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which is the best fw 190 f/8


Wayne Bull

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Hi Wayne

 

I haven’t built the Hasegawa 190’s, I built a Tamiya kit along time ago and it was what you’d expect from Tamiya. I have built a few of the newer Eduard kits and they’re beautifuly detailed and build up very quickly too. As far as I know they’re accurate shape wise. 
 

HTH

 

James

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The tamiya look the part when done. Very easy quick build. The most obvious pitfall of the kit is the undersized main wheels and gear. Properly sized aftermarket wheels go a long way to improve the stance of the kit. This is the Tamiya F-8 that I converted to an A8 back in 2005. No major surgery was needed. Only aftermarket parts used was seat belts and main wheels. Another enjoyable Tamiya kit that looks the part. 

20211222_212801

 

20211222_213518

 

20211222_212835

 

20211222_213500

 

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1 hour ago, Mycapt65 said:

The tamiya look the part when done. Very easy quick build. The most obvious pitfall of the kit is the undersized main wheels and gear. Properly sized aftermarket wheels go a long way to improve the stance of the kit. This is the Tamiya F-8 that I converted to an A8 back in 2005. No major surgery was needed. Only aftermarket parts used was seat belts and main wheels. Another enjoyable Tamiya kit that looks the part. 

20211222_212801

 

20211222_213518

 

20211222_212835

 

20211222_213500

 

Great build @Mycapt65

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A 'straightforward' build is likely to rule out Eduard, IMO.  Which just leaves Tamiya and Hasegawa.  I doubt if either is going to be 100% accurate, but I've built both and they were both enjoyable builds - and both ended up looking like 190s.. ;) 

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The Eduard kit would be considered the current state of the art. It's generally accurate, with excellent interior detail, appropriately petite exterior riveting, and some subtle touches like "open" and "closed" versions of the canopy. But as Mycapt65's lovely build demonstrates, the Tamiya kit has much to recommend it.

 

(Personal pet peeve / pedantic aside warning!) Most kits miss the subtle shape of the nose gun cover panel - its bulges were rounded, smoothly blending into the panel and stopping short of the front; the small cylindrical hood over the gun muzzle is a separate form. Most kits render them as exaggerated pear-shaped things, with sharp creases on the sides and top that simply DID NOT exist. To my eye Tamiya captured the correct form better than any other 1/48 kit, including Eduard.

 

IMG-0788.jpg

 

IMG-0907.jpg

Edited by MDriskill
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Thank you for pointing that out Mike.  In 1/72, does the Eduard kit suffer a similar problem?  What about the Hasegawa kit?

 

Pity that Tamiya never saw fit to shrink their 190 kit to 1/72.  It would have been great.

Edited by Wm Blecky
typo
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Wm. B, you are very kind! It's interesting to compare the classic 1990's-vintage Hasegawa, and recent Eduard 1/72 Fw 190's. Overall, both are quite accurate - obviously based on Arthur Bentley's landmark drawings - but interpret some details differently.

 

To my eye, the 1/72 Hasegawa kits render the MG 131 nose gun bulges the best of ANY kit, in ANY scale. The 1/72 Eduard version is similar to their 1/48 kits. Hasegawa also did a better job with the gun troughs in the engine top cowl panel (which were were shorter than those for the earlier MG 17's). Eduard's are too long. 

 

Some pics for comparison. The Hasegawa build is out-of-the-box. On the Eduard, I ran a thin putty wash over the bulges' top and side creases, and tweaked the troughs with dabs of filler.

 

IMG-4665.jpg

 

IMG-4663.jpg

 

IMG-4664.jpg

Edited by MDriskill
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A word of warning regarding the Eduard 1/48 Fw 190 kits.  If you are going that route, get the latest version of the 190.  The first versions they did had a complex and not so easy to build engine compartment and were, to say the least, tricky to get right when building.  The newer kits do not have the same problem.  If you get a Weekend kit of the 190, it will not be too different than building the Tamiya 190.  I have not built the Hasegawa kit so I have no opinion.  A Profipack kit will not fit into your requirement for a "straight forward" build as you have to consider the effort to incorporate the PE parts, of which, the smaller ones are quite fiddly to place correctly.  (At least for my old hands and fat, pudgy fingers.)

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On 2/23/2024 at 8:58 AM, MDriskill said:

Wm. B, you are very kind! It's interesting to compare the classic 1990's-vintage Hasegawa, and recent Eduard 1/72 Fw 190's. Overall, both are quite accurate - obviously based on Arthur Bentley's landmark drawings - but interpret some details differently.

 

To my eye, the 1/72 Hasegawa kits render the MG 131 nose gun bulges the best of ANY kit, in ANY scale. The 1/72 Eduard version is similar to their 1/48 kits. Hasegawa also did a better job with the gun troughs in the engine top cowl panel (which were were shorter than those for the earlier MG 17's). Eduard's are too long. 

 

Some pics for comparison. The Hasegawa build is out-of-the-box. On the Eduard, I ran a thin putty wash over the bulges' top and side creases, and tweaked the troughs with dabs of filler.

 

IMG-4665.jpg

 

IMG-4663.jpg

 

IMG-4664.jpg

Mike, an additional question for you with respect to the gun troughs.  Do the Eduard 190A-5 kits have the same problem with the length?  Do they need to be shortened as you did with the A-8's?

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No, they are fine. It seems a little counterintuitive, but the smaller-caliber MG 17's troughs were significantly longer than the MG 131's.
 

Both guns' barrels sat at precisely the same height above the fuselage datum, but the MG131's were spaced farther from the center of the arched top of the cowl. Thus their troughs did not need to drop as deeply into its surface. 

Edited by MDriskill
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Hallo

The big issue on all kits is the gear! Most of them are wrong. No matter which scale, which producer. I built them in all scales 32 48 and 72. 

Tamiya gear forward angle is wrong! Almost 90°.

The most complex was my ZM Ta 152 in this way.

As all said, make your choice and much luck.

My choice is Eduard in 48, I will start after summer!

Happy modelling 

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On 2/25/2024 at 11:53 AM, dov said:

 

Hallo

The big issue on all kits is the gear!

 

 

That is absolutely true! And nothing looks worse than an Fw 190 with the gear struts at the wrong angles.

 

And it might be the very worst point of Eduard's 1/72 kits. The strut sockets are a very loose fit, so you are completely on your own to get things right. I ended up making a jig for mine.

Edited by MDriskill
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On 2/25/2024 at 10:25 PM, MDriskill said:

And nothing looks worse than an Fw 190 with the gear struts at the wrong angles.

 

Ah well, a Spit does...

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235136857-ocidental-148-spitfire-mkix-questions/#comment-4899480

The difference is marked - and the one to the right in the pic probably has it wrong, as it looks rather extreme.

 

Anyway, back on topic - and many thanks for the very graphic illustration of those bulges! Indeed the Hase looks very close to your pic, and while I'm not quite convinced its bottom front of the curve is completely correct, it's much closer than the pretty steep curve up on the Eduard.

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On 2/25/2024 at 3:25 PM, MDriskill said:

That is absolutely true! And nothing looks worse than an Fw 190 with the gear struts at the wrong angles.

 

And it might be the very worst point of Eduard's 1/72 kits - the strut sockets are a very loose fit, so you are own your own getting things right. I ended up making a jig for mine.

Mike, would you be able to post a few pictures of the jig you made for your 190s?  Thanks.

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I took photo-copies of Arthur Bentley's drawings, and cut them up to use as templates. It has supports only at the wingtips and rear fuselage joint, and thus doesn't interfere with any intermediate protruberances, so theoretically should work with any reasonably accurate 1/72 Fw 190A or D kit.

 

It holds the model upside-down (lets you see the strut sockets, and check strut cover door angles); and sloped a bit nose-down (keeps the vertical bits more compact than if the model were supported horizontally).

 

In retrospect...well, I over-thought it somewhat! I would take a simpler approach next time, but it worked well enough.

 

IMG-1435.jpg

 

IMG-1063.jpg

 

IMG-1064.jpg

 

5-D4-D885-F-B689-48-B5-B7-ED-A40-CA5-EAA

Edited by MDriskill
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On 2/28/2024 at 3:25 PM, MDriskill said:

I took photo-copies of Arthur Bentley's drawings, and cut them up to use as templates. It has supports only at the wingtips and rear fuselage joint, so hopefully will work with any reasonably accurate Fw 190A or D kit.

 

It holds the model upside-down (lets you see the strut sockets, and check strut cover door angles); and sloped a bit nose-down (keeps the vertical bits more compact than if the model were supported horizontally).

 

In retrospect I over-thought it somewhat! I would take a simpler approach next time, but it worked well enough.

 

IMG-1435.jpg

 

IMG-1063.jpg

 

IMG-1064.jpg

 

5-D4-D885-F-B689-48-B5-B7-ED-A40-CA5-EAA

Brilliant! 

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Well i did not know the tamiya kit had that problem but now i know i can fix it , Could only find a tamiya A-8 in country so i'm going with that at this stage , Will wait to for an eduard f-8 to turn up cheers wayne

 

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That looks great Mike.  Have you given thought to marketing it or at least the plans to build one?  I'd be your first customer! 

Edited by Wm Blecky
typo
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I appreciate the kind words on the gear jig. To be honest it's been a while since I did it, and I've forgotten most of the particulars! I might try again with a simpler, more compact design, and keep better track of details as I go.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Wow thats a lot of hassel to go through just to the gear legs right .But it was clearly a needed thing . Well have mangaged to hunt down a hasegawa 190 f/8 so i can give you my thoughts on it when it arrives . Have also managed to hunt dowm an eduard kit so i'll be able to compare all 3 side by side . No doubt each will have its strong and weak points but which ever way i get 3 models . cheers wayne

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