Eduard 1/144 Focke Wulf Fw 190F-8

EDUARD 1/144 FOCKE-WULF FW 190F-8

Reviewer: Jon Hudak (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 4 February 2008

Aircraft History:

With the FW 190 A series already a success as a fighter aircraft it soon started proving its worthiness as a ground attack aircraft too. This and the fact that the Junkers Ju-87 Stuka had become quickly outdated led to a decision by late 1942 to develop a series of close support aircraft under the designation FW 190F or "Jabo". A series of changes and modifications were made, one being the removal of the outboard wing 20mm cannons. This would save weight and the F series still packed a whallop with its fuselage mounted 13 mm machine guns and wing root mounted 20mm MG 151cannon. Flat underwing hinged armament access panels often replaced previous ones which were bulged or featured spent shell casing chutes.

To provide further protection to the airframes "soft spots" since they would be more vulnerable to ground fire, additional armor plating was incorporated around the lower engine, lower fuselage and aft fuselage fuel cells. These changes with the standard provision of armor plate to the cockpit and cowling ring made for a well protected and rugged, dependable aircraft. Performance definitely fell off as a result of the increase in weight. Whereas an A8 had a top speed of around 408 mph an F8 topped out at around 322 mph. Similarly an A8 weighed in at about 10,800 lbs whereas an F8 had a loaded weight of some 11,900 lbs.

The F8 was indeed a ground attack counterpart to the A8 series fighter and were very similar in appearance. F8s began coming off the production lines in 1944. They featured an ETC 501 fuselage rack which could carry an external drop tank or 551 lb bomb. Like its A8 counterpart the F8 also featured an outboard pitot tube on the right wing tip. The F8 proved to be a reliable workhorse and was fitted with numerous field conversion sets or Rustsatzen which are too numerous to list. Probably the most popular was the R1 which featured four ETC50 underwing bomb racks for carrying four SC-50 110 llb bombs. The F8 was used on many fronts and some were supplied to the Hungarian and Romanian Air forces.

The Kit:

Eduards little kit is quite simple in content thanks to its small size. There is one sprue in medium gray plastic containing just 17 parts and two separate clear canopies. Both canopies looked identical to me but it's nice to have a spare. Only one part is not used which is highlighted in the instruction diagram and that is the upper cowling machine gun cover which I assume is for a different version. (I think this kit is also offered as an A8 version) What you do get is a nice basic little kit with recessed panel lines and nicely molded parts. The fuselage mounted ETC 501 centerline rack is included with the option of carrying a bomb of external drop tank.

Technically you could also do a bird with 2 or 4 wing cannons too. (just leave the outer ones on if you want to do the latter.) Though you'd probably have to scrounge up your own markings for this. Wheels up modelers will have to do a little extra work since the landing gear units and doors are molded together as one piece and the wheel wells are very shallow. Markings are provided for two different aircraft one from Stab II.SG Russia Summer of 1944 and the one from the box art which is reputed to be an F8 R1 from II/SG4, Hradec Kralove Czechoslovakia 1945. Due to its small number of parts and only three construction steps this shouldn't take long to build at all, let's see how it goes together.

Construction:

Ah yes this one fits the bill as another one of those previously started kits! Construction had begun a few years ago and eventually it ended up getting "shelved". Construction as I remember was quick with only 7 parts for the airframe.... two fuselage halves, a one piece wing, a cowl ring, the horizontal stabilizers and cowling machine gun cover. Fit of parts was decent but not like a modern day Sweet kit. The tabs on the stabilizers are a bit too long and could benefit from some trimming. As they are they will project too far away from the fuselage leaving a slight gap.

I didn't do this on mine at the time and it's too late for that now so I just left them as is. The cowl ring needed some blending with filler as did the machine gun cover. Again both of these parts needed some help to obtain a better fit but was nothing that a little filler couldn't handle. The worst fitting part of the kit was where the forward edge of the wing meets up with the lower part of the front fuselage. This required several attempts with the filler and sandpaper and I think was one of the reasons I gave up on it. In the end I just slathered in more filler and broke out the sandpaper and took my time with it. I do remember feeling a bit joyous when I finally fixed it so that I could move on to the painting stage.

Painting & Markings:

With the airframe completed it was time for paint. I decided to depict the one as seen on the box art... "White 3" because I liked the name script on the fuselage and also its theatre of operations....Czechoslovakia since I am of Slovak descent. Model Master enamels were used throughout and their RLM 76 Lichtblau was used for the bottom and fuselage. There's a prominent "ring" towards the front end of the cowling that looked to be in RLM 76. I liked the look of it so it was simply masked off before doing any of the other colors. Of course it wasn't until all this was done that I realized the outer wing cannons had to come off, so out with the sprue cutters, hobby knife and sandpaper again! It was a pretty easy fix and some touching up was done with the RLM 76 again before masking off the bottom in preparation for the RLM 75 Grauviolett. I should mention for reasons unknown to me I didn't bother adding the ETC 501 fuselage rack. Perhaps I wanted to portray a clean unladen bird at the time? More than likely it was the lack of a positive attachment point. In hindsight I wished I would have attached it before painting since it was such a prominent feature on the F8. The prop blades and wheel rims had been previously painted in RLM 70 too.

According to the diagram in the instructions for this version the top of the fuselage was painted only in RLM 75 and not RLM 75 and 74 which was pretty much the standard scheme. That was fine enough for me especially if it makes things easier! I only had to mask off the wings in preparation for the RLM 74 and that came next. The wings came out perfect though I did have to do some retouching with the demarcation line on the fuselage. Originally I wanted to go with a soft feathered edge and after botching it a couple of times I settled for a crisp hard edge here. While a freehanded "feathered' edge is manageable in 72 scale it's a lot trickier in 1:144 scale! Given this small a scale I think it will be okay.

Decals:

With all of the painting finally done a coat of Testors Glosscoat (pink label large square bottle) helped smooth things out in preparation for the decals. I started with the crosses on the bottom of the wings using Micro Set. At first I didn't think they were going to settle down and I had no previous experience with Eduard decals. I used some Micro Sol in the hopes it would settle them down and in the end they behaved quite well, sinking down into the panel lines and all. Things were starting to go pretty smoothly at this point and I already had one of the upper wing crosses (the white ones and I did the one on the right wing first) on and settled down. When I went to position the other one and tried to slide it off the backing paper it broke up into nearly a dozen pieces....arghgh!!! Now what?

In the end I snagged some white crosses from a same scale Eduard 109G kit. They were larger in size but I was able to position the one right over the top of the one that was already on the right wing. You have to look to notice it but all in all they worked out well in a pinch. The other one tore (left wing) a bit when I was putting it on but I was able to coax it back into place. Same thing with one of the number 3s on the fuselage. Overall the decals were nice to work with and didn't silver but they are definitely a bit fragile so be careful when putting them on. I didn't bother trying to add the spiral to the spinner figuring it would be too fiddly and prone to tear. Next a coat of Gunze Gloss Clear was sprayed on to seal in the decals followed up with a wash using some Raw Umber oil paint and lighter fluid. Lastly a coat of Testors Clear Flat (same type as the clear gloss) was sprayed on.

Final Construction:

With the kit nearing completion there wasn't a whole lot left to do. The landing gear units which combine the struts and doors as one piece were glued on and allowed to set up. Fit of these isn't bad and there is room to adjust and position them. The insides of these, wheel wells and tail wheel strut were painted RLM 02 and the tires were painted with H77 Gunze Tire Black. The kits spinner and prop assembly which is all one piece needed considerable cleaning up near the rear of the spinner. It's very easy to break off one of the prop blades if you are not careful. I took my time and cleaned it up using a curved Xacto blade and some special small files. The cooling fan and spinner were then painted with Floquil Engine Black which brushed on beautifully. You never hear of what color modelers use for the cooling fan on 190s, is it supposed to be black or RLM 70 dark green?

The wing cannons were painted RLM 66 as I felt ordinary black may have looked a little stark especially in this scale. The wheels were glued on using super glue for strength and the canopy was attached using Elmers white glue. As it is it's a little narrow in width but nothing terrible. There is no framing on it either and I wasn't about to try and replicate any either! The spinner/prop assembly was a snug enough fit that it merely had to be pressed into place and with that, voila the model was now finally finished!

Conclusions:

I believe this kit to be the best example around of an A/F series radial engine Fw190. From what I was able to come up with the kit is very close to the original in terms of wing span and length. I did notice while I was painting it that the bulges for the cowl mounted machine guns are not as pronounced as they should be nor are there any shell ejector chutes on the bottom of the wings. Perhaps the more adventurous modeler can choose to try and replicate these? When looking at the stance of it in some photos I took of it does seem to sit a little "tall" on its landing gear too. Otherwise it does definitely look the part when finished and looks pretty accurate overall considering the small scale.

The overall quality of the kit plus things like recessed panel lines and the couple of stores options for underneath makes it a great little kit in today's demanding times. Though the kit had some fit issues here and there especially with the lower wing to fuselage joint, it all can be overcome with a little patience and diligence. Comparing it with some of the old Crown, Arii and other 1:144 scale kits the Eduard kit does have a lot going for it and looks great when finished. I'm kind of sorry I didn't add the centerline fuselage rack along with the bomb, oh well I guess I could always go out and buy another one and do the alternate markings if I really wanted to. Building and finishing this kit was a fun little project and I think my first ever 1:144 scale kit.

I hate to sound redundant but it's another one that can be crossed off the started list too. The extra small size was fun to work with and even makes good ole' 72 scale look big! Fewer parts meant a faster build and less stuff to mess with. They certainly don't take up much room when finished which is also nice. With this scale becoming more popular and already a small number in my stash I'll certainly be building more of them. It was also a nice break from my usual fodder of 1:72 scale airplanes and the occasional helicopter or two. The manufacturer Platz makes a 1:144 Fw190 D9 that is out of this world and Eduard has some competition now with them and the Sweet kits which I'm sure will put a dent in Eduards Bf 109 F/G series now that they have introduced one. Still these Eduard kits are very nice and so is the price, (I paid around $5 for mine) they're pretty inexpensive and if you want a nice FW 190 A/F series in this scale then this is the kit. Recommended.

References:

Focke Wulf 190 in Action Squadron Signal Publishing.

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