Fw 190A 72 scale

[Nigel Bunker]

I have the H Model decal sheet for "Captured Fw 190s in the RAF" and need some help.

I know almost nothing about Fw 190 and need to make A-3, A-4/U8, A5 & A5/U8 models. Now a trawl through Google and Hannant's website tells me Zvezda do an A-4 model, which is apparently externally similar to the A-3 so I could use the Zvezda kit for that too. The A-5 had the engine moved forward by 15cm - could I use the new Airfix A-8 to represent this?

And what does U8 stand for? Presumably some modification to the airframe?

Can anybody help me through this minefield?

Regards

Nigel

[Duncan B]

The Zvezda kit is an A4 however it is a snap together kit (all be it a very nicely engineered one) so the detail is a bit vague in places but if you are not concerned with counting rivets its fine. I've built 2 of them and they look ok once finished. I would recommend getting hold of the Tamiya A3 though, it is a very nice kit and only needs the aerial mount at the top of the fin altered to make an A4. It isn't very much more expensive than the Zvezda kit either, should be around £9.99 IIRC.

With regards to the A4/U8, it was indeed a modification to the standard fighter to make it into a 'Jabo" or fighter bomber variant. The main differences were the removal of the outer wing cannon, the addition of an ETC501 bomb rack on the centreline and the ability to carry the Wesserflug underwing racks for 300l fuel tanks (the A5 was similar but also had the nose machine guns removed and had a different style of drop tank mount). Check your references to see if those mods were still carried by the captured aircraft as you might find that the RAF were more interested in testing the Fw190's basic fighter abilities.

For the A5 I'd try to pick up a Hasegawa kit (check out the secondhand kit dealers or Hobbylink Japan rather than pay full list price), still the best 1/72 later mark 190 kits out there. You could use the Airfix kit but would have to do quite a bit of work to back date it and if I'm being perfectly honest I didn't think too much of the Airfix offering.

I hope that helps.

Duncan B

[dfqweofekwpeweiop4]

To Duncan you listen young padowan!

The wheels on the Zvezda kit are wrong for an A-4 and there's no headrest support (which is very visible through the canopy!) but otherwise it's not bad, although the Tamiya A-3 is a much superior kit.

Also, I agree with Duncan, the Hasegawa A-8 is the best late A model Fw190 in 1/72 on the market. You'll enjoy building it a lot more than the new Airfix kit and it's more accurate. I would recommend the Valiant Wings book on radial engine Fw190's. There's tons of info and all the variants (including the R and U suffixes) are explained and have drawings. In fact, I think you should get that before buying kits and then you'll have a better understanding of what's needed!

thanks

Mike

[Duncan B]

And now my secret is out! As Mike says the Valiant Wings book is worth getting (or you could just get someone to quote from it like I did this morning).

Duncan B

[Troy Smith]

And now my secret is out! As Mike says the Valiant Wings book is worth getting (or you could just get someone to quote from it like I did this morning).

Duncan B

or have a read here

Focke-Wulf 190

Part One - Würger Genesis

A Modeler's Primer to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A, F and G Series

by John R. Beaman, Jr.

http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/fw190jb_1.htm

[Duncan B]

Thanks for that Troy, I wasn't aware the G8 variant had gone into production.

Duncan B

[MDriskill]

I know almost nothing about Fw 190 and need to make A-3, A-4/U8, A5 & A5/U8 models. Now a trawl through Google and Hannant's website tells me Zvezda do an A-4 model, which is apparently externally similar to the A-3 so I could use the Zvezda kit for that too. The A-5 had the engine moved forward by 15cm - could I use the new Airfix A-8 to represent this?

And what does U8 stand for? Presumably some modification to the airframe?

Notes from a long-time small-scale 190 fan:

The Fw 190's fuselage became longer with the A-5 as you note, but beginning with the A-7 larger nose machine guns were added, and there were revisions to internal arrangements (and their external access panels) beginning with the A-8. So the Airfix kit can't easily be back-converted.

Redundant to Duncan's note above, but: the "U8" modification kit was for long-range ground-attack variants. A centerline bomb rack was typically carried, along with two wing-mounted drop tanks. The outboard wing guns (and sometimes also the nose guns) were removed, their bulged underside covers replaced with flat panels, and the area structured and plumbed for fitting the tanks. This will require some more minor modifications to the kits. If you actually mount the tanks, check your references carefully, as there were several styles of both tanks and mounts used.

I've been collecting Fw 190 references since the 1960's (Yikes...yes, I am really THAT old!), and I can endorse the Valiant book as a really excellent "one-stop shop" on the radial-engined variants. As for how I'd build these:

A-3, definitely go with the lovely little Tamiya kit.

A-4/U8, I would also use Tamiya for this one, just for consistency. Besides the "U8" stuff, the visual difference between the A-3 and A-4 was the latter's vertical antenna mast, which you will have to add (you can use the kits below as a guide for this). The Zvezda A-4 is quite impressive for what it costs, but has a bit different "look" than the Tamiya and is not detailed as nicely.

A-5, I very enthusiastically agree with the previous posters that the time-honored Hasegawa kits are still the best choice for all the later A variants. The kits they label as "A-5's," however, are really the A-6 which has different outboard wing guns (A-2 through A-5: short-barreled, drum-fed MG FF cannon--A-6 through A-9: long-barreled, belt-fed MG 151). To be accurate you will need to replace the kit's underwing bulges with smooth round ones similar to the Tamiya A-3.

A-5/U8, here you will remove the underwing bulge as described above, might actually be a little easier than creating the standard A-5.

Have fun building my all-time favorite "bad guy" aircraft!

Edited June 5, 2015 by MDriskill

[3DStewart]

What's the accuracy like of the Matchbox A-4? I mean shape wise, detail is obviously simplified in places.

Stewart

[MDriskill]

I no longer have one around, but IIRC the Matchbox kit was rather highly regarded in its day. I built one in the mid-70's and remember liking it at least. Probably not the "scientific" assessment you were hoping for...!

It was certainly by far the best alternative for the early "short nose" 190 in those days, its only competition being the even older Revell A-3 which seemed to be an impressionistic interpretation of the 190 prototypes, at best.

Today of course there are other good alternatives for the A-4: a lightly converted Tamiya A-3, the Zvezda snap kit, or--perhaps best of all shape-wise IMHO--the Cooper conversion set for the Hasegawa A-5.

[Fifer54]

"U" in a Luftwaffe aircraft designation suffix, e.g. FW190A4/U8 stood for Umrust-bausatz, and referred to an aircraft modified from standard, usually at the

factory, for particular roles by fitting a conversion kit. Each aircraft type could have its own set of umrust-bausaetze, and a /U8 on a Fw190, would be a different installation from /U8 on a Bf109, the designations weren't standardised across types.

"R" in the designation suffix, e.g.Bf109F-4/R1,signified Ruestsatz. A Ruestsatz was a conversion kit like an Umrust-Bausatz, but was designed to be fitted to aircraft

"in the field", possibly even at unit level.The Bf109F-4/R1 is a Ferdinand fitted with additional MG151s in underwing pods (aka gondolas).