The Focke-Wulf 189 Uhu (Owl) reconnaissance aircraft began development in February, 1937, and came to be popularly known as Das Fliegende Auge (the Flying Eye). The aircraft started squadron service in late 1940.
Great Wall’s kit, the Fw 189A-2, is an impressive, finely detailed molding of 19 clear and 176 gray plastic parts with fine raised and recessed detail. Extra machine guns and a second clear nose are included but not mentioned in the instructions. The kit provides a standing pilot figure, two engine stands, and two wheel chocks.
Also in the box are a five-color decal sheet and precut masks for the extensive clear areas; the canopy masks are accurately cut and work well. The crew pod with all that glass is amazing; canopy glass can be shown open or closed with no fit problems. However, opening access to the fuselage camera would require some cutting and scratchbuilding.
Although the propellers don’t spin, the engine bay and canopy panels can be shown open or closed, the upper turret gun and rear gun positions can be swiveled to any position, all flight control surfaces are movable, and flaps can be shown open or closed. The main tires have flat spots to appear loaded. The tail wheel looks like it’s designed to retract, but this would be impractical with the folded photoetched-metal door. The landing gear assemblies go together easily; but they’re frail and difficult to install, and the axles are a sloppy fit. The most fragile assembly in the kit is the main gear fenders, which attach to the gear struts with brass fender braces.
The 12-page assembly instruction booklet comes with an errata sheet and has a parts map, written and symbolic building directions, a masking map, and reasonably clear assembly drawings.
However, there are no interior or detail color instructions, only muddy color and markings illustrations for two aircraft. So, you’re on your own to paint the highly detailed crew pod, engine bays, and landing gear and bays. For example, I guessed the bomb racks would be the same as the underwing color and used RLM 65 light blue. Later, I discovered a black-and-white photo that shows the racks were probably semigloss black. Nuts! That same photo shows two-tone bombs. Maybe RLM 71 dark green and black? What’s a modeler to do?
The kit goes together pretty much as shown, but it is not necessarily an easy build. The engines and landing gear must be installed as the booms are being assembled; more than two hands are needed.
I still wonder where the bottom ends of parts D28 are supposed to go (Page 7 in the instructions). Study the upper ends of these parts carefully: There are shaped holes in the tops of the wheel bays to receive these parts.
Parts fit is exceptionally tight. While I did not have to reshape anything, I did have to dress some of the edges with sandpaper for proper joins. The outer wing panels are keyed to fit, but as tightly as I could join them to the booms, I was still left with gaps at the inboard edges of the flaps. I filled the gaps with window glazing putty — no sanding.
Part PE10, the center-section flap interior, failed to fit properly due to poor fits in the crew pod/wing center. Pay special attention to the horizontal stabilizer and tail wheel strut: The strut goes into the bottom of the stabilizer from the inside before the upper surface is joined.
I airbrushed my model with out-of-production Floquil military colors, followed by several coats of Testors Model Master clear gloss to prepare for decals. Decals are thin, in-register, and adhere well. They can be removed from the backing paper and moved to position on the model while bathed in water. The decals settled without silvering using Microscale Micro Sol and Micro Set. I finished them with a coat of Model Master clear flat.
Including painting, I spent 52 hours on my Uhu. The box cover recommends the kit to modelers 14 years and older, but those kids will want to have several kits’ worth of experience to tackle this complex, challenging kit. The lack of color callouts requires knowledge of German World War II aircraft painting, and the tiny photoetched-metal parts and decal images are nearly impossible to handle.
Still, the moldings, detail, and fit are as good as it gets, and the model scales out perfectly according to my references. It is simply exceptional!