MSRP: $28.98 USD
Hasegawa has released the above kit in
1/48 scale. It is molded out of firm dark gray plastic with very nice
recessed panel lines. The kit includes lots of extra parts (more about
that later) and is clearly meant to make many more variants of the FW190
early series. Two decal options are given; both are from France JG/2-
one with the “Butcher Bird” decals and the other is for “Assi” Hans
plane. I opted for the first as the eagle looks neat and I didn’t have
one in the collection.
My build started with the six-piece
cockpit that is a good representation of the real thing. The instrument
panel has decals or raised relief options, depending on your
preference. No seat belts are included but I added a set of the
flexible Cutting Edge type- they look OK but were a pain to handle and
look a little too thick for my tastes. Once this and the tail wheel are
painted, the fuselage is glued together and here is where the kit gets a
little difficult. Due to the multiple variants and options, the kit is
molded in more parts that a normal “one type” kit would be. For
example, the exhausts are separate blocks. The cowling is seven pieces
to accommodate the variants. There are multiple tail parts and cannon
covers for the wing. A lesser company would have had trouble pulling
this off but the fit is good on most parts with minimal filler used. If
you pay careful attention, the fit is good. Once the fuselage was done,
I moved to the wings (with separate ailerons) and the fit continued to
be good. When I joined the wing to the fuselage, fit was great at the
bottom but there were gaps at the wing roots topside. A little coercion
(Tamiya tape and glue) and the fit required only a little putty.
At this point, I painted the plane with
Xtracolor enamels, thinned with lacquer thinner, applying RLM 76 on the
bottom and 74/75 on the top. While this was drying, I built the landing
gear and canopy with no problems.
Decals were superb- as good as
aftermarket. Good opacity and snuggled down with no extra work. At
this point, I did the panel lines with a watercolor wash and wiped them
clean the next day. A couple coats of Dullcote went on and then I added
the canopy, landing gear and the few remaining miscellaneous parts.
This kit looks great! I did notice one
thing – man, this is a small plane. Sitting next to a P-47, it is
dwarfed. I can heartily recommend this kit to Luftwaffe fans. Fit is
good and with patience, a very nice kit can be added to your
collection. I would like to thank Hasegawa and Alain Yuen of Dragon
Models USA for the chance to build the kit. |