Leo Etgen

Hi Mike Yes, there were quite a number of differences between the early short nosed A-series and the later longer nosed A-series that are the ones almost always represented by model manufactures. By the way, I got my Montex conversion at Air Connection just about two months ago. Design & Marketing Int'l had the Fw 190 A-3 available for $79.95 but the Fw 190 A-4 was out of stock. However, Air Connection in Canada had the Fw 190 A-4 available for $65.50. http://www.airconnection.on.ca/MONTEX/airc...NTEX_K32114.htm (Fw 190 A-3) http://www.airconnection.on.ca/MONTEX/airc...NTEX_K32115.htm (

Hi Jason That Silver Wings 1/32 Fiat CR.32 looks awesome! It comes with no less that six marking options and very attractive ones at that. As you mentioned it is expensive, something like $150 but for the Regia Aeronautica and Spanish Civil War enthusiasts it is indispensable. Hopefully there will be a Fiat CR.42 in the works as well. I must say that I am impressed with what is coming out of Eastern Europe these days with high quality and subjects that are off the beaten path. I agree with Britaholic that there is a dearth of Russian subjects. These are not my favorite aircraft but they were

Hi guys Sorry to disappoint several out there but Ken Lawrence has specifically stated that they will not be doing a Fiat CR.42 (nor a Fiat G.50) according to this interview http://www.hyperscale.com/2009/features/pcmdw_1.htm I agree that it is too bad as it is my favorite biplane fighter and an important subject as it was the most produced Italian fighter of the war if I am not mistaken. I agree that a Fiat CR.32 would be great as well since it was a very attractive aircraft and it is my understanding that it was the most important fighter of the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War so it i

Hi guys It appears that PCM will be releasing a 1/32 scale Fw 190 in April 2010. The model will include parts to build the A-1, A-2 or A-3 variants and will include decal options for two of each type as well as a PE set by Eduard. I have read only good things about this company's efforts so this will definitely be something to watch out for. It is wonderful news that finally the early Fw 190 versions are being offered as injection molded kits in this scale although strictly speaking these are not the first early versions offered as there are the excellent but expensive Montex conversions for

Hi guys There is a very interesting double build going on at Aeroscale that perhaps you fellows would be interested to see. Very nice photographs and what makes it more interesting is that Jean-Luc Formery is building his OOB while Rowan Baylis is building his tweaked. Some very simple solutions to a couple of the Eduard kit's minor faults are shown as well as areas where care needs to be taken with although the focus is not on finding nit-picks with the model. It will be nice to see how it goes and I am sure that most people interested in the Eduard effort will enjoy this thread and find it

Hello ch9862 I sort of agree with you in that in regards to my preferences, shape trumps detail. The reason being that it is easier to modify the details than correct errors in basic shapes. That being said, I have to admit that I occasionally have problems with Hasegawa's approach. What I like about Hasegawa is that they concentrate on the basics and get these correct. But, unfortunately, at times I feel that do not pay enough attention to detail. I know very little about their 1/48 scale A-series models. I did purchase their 1/32 scale A-5 to convert into an A-4 with the Montex conversion s

Hi guys I would suggest a new canopy, wing center structure, exhaust shield, propeller, machine gun cowling and a later style smooth drop tank as it seems as if only the earlier ribbed drop tank is included. Horrido! Leo

Hi guys It appears that Jerry Crandall will be releasing a resin upgrade set for the Eduard Fw 190 D-9. Here is the message posted on the Hyperscale Plane Talking Forum: "Hi Guys; We are proud to anounce that we have just contracted with master pattern maker Gregg Cooper to produce an upgrade set for the beautiful, new Eduard Fw 190 D-9 kit in 1/48th scale. Overall the kit appears to be the best 48th scale D-9 kit ever, but can use a few tweaks. At this point we know our first part will be the much discussed panel between the wheel wells of the Dora 9. We will take a look at other parts fo

Very nice to see images of the completed model on the Eduard website. Not to be a fault-finding jerk but the differences between the blown canopy of the model and the real thing (Dortenmann's fighter) are obvious. I honestly wonder how that got past Eduard. Horrido! Leo

Hello ch9862 I think that what happened is that Green simply made a mistake in his statement: "A newly designed three-piece tail wheel assembly with a separate wheel makes an appearance here, but the simpler one-piece assembly is also provided." since it is obvious that the tail wheel and yoke assemblies of the A-8 and D-9 are identical. When I read that I assumed that he meant that the balloon tire had been included in place of the tire that I erroneously thought was standard for the A-series. At least the result of these tail wheel tribulations was that I learned some thing new. Interesting

Hello ch9862 Many thanks for your photographs of the tail wheels of the various kits. How odd that if Eduard went through the trouble of redesigning the tail wheel assembly they would not have gone about including the balloon tire while they were at it as this was normal for the D-series. This is a minor point but it does go to show the level of detail (or lack thereof) present in a model. I had no idea that there were two types of tail wheels for the A-series and instead thought that there was one type used on the A-series and two types used on the D-9 (the D-11 and D-13 being always fitted

Hi guys For what I understand, it seems as if there is a difference in the layout of the instruments in the center section of the instrument panel between the plastic (X23) and photo-etched (PE5) parts. I have no idea which is accurate although I have the impression the photo-etched version is correct. Concerning the tail wheel, I have read that the tail wheel used in the A-series was also used in the early production D-9s although the majority of Fw 190 D-9s were fitted with a smooth-tread balloon tire. According to Brett Green, the tail wheel in the D-9 kit is different from the one include

Hello guys Here is an interesting thread on the Czech modeling website Modelforum where the new Eduard 1/48 scale Fw 190 D-9 is in the process of being built. Unfortunately it is in Czech but perhaps by using Google Translate you may obtain some useful information. It includes very nice photographs of the model and I hope that you fellows find it interesting. Perhaps if we are lucky a Czech speaker here can explain to us what the salient topics of discussion are. http://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=5...p;sk=t&sd=a Horrido! Leo

Hello Isaac The only thing that I have been able to find about the Fw 190 F-8/R3 is that two prototypes were built by Dornier in November 1944 before the project was abandoned. Perhaps someone else can add to or correct this. I also came across this webpage with information on the MK 103 (in German) that includes a pair of photographs of the Fw 190 F-8/R3. I hope this helps you somewhat. http://www.cockpitinstrumente.de/archiv/Do...hinenkanone.htm Horrido! Leo

Hello ch9862 Many thanks for your comments. I am pretty sure that this particular boxing does include photo-etched parts now since I took it to the local bank and asked the security guard on duty if he could pass his metal detector over it and there was certainly a reaction signaling the presence of metal. What led to my uncertainty was that as you pointed out all Shanghai Dragon kits have the photo-etched parts replaced by plastic but this particular box is the earlier Dragon box which explicitly states that the kit includes photo-etched parts whereas the later Shanghai Dragon boxes state th

Hello KOG7777 Interesting question that is related to one that I have as well about if photo-etched parts are included in a boxing of the Fw 190 A-8 (kit number 5502) that I have been presented with the option of purchasing. This Fw 190 A-8 is sealed in what appears to be the original Dragon box but has a Shanghai Dragon sticker placed over the Dragon label. According to the information on the box panels the kit includes photo-etched parts. My question is if anyone here has ever purchased one of these boxings of the Fw 190 A-8 (kit number 5502) and if it does include photo-etched parts or are

Hello ScottD If you look at the Trimaster and most other representations of the D-9's lower wing in front of the wheel wells and behind the engine you will notice a small stepped area that is not present on the Eduard which is flush. I am not nit-picking or trying to find fault with the Eduard model, I just would like to know why they represented the lower wing this way, assuming it is not simply an error on their part. It is inexplicable that they omitted the exhaust shield but that is rather easily scratch-built I would presume. Horrido! Leo

Hi guys I read this by Rowan Baylis on the Aeroscale forum concerning the machine gun cowl of the Eduard kit which I thought some here might be interested in: "As you say, the "hybrid" gun cowl is a perfectly fair compromise - Jerry Crandall has identified 5 different styles, each with minor variations of panel lines and bulges - so, providing instructions and the ingredients for the modeler to model each of them is all anyone can reasonably ask for. It's a shame the sprue attachments had to be on the exterior surface though." So it appears that Eduard molded a generic machine gun cowling

Hello ch9862 I have to say that I too noticed while looking at the photograph of the four fuselages together that the Eduard appeared slimmer than the others. I have no idea if this is caused by the angle of the photograph or that the more rounded top fuselage of the Eduard as compared to the others is the reason. At any rate, I found this rather nice image of a captured Fw 190 A-4 as seen from above. I do not know if you have seen this image before but it might help you on deciding the accuracy or lack thereof concerning the Eduard fuselage. I will freely admit that I am not experienced or s

Hi guys While scanning through the Eagle Editions web site I noticed the following on web page of the aftermarket machine gun cowling for the Hasegawa 1/32 Fw 190 D-9: "All plastic kits have always depicted the bulges on the gun cover cowling itself way too bulbous. Probably one of the reasons is lack of available good documentation." So it appears that one of the reasons why the cowling is so difficult to make is that there is very little source material on it, not that the manufacturers are deliberately being careless, although I am not making any excuses for them either. I wonder why they

Hi guys The problem is that there is no guarantee that Hasegawa would do any better than Eduard or Tamiya. I was looking at the Eagle Editions web site and according to Jerry Crandall the Hasegawa 1/32 Fw 190 D-9's machine gun cowl, gun troughs and radiator cowls are inaccurate as well. So what does one do? The Tamiya kit for what I have read has a host of errors, including the lower wings of a D-13, short main landing gear legs, small main wheels, a small and pointy spinner and a wrongly shaped propeller. I am under the impression that they have corrected some of these mistakes such as the l

Hello ch9862 Many thanks for your comments regarding the photograph. Clear photographs of the top rear fuselage are hard to come by in the sources at my disposal but I was able to find this one in the JG 51 photo-history by Stipdonk and Meyer of a Fw 190 A-8 of III./JG 54 flown by the notable ace Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel Heinz Marquardt (who incredibly walked away with only minor injures) that somersaulted while landing on a bombed out airfield while being transferred to IV./JG 51 in April 1945. If you flip the image vertically it gives a rather nice view of the top of the rear fuselage.

Hello Isaac I know it is a bit rude to answer a question addressed to someone else but here is a photograph scanned from the same source as the previous one that can help answer your question. Notice the open access panels on the two fuselages in the foreground and that they are hinged in the back. I would also like to congratulate you on your Eduard Fw 190 A-8 model; it came out fantastic. Horrido! Leo

Hello ch9862 Thank you for the photographs. In my opinion it looks to be a very nice kit and I definitely would want to add it to my collection. The only areas that appear to be need of improvement are the canopy which is anything but blown and the upper gun cover bulges which seem to be slightly off. However, I am sure both parts will be easily correctable through aftermarket parts. I do wonder why all manufactures seem to get the machine gun bulges wrong. Aside of that, though, it seems to be excellent overall and I should point out that this is the first 1/48 Fw 190 D-9 with the correct wh

Hello guys First post here as I am interested in Luftwaffe subjects and was searching for a modeling forum where one could discuss Luftwaffe models without the craziness that goes on at Hyperscale for what I have read. I would like to thank ch9862 for the series of photographs illustrating the various differences between the manufactures' representations of the Fw 190 A-8. I do have a question, though, about the shape of the rear fuselage of the Eduard kit as compared to the other manufactures' efforts. Please look at the attached image that I scanned from the old Squadron/Signal Fw 190 In Ac