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FW 189A-1 Axis Air Forces 1:72 ICM The Fw189 was created by legendary Focke Wulf designer Kurt Tank prior to WWII. Its intended role was as a short range observation and reconnaissance aircraft, with the requirement for excellent all-round visibility giving rise to the distinctive shape and extensive cockpit glazing. It won the contract by beating off competition from Arado and Blohm & Voss (the latter with their asymmetrical Bv. 141). It entered service in 1940, and production continued until 1944. The aircraft was popular with crews due to its manoeuvrability; it could often out turn fighters to escape destruction. It was tough as well, and there are stories of 189s returning from missions with parts of the tail and boom blown away. The Kit The Fw 189 is the latest all-new tooling from Kiev-based outfit ICM. Inside the very sturdy top-opening box are two largish sprues of light grey plastic and one clear sprue which together hold a total of 170 parts. The airframe is covered in crisp, recessed panel lines which look very good indeed, and the mouldings are crisp and clean. The instructions are an A4 stapled booklet which has been printed in colour and the decal sheet is clear and well printed. The overall impression is of a well-executed kit which looks as though it should be enjoyable to build. Construction begins with the central wing section and cockpit. The lower part of the central wing is moulded as a single span, complete with recesses for the main landing gear bays. Onto this part, the flaps, cockpit floor and fuselage sidewalls can all be added. The cockpit itself is nicely detailed, which is just as well as a lot of it will be on show under that greenhouse canopy. Interior detail includes the crew seats, rudder pedals, control column (moulded in two parts), radio gear and a large number of spare magazines for the defensive machine guns. The instrument panel fits to the top of the frontal canopy glazing, which is itself made up of four parts. It's inevitable with a model like this, but great care will need to be taken when assembling both this and the remaining eight parts of the canopy so as not to get messy glue smears over the clear plastic. Your patience will be tested to the limit when it comes to masking the expansive canopy, but there is good news in the form of a set of pre-cut masks on the way from Eduard. Look out for our review soon. Once cockpit/fuselage has been assembled, the upper panels for the inner wing can be fitted. The remaining steps in the construction process are essentially a sequence of sub-assemblies, starting with the landing gear bays. These areas behind the engine nacelles but ahead of the tail booms are separate parts, which makes for more complex construction but better detail. The tail booms themselves are split vertically and benefit from separately moulded rudders, while the tailplane has a separately moulded elevator and a neat tail wheel assembly. The engine nacelles are another sub-assembly, and are made up of two main parts, split vertically, with a separate radiator face, exhaust, frontal cowling, propeller and hub. As with the rest of the flying surfaces, the outer wings feature separate control surfaces. The landing gear is next, and is just as nicely detailed as the rest of the model. Each of the main gear legs is comprised four parts, while the wheels are split vertically and have separate mud guards. Step 63 in the instructions brings the fuselage/centre wing section together with the engine nacelles, tail booms and outer wings, leaving you with a more-or-less complete Fw189. All that remains to do then is add the finishing touches, such as the landing gear doors, the odd antenna mast or pitot tube and the four bombs and bomb shackles that fit under the outer wings. Decals This boxing deals with aircraft operated by The Hungarian Air Force. Three options are provided on the decal sheet: • Fw 189A-1 4/1 Reconnaissance Sqn, Ukraine Summer 1943 Hungarian Air Force • Fw 189A-1 4/1 Reconnaissance Sqn, Poland Summer 1944 Hungarian Air Force. • Fw 189A-1 344th Jato, Summer 1944, Bulgarian Air Force. All three aircraft are finished in RLM 70/71 over RLM 65. The decals look excellent and include a smattering of stencils. The Red/White/Green tails will need to be pained by the modeller for the Hungarian examples. Conclusion There haven't been all that many kits of the distinctive FW189 over the years, but ICM's new effort looks to be the best of them by quite some way. The mouldings are high quality, there is plenty of detail and surface structures are fine and crisp. Overall this is a well executed and carefully designed kit which is rich in detail. The only real drawback is the complexity of the clear parts, but there is no way around this if the desired outcome is an accurate and well detailed model. It is good to see this boxing with other markings apart from the Luftwaffe. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of