Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-4/U2 - FdF VIP transport

[Mig88]

Hello everyone!

 

Here is my latest kit which has been almost three months in the making. It's Anigrand Craftswork's resin 1:144 Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-4/U2. It represents CE+IC (0138), of the Fliegerstaffel des Führers (F.d.F.), on the Eastern front, in late 1942.

The Fliegerstaffel des Führers was a small fleet of transport aircraft for German government officials and high ranking command officers. It was established in the mid-1930s mostly with Ju 52s and later used Fw 200s and at least one Ju 290. Hitler, Himmler and Karl Dönitz each had a personal Fw 200. In fact, Hitler, was the first head of state in the world to have an official personal aircraft. The F.d.F. was not part of the Luftwaffe and was manned mostly by SS personnel as well as some from DHL Lufthansa.
 

 

The Fw 200C-4/U2 was one of a small number of armed high-speed transport versions made specially for the F.d.F. CE+IC (0138) wasn't assigned to anyone in particular and was more of a backup plane but was indeed used as the only full photo and a profile I found says it was in the Ukraine in 1943. It entered service with the F.d.F. in spring 1942 and later in the war it was transferred to the Luftwaffe and was shot down in 1945.

I was disappointed when Anigrand released this kit as I was hoping for the maritime variant. The kit had options to make this unique sub-variant or Hitler's personal machine (the V3). Roden has released a kit of the latter which I decided to get so I went ahead and built this variant.

 

This resin kit measured out quite well with 1:144 SAMI plans that I have except for the wing root being too long (which I ignored) and the shape of the wingtips which I easily corrected with some sanding. There were several things that needed correcting or adding though:

 

The tailwheel was moulded retracted and too far back. I scratchbuilt one from spares and made the bay in the correct position.

 

The underfuselage gondola, although correctly shorter than the standard one used in maritime variants, was still too long and lacked depth. I cut off the second quarter and joined the resulting front and rear sections and blended them together, trying to get the underside with the right slope. I cut off the rear turret and reattached it aligned by the top, filling the resulting gap with CA glue (almost the same opaqueness).

 

The engines where completely plain, with no exhausts and tubes and no dip of the nacelle behind them. I scraped a dip and added all the missing details including making the cutouts that the cowling flaps had.

 

 

The guns were way too thick so I cut off the barrels and later replaced them with new ones from stretched sprue. I added some missing aerials or probes also from stretched sprue as well as an air scoop on the top starboard side. The main radio mast was moved forward as per photos as it differed from standard variants. I also added the missing forward retraction arms of the undercarriage. Wingtip lights were added from blobs of Kristal Klear.

The kit was fully painted and varnished by brush. Despite some suggestions of painting it RLM72/73, I went for RLM70/71 on the top surfaces since this was not a maritime machine but a VIP transport and per RLM regulations would have gone with the latter. If anyone knows otherwise for certain, I would be glad to hear it out of curiosity since I won't be changing the kit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am very pleased with the extra work I put into the kit as it improved the end result considerably and was also a learning experience as I came up with solutions to some of the problems. It's not one of the machines that scourged the Atlantic but I am pleased I went ahead with this unique variant and with how it came out. I really should have built one before since it's a beautiful design.

 

Thanks for looking and all comments are welcome.
Miguel

[Pete in a shed]

15 hours ago, Mig88 said:

I really should have built one before since it's a beautiful design

Agreed, it is amost attractive looking aircraft. Well done with the extra work you've put into the kit, it's a little beauty.

Pete

[binbrook87]

Very nice indeed Miguel. All your hard work had definitely paid off. An aircraft that you don't see modelled that often, but it's turned out beautifully. It's a perfect size for 1/144. Thanks for sharing.

[Mig88]

On 03/07/2022 at 12:29, Pete in a shed said:

Agreed, it is amost attractive looking aircraft. Well done with the extra work you've put into the kit, it's a little beauty.

Pete

 

On 03/07/2022 at 14:10, binbrook87 said:

Very nice indeed Miguel. All your hard work had definitely paid off. An aircraft that you don't see modelled that often, but it's turned out beautifully. It's a perfect size for 1/144. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thank you very much. It is indeed a perfect size for 1:144 and I now have a couple of Roden kits of the type in my stash - different variants though!

 

Miguel

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

This is impressive work!  You must've employed a microscope for some of the details you added to this, my favorite German WWII aircraft.

[Toryu]

A beautiful little gem Miguel. Great solutions for the shortcomings of the kit and a most interesting background summary.

[Roman Schilhart]

Wow Miguel, you really put some effort in this build!

I'd would never touch such a kit... guess I am a spoiled brat.

The transport variant is most attractive!

I was hoping for a new tooling in 1/72 when Trumpeter released their Fw-200C's (back in 2013).

Unfortunately the transport version never came to happen.

[Mig88]

On 05/07/2022 at 10:03, TheyJammedKenny! said:

This is impressive work!  You must've employed a microscope for some of the details you added to this, my favorite German WWII aircraft.

No, but I do use a headband with magnifying glasses!

 

On 05/07/2022 at 10:25, Toryu said:

A beautiful little gem Miguel. Great solutions for the shortcomings of the kit and a most interesting background summary.

 

On 05/07/2022 at 16:15, Roman Schilhart said:

Wow Miguel, you really put some effort in this build!

I'd would never touch such a kit... guess I am a spoiled brat.

The transport variant is most attractive!

I was hoping for a new tooling in 1/72 when Trumpeter released their Fw-200C's (back in 2013).

Unfortunately the transport version never came to happen.

Indeed, Roman. The transport versions are often neglected and the only way is to convert one yourself. As I said, initially I was disappointed when Anigrand went for this variant but now I'm very glad they did.

 

Thank you very much to all

Miguel