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Fw190D Best Model in 72nd Scale


fishplanebeer

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The drawings in the recently re-issued Valiant "Airframe and Miniature" Fw 190D / Ta 152 book seem quite good too (though again in 1/48). Apologies for not mentioning earlier.

 

The drawings accompanying Jumpei Temma's builds are fairly simple, but very accurate and include some dimensional data. Components shared with radial-engine variants (wing, horizontal tail, fuselage between firewall and tail joint, etc.) match Bentley's classic drawings very well. He recently posted them with an English-language article (note the drawing files are set up to be individually downloaded and printed to scale).

 

http://soyuyo.main.jp/fw190/fw190e-1.html

Edited by MDriskill
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On 1/27/2022 at 5:20 AM, TonyW said:

Here's the first Airfix 190. Things could only get better.

 

Fw190d.jpg

My first love.....along with the Lindberg kit....Ah sweet innocent youth. Never quite managed to complete the later release. I have also managed to tweak the Tamiya/ Academy kits to reduce the "banana" bendy appearance without resorting to major surgery. I too prefer the Hasegawa kit when it can be found.

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On 25/01/2022 at 12:42, Graham Boak said:

I think it fair to assume that someone has, but not me.  The Bentley drawings I'm aware of were for the A series, and I would still consider them gold.  I have the Monogram monograph and the first two of the projected trilogy from JaPo.

 

I still have an unfinished Airfix kit - must make that before buying any other.  Of course?  But I do have the Dragon Ta.172C and Aosima Ta.152H should I feel drawn to better models of the long-nose family.

Aosima a joy to build, Dragon not so !

Wulfman

 

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On 1/23/2022 at 1:53 PM, MarkoZG said:

It is literally infested with rivets, something that looks horrible in this scale.

 

Having viewed Brett Green's Hyperscale review I have to agree with Marko.

 

y4mCSooLsrbh5V36rSx_4IN_G04Xk32vwXiF3CN3

 

Take a look at any clear photo of a D9. Do the rivets look like that? I don't think so.

 

But the kit does seem to have pluses. The engine that would be visible through the wheel well. Decals by Techmod are a plus and it's not bad value by modern standards.

 

On 1/24/2022 at 1:40 AM, fishplanebeer said:

the Tamiya kit is a far more buildable and affordable option, always assuming I can find one.

 

King Kit, new, £12.99 + postage. https://www.kingkit.co.uk/product/tamiya-aircraft-1-72-60751-focke-wulf-fw-190d-9

 

Great kit, but basic with flaws. Not Tamiya's fault, they mixed up the wings on US museum examples. Take a look at the excellent links Mike posted above.

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I did a Hobby Boss kit and while very simplified of course, it has some things to recommend it too.

6-A77-C515-E863-4169-9-E93-F2-AF7-EA278-

 

Besides, of course, no cockpit: wing dihedral is a bit flat; wheel well and cover door interior detail is spurious; wheels too small: cowl flaps too long; prop blades too wide; some nose panel lines off. Stolen Eduard wheels and some fettling fix the last four quickly enough. This is actually the only previous 1/72 Dora with the small recess between the wheel wells.

271-EA576-7-E9-A-4717-84-F6-EF45-B674-DD

 

Ironically in light of the current discussion...I riveted this model LOL!

6-ACC1-A87-42-F5-48-C0-8406-6-CD38-F4-DB

 

 

Edited by MDriskill
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Hope the OP does not mind if I jump on this since I was wondering a similar question only a few weeks ago: Hasegawa or Tamiya ? I have both in the stash and I recently found an Aires full resin set for a good price, The set includes engine, cockpit and the two inboard gun bays and is designed for the Hasegawa kit. Having both kits though I wondered if the Tamiya kit would have been more deserving or not... so should I stick to the Hasegawa kit as the better one in outline ? As showing the engine would require chopping off the front fuselage, any inaccuracy here would or course not be much of a problem... 😂

 

PS: of course less than a week after I invested in the resin set IBG announced their kit that would probably give me 80% or more of the detail in the set with 20% of the work, but what can I do... I'll still buy their kit though, I'm really waiting for the D-11 or D-13

 

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Personally, I don’t think that Tamiya’s Dora was one of their finer moments. Apart from the spinner and (IIRC) prop being misshapen- it just looks wrong if you don’t replace them, the wheels are undersized, affecting the stance. It also looks, for want of a better word, clunky next to the Hasegawa kit. That’s been my favourite so far, despite it being very basic. Occasionally you can pick one up for a reasonable price (I have 22 of them, so it can be done) but I wouldn’t pay what some people are asking for it. 
 

The Academy kit is *ahem* inspired by the Hasegawa kit, though with several errors added. From memory, the elevator trim tabs are missing, as are the fuselage strengthening plates. The large, “rounded square” access panel on the fuselage underside is the wrong shape (I want to say it’s a circle on the Academy kit, but it’s been a good few years since I last built one) and IIRC the pitot tube is on the wrong wing. I think there’s a small nose intake missing too. Another thing to watch out for is that the canopy and windscreen parts are attached to the runners in such a way that it’s almost impossible to remove them without an ugly blemish. The good news is that the Hasegawa parts (and aftermarket replacements) fit perfectly. It can be had for cheap though, so if you can ignore or rectify the issues, it might be worth considering. 
 

Now I have a cheapish IBG kit incoming, I’m tempted to take an imprint of the assembled engine and magazines to use on other kits. It’s always bothered me that all the other kits thus far have ignored the see through area in the wheel wells, though not enough to do anything about it!

 

Cheers,

Mark.

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Marks covered most of the issues related to the Academy kit, the only other main issue I recall is they have overdone the "fabric effect" on the ailerons and elevators. The price saving for the Academy and the extra cockpit detail isn't worth it to me compared to the Hasegawa when all the minor issues are taken into account. As others have said, I've never thought the Tamiya kit looked as good as the Hasegawa, maybe partly related to the spinner and partly the undercarriage. The main drawback of the Hasegawa kit is the enclosed wheel well and a slightly "bulged" belly. I'm looking forward to the IBG kits as I'm not too averse to rivets - I expect they would be similar to the recent Eduard Spitfires.

 

Here are some built renditions of the Academy and Hasegawa kits

https://modelingmadness.com/scott/axis/luft/fw/190/acad72190d.htm

 

https://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal4/3001-3100/Gal3018-Fw190-Bade/00.shtm

 

 

Cheers

 

Michael

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HI,

 

I believe I wasn’t the only one very excited with the prospects of a having a new 1/72 Me 109E (Special Hobby) and, more recently, with the new Fw190 Dora from IBG.

 

After receiving 2 kits last Monday, the IBG windshield seems too narrow at first, making the whole windshield and canopy too narrow (and possibly the whole cockpit area as well), consequently spoiling completely a wonderful kit (on the sprue). I cannot say, without assembling the kit, if this problem comes from a too narrow fuselage, due the multi-parts nature of it.  

 

The windshield dimensions of the Fw 190 haven’t changed much since the first models and, for what I see on the plans I have, the frontal area is a rectangle with a Height/Width ratio of approximately 1.7 (including frames) what is very close to the Tamiya and Eduard kits (it simply looks right). I am using an average Height/width ratio taking from the scale plans I have to avoid any doubts about the correctness of scale plans dimensions:

 

(referefences: Fw190 Dora, Crandal, Eagle editions; Fw 190D-9 Japo books; Kagero monographies; Aircraft and miniature monographie; Aj press monographie; 4+ monographie, etc.)

 

I am not saying the Tamiya and Eduard kit windshields are perfect (some angle problems) but, at least, they look a bit closer to the real thing and their problems can be fixed.

 

Perhaps someone will prove me wrong and I will be happy again….

 

The photos below will speak for themselves: (please note that I have just cut the kit parts from their sprues without cleaning them):

 

 

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Edited by Oompa Loompa modelers
Correctness
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Thanks for those excellent pics! Best illustration of the windscreen's tapered and radiused upper corners I've ever seen.

 

Take a look at this (long-ish) thread on Fw 190 details from the 72nd Aircraft forum. Starting at post #9, there are several notes on Fw 190 windscreens. These include other photos from seldom-seen angles, and some original FW factory drawings with dimensions:

 

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/72nd_aircraft/fw-190a-f-tech-notes-with-some-reference-to-eduard-t9630.html

Edited by MDriskill
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Thanks Mike: after looking through this it says that the Hasegawa kit is narrower then Tamiya, and correct, but the IBG one is narrower still.  better canopy. better top cowling: does this make the Hasegawa the best 1/72 kit?  This was, after all, the original question.

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On 1/23/2022 at 1:38 AM, fishplanebeer said:

I've always wanted a Fw190D since seeing the Airfix one on sale in Woolies back in the 60's so wondered if the new Fw190D Cottbus from IBG is worth considering please? I can't find any reviews on it and as it's quite pricey for a 72nd scale fighter I thought I'd better check before taking the plunge.

 

 

you asked for the best Fw 190 D ..and are then surprised/appalled that most people's prime candidate for this acolade is (gulp) a brand new super-detailed £20  kit with etch and parts options all over the shop which features a DB engine according to variant/boxing with bearer arms and firewall that actually fits inside the fuselage and is visible through the actual open wheel wells, a  couple of great features you don't get in any other 72nd Dora? No need to stick with the inaccurate Tamiya kit either. Personally I think you should have asked for opinions on the 'least worst' kit! Take a look at the Academy Dora ..its a reasonably cheap modern kit that is very buildable and just about looks like a D-9. Better still might be the Italeri Dora - its almost as old as the Airfix kit probably but also builds easily and is nicely detailed with both early and late canopy/head armour IIRC....and it has a cockpit!

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16 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

Thanks Mike: after looking through this it says that the Hasegawa kit is narrower then Tamiya, and correct, but the IBG one is narrower still.  better canopy. better top cowling: does this make the Hasegawa the best 1/72 kit?  This was, after all, the original question.

Jury is still out...don't have my IBG kits in hand yet! But I note that the width at the rear corners of their windscreen side panels matches Hasegawa exactly in the photos above. I confirmed today that the front and rear of the Hasegawa part in turn perfectly agree with Bentley's classic "A" drawings. Which implies IBG is fine around the cockpit at least (and that the Tamiya D and Eduard A are fractionally too wide?).

 

As an aside...the Airfix Fw 190A-8 has a similar issue. Overall the kit matches Bentley almost perfectly, catching subtle shape details that Hasegawa and Eduard missed. But it has a weirdly narrow windscreen.

Edited by MDriskill
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Do you mean the original Airfix Fw.190A-8 which I agree matches Bentley very well. or the new release which I haven't bought because of a surviving stock of the original?  I gather the new one has a terribly thick trailing edge but haven't seen comments on its overall accuracy.

 

Apologies for what could be reasonably be considered as thread drift.       

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7 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

Do you mean the original Airfix Fw.190A-8 which I agree matches Bentley very well. or the new release which I haven't bought because of a surviving stock of the original?  I gather the new one has a terribly thick trailing edge but haven't seen comments on its overall accuracy.

 

Apologies for what could be reasonably be considered as thread drift.       

Sorry for any confusion - I did mean the current Airfix A-8. It has its share of detail issues (nose gun cover, windscreen, some panel lines), and engineering faults (awful wing TE, difficult assembly in some areas), but nailed basic dimensions and shapes.

 

Another link from Jumpei Temma - who concluded it was the best 1/72 Fw 190A available:

http://soyuyo.main.jp/fw190/fw190-3.html

 

 

Edited by MDriskill
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23 hours ago, The wooksta V2.0 said:

Has anyone clocked that the new IBG D-15 has the wrong tailfin?  All my references claim that the D-15 has a Ta 152 fin, along with very late production D-9s.

According to JaPo's book, the wide tail was indeed planned for the production D-15. But only one prototype was actually constructed, converted from a Fieseler-built D-9 (possibly W.Nr. 601286), and photos show it retained the standard Dora tail. The kit includes decals for the prototype, so - despite IBG's fanciful torpedo bomber box art - their plastic represents what actually existed. 

 

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Got my IBG D-9 in today. I'm still absorbing the full impact of the amazingly detailed 90 plastic and 37 photo-etched parts (!) - not all of them used fortunately - but it is a VERY impressive kit. When the instructions begin with a full color page detailing painting and decaling of the engine and firewall, you know you're looking at something much different from any preceding effort.

 

On the subject of windscreens, the one in my copy of the kit (attached to sprue in the pic) exactly matches the width of the Hasegawa part in front of it. NOTE - these two windscreens are just about identical in all dimensions and angles, but are sitting at quite different angles in this shot.

 

E2983-A1-B-2-F21-431-E-98-F3-7684-F53-C9

Edited by MDriskill
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On 1/29/2022 at 4:38 AM, Johnson said:

 

Having viewed Brett Green's Hyperscale review I have to agree with Marko.

 

y4mCSooLsrbh5V36rSx_4IN_G04Xk32vwXiF3CN3

 

Take a look at any clear photo of a D9. Do the rivets look like that? I don't think so.

 

 

 

 

King Kit, new, £12.99 + postage. https://www.kingkit.co.uk/product/tamiya-aircraft-1-72-60751-focke-wulf-fw-190d-9

 

Great kit, but basic with flaws. Not Tamiya's fault, they mixed up the wings on US museum examples. Take a look at the excellent links Mike posted above.

Well first, Any kit in 1/72 with rivets is going to look a touch overdone especially in photos, so I'll hold judgement on that if I may.

As to the Tamiya kit, I believe Tamiya fixed the wing issue on later releases around the time of the JV44 release in 1/48? Did they follow up in 1/72 I wonder, I have one of each...I should dig them out...and check.

Does anyone know aught of the fabled AZ D9 kits....they seem rare as unicorns?

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