Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8

Eduard, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

Eduard's 1/48 scale Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8 will be available online from Squadron.com
 

Dateline, 2002. Modellers have the choice of two nice 1/48 scale P-47D Thunderbolt kits, one from Hasegawa and one from Academy. Although a few years old, both are adequately detailed and reasonably accurate representations of the type. Tamiya surprises everybody by announcing their own new tool 1/48 scale Thunderbolt family. The prevailing opinion following the announcement was, why would Tamiya bother to duplicate this subject when two decent kits are already available?

This skepticism was silenced with a kit that set new standards in detail, engineering and fit. Tamiya's effort far exceeded any P-47 kit released to that time, and modellers were grateful for this new generation of Thunderbolts.

Fast forward to 2006. Eduard announces a new tool 1/48 scale Focke-Wulf Fw 190 family. Modellers currently have the choice of the old but accurate Dragon Würger family; a newer (and very nice) Hasegawa Fw 190 A-3/4; and the easy to build but somewhat flawed Tamiya kits.

There can be no doubt that the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 is one of the most popular modelling subjects in history and, similar to Tamiya in 2002, Eduard has obviously decided to take this subject to a new level.

Eduard's 1/48 scale Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8 comprises 172 parts in olive coloured plastic; 8 parts in clear; a colour photo-etched fret; masking sheet; and a colourful decal sheet with markings for four aircraft..

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The kit is state of the art in terms of quality of injection moulded parts, detail and markings.

Eduard's packaging is very modeller-friendly. Sprues are packed, singly or in pairs, in resealable bags with each pair of sprues interlocked to prevent scuffing.

The styrene parts are attached to seven sprues via fine connectors. Moulding quality is superb. I could not find a single sink mark or ejector pin anywhere that will be visible on the finished model, even in problematic areas such as the inside of cowlings, undercarriage covers and the gear bay. Small locating pins are moulded to parts as required. You might be able to see some very fine flash around a few detail parts in these sprue photos, but this is an attribute of the test shots and will not be present on the production kits.

Surface detail is excellent. Panel lines are consistent and finely engraved. Very subtle lines of rivets are also present in logical locations (on the cowl, along panel line etc). Rivets are a matter of personal taste, but the finely rendered detail looks terrific to my eye. Please note that, for the close-up photographs on this page, I have turned the parts to reflect the light and highlight the rivets. When viewed under normal light they are very restrained.

Attention to detail is equally impressive. For example, in every Focke-Wulf Fw 190 kit produced to date, the access hatch for the inboard wing cannon has a big seam line running in line with the wing root. This is usually tricky to eliminate. Eduard's kit addresses this challenge with separate hatches. Not only does this avoid the seam line, but Eduard also provides gun bay interior detail to permit the hatch to be posed open. The cowl gun bay is comprehensively detailed too.

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Also for the first time in a Würger, kit, Eduard supplies a well-detailed BMW 801 engine including mounts and firewall detail. A plastic template is supplied to ensure correct alignment of the snaking exhaust pipes.

The main undercarriage offers the choice of treaded or slick tyres (both unweighted). Optional tail gear is supplied - either a single piece (wheel and leg moulded together), or a separate wheel and two-piece strut.

The rudder and ailerons are moulded as separate parts, so they may be posed to taste. Elevators are fixed in the neutral position, but it will be an easy matter to cut these off and reposition if desired.

Cowl flaps are moulded shut, but photo-etched parts are supplied if the modeler wishes to pose them open.

Two sets of upper wings are supplied. One has the bulged cannon fairing and the other does not.

Ordnance options include a 300 litre drop tank, a bomb and two W.Gr.21 mortars (rockets).

The kit is necessarily complex due to the high level of detail, but it is pleasing to see that Eduard has chosen not to further complicate construction with plugs and inserts for different versions. For example, the wings are supplied as pure A-8 wings, with bulges and ejector ports moulded in place. This will make for a cleaner build with less filler and frustration.

A number of parts are marked "not for use", including broad propeller blades and 14 bladed fan for A-9/F-9 versions (we cannot build an A-9 straight from this box as we are not supplied with the thicker armoured cowl ring - yet!), canopy side armour and plugged gun troughs for R-2/R-8 (we will presumably get and all-new wing with MK 108 cannon, plus fuselage armour when this version is released. Also, please note that production kits do not include some of these options R-2/R-8 options), and the short centreline rack for A-7 and earlier variants. Indeed, Eduard has already announced that other versions will be following.

If you just can't wait for an official Eduard version of a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-7, you can easily backdate this kit as follows:

• Use the short centreline rack (Part K23)

• Use cowling parts H10, H14 and H26 (these depict the earlier "two up, one down" top fastener arrangement)

• Fill the oval hatch under the fuselage (actually on the trailing edge of the bottom wing, Part E1)

• Fill one more hatch each on the port and starboard fuselage side

• Relocate the fuel filler hatch

• Relocate the pitot inboard to mid-wing

Check your references for exact locations of hatches and pitot.

Clear parts emphasize Eduard's innovation. Two styles of canopy are included - flat and blown - and two of each are attached to the clear sprue. On the real Würger, the canopy was somewhat flexible. This flexibility was further enhanced with a short hinge on the top. This was necessary because the canopy rails tapered inwards back along the fuselage, requiring the front bottom corners of the canopy to pinch inward when opening (ie, the width was narrower when the canopy was open). This attribute has been conveniently ignored by all Fw 190 models to date - an open canopy would simply overhang the sides of the canopy deck. Eduard, however, has supplied a closed (wide) and open (narrow) version for each canopy style. Clever stuff.

The colour photo-etched fret adds useful detail. In fact, it is impossible to imagine anyone being able to match the realism of these crisply printed parts with paint. This fret provides the harness, instrument panel and side consoles in full colour, plus supplementary metal detail parts for the cockpit and aircraft exterior. The instrument panel should look fantastic when assembled, incorporating all the tiny details of the dials and the characteristic coloured surrounds of the engine gauges. The colour of the instrument panel and consoles on my pre-production sample is RLM 02, but the production kits will have these parts finished in the correct shade of RLM 66 Black Grey. Eduard has supplied a photo of the corrected PE fret (below).

Another nice touch is the inclusion of canopy and wheel masks in Eduard's new, thin flexible yellow masking material. An extra mask will be included in the production kit, destined for the area under the open wing root cannon access hatch (parts # I18/I19). This area was unpainted, so when the hatch was open, the natural metal was exposed.

Instructions are supplied in an A-4 size, stapled colour 16 page booklet, with a detailed history on the front page followed by a parts list and ten pages of construction steps and four pages of full-colour marking guides, each with a four-view illustration.

Markings are provided for four colourful aircraft, all with different schemes. Decals look to be very thin and of high quality.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

Construction Tips from Eduard

As a result of test-building several kits, Eduard has pointed out several areas requiring special attention during assembly. These include the following:

• Check the position of the completed cockpit interior to the fuselage halves. Especially the back (upper) part of the cockpit tub must be aligned exactly with line on the fuselage halves. Also the weapon bay must be carefully positioned.

• Another important point is the wing spar (part I16) installation. In this step (page 5 of the instructions), first glue part K20 into the wing, and then add part I16. This sequence will guarantee that the wing spar will be exactly vertical to the wing bottom. This is crucial for wheel well assembly and the whole wing geometry.

• Another sensitive point is the engine mount installation. In this point, find the exact position of the part K18 on the reverse (inside of the fuselage) side of the part H12 (wheel well). K18 fits exactly to the notch in the H12. If you glue K18 carefully to the given position, the engine block will easily assume the correct position when it is glued to the engine mount.

• The locating holes for the main wheels are quite large. This is because the wheel fits to the axle at an angle. Use the instruction picture (page 10) to determine the exact angle of the wheel to the undercarriage leg.

• While we are talking about the undercarriage, when you will assembly the K7 (u/c leg) to the H1 (u/c cover), the location pins on the leg will give you exact position of the hatch (H1) to the leg. This is similar to the assembly of the u/c to the wing – glue the leg to the fine locating position in the wheel well, and immediately add J30/J37 to the position in the wheel well and on the u/c leg (there is a fine location pin on the leg which fits to the small hole on the end of the tow bar). It will give you exact position of the undercarriage to the wing. This is a different system compared to other manufacturers' kits, but it delivers surprisingly good result.
   

The quality of Eduard's kits has improved vastly over the last decade. Eduard's new-tool offerings now rival the best kits from Japan. Indeed, in my opinion, Eduard's overall detailing and packaging in this model exceed the standards achieved to date by mainstream model companies.

Over the years, Eduard has answered the prayers of many niche modellers by offering some less glamorous subjects in 1/48 scale, including their recent excellent Polikarpov I-16, the Bf 108, Bell X-1, Ki-115 Tsurugi and a stack of increasingly impressive WWI aircraft kits. This Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8 will now introduce the joys of Eduard to a broader market.

I know it must seem that I am stretching for superlatives in this review, but Eduard's Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8 is a magnificent kit, spectacularly detailed and beautifully presented. In the box, it looks like the best Würger available in any scale (and the recent Hasegawa 1/32 scale kits take some topping).

Keep in mind, though, that this is not a kit that will fall together by itself, so you will be advised to allocate plenty of time and treat it with the respect that it deserves. If you have already assembled a few kits, however, you should not have any trouble finishing this wonderful Würger.

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to Eduard for the sample

Review Text Copyright © 2006 by Brett Green
Page Created 06 October, 2006
Last updated 21 February, 2007

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