Revell 3926 Focke Wulf Fw 190A-8/R11 (Günther Migge)

Kit#: 3926.

Price: 43$

Decals: Two options.

Notes:  Built as Günther Migge's Fw 190A-8/R11.

History:

From Eduard's painting instructions: "The Fw 190A-8/R11 "Neptun" was also used in the nightfighting role by Nachtjagdgruppe 1 (formed January 1st 1944, from a part of JG300), operating primarily from fields East of Berlin. The unit, formed with only three Staffel with a wide variation of types in service (including Bf 109, Bf 110, Ju 88, He 219 and Ta 154 besides the Fw 190) was tasked with the defense of important German cities. Above all, the unit tested new equipment for Luftwaffe nightfighters under combat conditions, including Fw 190 versions from A-5 to A-8, including this machine (Migge's plane) from January to July 1944, when they began to switch to the Bf 109G-6. With them, they transformed into a Mosquito hunting unit. In February 1945, the unit became 2/NJG11. One of the pilots of 1 Staffel NJGr 10 was Fahnenjunker Günther Migge, a former nightfighter pilot of JG 300. His Fw 190 carries the Wild Sau emblem, and also carried the insiginia "Kognak Pumpe", and a glass of Migge's favourite poison (?). The aircraft carried the standard camouflage scheme of RLM 74/75/76, with the only attempt to darken the scheme being the less common, for this time frame, the Adlerflugel in the form of a black wedge behind exhaust stacks..."

The Kit:

This is one of Revell's more modern kits. Released originally as an F-8 in 2015, the kit saw several re-releases in 2017 as the review model, and in 2019 as a Sturmbock aircraft. Inside the flimsy side opening box (which is bigger than the amount of plastic) come, in multiple bags, 12 light grey sprues and 3 clear sprues. Instructions are in full colour, and are clearer than the old style instructions.

A single decal sheet comes with the kit, and there're two options provided:

1) Focke Wulf Fw 190A-8/R11 "White 9" of Günther Migge, painted in RLM 74/75/76 with yellow lower cowling, Based at Erfurt-Nord, Germany, June 1944.

2) Fw 190A-8 "Red 3", painted in RLM 74/75/76 with RLM 83 cowling, JG 301, May 1945.

Construction:

I began this kit first by choosing which holes I should open to make the variant I wished to build. Revell differentiates the nightfighter and regular fighter labelling as A and B. I chose B (nightfighter), and opened the holes corresponding to said variants.

After opening the holes on the wings, I began working on the cockpit. All the parts were painted in RLM 66 (Revell 78), the instrument panel in black, and the seat in RLM 66 with a leather cushion. While building the cockpit, you have to decide if you'll make this kit with the landing gear up or down. I chose down, so I glued the tailwheel in the down position. After that, I closed the fuselage and glued the cockpit from below.

After dealing with the cockpit and the fuselage, I went back to the wings to build them properly. The wing assembly begins with the glue of several pieces to the large, single piece, wingspar. The wingspar was glued onto the lower wing with another hefty but smaller wing spar. The wheel wells were installed at this time. I then glued the outer cannons into their openings. I then glued the upper half of the wings, glued the engine support struts and glued the ailerons. After glueing all those parts, I glued the wings to the fuselage (note, follow the instructions here, Revell tells you to first glue the lower wing into the fuselage, and after that glue the upper wings to the fuselage). With the wings in place, I glued the flaps in the down position (this gives the kit more character IMO). After all that, I glued the horizontal stabilizers and the rudder in place.

Then, I began working on the engine. This is a kit in itself, and can be made into a stunning piece if fully painted and with the cowling opened. I didn´t want to open the cowling, so I built the entire engine and glued it to the engine struts of the fuselage, left it to dry, and then built the cowling following the engine.

With the aircraft fully built up, I went to the painting stage.

Colours and Markings.

As stated by the intro, I wanted to built Günter Migge's machine. I followed Eduard's Fw 190 Nachtjäger instructions . This one was painted in RLM 74/75/76. I first outlined with a pencil the camouflage lines, and then painted the upper surfaces with Revell 69 Granite Grey (RLM 74), Revell 47 Mouse Grey (RLM 75), and Revell 49 Light Blue (RLM 76), then the model was coated with two coats of Revell's gloss varnish.

The decals behaved perfectly, and comformed to the panel lines without issues. This kit was also the first one in which I applied all the stenciling (most of my models have the main markings, no stencils). I then coated the entire plane with two coats of Revell's matt varnish.

Final Construction:

The last steps of this build was to glue the radar antennas, painted in the camouflage colours, the landing gear struts (painted in Revell 45/RLM 02), the wheel hubs and tyres (black and RLM 66 respectively, the propeller (RLM 70) and the cooling fan (painted in black). The clear parts were painted in RLM 66 and then in the fuselage colur. The fuel tank was the last thing to be built and glued into the aircraft.

Conclusions:

Revell's new tool Fw 190A-8 is a great kit. Everything fitted properly and I had no issues whatsoever. I also think other versions will be covered in the future. Fully recommended.

References:

https://www.eduard.com/out/media/8177.pdf