A Diversionary Dora - Fw. 190D-13 - Hasegawa 1/72

[RainierHooker]

This last weekend the kid wanted to build a model and he pulled this kit out of the stash. Having been working for the last few weeks on my dual-build of a P-35 and Re.2000, I figured a simple little diversion would be welcome. Hasegawa's venerable Fw. 190D kits date from the 1970s and as such are simple enough to complete in an afternoon or two. Of course project creep tends to rear its head around these parts...

 

IMG_3874 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

What happens when you take a backup fighter and combine it with a backup engine originally intended for bombers? One of the best fighters of the war.

 

The Focke Wulf Fw. 190 was originally selected by the Luftwaffe as a backup to the Messerschmitt Bf. 109, should production of that fighter ever get disrupted. What emerged from Kurt Tank’s drafting table was nothing short of remarkable. Some years later, the demand for a “backup” high altitude interceptor, encouraged the use of a “Jumo” engine originally intended for bombers to be fitted to the Fw. 190 airframe. This backwards development process netted a fighter that was every bit as good or better than any allied fighter in the air. It was as fast as a Mustang, and more maneuverable in certain arenas.

 

The Fw. 190D-13 was the definitive variant. While others were on the table, the D-13 was the last to actually enter serial production in the last month of the war. 17 were produced before the factory was overrun. Equipped with every bit of tech that the dying Reich could muster, an “ultimate” 2022HP, fuel injected, supercharged version of the Jumo engine, and three 20mm cannon, it was the masterpiece of an already doomed fighter force.

 

This kit is a recent (2014) rebox of Hasegawa’s 1/72 scale Fw.190D kit dating from the 1976. The new kit contained several cast resin parts to represent the D-13 version. The kid helped by building subassemblies and painting them before I put the whole thing together and did the fine and overall assembly and painting. To this I added a True Details resin cockpit and Eduard seat belts that I had in the spares box and some scratch made details; the loop antenna, the brake lines, the cockpit step, etc. The kit decals represent the only surviving D-13. I modified them to represent one of the others from the same production block and painted the aircraft in a generic-ized version of the paint scheme (before unit markings and further camouflaging were applied at the unit). All paints were from Vallejo's Air range, undersides in RLM 76 and a couple silvery-shades for the bare aluminum parts. Topside camouflage is RLM 75, RLM 83 (the green one, not the blue one), and the “power-egg” (engine) top in RLM 82.

 

While not quite the afternoon-build diversion that we originally thought, it was done in three evenings. Now back to the WIP...

 

IMG_3867 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

IMG_3871 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

IMG_3864 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

IMG_3870 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

 

IMG_3877 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

Edited December 9, 2021 by RainierHooker
grammar

[echen]

Very nice build. Cam looks really good.

[RainierHooker]

Forgot to post the obligatory model-airplane-next-to-a-coin-so-you-know-how-small-it-is-picture...

 

IMG_3900 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr

[RMCS]

Niiiice 

[sroubos]

Three nights? That's barely enough for the paint to dry. I take my hat of to you.

[Johnny Tip]

Somehow, I have very little interest in Fw190s, but that is a real looker.

(you do not make your own luck do you? your half dollar has a 'Tails' side) 

[RainierHooker]

4 hours ago, sroubos said:

Three nights? That's barely enough for the paint to dry. I take my hat of to you.

It was supposed to be a quick one-day build with my 7 year old kid. Of course I had to open up the bin of detail parts and spares and take things way too far…

[mick]

great work