Airfix 1/72 FW-190 A-8

[Duncan B]

Roman, thank you for those superb photos! I'm a lifelong nut for 1/72 190's, but haven't yet built all those kits, so those are very useful indeed.

I have to be honest, I don't like the Airfix kit very much, it just looks very strange from some angles. I have thought that in particular the cowl seems slightly undersized, and the front oil cooler ring too thick, which is especially obvious in your comparison photo to Hasegawa. Somehow the nose comes off as a little "pointy" to me.

The Hasegawa kit, while having plenty of minor shortcomings of its own, captures the shapes and angles of the cowl and wing root area absolutely perfectly. This area is the visual "heart" of the radial-engined Focke-Wulfs, and coupled with the kit's thin, crisp molding, is the reason I still find the Hasey kits--after all these years (first released in 1992!)--head and shoulders above all others. I'm lucky to have a stash procured prior to the current insulting pricing.

Your photo highlights another pet peeve, Airfix's exaggerated crease under the bulge for the nose guns. This is a flaw in many other 190A-7/8/9 kits of course (here in East Tennessee we call 'em "nose boobs"), and again the comparison to Hasegawa's near-perfect rendition highlights it.

Some features of the Airfix kit are outstanding, my favorite being the wheel wells. But others are mediocre, and it's hard to understand how that wing trailing edge--a flat vertical surface three scale inches thick!--was allowed out the door, given Airfix's current excellent standard.

I'm with you on this one. I can live with the Hasegawa's minor flaws as it is basically a 20 year old mould but can't understand why the new Airfix 190 is so flawed.

Duncan B

[dfqweofekwpeweiop4]

So I'm not so daft for hoarding Hasegawa A-8 and F-8 kits then? All of which were bought for reasonably sensible money! The most I paid is £15 for one but it was a very hard to find A-8/A-9 boxing with the metal 'fat' prop and extra bladed fan.

thanks

Mike

[occa]

I think it's easy to spot that the Airfix and Revell kits are different; which one is "correct" can't be determined without measuring against an actual aircraft, or against accurate plans.

A quick visual comparison of the two kits against photos would indicate to me that the Airfix kit more closely resembles the "sit" of the actual aircraft, and in particular the appearance of the main gear doors. Notice how long the top, thin section of the gear door is relative to the portion of the gear door that covers the tyre, and then compare to these photos.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FW_190_A8_1.jpg (replica)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fw_190A-3_JG_2_in_Britian_1942.jpg

http://intotheswarm.blogspot.com/2011/10/fw-190-tested-at-rae-farnborough.html

To me the Revell kit doesn't capture that look at all.

Cheers,

Bill

I suspected this long ago already, thanks for showing us ...

[MDriskill]

So I'm not so daft for hoarding Hasegawa A-8 and F-8 kits then?

Ah...it's entirely possible, that I am not the right person from which to seek an impartial opinion on this subject...

[j_jza80]

I think you need to seek help!

Great collection there.

[Duncan B]

Ah...it's entirely possible, that I am not the right person from which to seek an impartial opinion on this subject...

Now we know why it's so hard to find the A9/F9 boxing! Great collection, I didn't even know the 190G and D-Day kits existed. Off to scour the internet for AP175 now! Do you have a list of all the kit numbers issued?

Duncan B

[dfqweofekwpeweiop4]

I want one of them Fw190G's!! I've got the other ones, albeit some of them in different boxings but I don't have a G!

thanks

Mike

[MDriskill]

Do you have a list of all the kit numbers issued?

Duncan B

No, but this page has a remarkable listing of all 1/72 Fw 190 kits, including all Hasegawa variants that were known to the author (though I don't think it's been updated in a while):

http://fw190.hobbyvista.com/models.htm

[dfqweofekwpeweiop4]

Not sure how the reviewer thinks the Academy Fw190A-8 is any good, along with the Mastercraft Fw190's, It is possibly the worst Fw190 I've ever seen! I'd rather make the old tool Airfix kit.

It's definitely not been updated for a long time! AZ do the A-0, A-1, A-2 and A-4 models and as we all know, this year Zvezda released the A-4. Hasegawa have also released a stack of dual combo's with Fw190's in them.

I got 2 of the Sturmbock dual combo's, a Priller Dual Combo and the D-9 dual combo - all far cheaper the UK Retail! Add to that a Hasegawa A-5, A-9/F-9, F-9 Panzerblitz, D-9 Jabo, Tamiya A-3 and D-9 and several Revell A-8/F-8's and I've got a couple of staffel worth of them too!

thanks

Mike

[Duncan B]

I want one of them Fw190G's!! I've got the other ones, albeit some of them in different boxings but I don't have a G!

thanks

Mike

If you find some let me know, I want one too.

Duncan B