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1/72 Fw-190A-5


Julien

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Is there a kit of the A-5 out there in 1/72?

Only one I could find was the hasegawa one at nearly £40 in a double boxing which is way to much than I am prepared to pay for a 1:72 kit.

Cheers

Julien

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The Hasegawa kit is really an A-8 with a few slightly different parts. That means a lot of the various access panels are going to be wrong, you can't even accurately backdate an A-8 to an A-7 without a few changes in the panels! So it depends on how fussy you are. I found one 2nd hand for not too much, you might see them at shows.

thanks

Mike

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I have the MPM A5/R14 lying around and will certainly not build it (Eyesight too far gone for 1:72). Interested? Shipping (from Switzerland or Germany) + whatever you are willing to part with.

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Thanks Mike. I am not fussy at all.

Julien

No worries, don't forget the A-5 had 7.92mm machine guns in the cowling not the 13mm guns of the A-8. You should get 2 different parts for the cowling machine guns - make sure you use the less bulged one. I have a feeling the pitot tube was mounted mid wing too, not towards the wingtip like the A-8. The A-5's outer wing cannons were MG FF cannons but the A-8 had MG151 cannons with longer barrels, so you'll need to shorten the barrels.

I'm sure there's probably a few other easy to do modifications but I can't think of any more off the top of my head, I'm sure some real Fw190 experts could tell you! One question I would ask, would be is the A-5 closer to an A-4/A-3 or A-8? If it's closer to an A-4, you could use the cheap Zvezda kit as a starting point, that certainly had the smaller nose MG's, MG FF cannons and centre wing Pitot tube, as described above but there might be other differences as well.

thanks

Mike

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One question I would ask, would be is the A-5 closer to an A-4/A-3 or A-8?

That's a no-brainer. Starting with the A-5 the motor was mounted considerably farther forward to improve airflow over the previously often overheating engine. You'd have to be a masochist to consider converting a pre-A-5 to an A-5.

Edited by Hotel Papa
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It was moved 6 in (152mm) forward, which equates to approx. 2mm in 1/72. I bet most people wouldn't notice that. I was thinking more of whether the engine cooling gills were the same in the A-5 as the A-4, I can't remember off the top of my head. Also the same goes for the various panels and access hatches. If there are significant different in the engine cooling gills and other panels etc, then you would be as well to start with the A-8.

thanks

Mike

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That shows what I feared - the cooling gills are different. To me that would make it not worth converting an A-4 into an A-5, rather than the extra length forward. So, you would need to do the mods I said before and then it's up to the individual whether or not to bother with panels etc.

thanks

Mike

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It was moved 6 in (152mm) forward, which equates to approx. 2mm in 1/72. I bet most people wouldn't notice that.

It's personal choice if one elects to correct such a difference of course, but on the short nose of the 190 the difference is very noticeable. In any scale. Add to that that an entire complex shaped panel had to be inserted at the front fuselage-wing junction for that modification. It's certainly not an inaccuracy I'd try to run with.

Edited by Hotel Papa
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It was moved 6 in (152mm) forward, which equates to approx. 2mm in 1/72. I bet most people wouldn't notice that. I was thinking more of whether the engine cooling gills were the same in the A-5 as the A-4, I can't remember off the top of my head. Also the same goes for the various panels and access hatches. If there are significant different in the engine cooling gills and other panels etc, then you would be as well to start with the A-8.

OK I'm extremely biased cuz I'm a life-long 190 fan...but I definitely agree with Hotel Papa on this one!

2mm can make for huge differences of shape and proportion in a 1/72 model, and the tightly-wrapped nose of the Fw 190A is definitely such a place. There were new panels inserted around the wing roots and underneath to cover the gap created, and the lengthening of the side access panels and nose gun cover behind the engine is quite noticeable. The re-located engine cowl also sat slightly lower, because it "followed" the slope of the gun cowl--which itself had to acquire small bumps to cover the machine gun muzzles on its lengthened and lowered front edge.

The A-4 originally had open cooling slots like the A-2/A-3 series, but many did have the controllable gills added in later production, or retro-fit while in service. They seem perhaps more common on eastern front-based aircraft.

The new Zvezda snap kit of the A-4 is fairly good, by the way, and IIRC includes the later gills.

Edited by MDriskill
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The Hasegawa kit is really an A-8 with a few slightly different parts. That means a lot of the various access panels are going to be wrong, you can't even accurately backdate an A-8 to an A-7 without a few changes in the panels!

Yes, the good gents at Hasegawa definitely left you a lot to do on this one! Besides changing the later panels around as already noted, the most onerous difference is the outboard wing cannon. The Hasegawa "A-5" kit depicts the lang-barreled, belt-fed MG 151 which was introduced for the A-6. The A-5 had short-barreled, drum-fed MG FF's in that location, which have a completely different shape of access panel underneath.

Years ago Roy Sutherland had a resin set which allowed you to convert this kit to its stated variant ( ! ), don't know if it's still available or not.

Also note that the recent double-box re-release contains only one A-5, the other half is an A-8.

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FWIW, I have read that the Admiral A4 is over length for that version, ie is A5 length.

Dunno. The box art certainly shows the extra panel. The plastic looks OK, though, judging by the (mediocre quality) pictures I have found online.

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I'll see if I can find mine & compare it to the Hasegagwa fuselage halves. It was a review of all the 190 kits out there & that was about all they pulled the Admiral kit up on as I recall.

Steve.

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