Focke Wulf A.16, 1924, Planet Models 1/72 resin

fjaweijfopi4j48 · November 14, 2018

A nice, chubby little fella built from a resin kit about 5 years ago.

If you look carefully at it, you may notice that regarding its configuration, the FW A.16 has similarities with the bird-like -and much earlier- Etrich/Rumpler Taubes. The “V” planform tail and especially the “feathered” wings –in the “zanonia” seed style- were common to many designs of the time.

That planes attempt to resemble birds should not surprise anybody. The A.16 is a chubby, stubby, stumpy particular kind of bird though. It could carry three passengers and provided a reliable service during its career.

Planet Models used to be mostly known for its Luftwaffe 46 models, but lately, in a very fortunate and welcome change of direction, has been releasing interesting kits of civil German subjects of the Golden Age of Aviation. I congratulate Planet models on these recent subject choices (that include the Focke Wulf Fw19 Ente, Lockheed Air Express, Messerschmitt M.20, and many other beautiful planes).

This particular kit has been already reviewed and built many times and you can easily find articles posted on the Net, so I won't be too exhaustive here regarding its presentation.

I owe the pleasure of having and building this kit to the generosity and kindness of Jim Schubert, an Irregular Pugetian on the shores of the Sound, near Boingland. The kit came without transparencies or decals (which were donated to another modeler) but Jim kindly added a better, more accurate pair of white metal wheels from Aeroclub, plus a more accurate prop plus weight placard decals. For all that I thank Jim, forgive him, and grant him indulgence for all his modeling sins.

At it:

It took some time to remove the pouring blocks from the wing halves, and especially from the fuselage sides, where the lugs were strangely located and did not facilitate their removal at all. Planet kits are generally good, and this was also the case. Another reviewer mentioned that he got a wing root thicker than the other, and some misalignment in the fuselage. Not the case for my own sample, fortunately. As you know resin kits are produced in a sort of artisan way, so samples tend to vary. My kit could not escape, though, the occasional bubble and pinhole. Some of those were located in my sample in the rudder bar and pedals (which crumbled-down on me) and beneath a control horn that popped off too. Beware that some tiny holes on the wings close to the ailerons and not pinholes, but the exit points for the control cables. The casting web that holds the smaller parts was thick and not very easy to remove, but some areas of it were thinner and the parts separated more easily. As you can see in the photos I did not bother with the seats’ legs for which I can use styrene or metal rod instead of struggling to clean up those minute items. Beware that there are very tiny parts on that casting web, look for them and be careful separating them, especially some minute steps that are very easily overlooked.

There were thick mold lines underneath the fuselage halves and a couple other parts that had to be removed and smoothed out.
As it is always the case with resin kits, you should use a dust mask to avoid -while sanding and cleaning- the resin particles which are harmful.

The instructions are indifferent and have the usual couple of dark/confusing spots; nothing you could not overcome paying a little attention, though. The decals –again, I did not get those since there were given to other modeler- cover one subject, a Lufthansa machine.

If you feel tempted, like me, to branch out and do something different, beware that there were 4 subsequent variants of the A.16, and the kit caters for only one (“a”). The variants (a, b , c and d) had different noses, engines, lengths, fin/rudder and even different span in one case (the first machine). So be careful and check you references.
I used home-made decals and did some research regarding the colors. I ended up using my own recipe for “Silbergrau”, in two tones: one for the general plane and a slightly darker hue –as per photos- for the cabin exterior, which in the original had wood panels; I employed black for the wing stripes and aluminum for the nose and wing tanks. I added a flowers vase and curtains to cheer-up the cabin.

My main reference is the Jet&Prop publication on the type. You may also read John Stroud's more generic article in Aeroplane Monthly of Jan 1987. Much help was provided by the above-mentioned Jim Schubert, the Volkano Evil Genius Soenke Schulz and other equally-kind colleagues and fellow modelers.