Airfix’s all-new Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8 has beautiful recessed panel lines, excellent detail, options for a posable rudder, open or closed canopy, and retracted or extended landing gear. Add-on parts indicate other variants of Germany’s frontline World War II fighter may also be forthcoming from Airfix. Two canopies are supplied, the “blown” one not used on this particular aircraft. A nice cockpit tub with raised details is provided, plus a separate seat, rudder pedals, stick, and decals for the instrument panel.
The kit has some cool innovations. The wing’s upper and lower halves ensure correct dihedral; guns are glued into the wings before the halves are joined. Separate inserts for the exhaust stacks are added from inside the fuselage before it’s glued together.
When the cockpit tub is mounted in the fuselage, the gunsight glass is meant to protrude through a hole in the glare shield. I had difficulty fitting the tub and, even after filing and fitting, the sight barely peeked through the hole. So, I added a small square of celluloid to its top to represent the glass. I also added masking-tape belts to the seat.
Fit is generally nice, and assembly goes quickly. The fuselage lacks rigidity before the upper cowl inserts and the wing are added; the cowling’s forward-edge zipper fasteners help make it sturdier. Trailing edges of the flaps are too thick and don’t quite match up with the ailerons.
The main landing gear is molded with fully extended oleos, and the struts themselves are slightly too long. Rather than try to redo the oleo and scissors, I took the easy way out by removing the upper 3⁄32" or so of the landing-gear struts and gear doors; in retrospect, a little too much. Oops. Weighted tires and great detail on the gear are welcome features.
The engine, with its separate fan, fits into the front opening of the fuselage. But on my sample, the slots didn’t align with the keys inside the fuselage halves without trimming. I recommend installing this part earlier in the fuselage assembly, not the final step, because the cowling lip didn’t match the curvature of the fuselage. Sanding was needed.
Color callouts reference only Humbrol paints; the superb decal sheet provides full stenciling along with attractive markings for a Jagdgruppe 10 aircraft with the snake motif on the fuselage. However, neither swastikas nor the spinner spiral are given. Also not in the kit are the FuG 16zy loop and Morane antennas for the belly; I added a stretched-sprue antenna wire as shown in the excellent box art.
The nits I picked are tolerable, considering the low cost of this new kit. It’s not quite up to the standards of other new-tool Airfix kits I’ve built, but I liked this little bird and the 15 hours I spent building it. So, I rate it good “as is,” just not quite complete. Adding antennas and gunsight details would accurize it nicely.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the January 2014 FineScale Modeler.