1/48 Eduard Focke-Wulf 190 A-8 ( engine closed up )
Komentarzy
DAVID WALKER AutorThank you -
This was a superbly detailed kit which is nevertheless a bit hung up on its BMW engine and weapons. It's designed to have everything on show via appropriate panels and an open cowling. It no doubt looks great displayed in this way as Eduard intended for the kit.
However with my model , I wanted to keep the panels closed.
It was not too problematic; I just needed to sand the interior detail off the wing root gun panels or the panels won't close properly otherwise ( test fit it yourself to see what I mean ). But the fuselage gun cowling was different; The gun tray and bulkhead needed to be eliminated. The over-wide fuselage then needed to be braced around the gun cover and carefully super glued into place. Finally, the instrument bezel had to be secured to something as the gun bulkhead was gone.
Once this ' little procedure' had been performed, I was able to proceed with the rest of the build.
Album info
Red 19 was the regular aircraft of Unteroffizier Ernst Schroeder.
Configured as an A-8, it was fitted with the nose machine guns but not the extra armour of the Sturm-Jagers . This made it a lot more lively in the handling department than many of the aircraft in the Jagdgeschwader 300 Gruppe .
This Red 19 FW190 machine was 'lost' on 27 November 1944 when Schröeder was forced to belly land after a dogfight at low altitude with a P-51. The aircraft was eventually repaired and returned to service with JG 301. The machine was probably scrapped post-war "
Red 19 had been in my mind to do a model of this aircraft for quite some time.
This was due to the fact when I was a teenager I loved the centrefold illustration used in Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Aircraft Volume 3 Issue Number 27 where there is a picture of the left side and upper plan view of this aircraft which clearly has both Kolle Alaaf markings on both sides of the fuselage - This is the markings and camouflage pattern that I went for my model
( see scan of the actual page I used as a reference...last photo
This shows a rather unique style of mottling that I thought might make an interesting challenge. Rather than the usual "spot" style of mottling, this is more like "strings". This picture also shows the early JG300 RVD band (in rust/primer red) and II Gruppe bar, with bilateral ' Kolle Alaaf ' inscriptions and Cologne city coat of arms shield.
It seems that Red 19 started off with a fairly standard mid war paint scheme, the previous tactical number had been painted out (possibly with RLM75) and the "19" applied. This scheme also carried the II Gruppe bar but no RVD band. Sometime in November 1944, the aircraft was partially repainted and the "string" mottling was applied. The RVD band was also applied at this time as was the bilateral inscription "Kolle Alaaf ! "
The inscription "Kolle Alaaf!" has been identified in several sources, including Bernd Barbas' book, as carnival shout and it is a carnival cry meaning "Cologne is Alive!" in a local dialect. This seems to make sense. It also seems an appropriate inscription for a young fighter pilot defending the skies over his home.
This aircraft was lost while trying to evade several Mustangs during a bomber raid. Ernest Schroeder luckily survived the war.
I used the Eduard 1/48 8175 version of the Focke-Wulf 190 A8/R2 but used the fuselage parts which didn't have the added cockpit armour and used the canopy with no added side armour glass.
The other aftermarket additions I used were the out-of-production Moskit hollow metal exhausts ( specially designed for the Focke-Wulf 190 ) and the excellent Air Master brass barrels by the Polish company Master Model ( order ref AM-48-019 ). These made a huge improvement to the look of the model, and I highly recommend them to any modeller.
Markings for this aircraft were covered on the aftermarket Aeromaster decal sheet, 48-696 " RammJager part 4 " which I specially purchased.
The decal instructions show the left side of this aircraft with the earlier, simpler paint scheme and the II Gruppe bar.
The instructions were followed for the wing and tail, as these appear to have been similar even after the repaint.
The squiggle mottling on the fuselage is essential, as I wanted to get it right and look the way I wanted it.