Part 1: Getting Started

MSRP: $39.95 Website: www.eduard.cz History The FW-190 has been covered elsewhere so let's get started building this baby. The Kit This is the recently reissued kit from Eduard. You get a beautifully detailed model molded in what can best be described as RLM 02 plastic. There are six big sprues of plastic parts. There is some very, very minor flash on some parts, notably the pitot tube but that was on the original as well. The exterior surfaces is covered with rivets. For some this is not to their liking, but for me this is absolutely beautiful. The rivets are restrained and really add to the end product. The level of detail is phenomenal. There is a sprue of clear plastic that has the windscreen and canopy. So you get a canopy? Well you don't actually get one canopy you get four. The research that went into the development of this model is evident in that the real canopy pinched in at the bottom when slid to the rear. Eduard provides a specific canopy just for this. You get two of the blown and normal canopy. To mask the canopy you get Kabuki tape masks. On top of that you get a pre-painted fret of photo etch. The level of painted detail is absolutely phenomenal. You can even read the small words. They are in German but they are real words.

An A-7 from an A-8 This kit is very versatile and allows you to do an A-7 or an A-8. Eduard will surely release an A-7 sometime in the future, but I just couldn't wait. So before I got started there were some things that I needed to be do to convert the A-8 into an A-7. On the fuselage, I filled the cartridge port and the oval panel on the left side. On the right side of the fuselage I filled the large access panel. The wings required some minor filling most notably the large access panel in front of the DF Loop. On the top of the wings I removed the outboard bulge by just sanding it down and rescribing the panel lines and rerivetting the rivets with my Radu Micro-riveter. Another thing to do is to use a alternate engine cowling panels. Use the one with the one latch down and two up. One little thing is the slightly shorter drop tank ejector rack. That is it. You don't need to do anything else to make an A-7. All the parts are in the box, you just have to fill the proper panels.

Getting Started in the Cockpit The cockpit is really well laid out. You have to decide how you want to model the detail. You can use the colored photo etch or use plastic pieces. I wanted to use the photo etch. This required some plastic to be removed from the side panels. Nothing drastic and very easy to do. Don't forget to add some PE pieces to the inside of the fuselage. Word of advice- Now is the time to chain drill out the exhaust vents if you are going to pose them in the open position with the PE parts supplied. It is easy enough to do, but you will want to get it done now while you have access and not worried about breaking anything.

I pre-painted the cockpit with Tamiya Flat Black and then painted it with Gunze RLM 66. A wash of Ivory Black artist oils thinned with Turpenoid was added to the recesses to provide even more shadows. Once it was dried a dry brush of RLM 02 was applied to highlight the raised parts. I used a sponge and built up some wear patterns throughout the cockpit. The seatbelts were added at this time. I left the shoulder straps off until after the exterior painting.

The next pieces are very important, the firewall and gun shelf. It is imperative that these two pieces be exactly 90 degrees. If this is off then the engine won't sit correctly. It is pretty easy to do, but just be prepared for it.

After deciding whether you want to use the one piece tail wheel or the three piece one. I used the three piece one as it is more realistic. Attach it to the inside of the fuselage before you close it up. The fuselage fits together without any fuss. I recommend that you use some tape to establish the correct dimension of the fuselage. Once set I added part I21 which sets the width of the windscreen.

Stay tuned.