aircraft which had a different splinter color scheme of (RLM 65, 72, 73) instead of the kit scheme of (RLM 65, 70, 71). For the aircraft letters, I printed black letters on decal paper and hand cut the letter “B” out of white decal paper. Paints used, Model Master enamels for the splinter camouflage and Alclad II for the torpedoes.

Conclusion

This build was a delight and fit was excellent. As stated earlier, there is a lot of detail in this small of a scale however inside the fuselage, most of you work will not be seen. I wish Trumpeter had provided a third option for a decal & paint scheme.

Many thanks to Trumpeter and MMD Squadron for providing this kit and to IPMS USA for the chance to review it.