A round-up of 1/72 Fw 190 Antons - Revell Fw 190 A-8 cowling shape (AZ models, Mastercraft, Quickboost )

(note: this article compiled ahead of the appearance of the superlative Eduard Fw 190s also featured elsewhere on this blog)

Okay I happen to like the Revell Fw 190 (1/72)...aside from the poorly engineered canopy. At the last count I had 17 of them in the display cabinet and with nearly 50 Fw 190 decal sheets in my collection, I plan on adding a few more. Apart from the canopy, Martin W at IPMS Stockholm site believes that Revell also got the cowl wrong. I have to say after carefully measuring the kit against some drawings and comparing it against some decent photographs I can't really see it. What do you think?

 ".....Revell moulded the front opening of the cowling too small. The error is quite large for the scale, being if I remember correctly around 2 mm. As a consequence, the front part of the cowling and the cowling ring tapers too much to meet the small opening. The negative effect is even more exaggerated by the model having its cowling slightly rounded in profile. All this gives the front part of the fuselage an unnaturally heavy "bulbous" look...."    

A few comparison shots, all current 1/72 Fw 190 kits. Click on the image to get in closer. First up the Revell A-8/F-8 and that 'suspect' cowling x4. Generally a lovely little kit although recent production is displaying a fair amount of flash and the clear parts are no longer very clear at all. In fact they need ditching and the canopy replaced with a vac-form item. That requires some minor surgery - removing the rear canopy 'decking' moulded integrally with the fuselage halves. Aeroclub do (did?) a replacement canopy, along with a white metal 'unbulged' upper cowl for the A5-6 variants

Hasegawa A-5 finished in J.Gr Ost markings. The re-tooled Hasegawa kits are very good of course, although the new Dual combo boxings are retailing for upwards of £30 !! Two minor complaints - the overly long landing gear and a slightly misshapen canopy, it being slightly too 'rounded' where it meets the windscreen.

Italeri A-8 cowling (above) and the Academy A-6 below. I quite like the Italeri A-8 and their Dora. The Anton has raised panel detail and no dihedral on the wings unfortunately. The cockpit is quite good though. The Fw 190 A series are easily the worst kits Academy have done in 1/72 scale. Difficult to know where to start - wings, tail plane, cowl, undercarriage - in fact just don't bother is really the best advice with both their A-6 and A-8 boxings. Their Dora on the other hand is very good and doesn't share any parts wih the 'A' variant.

Airfix A-8 finished as Priller's 'Jutta' first issued in 1977. This was the best radial engine Fw 190 kit until the Hasegawa and Revell new tool. The outline was very accurate, although the surface detail featured raised lines and some rather soft cowl details and the kit is missing the cannon breech fairings on the wing upper surfaces.

That just leaves the Tamiya A-3 in this scale, along with the AZ Models and Mastercraft kits. The AZ kits include a resin wheel well insert and metal gun barrels and are thus three times the price of a Revell kit. They do look great in the box but I haven't built any of their range yet which includes an A-0 and an A-1 to A-4. AZ also supply a resin insert for the characteristic pointed antenna post of the A-4 tail fin. Will be starting one soon. Mastercraft look to be poor quality, although feature engraved panel lines and a half-decent decal sheet. And Quickboost (Aires) do a resin replacement cowl ring if you've a mind!

edit:

All these kits superseded by the superlative Eduard renditions in 72nd scale, also featured on this blog



Wilhelm Moritz Fw 190 A-8/R2 Schongau August 1944 - 1/48 Sturmbock

Most Luftwaffe enthusiasts are familiar with Wilhelm Moritz's late IV./JG 3 Sturmbock  but superlative builds of his Fw 190 A-8/ R2 are perhaps not so common. This is UK modeller Rowan Gough's very nice Fw 190 Sturmbock as flown by the Kommandeur of  IV.(Sturm) /JG 3 during the summer of 1944.

Note the full "Sturmjägerausrüstung" - assault fighter equipment/armament package - featured on this machine, consisting of an armoured glass windscreen, triangular glass panels and side panels (otherwise known as "Scheuklappen", or 'blinkers') and Zusatzscheibe cockpit armour plates. This additional armour package had no Rüstsatz-number at the time, although it is sometimes designated "R7". In order to save weight, the MG cowl machine guns were removed and faired over on these aircraft. The heavy MK 108 cannon in the outer wing position are the principal feature of the R2 Rüstsatz, although Fieseler-manufactured Sturmjäger usually featured -as here - the broad Holzluftschraube wooden prop blades, and a BMW 801 D-2 engine incorporating the erhoehte Notleistung emergency power boost as indicated by the small yellow ring to rear of the upper cowl .

During August 1944 IV.(Sturm) /JG 3 was expanded to four Staffeln but the unit's pilot losses during that month were particularly severe - and not always due to enemy action!

The Staffelkapitän of 13./JG 3 Ekkehard Tichy - who had lost an eye during combat in March 1944 - was killed when he collided with a B-17 on 16 August. Posthumously promoted to Oberleutnant and awarded the Ritterkreuz, Ekkehard Tichy had some 25 victories including eleven four-engined bombers. Worse was to come on the morning of 20 August 1944 when 7. Jagddivision ordered IV.(Sturm)/JG 3 to readiness in anticipation of a 15th AF raid coming up from Italy. The pilots of 14.(Sturm)/JG 3 were collected from their quarters off the base for the short journey to Schongau. My correspondent former Sturmstaffel 1 and IV./JG 3 pilot Günter Ehrlich recalled what happened next in a letter written in 2001;

“..On 20 August 1944, readiness had been ordered and our bike and sidecar driver set out to get us four pilots of 14. Staffel to Schongau as quickly as possible. At a bend our totally overloaded motorcycle smashed straight into an oncoming truck. The injuries of those on the cycle were in part so severe that the 14. Sturmstaffel had to do without Unteroffiziere Oskar Bösch, Günter Ehrlich, Erich Pusch and Werner Schanz for a lengthy time. Since I was jammed into the sidecar, my left leg suffered a compound fracture. My convalescence extended well into 1945 and by the time I finally rejoined my comrades in Prenzlau in February they were flying combat sorties against the Russians..”

Rowans' complete build log is featured on britmodeller.com here

Click on the label links below for more on this blog on the Sturmgruppen and the Fw 190 A-8/R2

Hobbyboss 1/48 scale Messerschmitt Me262 A1 a/U4

Follow UK master modeller Pete Smith's  Hobbyboss Me 262 build;

".... After building quite a few AFV's lately I have chosen the superb Hobbyboss 262A 1a/U4 for my next project. I picked it up when it was released and have been itching to start it. The only after market stuff I plan on using is a set of eduard seatbelts and a replacement gun barrel from master models which looks much better than the plastic kit item. I have also got the Valiant wings publications book on the Me262 which is packed with info and detailed pictures. Markings wise I plan on building W/Nr 111899 which was flown by Major Wilhelm Herget of JV44 against USAF formations on two occasions...."

Pete's Model World blogspot is here

Late-war variant Fw 190 Dora with Ta 152 tail (Eduard kit Fw 190 D-9 Late ProfiPACK)

Eduard's latest release features another boxing of their very nice 1/48 scale Dora kit - a late-war variant fitted with the wider broad chord Ta 152 empennage. The kit itself is nicely reviewed on britmodeller here. The article excerpt below neatly illustrates the two types of Dora tail alongside each other (Fw 190/Ta 152 Aircraft in Detail by Neil Page in SAM 27/12) and the lower photo depicts the Eduard tails as published on their Facebook page.

 Like other German late-war fighter aircraft, production of the Fw 190 Dora variants was largely dispersed with major aircraft components being brought together and mated up at a final assembly location. The majority of these components were painted to varying degrees prior to delivery resulting in the 'pieced together' appearance of many Fw 190 Dora camouflage schemes. Various attempts were made to 'standardise' the production effort - one such was the planned introduction on the later Dora variants of the broad chord tail built for the Ta 152. And while these airframes may appear to be 'hybrids' the so-called Einheitsheck or 'uniform tail' ( see Rodeike) was designed, firstly, to be constructed from non-strategic materials (wood) and, secondly, to fit all the later planned Doras (D-12, D-13, D-14 up to the D-15). However the fascination with the variant resides in the fact that only two examples have been documented photographically, whether as new or replacement items is unknown. From Jim Crow's collection, the first photograph to appear ( in Monogram Close-up No. 10, but subsequently in multiple sources, including Hildebrandt 'Broken Eagles', Aero Detail Fw 190 D, German Aircraft Interiors by Merrick, 'Greenhearts'  by Urbanke and so on and so forth.. )  showed the wrecked and burnt-out tail fin of WNr. 500645 (clearly visible). According to authors Smith and Creek the photo appeared to depict     "... the remains of what might be a Fw 190 D-15. WNr. 500645 would suggest the type is a Fw 190 D-9 but the revised fin seems incompatible with this series. However the new fin was to be standard on the Fw 190 D-15.."  German authors Griehl and Dressel also agree in their Fw 190/Ta 152 book published in 1997 that this is   "... the wreck of a Fw 190 D-15 discovered close to the Czech border. Despite the Werknummer the empennage differs considerably from that of a Dora-9 ". Dietmar Herrmann in his 'Focke Wulf Ta 152' volume identifies the broad chord tail fin of WNr. 500645 as belonging to " Ta 152 C WNr 500645 "  - with no further commentary. Peter Rodeike - author of the Focke Wulf 190 'bible' - goes further in his Jagdflugzeug 190 book (P.404); " the so-called Einheitsheck or 'uniform tail' was planned for the Dora from the spring of 1945 and designed for series production of the Ta 152..it can be seen that the yellow/white/yellow fuselage tail bands of JG 2 are also visible .." W.Nr. 500645 was most recently illustrated as 'black 6' from III./JG 2  (Crandall Fw 190 Dora, Vol I) although this profile is speculative and apparently not based on any documentary evidence- although now featured on a least one after-market decal sheet and as an option in this Eduard boxing. The single 'known' photograph was allegedly published in a Dutch monograph in the 1970's but surprisingly not a single example has yet surfaced anywhere (?)

 

Urbanke's 'Greenhearts' volume was perhaps the first to publish pictures of what was identified as 'brown 4' of 7./JG 26, WNr. 500647 and photographed by a Canadian soldier at Hustedt airfield near Celle. Again the photographs appear to show a Dora-9 fitted with the wide tail and given that the two Werknummern are so close together, this according to author and publisher " demonstrates that a small number of of Fw 190 Doras were constructed with the Ta 152 tail ".

This aircraft is the box-top subject of the new Eduard Dora - 'brown 4' WNr. 500647 of JG 26. A third photograph of this machine was published in Hideki Noro's 'LO+ST' photo album of captured and abandoned Luftwaffe aircraft - interestingly this 'new' photo, along with the previously published pics of this aircraft, again fails to show a complete view of the tail unit, leading some to suggest in a debate on one forum that 500647 does " not have a Ta 152 tail..." (see P282 Crandall Vol II -while the broader tail fin appears to be present the top of the fin itself is nonetheless cropped out so it is not possible to confirm absolutely the absence of the typical pointed Dora aerial mast ). However it is now generally assumed that other Doras in the WNr. 500600 range were fitted with the same broad Ta 152 tail and are mostly covered here on Eduard's decal options.

There are a number of 'blanks' in the history of the Dora - such as the 'operations' of Kampfgeschwader units re-organised and re-equipped with fighters in the last months of the war. These so-called Kampfgeschwader (Jagd) or KG (J) units - the designation reflecting their conversion to the fighter or Jagd role - presumably did only relatively limited flying due to difficulties in obaining fuel. In SAM 27/12 Dora/Ta 152 'Aircraft in Profile' (February 2006) article a third candidate Dora with Ta 152 tail was illustrated speculatively - a 9./KG(J) 27 machine 'yellow 6' featuring green/white rear fuselage band checks. Noted Luftwaffe colours researcher David E. Brown first wrote about KG(J) Doras, specifically "ge.6 + I" of 9./KG(J) 27, way back in July 2000 - 11 years ago. His commentary and a profile by Claes Sundin were posted on Claes' website at that time. As recently as 2008 the existence of these Doras was being questioned by one prominent Dora Experte - however with the passage of time more KG(J) 27 aircraft have surfaced, the majority wearing the green/white Karobands, which rather vindicates David E. Brown's research. Interestingly - giving previously expressed doubts - a KG(J) 27 green/white tailband on a Dora fuselage is shown on page 337 / Vol. 2 of the Crandall Dora book. Also worth pointing out that the white/green fuselage checks have been seen photographically on this unit's Antons, which presumably accounts for this shift - although no artwork. Some 'speculative' machines are more valid than others it would appear.
  
'Yellow 6' was identified from loss reports as WNr. 500641, subsequently revised as WNr. 500648, just one number above the JG 26 machine. III./KG 27(J) lost two Doras in action on 1 April 1945, one of which was the aforementioned 'yellow 6'. And although the profile is speculative, this aircraft was likely finished in the typical Mimetall scheme - fuselage sides in the green-blue variation of 76, fuselage spine and engine cowling in 81 Braunviolett, fuselage underside natural metal from the wheel well back to the fuselage insert, wing leading edges and the front underwing panel probably 75 Mittelgrau with the control surfaces in 76. Note that these later Doras were more often than not fitted with the re-designed centreline weapons rack - the ETC 504 was a simplified carrier featuring a much smaller mounting and fairing.

JGr.Ost Gruppenkommandeur Major Hermann Graf, Alfred Heckmann, Wilhelm Freuwörth RK

A small selection of some of the very interesting images from Michael Meyer's current Ebay sales here

Grabkreuz mit Propeller to mark the grave of  Hptm. Erwin Aichele of the Stab I./JG 51. Aichele died in a crash landing at Wissant (?) on the Channel coast on 29 July 1940.  Aichele - who was a Flugzeugführer im Fronteinsatz (front-line combat pilot) - had been born in 1901 and was 39 years old when he died. 

Below; Fw 190s of 3./JGr.Ost seen at their dispersal in Perpignan during January 1943

Gruppenkommandeur Major Hermann Graf (RK) of JGr. Ost. 1 + 3 Staffeln of  JGr.Ost moved to Toulouse-Blagnac during April 1943 and their CO is seen here (middle) strolling through Toulouse.  (RK 24.1.1942,  Brillianten on 16.9.1942, in total 212 Luftsiege  and survived the war)

 JGr.Ost in Toulouse during April - June 1943.  Below; a snapshot of two of the unit's instructors. On the left is Fw Wilhelm Freuwörth (RK on 5 January 1943, obscured here), who survived the war credited with 58 Luftsiegen including 3 in the West achieved with 2./JG 52 and 6./JG 26..

Posted as Unteroffizier to 2./JG 52 on 1 April 1941 stationed on the Deutsche Bucht. First victory during August 1941, shooting down an RAF Blenheim. Late fall 1941 the Staffel was moved to the East, where 'Willi' Freuwörth claimed two more victories before the end of the year. During 1942 he became one of the leading aces of I. Gruppe and was awarded the RK after a further 53 victories; on 1 November 1942 he accounted for four Lagg-3 fighters shot down and on 16 December 1942 claimed no less than six Il-2 Sturmoviks downed . Posted to the Kanalfront on 1.2.1943 with 6./JG 26, claiming two Spitfires during March 1943. Wounded in combat over Montdidier on 24.10.1943 and was again injured on 21 December 1943 when his FW 190 A-6 WNr..530733 “schwarze 8″ over-turned on landing at St. Omer (Wizernes). Returned to flying as an instructor after recovering from his injuries and on 1.1.1945 was promoted to Oberleutnant. 254 Feindflüge (combat sorties)

Below; JGr.Ost in Toulouse during the spring of 1943. Five Jagdlehrer (flight or lit. 'fighter' instructors) enjoy a hand of cards ! From left, Lt. Alfred Heckmann (RK on 19 September 1942, total of 71 Luftsiege ), Fw Hiller, Fw. Wilhelm Freuwörth (RK on 5 January 1943 (58 victories), Fw. "Spezi" Franz, Oblt. Waller..and Erika !

Above; FW 190 A 'yellow 5' of 9./JG 26. Note around 20 victory markings on the rudder, just visible alongside the mechanic's head. Photograph dates from 1942 on the Kanalfront.

 Me 110 E of 10.(NJ.)/ZG 1 seen in Russia 1942/43. Mechanic replenishing the four nose-mounted MG 17s and checking the muzzle flash dampers. Bottom; working on one of the DB 601 engines

Fw 190 colours 74/75/76

The classic Luftwaffe fighter colours, Farbton 74 Graugrün, Farbton 75 Grauviolett and Farbton 76 Lichtblau.. Courtesy of Richard Goyat, herewith some photos of wreckage belonging to a Fw 190 retrieved from a 'dig' that took place a few years ago at Semallé, (Orne, Basse Normandie) France. The location suggests that this was an aircraft possibly of JG 1 dating from August 1944. Click on the images for a closer view.

View of the lower wing surface -  no surprises here, RLM 76

Below; a view of the horizontal stabiliser. Note the bright red of the dotted stencil markings - an indication that the colours on this piece appear not to have undergone any sort of 'shift' and therefore must be pretty close to the colours as applied during the operational career of this machine. The 'darker' colour is either a 'grey-green' or 'green-grey' 74, almost certainly the Graugrün variation of '74'. The shade appears overwhelmingly 'green'. Richard makes the point that this '74' as applied to the Fw 190 differs from the typical '74' seen on a Bf 109 cowling part which has a distinctive 'grey-blue' cast.

The lighter grey colour corresponds to the typical '75', although very thinly sprayed and revealing an undercoat of  RLM 02 which appears to have given the part a tint of what is described as 'violet' - the classic Grauviolett perhaps. Again this tint is more marked on the Fw 190 than that seen on the Bf 109.

Note that these parts have been wiped over with a dampish rag to achieve a certain 'lustre' and that when dry the colours appear much more 'matt' and 'dull' in tone and that the differences in 'shade' and 'tint' are much less marked.

Jabos over England - Batailles Aériennes No. 56

New from Lela Presse (publishers of 'Avions' magazine) is this nice edition of  Chris Goss' "Tip and Run...", the story of the 15-month Luftwaffe fighter-bomber campaign against southern UK towns during 1942-3. A-4 format 82 pages softback, French text. The pictures are as large and clear as I've ever seen them and there is some neat Dekker artwork to complete the package. Recommended at just 12 Euros.  Contents illustrated here courtesy of Michel Ledet. Available from http://www.avions-bateaux.com/

The illustrations below depict Fw 190s flown by IV./SKG 10 based at Caen during May 1943 responsible for the 'notorious' raid on the English seaside resort of Bournemouth on 23 May 1943. Each Fw 190 carried  two 250kg bombs under the wings or more usually one 500kg slung under the fuselage.

One of the RAF units tasked with defending the south coast during the first half of 1943 was 91 Squadron based at Hawkinge under Sq. Leader Raymond Harries. This unit was one of the first to receive the new Griffon-engined Mark XII Spitfire in April 1943 designed to combat the low flying Fw 190s. On 25 May 1943, Harries, flying Spitfire XII DL-K (EN 625), intercepted Fw 190s from SKG 10 heading for Folkestone;

" I was leading Blue Section on a defensive patrol. I had just returned to base, with my No 2, had just landed when the scramble signal was given from the watch office. We both immediately took off again, and saw enemy aircraft approaching Folkestone. I sighted one lone Fw 190 at sea level returning to France. I came in from his starboard side, delivering a three-second burst at 250 yards. The enemy aircraft hit the sea tail first, split in two, and sank immediately.."

The Fw 190 was thought to be Fw 190A-5 Wrk Nr 2511 of 6./SKG 10, flown by Oberleutnant Josef Keller, the only loss apparently recorded by the attackers.

"..I then spotted another Fw 190 to starboard. I flew straight over the top of it in order to identify it in the failing light. The enemy aircraft pulled his nose up and gave me a quick squirt. I pulled straight up to about 1000ft, and turning to port, dived right onto his tail, opening fire from 300 yards and closing to 150 yards. I fired a four-second burst, seeing strikes and flames all over the enemy aircraft. The enemy aircraft gradually lost height, with smoke and flames coming from it, skimmed for some distance along the surface of the water and then sank. I orbited around taking cine gun snaps of the oil patch and pieces of wreckage that were visible..."

The Jabo attack on Folkestone on 25 May 1943 showed up the limitations of this type of raid when defended effectively by RAF fighters - in fact the Fw 190s failed to reach the target and similar daylight raids were abruptly curtailed shortly thereafter. Author Goss continues to maintain that the campaign was a success for the Luftwaffe, while pointing out that there were only ever a maximum of 28 Jabos for some 1,300 kms of coastline (!). In the end, when elements of SKG 10 were committed that summer to the Mediterranean and what was left was switched to an equally disastrous night campaign, the Luftwaffe simply ran out of French-based Jabos. The last victory over an SKG 10 Jabo by day was on 6 June 1943. Harries was ultimately the most successful pilot to fly a Rolls-Royce Griffon powered Spitfire, scoring 11 kills.

Below; my model of Harries Spitfire XII from the new Airfix kit. More on my modelling blog here