Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8 by Carsten Christ (Hasegawa 1/32)

Hasegawa's new-tool 1/32 scale
Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8

by Carsten Christ

Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8

Hasegawa's 1/32 scale Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8 is available online from Squadron.com

Construction

This is Hasegawa's 1/32 Fw190A-8. It is finished in the markings of Lt. Hans-Ulrich Dortemann, France 1944 (2./JG54).

The kit was built straight out of the box without additional accessories, apart from the photo etched Luftwaffe seatbelts from Eduard.

Of course there are some modifications, as follows:

The gun camera and the MG’s were replaced with tubes made of brass
The nose on the drop tank received a little detail (also a small brass tube)
The DF antenna loop was rebuilt with a small strip of brass plate
Isolators were built with a drop of wood glue and then painted
Brake lines, bowden cables and pipe clamps were added to the landing gear using fine wire

The gun camera lens was filled with wood glue and then painted with Tamiya Smoke
The wing cannon muzzles were drilled out
The canopy was polished and waxed with Tamiya Model Wax
All instruments were filled with W5 floor wax (a kind of German “Future”)

Basic construction went fairly smoothly and the assembly of the well-fitting parts was a real pleasure.

Painting and Markings

Due to the fact, that I had no good reference pictures/profiles (of course there are some good books available), I decided to realise the camouflage pattern by my own inspiration.

The model was painted with the Aztek 470. I used different self mixed shades of Tamiya colors for the camouflage (RLM 76, 74 and 75) and Vallejo Model Air as clear coat.

The final coat is a mix of matt and satin varnish to maintain the contrast.

The crosses, both red “1” / bars and the blue RV band were masked and then sprayed. For the rest I used the orginal decals from the kit, which seemed to be too thick. All RLM shades I’ve used on this model were a self mix of different Tamiya acrylics.

I used different weathering techniques, like pre- and post-shading, a washing with heavily thinned oil colors. Chipped paint was realised with a silver artist’s pencil and some enamel colors. Exhaust stain was realised with different pigment powders from Kremer.